Heroics and heartache: looking back at the World Cup

July 23 : After nearly six weeks of heroics and heartache, thrills and spills, heat, ‌rain and rowing, the World Cup tournament is over, coolly confident Spain overcoming Argentina to claim soccer's top crown for the second time in their history. 

The tournament featured an expanded 48 teams and was hosted by three countries — the U.S., Canada and Mexico. That meant more matches, ‌more goals, and more records broken, as Argentina's Lionel Messi and France's Kylian Mbappe battled to be the World Cup's all-time top scorer — a consolation prize eventually won by Mbappe.

Reuters had photographers in all 16 World Cup cities, as well as at team training camps and fanfests across the host countries and at the 104 matches over the tournament's 39 days. They delivered some 74,000 photos of the action on and off the pitch to audiences around the globe. 

There were fairytale runs — Cape Verde won supporters' hearts ​after the debutants from the tiny islands off Africa held Spain and Uruguay to draws and forced Argentina ​into extra time. Norway entertained with their "Viking row" and made it to the quarter-finals for the ⁠first time. 

Inevitably, there were controversies: political displays by Iranian American fans and Argentine players; the suspension of a red card ban; the denial of visas; the high cost of tickets. Hydration breaks were welcomed by some, especially given the searing temperatures and humidity of the North American summer, but for others they were an unwelcome intrusion. 

Not everyone was able to make the trip. Those who did found a warm welcome in what became known in the U.S. as ​the Great American Sleepover, as locals embraced visiting fans and celebrating supporters painted host cities orange, red and green,