At the World Cup final, Fifa looks more American than ever

THE World Cup was supposed to change the US. That was the common consensus for decades. Show Americans soccer at its highest level, the thinking went, and a nation devoted to its own football might finally embrace the world’s game.

Instead, America changed the World Cup.

Spain’s testy 1-0 win over Argentina on Sunday (Jul 19, early Monday morning, Singapore time) closed a tournament increasingly shaped by an American sports playbook – and that may be exactly what the competition needs to grow as a business.