Why isn’t Argentina President Javier Milei at the 2026 World Cup final? The surprising reason he skipped Spain vs. Argentina

On July 19, the world’s attention turns to New York, where Spain and Argentina will face off in the 2026 World Cup final, a matchup that has never before taken place in the tournament’s history.

One of the biggest absences in the VIP section at MetLife Stadium will be Argentine President Javier Milei. He decided not to travel to New York for the final because of a strict soccer superstition.

What is Javier Milei’s superstition with the Argentina national team?

Milei’s superstition is simple: he watches every Argentina national team game from the same place and with the same people.

In Argentine soccer culture, many believe that if you change where or how you watch games while the team is on a winning run, you risk breaking the team’s good luck.

For that reason, Milei chose not to break his routine and will watch the 2026 World Cup final on television instead. In Argentina, politicians are especially wary of being labeled mufa, a slang term for someone considered bad luck.

The same thing happened in 2022, when then-President Alberto Fernández also decided not to attend the World Cup final against France, saying he didn’t want to break the team’s lucky routine. Former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner made the same decision during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, although with a different outcome: Argentina won the title in Qatar in 2022 but lost to Germany in the 2014 final.

Where will Javier Milei watch Argentina vs. Spain?

Milei will watch the 2026 World Cup final from the Quinta de Olivos, the official presidential residence in Buenos Aires. He will follow the match alongside his closest advisers and members of his staff, maintaining the same private setting he used while watching Argentina’s quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

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