They sing, they stomp, they dance. World Cup fans from Argentina, Spain spent cash at the final

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Tom Cruise gamely tried to deliver a speech at the World Cup about how soccer was some sort of global unifier and great players had crossed oceans and borders, and, well, what was the rest?

It was about mission impossible to hear the actor over the cacophony of bells and whistles and drums that served as the house band for all the joyous singing and clapping among the Argentine and Spanish fans who traveled thousands of miles — and spent thousands and thousands more in tickets, beers and, yes, wigs — to watch the World Cup final.

No exorbitant ticket price was too high to possibly say goodbye to Lionel Messi, playing in likely his last World Cup game.

“Money comes back,” Argentina fan Manuel Lopez Maccotta said. “This is once in a lifetime. You’re seeing the best player in the world in his last World Cup. Money is worthless compared to this.”

Maccotta and one of his friends traveled from Buenos Aires to New Jersey to watch Spain's 1-0 win over Argentina on Ferran Torres’ goal in extra time on Sunday.

The ticket price?

“Almost 10K in American money,” Maccotta said.

The $18 beer he was in line to buy suddenly seemed like chump change compared to the hot game ticket.

His friend Santiago Burcaco got off easy at $5,000 for his ticket.

“I bought the ticket before the World Cup final,” he said.

In the 200 section of the stadium Sunday, Guadalupe Villar said she and her husband were at the finals almost by chance.

The Buenos Aires couple, who brought along their nearly 2-year-old daughter, won a contest for tickets to Argentina’s semifinal match against England in Atlanta. After their home country won, they decided they weren’t ready to go home and splurged for finals tickets that cost $7,000 each (their daughter was free).

“We both work and we have some savings and we were like, ‘OK, maybe this vacation will go a little longer.’ We’re here now, you know?” Villar said.

The only hiccup? Their flight from Atlanta to New York was canceled by bad weather.

Villar, who is an architect, said the family piled into a car with fellow countrymen they met on their travels and drove the 15 hours north, arriving at 5 a.m. on gameday.

“We’re tired, and hot,” she said as she took a break in a shaded area between the seating bowl and the concession area with her sleepy daughter.

After the match, the family headed for the exits before the championship trophy was handed to Spain.

“Spain was better this game, it hurts me to say,” Rodrigo Fernandez said as Villar carried their sleeping daughter. “It was a great game, and it was a shame to lose, but was an unforgettable experience.”

World Cup fans were given a “Join The Celebration” sign that encouraged fans on how to best participate in the game.

“When the music kicks in, clap along using your clapper!”

It was about as useful as signing up Messi for soccer instructions

Just as they have throughout the tournament, fans from both countries were jacked up from the moment they navigated long times to enter the stadium and sang and chanted in their native languages; certainly, giving halftime performers such as Madonna and Shakira a lofty bar to reach. There were no indication security lines for fans were slowed by President Donald Trump's presence.

Spain fans dotted rows in their vibrant red-and-yellow afro wigs that featured their nation’s flag. They removed them only to dump water on their heads and down their necks, trying to keep cool on a sunny day.

Ticket prices for the final soared like a Messi free kick before finally come down just a smidge — by well-heeled fans standards. “Modern Family” actor Sofía Vergara stopped traffic in one concourse about 45 minutes before kickoff.

Tickets to the World Cup final, which were selling for tens of thousands of dollars, dropped to as low as $2,334.50 in the hours before the game on FIFA’s resale site. FIFA still had list price tickets on sale the morning of the game for $10,990.

Yes, perhaps, some fans scrimped and saved to buy tickets.

Messi and the once-in-a-lifetime game instilled a unique kind of obsession to the passionate, loyal Argentina fan base.

They included three friends who cycled more than 10,000 miles from their home in Argentina to Kansas City, Missouri, to watch their national team compete in the tournament; a nanny who lived out of a Honda Civic to scrounge, save and travel to games; and another fan who said she got a tattoo of an Argentine celebrity in exchange for a game ticket.

The cyclists appeared to have made their way to New Jersey.

The soccer-crazed diehards found inside the stadium mostly had saved and had the means to make the trip.

The 28-year-old Maccotta runs a software company, and his friend Burcaco works in real estate.

Maccotta figured he spent around $35,000 total to follow Argentina around for the World Cup. The highlight before Sunday, a win against England. He landed in New York at 4:50 a.m. on Sunday after a nearly 14-hour delay out of Miami because of thunderstorms.

“It’s the last Messi World Cup,’ he said. “My country. Hopefully we go back-to-back. We have to share the feeling. It’s once in a lifetime.”

For Argentina, it was a chance to become the first back-to-back men’s World Cup champion since Pele and Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962. And for Messi, it would have been the perfect ending to what he has indicated will be his final run with his national team.

Thousands of Argentina and Spain fans flooded Times Square over the weekend and burst into song and chants and the kind of revelry that has been a festive staple in World Cup host cities throughout North America.

Spain was ready to call the fandom a draw.

Curro Sanchez, from Madrid, spent $8,000 on a ticket. He landed a day earlier and is staying in Manhattan through Thursday.

“Had a big, big, big fight with my wife,” Sanchez said. “At the end of the day, she understood."

Associated Press Writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this story.

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

National flag of Spain and Argentina are displayed as smoke the color of the countries are set off before the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Fireworks explode before the start of the World Cup championship final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Spain fans watch the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Diana Fox Carney, from left, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, first lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Leena Al Ashqar, King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain attend the World Cup championship final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Attendees cheer before the start of the World Cup championship final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The University of Michigan and athletic director Warde Manuel have agreed to a buyout of the remaining three years on his contract and he will step down at the end of 2026, culminating a decade-long run with four national championships and a string of scandals.

The announcement on Monday followed investigations into former football coach Sherrone Moore's relationship with his executive assistant and a probe into the athletic department.

“The broader culture review has identified serious concerns that require immediate action," interim school president Domenico Grasso said.

Michigan won this year's men's basketball title and the 2023 national championship in football under Manuel, but that wasn't enough for him to keep his job. Grasso said he asked Manuel to remain in his role through the end of the year.

“I am happy President Grasso asked me to stay on to work with him to implement the recommendations for continuous improvement,” Manuel said in a statement released by the athletic department. “I promise everyone I will have more to say about my decision at the appropriate time.”

The storied athletic department has been in turmoil for years, with scandal-tinged headlines jarringly alongside general excellence across most of the school's 27 teams in Division I and the Wolverines annually among the best in the powerhouse Big Ten. It got worse last December, when Manuel fired Moore following a law firm's investigation into a relationship he had with a subordinate.

The school later chose to widen the look into the department. A law firm was paid about $12 million to do the work and it interviewed nearly 300 people, including coaches, staff members, athletes and other stakeholders. The school said more than 90 people shared information via a hotline and 20,000-plus documents were reviewed during the investigations.

The athletic department review found problems with leadership accountability, organizational structure and a culture that didn't make employees and athletes feel comfortable raising concerns.

“The culture assessment is sobering,” Grasso said. “As a great university, we simply must do better.”

The school said the investigation did not find widespread misconduct. It also said the investigations did not identify any current employee with direct evidence of Moore's relationship with his executive assistant.

The 58-year-old Manuel, who played football for the Wolverines under the late Bo Schembechler and was on the track team, was hired to lead the department in 2016. He signed a contract extension at Michigan in 2024 that was set to run through June 2030, paying him a base salary of $1.9 million a year with opportunities to make more with bonuses and merit.

He led a department with an annual budget of about $250 million, 29 teams, 950-plus athletes and about 400 staff members.

The Wolverines won the national championship in football under former coach Jim Harbaugh, who later left to lead the Los Angeles Chargers, as a sign-stealing scandal loomed over the program and Moore's tenure.

The program is on NCAA probation and has seen many former staffers have run-ins with the law, including Matt Weiss, who is charged with hacking into the computer accounts of thousands of college athletes to find intimate images.

Michigan won it all in men's basketball earlier this year with coach Dusty May, who left to lead the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. Michigan also won men's and women's gymnastics national titles with Manuel as AD.

The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame gave Manuel the John L. Toner Award in 2024, honoring him for demonstrating superior administrative abilities and dedication to college athletics, especially football. He represented Michigan and the Big Ten as member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and was chair during the 2004 season when the 12-team playoff format kicked off.

Manuel, who is from New Orleans, previously served as athletic director at UConn and Buffalo after working in Michigan's athletic department in various roles from 1996 to 2005.

Grasso said the school will conduct a national search for a new athletic director.

Potential candidates include three former Michigan athletes: Iowa Deputy Athletic Director Joe Parker, Big Ten Deputy Commissioner Diane Dietz and Katie Fraumann, a senior vice president at DePaul. Parker and Fraumann previously worked for Michigan's athletic department.

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

FILE - Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel watches against Indiana in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)