Farah Ben Gamra
While millions of fans around the world have spent the last two weeks glued to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, José Mourinho admits he hasn’t.
The legendary Portuguese manager made the surprising confession in a recent interview, revealing that many of this year’s matches simply haven’t kept his attention.
Asked if any teams or players had impressed him so far, Mourinho didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Look, I have to be honest,” he said. “Some of the matches, after 10 minutes, I switch off.”
For Mourinho, there is an issue with the quality of many of the games in the World Cup. The tournament expanded, but the quality has dropped.
Mourinho Says The Tournament Hasn’t Felt Like a World Cup
The former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager explained that he still sees the World Cup as the biggest stage in football, but believes too many matches have been one-sided.
“I don’t like the feeling,” Mourinho said. “For me, the World Cup is the top of the top.”
He did give credit to the tournament’s global impact, saying it’s special because “the world is breathing football.” But from a football perspective, he expected much tighter contests.
“It’s not possible 7-1. It’s not possible 5-1. This is the World Cup!” he said, pointing to the number of lopsided scorelines during the expanded 48-team tournament.
Mourinho admitted there has been one exception. “Brazil-Morocco was a great game,” he said.
Apart from that, he joked that he had spent his evenings enjoying “some nice dinners” and “some nice sleeps” instead of staying up until 3 a.m. to watch every match.
That could soon change, however. With the knockout stage now underway, Mourinho said he expects the quality to improve.
“I think I’m going to start watching properly in the second half,” he said, suggesting the tournament is only now beginning to reach the level he expects from a World Cup.
