World Cup 2026 – We Have A Winner!
Our last Envío World Cup Sweepstake update came after the group stage, when six Latin American teams were still flying the flag in the knockout rounds. Now, with the quarter-finalists confirmed, we can officially say it: we have a winner!
As a reminder, the prize on offer is a bottle of champagne and a gift voucher for the team member whose nation goes furthest in the tournament. After a dramatic couple of knockout rounds, that honour has now been decided.
Of the six Latin American teams that progressed through the groups, the round of 32 saw just one eliminated, with five making it safely through to the round of 16.
Leaving the competition at that stage were:
Chris Gaduzo – Inside Sales
Team: Ecuador 🇪🇨
Inevitably, one Latin American team had to fall, as Ecuador faced off against Mexico and lost 2-0. There were rumours that the Ecuador squad had endured a sleepless night thanks to Mexican fans making plenty of noise outside the team hotel. Chris has yet to confirm whether he’ll be lodging an official sweepstake appeal, but we suspect he may feel his team were beaten before they even reached the pitch.
Unfortunately, the round of 16 proved to be a disappointing one for Latin American teams, with four more exiting the tournament. That made the Envío sweepstake result definitive, leaving just one team member still standing.
Leaving the competition in the round of 16 were:
Joanne Humphrey – Accounts
Team: Mexico 🇲🇽
Mexico exited at the hands of England in a thrilling match in the early hours of Monday morning, following their comfortable win over Ecuador in the previous round. For Joanne, it was a classic case of split loyalties. The sweepstake prize was clearly in sight, but England progressing softened the blow slightly. Champagne would have been nice, of course, but national pride just about edged it.
Sean Stokes – Managing Director
Team: Paraguay 🇵🇾
We’ll never forget Paraguay’s magnificent penalty shootout victory over Germany, but France proved to be one challenge too far. A narrow 1-0 defeat put an end to Sean’s hopes of sweepstake glory. Still, it was a tournament to be proud of. Sean may not be lifting the Envío prize this time, but knocking Germany out on penalties is the kind of result that deserves to be mentioned in every meeting for at least the next four years.
Will O’Shea – Operations
Team: Brazil 🇧🇷
After a comeback win against Japan, Brazil came unstuck against Erling Haaland’s Norway, with the big Norwegian scoring twice in a 2-1 victory. Will was understandably shocked to see Brazil exit so early in the knockouts. However, given he was only awarded Brazil through a second-chance redraw after Haiti’s elimination, the rest of the office may feel this was simply the sweepstake gods restoring balance.
Jaqui Rungay – Procedures & Sales Support
Team: Colombia 🇨🇴
Colombia became the final Latin American team to exit in the round of 16, losing to Switzerland after a dramatic penalty shootout. As one of the last two team members still in contention, Jaqui had every reason to dream big heading into the match. Sadly, the dreaded penalties had other ideas. So near, yet so Swiss.
That left just one Latin American team in the quarter-finals. The round of 16 was a disaster for teams from across the American continent, with co-hosts Canada and the USA joining Mexico and three other Latin American sides in making their exit.
Argentina is now the last team standing and, it must be said, the current world champions have reached the quarter-finals by the skin of their teeth against teams they were expected to beat more comfortably.
Cape Verde took them to extra time before Argentina eventually won 3-2, and then Egypt had them trailing 2-0 with just over 20 minutes to go before Argentina somehow pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback.
Which means the winner of the 2026 Envío World Cup Sweepstake is none other than:
Scott Easton – Director
Team: Argentina 🇦🇷
Congratulations Scott!
Scott becomes the second winner of the Envío World Cup Sweepstake, following Josh Sweeney’s victory in 2022 — also with Argentina. At this point, it may be time to ask whether drawing Argentina is luck, skill, or simply the most reliable route to champagne. Ironically, Scott drew the original tournament favourites Brazil in the last competition – what more proof do we need that the draw is in no way fixed?
Time for a VAR review?
