India, July 21 -- 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...