My lifelong dream of watching FIFA Men’s World Cup football
in-person was realized this year. All stars aligned for this to happen. A
result of being at the right place at the right time, really. The United States
of America hosted the 2026 tournament. And some of the venues were within
driving distance from where I live.
In a blog 12 years ago, I wrote that my fancy for FIFA World Cup football had diminished. However, when I heard that all the top teams with their superstars were coming to within a driving distance, the desire to watch the FIFA World Cup was sparked. Who wouldn’t want to watch stars of the likes of Messi, Christian Ronaldo, Mbape, Mane, Lamine Yamal, Vini Jr, Haaland, Kane, just to name a few.
Now, the tickets to the games were exorbitantly priced and the games were held at venues that were thousands of kilometers (miles) apart. Therefore, it was practically impossible to watch all the preferred games. Careful planning and strategic selection of games to watch was a must.
This is where I said, “it has to be Brazil”. So, I bought a
ticket to watch Brazil versus Haiti in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You may
offer your critique here and point out the obvious. Yes, I chose a game whose
result was predetermined to be a Brazil win because Brazil is many times better
than Haiti. Let me defend myself here. First, I still support Brazil because
they play a beautiful brand of football. For Brazil to produce their beautiful
game, they needed a lesser opponent. Second, the lesser opponent being Haiti
made me feel like I was indirectly showing solidarity with a country that has
been going through hardship for a long time. Haiti is a very poor country with
many problems. There you are!
I travelled to Philadelphia two days before the game which
was scheduled for 19 June 2026. On the day of the game, I went to the stadium.
It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. I had a very good
seat literally on the first row. The atmosphere was electric with Samba dancing
Brazil fans. The Haiti fans too expressed joy with singing. The people looked
beautiful. It seemed as if opposing fans loved each other. It was a party
atmosphere. And I was glad to have invited myself to the party. The majority of
the fans were wearing the Brazil yellow. But there were a few people wearing
the Haiti red here and there.
The game itself did not disappoint. The Brazil superstar,
Vini Jr. scored a goal and assisted on another goal. Another goal was scored
from a Brazil corner kick so that the game ended Brazil 3 Haiti 0. The game was
at night. It started at 9:00PM. Most of the time the Brazilians were singing in
Portuguese. At one point, the fans in the top stands of the Western side
unfurled a big banner. It had faces of five of some of the greatest
Brazilian soccer stars namely: Pelé, Mário Zagallo, Garrincha, Ronaldo Nazário,
and Ronaldinho. At halftime lights were turned off and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a
Prayer” was played with the entire stadium singing along and lights flashing in
the stands. It was awesome!
For comparison, I also watched the England versus Argentina
game in Atlanta, Georgia on the 15th of July. There was a stark difference
between this game and the previous one that I watched. England versus Argentina
was like a war. The fans and players of the two sides did not like each other.
Opposite fans were cursing each other both is song and shouting. They booed
each other’s national anthem to the extent that the national anthems were
drowned and could not be heard. The players were deliberately fouling and
hurting those of the opposite team. It was the opposite of FIFA’s theme of
“football unites”. Rather, it seemed like a classic case of “football divides”.
My overall impression of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is that it
had two distinct phases. The group stage
was exciting to experience but the single-elimination part was not. Many
games in the group stage produced smile inducing story moments. Most of the
supporters were enjoying themselves. There were heartwarming storylines such as
those of the underdog Cape Verse forcing a draw against favorites Spain with
their heroic goalkeeper Vozhinha. Nine out of the ten African teams advanced to
the knockout stage.
The knockout stage was uninspiring. Apart from the
third-place game between England and France, most games were painful to watch.
In addition to the ugly football, there was a lot of off-the-field stuff. FIFA
corruption was on full display. The excessive attention on celebrities, some of
whom know nothing about football, was off-putting. In the final game, the
half-time show represented a culmination of total disregard of what football (soccer) is
about.
FIFA needs to stop adding unnecessary features to the
beautiful game. There is no need for quarters (hydration breaks). The tradition of breaking the
game into two halves is adequate. Referees should be trusted to make decisions
based on what they have seen on the field. There is no need to take away goals
for incidents that occurred two minutes earlier that referees ignored.
Four-minute stoppages of the game to view fouls in frame-by-frame slow motion
are disrupting the flow of the game. And the most outrageous of all is taking
away a goal because a sensor inside the ball thinks the ball was touched by the
hair of someone who was offside.
Let’s hope the beautiful game will be preserved. Let’s hope the ridiculous additions to the game will be removed. And above all, both players and supporters should remember that this is just a game. It is not a war. Only then will the stated objective be realized. Only then will “football unite”.
