World Cup Dispatch #1
The greatest show on Earth is up and running. How will it shape the future of the beautiful game?
Welcome back to Seeing the Present after a long, first-year-of-law-school-induced hiatus! I’m incredibly lucky and grateful that I get to experience this home World Cup from a unique perspective thanks to my role at U.S. Soccer, so I want to provide a small window into what I’m seeing, hearing, and thinking during these five weeks for STP readers. This post, following the conclusion of the first round of group stage matches, is coming to you live from aboard a flight to Seattle on my way to the second USMNT game against Australia tomorrow.
🇲🇽 México – South Africa 🇿🇦
Ever since I was a soccer-loving kid growing up in Mexico City (before the CDMX rebrand), I’ve dreamt of seeing Mexico play a World Cup match at the Estadio Azteca. The fated day did not disappoint. On the eve of the game, I laid out my Mexico jersey in my childhood bedroom like it was the first day of school; I woke up extra early to drive toward the stadium before gameday traffic hit; and I met my cousin Juan Julián and a contingent of South African friends for a classic Mexican breakfast on the edge of the stadium’s security perimeter.
The 2km walk from the restaurant to the Azteca – a true soccer cathedral – was surreal and upbeat. There was music, dancing, and performers in all sorts of traditional costumes welcoming the river of people flowing toward the stadium. We stood out because we were traveling with a handful of yellow-clad South Africans, and dozens of people came up to them to ask for a picture or offer them free shots of tequila, in a show of Mexican hospitality.
Shouting the Mexican national anthem, singing Cielito Lindo, and celebrating two goals with another 80,000 people at full volume made me quite emotional; we sang, we cried, and we jumped up and down for 90 minutes. Although Mexico always looked in control and led almost the entirety of the game, there were spells when the home crowd was whistling at the home team for not playing well enough – a level of general football fan culture that I think we’re still developing stateside. Getting home after the match was quite the odyssey, especially since it began raining on our long walk to exit the stadium perimeter, but the entire day was a memory that I’ll treasure forever.
🇺🇸 USA – Paraguay 🇵🇾
Aside from an underwhelming path to the stadium (can’t say I could tell I was going to a home World Cup opener while passing the strip malls in Inglewood) and a lackluster opening ceremony, this game had it all. The stadium was packed, the fans were rowdy, and the USMNT played the best game of World Cup soccer in its history. Ending both halves with walk-off goals is essentially unheard of, and both of them were bangers, too, as we say in the industry. Thank God for birthright citizenship for giving us Folarin Balogun!
I knew the whole country had caught World Cup fever based on the number of messages I received from friends asking whether I was at the match, if I had been teammates with Matt Freese at Harvard (yes, I was his captain!), and how they could find tickets for the rest of the tournament. It was very encouraging to see how one good performance inspired so many people to feel invested in our success. Here’s hoping the boys can replicate that against the Socceroos!
🎬 Los Angeles 🌴
I stuck around Los Angeles for a few days after the opener to get a taste of how the city is experiencing the World Cup. In short: you can feel it. There are U.S. Soccer branded billboards and products everywhere you look, every McDonald’s is serving World Cup meals, and people all over town are dressed up to support their teams. Each time I got on the Metro or went out line dancing in the evenings, I made new friends with anyone wearing a soccer jersey: USA, México, Japan, etc.
I also got to watch the Japan-Netherlands game at the official FIFA Fan Fest inside the Coliseum with a large, rambunctious pro-Japan crowd. The second half of the game was an instant classic, but what truly made this experience feel like peak World Cup were the street vendors outside the venue who were selling snacks like papas preparadas (Lays chips with lime, chamoy, and Valentina) that are synonymous with soccer-watching parties back in Mexico.
For a snapshot of how LA’s diversity and the World Cup just go so well together, I caught the Belgium-Egypt game at a Colombian bar in Koreatown with the folks from the California South State Soccer Association (i.e. the U.S. Soccer members that oversee youth and amateur adult soccer in the bottom half of the state).
👓 The Big Picture ⚽️
There was a lot of criticism (much of it well-deserved, in my opinion) in the months, weeks, and days leading up to the World Cup about how FIFA approached everything from ticket prices to its brazen politicization of the tournament via Infantino’s relationship with Trump. On top of bipartisan criticism from American elected officials, the prevailing sentiment was decidedly negative across many publications, both at home and abroad:
Once the games began, however, the magic of the beautiful game took over, and the mood became one of celebration and awe at the level of entertainment on display:
Off the field, some of the greatest storylines include the Tartan Army invasion of Boston, the warm welcome the Algerian national team has received in their home base of Lawrence, Kansas, and the scores of international fans discovering the breadth and beauty of our massive country. On the field, Cabo Verde holding titans Spain to a goalless draw, Curaçao scoring their first World Cup goal against the mighty Germans, and the U.S. Men’s National Team putting on an extraordinary performance have all captured hearts and minds across the soccer world.
I love this sport and the way it can bring people together across physical space and personal differences, so while I’m indulging in the undeniable charm of the greatest show on Earth, I have pretty conflicting feelings about what the long-lasting impacts of FIFA’s approach to this World Cup will be. I will save more of those thoughts for future World Cup dispatches. Until then, be sure to tune into USA-Australia tomorrow at 3pm ET / 12pm PT on Telemundo! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of positions of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Always love hearing what you’re up to! ⚽️