Much has been written about the World Cup, and even some by me. There are few insights I can add to such a repository of takes, but as I float between two host cities (and countries!), I did want to commemorate this 2026 Cup with my in situ thoughts and feelings. On today, July 8, the first off day of the busiest World Cup ever, there is a moment to breathe. Never have I been this into the World Cup - I've been joking that right now it's my entire personality. Being in a host city and in a preferable time zone for the matches has meant that the World Cup has been top of mind and readily available. Apparently there had been 26 days of football until today and I watched each and every day.
And there have been so many great matches! Argentina vs. Cape Verde, Argentina vs. Egypt, Belgium vs. Senegal, Croatia vs. Portugal, Mexico vs. England, Netherlands vs. Morocco. I'm trying to bring in a group stage match and I can't even because there have been too many WOWs and OMGs since that.
Flags are flying, casual fans are learning about new players and new countries for the first time, and the footballing has been excellent. FIFA has so much power because they own the monopoly to a truly great product. Of course, the way they wield their power brings so much to be desired. I've long known that if FIFA really was a non-profit devoted to spreading football around the world and putting on a good show, they would focus more on that and not on the brand endorsements. This year, more than ever, there has been that specter of politics. Anyone who has heard Gianni Infantino speak for one second dislikes him (the nickname Sycofantino is working for me), and the Trump involvement in Balogate turned the whole world against Team USA. The tagline "Football Unites the World" is honestly sickening given the number of fans (and one ref) from Africa and the Middle East denied visas to the US, and the way the Iran team has been treated.
Despite that, I can't help but get into the football itself. I have watched matches in massive fan zones all over the place. Seattle has 4 - Pioneer Square, the Pier, Pacific Place Mall, the Seattle Center - and I've been to them all. Vancouver has just the massive official FIFA zone at PNE, and I spent a Saturday afternoon there. I started the USA - Bosnia at Jack Poole Plaza where the TSN broadcast was set up, before I realized how strongly the crowd was cheering against the US. Oh, and I went to 2 matches at Lumen Seattle Stadium (Belgium vs. Egypt and USA vs. Belgium).
I have been a fan of the USMNT since I watched the 2002 World Cup. While that 2002 team had a great run, I remember with a grimace the '06, '10, '14 squads. There were teams with heart, but very few people who could dribble past any elite defender. We basically could only score on headers and fast breaks. Then of course in 2018 we didn't even qualify. Finally in the run-up to 2022, we had some players. Besides Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, we had some Europeans who could play. Sergino Dest, who grew up in the Netherlands, was one of the few players who didn't look scared to dribble. There was Antonee Robinson and Yunus Musah from the UK, and international men of mystery Tim Weah and Gio Reyna. We had Tyler Adams, Brendon Aaronson and Josh Sargent also running hard in England. It was a very young team, too young for anything in '22 but very hopeful for 2026. But we needed a striker. Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright were painful to watch as they missed shots and had first touches go too strong.
But in the intervening years few of those players really got better. The US team had middling performances and showed little sign of reaching their potential. And then the first match of 2026 and Flo Balogun nearly had a hat trick and I realized how passionate I could be for this team. Having a real striker who was poised around the goal was such a massive gift - suddenly we could score goals like real teams did. But it turns out that first match against Paraguay may have been the team's peak. On Monday, I personally witnessed one of the most disappointing USMNT games of all time. And because of the much talked about overturned suspension of Balogun with some Trump interference, it was one in which the entire world gleefully rooting against America. I have nothing to add to that except general sympathy for how it must feel for Balogun, who didn't ask for this and almost certainly has never even voted in the US.
Enough about the US though, they are eliminated. There are plenty of great stories to be had still, with so many stars still in the tournament. There's Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, Kane, Yamal still, plus you know, all the players who are great but don't score that much. There will be dramatic goals, heartbreaking penalties and probably another controversy or two to come. In addition to the on field excellence, there's been so much joy in seeing traveling fans, people sharing their passion for their country and mixing around. It's what life could be if more people traveled and if people regularly talked to strangers. It's why we should celebrate people coming from different countries and cultures instead of pretending that none of that matters. Our differences are awesome and we should strive to learn more about them.
My guess is France vs Norway in the finals.
