The 2026 World Cup has been ongoing since mid June. It is being hosted by three countries this year, a first in World Cup history, with games being played in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
I posted about the 2022 World Cup, after it ended. Here is a link to that effort.
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/12/world-cup-2022.html
In the 2022 post, I detailed both negative and positive aspects of that World Cup. Negative in terms of its host country, Qatar having little infrastructure when chosen, a poor record on human rights, summer temps that forced the tournament to be held in December, and many examples of workers' rights being violated as they scrambled to build the necessary venues.
Positive in terms of the unity that sports can build, within nations and between competitors from different countries, and the games themselves, especially the final between France and Argentina which featured two of the world's best players, a 2 goal comeback in the second half by France, a late, tying goal in the 2nd overtime by Argentina, and then a thrilling series of penalty kicks that resulted in Argentina's victory.
Similarly, there are some negatives associated with this years edition, especially in light of the threats by the Trump Administration to dispatch ICE agents to the various American city stadiums, the ugly treatment of the Iranian team epitomized with the current DHS secretary who stated that he "did a little dance" when Iran was eliminated, not to mention the hesitancy of some people born in other countries to come to America to see their team in action.
On top of that, the cost to attend the events was staggering, from the tickets themselves to the transportation fees to get to the various sites, especially at the MetLife stadium.
Fortunately, those obstacles did not keep a record number of people from jamming the various arenas to watch. I will resist the desire to comment on our questionable priorities, considering the billions of dollars that will be spent during this tournament.
I must admit, I initially decided to boycott the games, to not watch any of the games. In addition to the negatives I mentioned above, I felt hypocritical in supporting FIFA, especially in light of their obsequious gifting of a "peace" prize to DJT. I know it is all about flattery and bending the knee for the bigger picture, but Infantino, current FIFA president, makes me want to throw up in my mouth when I see him talking on TV.
I say initially, because I finally watched parts of two games this past week, and all of the USA round of 32 match.
As expected, I enjoyed the games I watched, putting aside my displeasure of FIFA and the threats from our own government to have ICE agents on the ground, instead relishing the athletic prowess of the players, and their ability to perform under such intense pressure.
At this point, with half of the round of 32 over, I expect that France will be back in the final on Sunday, July 19th although they will have to get past (probably) Morocco and Spain.
The other side of the bracket features three very strong South American teams, Brazil and Columbia along with Argentina, and a very interesting match this Saturday between Mexico and England.
As for the United States team, I think they have a 50-50 chance to beat Belgium, and if someone upsets Brazil, perhaps, having shot their wad so to speak, the USA squad can move onto the semifinals to face France. I don't see them winning that match but hey, you never know, there having been one big upset already, as Germany can attest to.
Alluding to my belief that France has an easier bracket, that perhaps the other really good teams will have beat up one another to the point that France is fresher, healthier, I won't be surprised if France is the ultimate winner, but would never discount the level of competition from the South American teams.
Regardless, I only hope that the rest of the tournament progresses without incident, that we are gracious hosts to the world, and that if our team does not advance past Belgium or Spain or France for that matter, we accept a loss with humility. And celebrate the eventual winner and their fans.
Sports truly has a way of bringing people of disparate circumstances together, if even only for a month, and that in this particular common thread, soccer, we can recognize our similarities while also respecting, even rejoicing in our differences and in the diversity of life on our shared planet.
