A Previously Indifferent Person's Guide to the World Cup
And an interview with someone who went to Qatar to watch
I have no memories of watching soccer growing up. I played soccer, along with softball, ice hockey, and other sports, but I never felt a strong sense of loyalty to a team. Sure, it was exciting when the Vancouver Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs — in 1994 and again in 2011 — but I didn’t lose any sleep when they lost, both years. Which is why it may seem strange that I was moved to tears watching Argentina win the World Cup this weekend.
I yelled at the screen. I cringed. I covered my eyes when the tension was too much. I think I even prayed at one point. So how did I become a passionate soccer fan cheering for a country I’ve never set foot in seemingly overnight? It’s not that long a story, so I’m going to share it with you, as well as a few other interesting things I’ve learned about the World Cup in this short journey from indifference to sincere enthusiasm.
Like any journey, I didn’t do it alone. I happen to have a close friend from Argentina, who has slowly introduced me to the culture of soccer through his dedication to his beloved local team. Game days, I’ve noticed, are both sacred and stressful. I also have a friend’s son who adores soccer with a spirit and wealth of knowledge beyond his years. This aspiring soccer star actually attended the World Cup this year, so I had the pleasure of hearing about his firsthand experience. Additionally, readers like you initially nudged me to inquire more deeply into the culture and history of the World Cup. Ozzy asked in my Substack chat to share my opinion on the seemingly feigned moral outrage and controversy surrounding the working conditions in Qatar, and while I know a little about the phenomenon of moral outrage, I’ll admit I didn’t know much about what was going on with the World Cup and why people were upset. So I did what anyone would do: I googled.
It turns out there’s a long and complicated history beyond the “current thing” to be upset about. Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup against all odds and presumably as a result of shady backdoor deals by FIFA executives. The documentary on Netflix, FIFA Uncovered, is a great primer on FIFA’s long history of corruption and how sports organizations have played a role in some of the most destructive political movements in history. It certainly can leave a bad taste in your mouth about the game if you’re not careful, but I’m a proponent of being able to make distinctions and not throw the baby out with the bath water.
FUN FACT: This year’s World Cup was the most expensive one ever. Qatar spent an estimated $220 billion dollars. Nearly $10 billion of that was spent on the new stadiums, one of which was completely deconstructable, and the rest was spent on building the infrastructure, like the construction of the Doha Metro and the expansion of Hamad International Airport.
Qatar had to practically build a whole new city to facilitate all the World Cup games, events, and fans from all over the world. The date was moved from the summer months to December, to avoid the unbearable summer heat. The workers, however, most of whom were shipped in from other countries, didn’t have the luxury of choosing a more manageable climate, and many (in the thousands) are said to have died from unsafe, unsanitary, and inhumane working conditions. Qatari officials have denied much of the criticism and downplayed the number of deaths, but there is substantial coverage spanning the last couple of years if you’re interested in learning about the human rights violations and players’ responses to them.
With all this money being invested and people actually risking or losing their lives for this event to exist, the inevitable question is, is it worth it? This is obviously a deeply philosophical question that gets to the heart of our cultural values and obsession with materialism, but it wouldn’t be fair to judge without finding out what it was actually like. Remember, this is about soccer, right? I was fortunate enough to have a friend who traveled to Qatar to attend a couple of the games, and he was kind enough to answer some questions I had. Oh, and my friend is ten years old.
You can listen to our conversation, read it, or both. Just be sure to keep scrolling to not miss the rest of the article.
How many days were you gone?
Uh, a week.
A whole week. And how many games did you go to?
Angel: I went to two.
Two games. Which games?
Mexico versus Poland and Japan versus Germany.
Okay. And who were you rooting for?
Well, I was rooting for Mexico and, I don't know. Germany lost to Japan in that game, but I was kinda rooting for Germany, but I didn't really care.
Tell me, what is the World Cup?
Well, the World Cup is like this event that happens every four years, and it's like the most watched sports event in the world.
And what did you know about this particular World Cup, like about Qatar or what it was gonna be like? What did you know before you went?
Uh, I didn't know that much.
So when you imagined it, like what did you imagine?
Uh, I imagined it kinda like Mexico and it was kinda like Mexico, but a lot more buildings.
More buildings?
Yeah.
And were they all pretty much brand new?
Yeah, it was super cool. Everything was like super pretty and new.
It's like a different planet almost, right?
Yeah. It looked like the future city.
And what was the weather like?
Uh, in the day it was pretty hot and then in the night, in the night it was pretty cool. It was like perfect weather in the night.
So tell me about the games. What was it like to be at an actual World Cup game?
Well, super loud. Everybody was screaming in the Mexico one. They were like screaming in Spanish and saying curses and stuff.
Your dad didn't cover your ears?
No. He was screaming too.
I saw on tv. A lot of the Japan fans seemed dressed up in costumes. Did you see any of that?
Yeah, I saw this guy that had like a mushroom head and then he had it all painted and there was also this little tiger, like he had a tiger head and he was like one of the, I don't know if it's like one of those cartoons that like Japan does, but…
How were the games? I mean, you're very well-versed in soccer and professional soccer and how it all works. Do you think that the teams really played well, and played really good games?
Well, Mexico didn't play that well in that game. It was a tie zero zero, which was kind of disappointing cause I wanted to see a goal. But then I got to see three goals in the other game, so...
And what was it like when there was a goal scored?
Uh, when Germany scored, it wasn't that much celebration. It was just like, it was just like a, like a bunch of screams and then that's it. But when Japan tied the game, everybody went crazy. Cause there was a, there was like a Japan family next to us, so they were high-fiving everybody and stuff.
Did anything memorable happen at any of those games? Or what stands out to you the most?
Well, Japan beat Germany, which was really weird.
That was unexpected?
Yeah. Cause Japan's not as good as Germany and Germany's usually really good.
And what was it like just being there? Did they have different kinds of food? Did you have to wear, you know, different clothes?
Well, I had to wear this, the thing that you cover your head and then you have like a black rope and then it's like a dress thing. And since I'm vegetarian, all they got like all the food and all the food wasn't that good for me cause all they had was like this rice with cheese, and that's all I ate for the whole trip.
And so did you learn a lot about Qatar while you were there?
Yeah, well they took us to two museums. One in Abu Dhabi and one in Qatar. In the Qatar one, it like showed like the history of how they found, they found like this petrol and they got rich selling it to other countries. So at first, Qatar was just like a tiny country with nothing, just desert. And then they found that and they got super rich.
What did you think about their choice of having this year's World Cup in Qatar?
I don't cause my Aunt said that they didn't like allow, like women in, but when I got there they did like, they changed the law or something.
So they made exceptions for the World Cup?
Yeah.
I heard somewhere that, you know, they were going to let people drink beer and then, and then they didn't allow.
Well, they actually did in the stadiums.
Oh, okay. Is it a place that you'd ever wanna visit again?
Uh, yeah.
And have you been watching the World Cup games since you've been back?
Yeah.
Yeah. And what do you think?
Well, Germany's eliminated. Spain's eliminated, and it looks to me like Brazil's gonna win the World's Cup. Cause they're doing really good and their team is really good.
And what do you think was the most interesting thing? Like if someone had never, has never been and really wants to know what it's, what it's like to be there in person, how would you describe it to them?
Super loud, but super fun.
Great. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. It might be as close as I'll ever get, and maybe when you go in LA you can report live.
Yeah.
FUN FACT: Japanese fans are known for staying after games and picking up the garbage left behind by fellow attendees. While some countries’ fans are known for getting confrontational, especially when they don’t win, the Japanese have a different attitude. This video captures the unique and uplifting spirit of the Japanese fans.
It’s hard for me to imagine being so committed to a sports team that I would spend thousands of dollars and fly across the world to watch them play, but this is clearly not a unique phenomenon. And to be fair, the World Cup isn’t just a sports event. It’s a historic cultural experience. For generations to come, people will be telling stories about *spoiler alert* when Argentina won the World Cup. It is truly a beautiful notion that a game of kicking a ball in a net can bring together people from all different nations in the name of athletic achievement and human excellence. At least, that’s what we would hope it would be about. But where there’s the opportunity, it seems that greed, money, power, politics, and corruption always seem to find their way to the front of the line.
When I walked through the jam-packed Miami streets on Sunday, however, swimming through a sea of white and blue, I didn’t have a single thought about the geo-political implications of World Cup economics. Every single person, young and old, was smiling, cheering, and singing with such passion and pride, it was as if they had been out on the pitch that day. Oddly, it reminded me of September 11, 2001, when you felt a connection to every stranger you saw on the street, only instead of it being a somber reminder of our shared humanity, it was a joyful affirmation that all is right with the world. And even if it’s not, we can enjoy this moment together. I think countries with extreme political struggles understand this better than most. They understand that everything can disappear at any moment, so you must learn to seize it.
It didn’t matter that I wasn’t from Argentina, or that I wasn’t wearing a Messi jersey, or even knew any of the words to the songs, I was part of the celebration, and sometimes that’s enough.