No, Qatar should not be hosting the World Cup. No, it isn’t right that fans can’t drink beer and players can’t wear rainbow arm bands at this World Cup.
But the World Cup is still the greatest sporting event. Bar none. And this is coming from someone who has covered sports for 35 years, including Super Bowls, Final Fours, Wimbledons, NBA Finals, and 14 Olympics.
Those are all fun in their own way, but there is nothing quite like the World Cup.
Nothing means more to most sports fans on this planet than watching their national soccer teams take center stage, living and dying with their heroes’ every dribble, every pass, every shot, every foul, every save for the dramatic month-long quadrennial tournament.
It is why an estimated five billion people – more than half of the world population — will tune in to some part of the Qatar World Cup, which kicked off Sunday and runs through Dec. 18. It is why businesses, schools, government offices and banks shut down in many countries when their World Cup team is playing.
For too long, Americans didn’t get it. The World Cup was a foreign party they usually weren’t invited to and didn’t understand. Those days are over.
The Empire State Building was lit up Sunday night to celebrate the start of the World Cup. So was the Seattle Space Needle, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and many other iconic buildings across the nation. Here in South Florida, which will host World Cup games in 2026, Hard Rock Stadium, Port Miami, and Miami-Dade Courthouse all lit up the night sky for the occasion.
Fans were awake and in full World Cup mode by 8 a.m. Eastern time Monday (5 a.m. Pacific time) to tune into England’s 6-2 rout of Iran. Crowds gathered at British pubs all over America and partied as the Three Lions proved to be one of the Cup favorites.
Later in the afternoon, plenty of Americans (some of whom I know and will remain nameless) pretended to work, or were half-engaged at work, while watching the USA vs Wales game on another screen with the sound turned down. Others played hooky altogether and attended watch parties, decked in USA team scarves. Americans now bet on games and fill out World Cup brackets. They plan watch parties. They fill out Panini sticker books.
That collective roar at 2:38 p.m. was American fans from sea to shining sea celebrating Tim Weah’s goal off a brilliant through ball from Christian Pulisic. It gave the Americans a 1-0 lead over Wales that they would hang onto for 46 supercharged minutes.
Then came the collective groan at around 4 p.m., which was fans all over the United States and thousands of star-spangled fans at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Doha begrudgingly accepting a 1-1 tie after Welsh star Gareth Bale blasted in the equalizing penalty kick after being taken down in the box by U.S. defender Walker Zimmermann. Bale was already a national hero in Wales, a country of 3 million people that had not been in a World Cup since 1958, and he is a bigger hero today.
Once upon a time, U.S. fans would have been happy with a tie. They would have said “Good try, boys! Go USA!” Not anymore. Americans now understand how unsatisfying it is to accept the one point for a World Cup tie when the three points for a win seemed so close. After Monday’s tie, Twitter was blowing up with angry posts by U.S. fans complaining that coach Gregg Berhalter brought in Jordan Morris as a late-game sub instead of Gio Reyna.
“Bringing on Jordan Morris over Gio Reyna is legitimately a fireable offense” read one Tweet. “Jordan Morris over Gio Reyna has to be some kind of crime,” read another.
There is so much more soccer on U.S. television these days, and fans have developed strong opinions, just like they do for the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball.
It isn’t only U.S. fans who have become more sophisticated and soccer savvy. The American national team players, who used to be a mostly rag-tag bunch of scrappy college kids trying to keep up with highly paid professionals, are also all grown up. Many of them play with Europe’s Big Boys now, and the rest play in well-established Major League Soccer.
Ten of the 11 Team USA starters on Monday were Europe-based, the most in U.S. World Cup history. The clubs they play for: Arsenal, AC Milan, Fulham, Leeds, Juventus, Valencia, Chelsea, Norwich City and Lille.
The U.S. roster is the second youngest of the 32 teams in this Cup. Only Ghana has a younger team. Only one player on the 26-man roster – Inter Miami’s DeAndre Yedlin – has World Cup experience. But these American players have been on big stages before and faced some of the world’s elite players. They are ready to compete.
They showed it for the first 45 minutes. Team USA dominated possession 66 percent to 34 percent, and more importantly, looked composed, technically sound, and mature, belying the team’s youth. They completed 90 percent of their passes (314 of 350) and looked like the better team.
But Wales stepped it up in the second half, played a more direct style, and Zimmerman’s ill-advised foul in the box gave Bales the chance to knot it up, which he did just as nicely as he does his hair.
So, Team USA heads into Friday’s game against England with one point instead of three, tied for second place in Group B instead of tied for the lead. Still alive, but with a bigger mountain to climb to reach the knockout stage. It is a foregone conclusion that England will advance. Chances are Iran will not. So, it will likely come down to USA and Wales for the second spot.
Buckle your seatbelts. This party is just getting started!
