The World Cup has the effect of making all other sports look puny, but particularly college sports—an American phenomenon with very little parallel worldwide (maybe the Canadian Hockey League, maybe Koshien). What is Miami-Indiana, or Michigan-Ohio State or Auburn-Alabama, against the majesty of Japan-Brazil or Morocco-Netherlands?
To watch the 2026 World Cup as an American college sports fan is to undergo the kind of ego death astronauts suffer while orbiting the Earth. Suddenly, our quibbles seem petty, our vision desperately limited. This can be turned on its head as well—our endemic corruptions are next to nothing in FIFA’s shadow.