E-Paper
Cup memories, beyond the pitch
It began and ended ingloriously. In between, there were Vozinha’s tears, Cabral’s embrace, Iran’s thank you notes and more
Lionel Messi’s home and resting, Spain are home and revelling. This was a World Cup that began and ended ingloriously, where FIFA was over-trumped by the USA president and Iran made to feel unwelcome by his administration. But it was also a competition where football became a celebration of the collective and of the individual, a shorthand for diaspora delight, reason to sing Hey Jude, revisit Country Roads and look up Cabo Verde.
The one-sided final lowered the overall level of football from excellent. There was a surge in the number of goals from outside the penalty area, a trend HT had spotted early. There was also VAR following the letter and not the spirit of football’s laws, Michael Olise’s assists, Michael Olise’s misses and Argentina’s comebacks inspired by Messi. Till they were smothered by Spain.
We will remember them and Raul Jimenez and Rodri for showing that life usually gives you a second chance. We will not forget Kylian Mbappe becoming the World Cup’s highest scorer, Charles De Ketelaere breaching Spain’s defence and Nico Williams coming alive when it mattered the most. The three red cards the tournament kicked off with, Paraguay upsetting Germany before disrupting France with nearly-bookable offences and Leandro Paredes trying to choke Eric Garcia after the final will also be among the talking points.
But, every World Cup is more than the sum of its football. It’s been that way since travelling Argentina fans were searched for revolvers in 1930 through Roger Milla’s hippy-hippy shake, Diego Maradona asking Neapolitans to support Argentina, France promoting multi-culturalism in 1998 and singing about N’ Golo Kante in 2018.
The good
And so, on to the good, the bad and the ugly of 2026 World Cup beyond the pitch. On top of my list are: Stale Solbakken charging up the stands to embrace his wife after Norway got out of the group, Sidny Lopes Cabral scanning the crowd for his girlfriend and hugging her after making it 2-2 against Argentina in the 103rd minute, Williams handing the World Cup medal to his mother and young Keyne embracing his brother Lamine Yamal after the final.
These moments will be followed by Cristiano Ronaldo leading Portugal’s tribute to Diogo Jota, Norway’s Viking Row celebrations, Scotland fans (some of whom had taken a second mortgage on their homes to travel) drinking Boston dry and getting a full-page thank you in the “Boston Globe” for turning a city into a party zone and the Netherlands’ fans painting American cities a vibrant orange. Iran showed they were a better sport than the country that hosted 78 of the 104 matches by leaving thank you notes in Los Angeles and Seattle.
Vozinha’s incredible goalkeeping is the kind of story the World Cup has seen before. Joe Gaetjens scoring for USA in the 1-0 win against England in 1950, Sergio Goycochea’s tie-breaker heroics in 1990 and Francois Oman-Biyick’s goal for Cameroon against defending champions Argentina in that World Cup were also about journeymen becoming stars if only for a while. But where Vozinha’s story stood out was his tearful announcement that a $15,000 security bond was why his mother missed Cabo Verde’s first game.
The bad
It doesn’t head the list of “bad” because a waiver was eventually issued. Headlining that would be the Balogun affair. That it’s not the first time something like this happened doesn’t make it any better. Garrincha’s suspension was revoked in 1962 due to a request (pressure?) made through political channels but you would like to think football, and FIFA, have come a long way since. Exactly how this plays out will need to be seen. Are all footballers equal but some more equal than others?
A close second will be Omar Artan being refused entry though he had been selected by FIFA to officiate matches. FIFA saying he will still be paid in full didn’t quite compensate for its inability to impress upon the USA that like Iran, Artan deserved to be there. USA allowed Iran but only just so that will be next on the list. Iran had to shift base from the USA to Mexico and were not allowed recovery sessions after matches.
“Is it fair for FIFA? OK, good to them…If they want us to be out, then OK; let’s get out….We have to fight against everything here.” It is difficult to disagree with Mehdi Taremi.
The ugly
Argentina turning their back on Spain after the final or the way Tunisia handled changing coaches after the 1-5 defeat to Sweden should have topped the list of ugly things.
Sabri Lamouchi found out through social media that he wasn’t needed. Tunisia named a successor through an Instagram story but didn’t appoint him. The federation deleted the post and named Herve Renard as coach. Eighteen days and an insipid World Cup campaign later, Renard stepped down.
But nothing beats FIFA reporting a 14-fold increase in hate messages directed at players, teams and officials. FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) detected more than 7 million potentially harmful or abusive posts including half-a-million targeting players, coaches and officials, as per a Reuters report.
PLAY OF THE WEEK
