Despite the well-documented controversies around travel bans, ticket prices, visa issues and the US treatment of the Iranian team, the World Cup in North America is off to a superb start.
It is bringing people from across the world together in an atmosphere of joy and enthusiasm and delivering beautiful football and wild celebrations.
The tournament kicked off in Mexico, Canada and the US, with 48 teams for the first time ever, leading to more games, more excitement and more people across the world who get to see their country at the most important sporting stage.
Here are a few observations from the tournament so far:
Brilliant football
The World Cup is all about the football, isn’t it? And the gameplay has been amazing.
Kylian Mbappe and Osman Dembele pace and thunderous shots. Record-breaker Lionel Messi has rolled back the years, scoring for fun and all but-settling “the greatest of all time” debate. Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal have also impressed on their World Cup debuts.
But it’s not just the stars.
Whether it’s veterans like Cabo Verde’s Vozinha and Ramin Rezaeian or emerging stars like Kerim Alajbegovic, there have been standout players across the tournament.
Many matches have been breathtaking and few, if any, can be considered boring. Even the scoreless draw between Colombia and Portugal was full of chances and end-to-end football.
Amazing fans
Football is the most popular sport in the world because of the players on the pitch and the fans in the stands. This World Cup, the fans have not disappointed. Full of passion and joy, they have driven up the enthusiasm at every match.
Norway fans’ Viking row has become more synonymous with the team than Haaland himself. The celebrations of Egyptian fans have become an internet sensation. The costumes and outfits of US supporters have also been impressive.
Even after losing all three matches, Haiti fans left the stadium singing and dancing.
While the Trump administration has not been welcoming of travelers, in cities across the US, Mexico and Canada, locals have embraced visitors.
Kansas City adopted Algeria. Boston was happy to be overrun by Scottish fans. Iranian players have been singing the praises of Mexico’s hospitality.
The expansion works
Before the tournament, there were concerns that bringing more teams to the tournament may dilute the level of football. But that has not significantly happened.
Cabo Verde, a country with 600,000 people, has made it out of the group stage undefeated, holding Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to draws.
While there have been some heavy results against other teams that may not have qualified without the expansion, including Curaçao’s 7-1 loss to Germany, it is a small price to pay for the added thrill and pride that participating nations are experiencing.
Iraq and Jordan, for example, failed to gain a single point, but if you ask their fans whether making it to the World Cup was worth it, the answer will be a resounding yes.
The inclusion of more teams did not affect the nail-biting anticipation around who would qualify to the knock out stages. The uncertainty went on until the final whistle of the final match of the group stage. (More on that later).
The organization is good
Before the tournament, there were fears that the US may not be up to the task of hosting the biggest sporting event in the world, in part because football is not that popular here, and not all cities have up-to-date infrastructure, including public transport.
But the US, Mexico and Canada have all risen up to the occasion.
The organizers have hired scores of staff members and volunteers to assist fans, and host cities have devised ways to get fans into the stadium via shuttles and rail systems despite the dominance of car culture.
There have been no major incidents of bad organization.
Most Arab teams disappoint
Eight Arab teams made it to the World Cup – a record.
But once at the tournament, their record has not been so good. Iraq conceded 12 goals and failed to get a point. Tunisia also finished with three losses and a -10 goal difference. Jordan was another country that was defeated in all three group stage matches.
Saudi Arabia was last in its group and suffered a heavy loss to Spain. Qatar was in a similar boat with one draw and two losses, including a painful 6-0 defeat to Canada, which saw the Qataris go down to nine men.
On the bright side, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria have qualified to the round of 32.
Iran mistreated, unlucky
The treatment of Iran by the US host has been an enormous blemish on an otherwise outstanding World Cup.
Iran was made to base their training camp in Mexico and the players and staff had severe travel restrictions for their games in the US. For the first two matches, they were allowed into the country only one day before the game and had to leave immediately afterwards.
For Iran’s final game, US authorities let the team arrive two days prior in a change that proves that the earlier restrictions were arbitrary – if not vindictive.
On the pitch, Iran has been perhaps the most unfortunate team in the tournament. Despite being undefeated, Iran crashed out of the World Cup after drawing all three games, which saw two crucial Iranian goals disallowed for close offside calls.
On the final day of the group stage, Iran was still favorite to go through as one of the top eight best third place finishers. But three results in three different groups went against the Iranians.
In the last match, if either Algeria or Austria had lost, Iran would have qualified.
Algeria scored in the 93rd minute to make it 3-2, ensuring Iran’s spot, but Austria equalized in the final kick of the game two minutes later.
