By Atul Rawat
No other sport generates worldwide frenzy quite like football. It is time once again to welcome another edition of the World Cup, promising to be bigger and better than ever.
Football mania is once again sweeping across continents, cities, villages, cafés, television screens and social media feeds. From the streets of Mexico to the stadiums of USA, from Africa to Asia. The World Cup remains one of humanity’s greatest shared emotional experiences.
What is it about a leather ball being kicked around by twenty-two players that generates such extraordinary passion—not only among the players but also among millions of fans? Supporters have been known to go to any extent to back their favourite teams.
In no other sport is a nation’s passion represented in the manner that it is in football.
Many sports are closely associated with particular countries—cricket with India, basketball and baseball with the USA, and football with the Latin American nations. But none can match football in terms of its scope, magnitude and universal appeal.
Unlike many international tournaments, football cuts across language, class, religion, geography and politics.
The World Cup transforms ordinary people into passionate strategists, historians and dreamers. Streets empty during major matches. Giant screens appear in public squares. Children imitate famous goals in narrow alleys and school playgrounds.
“Papa, football dekhenge!” my son announces excitedly as the tournament approaches.
I groan silently when I look at the timings of the telecast. I am sure to turn into a bleary-eyed zombie for the next month, I tell myself.
Meanwhile, elaborate preparations are underway at home. Packets of chips are stocked, subscriptions to sports channels and OTT platforms are renewed to ensure football is available on every device. God forbid there is a power cut, but arrangements have been made for that contingency as well.
Everything is proceeding on a war footing. Even defence planners may not have planned their campaigns so meticulously, I wonder.
The conversation inevitably shifts to who will lift the trophy.
“Argentina,” says one.
“Brazil,” counters another.
“France.”
“Spain.”
There is no agreement. Everyone is an expert with statistics and historical records ready to demolish the other’s argument. Facts and figures fly across the room. Decibel levels rise steadily. I cannot help wondering that if India had qualified, whom would they all support? But that is a debate for another day.
Then comes the discussion on the greatest player.
“Messi,” declares one.
“Ronaldo,” insists another.
“Mbappé.”
“What about Neymar?”
The debate quickly moves to team selection. Should Neymar start? Should Messi be rested? Can Ronaldo still make the difference?
Football jerseys bearing the names of favourite players are taken out of cupboards and proudly worn. Posters mysteriously appear on bedroom walls overnight, as if by magic.
When emotions are running so high, can politics be left behind? Certainly not.
How will Iran fare in the USA? Is it fair to judge a football team by the politics of its nation? For perhaps the first time in recent memory, the tournament unfolds against the backdrop of not one but two ongoing wars, and in one of them the two countries on the opposing sides.
Once again, facts and figures fly, decibel levels soar, and punches and counter-punches—mercifully only verbal ones—are exchanged.
Finally, our local football expert takes centr stage, enthusiastically explaining the five or six new rule changes introduced by FIFA. Another debate begins.
“Too much technology is taking the human element out of the game.”
VAR has become the new referee, the final arbiter.
VAR is everywhere. “Thank God it is not WAR,” I mutter to myself. Though, listening to the arguments around me, it seems remarkably close.
And yet, despite all the technology, the statistics, the arguments and the endless predictions, football remains gloriously unpredictable. Ninety minutes, a single moment of brilliance, one mistake, one save, one goal—and millions laugh, cry, celebrate or despair together.
That is the magic of the World Cup. It is not merely a tournament; it is a month-long festival where the world speaks one language—the language of football.
Happy viewing.
