You don’t have to be a soccer fan to know that the FIFA World Cup is in full swing, with the Quarterfinals Round kicking off a few days ago. It’s been just over a month since the long-awaited tournament began, adding 16 teams to make this the first World Cup to host 48 nations instead of 32.
Now, as the numbers dwindle down into single digits and fan favorites are knocked from contention, I’ve begun to reminisce not only on how this last month has drawn our nation together in such a unique and rare way, but also on my own personal experience attending one of the matches — USA v. Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara, California.
Soccer has been my favorite sport to watch since I was young, because it was one of the sports I grew up playing. I started when I was 4, happily tapping a ball around, and quickly fell in love with it. I played throughout my adolescence until I was 18, with my dad coaching me for part of middle school and every year except my freshman year of high school. And while my family was always more interested in watching basketball (my hometown isn’t far from San Francisco, so the Warriors were our team), I preferred watching U.S. National Team highlights, hoping to pick up some skills along the way.
All this to say, my disbelief and excitement were through the roof when my dad asked if I wanted to watch the USA play in the Round of 32 on July 1st.
Attending a World Cup match was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, at least when it comes to witnessing live sporting events.
Over the years, I’ve watched the Women’s National Team play in San Diego, San Jose, and Santa Barbara (when they played at Harder Stadium in January!), and the Men’s Team once, on Father’s Day last year. The energy is always so lively and energetic, the fans are always loud, and my investment in the game somehow doubles when I’m actually in the stands. Because watching on TV and suffering through commercial breaks is one thing, but witnessing these players in real time, right in front of my eyes, is entirely different.
This match proved to be the most entertaining one, because the stakes were high, and the stadium (which seats nearly 70,000 people) was sold out, packed to the brim in red, white, and blue.
One of the most notable aspects of this match was the crowd. Everywhere I looked, fans were decked out for their country, sporting players’ jerseys (old and new — it was fun to see the older versions of the USA jersey being represented), our Founding Fathers (the wig and all), Lady Liberty, and our nation’s bird (the Bald Eagle, of course). Flags were waved around, balloons were tossed throughout the stands, and I even saw one young girl give another a friendship bracelet with the letters “USA” on it. The beautiful thing was, these girls didn’t know each other until they were squished together on the train ride to the stadium.
And this is only one example of the camaraderie I noticed.
Supporting this team meant everyone was united as one, exchanging celebratory high-fives and taking photos of one another, regardless of whether they’d ever spoken. Two men who sat beside my dad and me (one wearing a full American flag suit) made conversation during multiple match breaks, celebrating with us after Balogun’s free-kick goal and chatting with us about the other World Cup matches they’d gone to see (one of them had been to every USA game so far).
A mom and son sat in front of us during the first half, and during halftime, the dad came and switched spots with the mom. After Balogun’s red card, the suited man next to us joked that the dad was bad luck. After Tillman’s goal in the second half, the dad turned around and high-fived my dad and me, all of us yelling, cheering, and clapping like we’d known each other for years.
And when the match was over, the new people we’d met asked hopefully if we’d be at the next match in Seattle.
When we said no, they tried to convince us, hoping to see us there. For a few hours, an entire stadium of fans was united in their love of their team, this game, and their country. It was patriotic in ways I’ve never experienced before.
In times like these, when our country can feel so divided, chaotic, and unstable, the World Cup did something nearly unheard of – it brought the entire country together, and even the visitors from around the world. The Scots drank Boston dry. Foreign fans have embraced American culture, and vice versa. The entire world embraced Cabo Verde’s goalkeeper, Vozinha, whose Instagram followers skyrocketed from roughly 50,000 to over 22 million after his game against Spain.
Every day, there are new stories of fans of different cultures and backgrounds coming together to celebrate such a momentous tournament. It is proof that what separates us, whether that be ethnicity, upbringing, or customs, shouldn’t keep us apart, but bring us together.
It’s proof that soccer has always been so much more than just a game.