We don’t claim to be big soccer fans, but even we were caught up in the excitement and the drama of the World Cup, which reached its climax this past Sunday with the exhilarating victory by Argentina in a shoot-out over defending champion France.
As long-time Boston sports rooters, we know of the passion that we and our fellow fans have for our local teams. But our enthusiasm does not even come close to that of the World Cup fandom for their heroes.
The raw emotion among the fans in the stands, their raucous celebrations in the streets back home, and the individual stories of fans who traveled thousands of miles (and who spent their life savings) just to be on hand were epic.
Moreover, it was a World Cup for everyone, including the U.S., which qualified for the cup for the first time in eight years and made it through to the knockout round, but especially for the fans of underdog Morocco, which became the first team from Africa and the Arab world to reach the semifinals of the World Cup.
At a time when there is so much misery and conflict in our world, the World Cup brought nations together as no other event can and we were happy to join in the world-wide celebration and joy that it brought over the past few weeks.
We’ll be looking forward to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in venues across No. America in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.