Can we all agree the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament was a true “banderazzo.”
We cheered. We celebrated. We did double-takes at the incredible athleticism, the colorful player personalities and the ridiculously fun ways fans support their teams.
In all three host countries, the “trionda” seemed to bring out the best in players and fans. And the rest of us.
Even this curious onlooker, who hasn’t watched a soccer match in decades — since my then-fourth-grader broke an ankle three games into her new sport — couldn’t resist tuning in to the FIFA revelry.
The tournament, hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, and the first to feature 48 national teams, drew a record a record 6,810,966 fans, making it the most-attended FIFA World Cup in history, according to Forbes magazine.
The 39-day tournament, which wrapped July 19 with Spain’s victory over Argentina, showed us a sea of talent and sportsmanship on the field and a world of respect and celebration in the stands and streets.
Can soccer, aka “football,” aka “the beautiful game,” save the world? Let’s consider the “ultras.”
In Kansas City, Dutch fans turned the town orange, while Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que slathered and sold a record number of ribs, even as they were running out of bread and tableware, according to MSN.
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After their team’s 2-2 draw against The Netherlands, Japanese fans took the blue bags they’d waved during the game and filled them with trash on their way out, leaving the stadium spick and span.
Scottish fans, known as the Tartan Army, drank Boston dry during the first weekend of Scotland’s group-stage matches. According to MSN, the Samuel Adams Taproom sold more 7,000 pints of Boston Lager and emptied 99 kegs and two full tanks. The celebrants drank four times what the company typically stocks during a long holiday stretch like the Fourth of July. Emergency measures had to be taken.
And, across social media, we saw post after post on newfound, and unexpected, “love for America,” as well as Mexico and Canada.
“Right back at ya,” we seemed to say to the visitors.
What does this prove? That we can be competitive without being combatant, that when opportunity and respect and fairness and structure are available to all, humans can get along just fine.
And, if allowed, they can get crazy in the most creative, hilarious ways.
Lawrence, Kansas, “adopted” the Algerian team during its practice sessions, with fans cheering them on and “the University of Kansas band, the Marching Jayhawks, performing Algeria’s national anthem before training began,” according to thenationalnews.com.
The unexpected friendship between South Korean and Mexican supporters continued, the news outlet reported. Across Mexico’s host cities, fans from both countries came together to share food, songs and celebrations before either side even kicked a ball, it said.
In Vancouver, fans lined up to get permanent tattoos of soccer balls, maple leaves and flags saluting the Canadian team, according to MSN.
And social media made influencers out of fans who posted positively about the players, about the host cities, about the food.
The experience reiterated what world travelers have known all along: Diplomacy begins with being open to new ideas, being respectful toward others and being willing to sample the local cuisine.
Moving forward, perhaps instead of sending an entourage of suits with briefcases to negotiate world peace, we ought to send soccer fans armed with Buc-ee’s burgers and tubs of ranch dressing to the conference table.
And, of course, arrange for 7-Eleven Big Gulp hydration breaks.
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years. She can be reached at [email protected].