From fans coming together to intense last minute drama, the 2026 World Cup was an incredible tournament. Before the tournament kicked off, fans on social media and journalists around the world were concerned that FIFA was americanizing a sport that isn’t really a priority in America. FIFA added a lot of new changes such as increasing the number of participating teams from 32 to 48. Despite the uncertainty beforehand, the added additions were a success. The 2026 World Cup exceeded every expectation and reminded people why it’s the biggest sporting event on the planet.
During the first couple of games we saw something that America has been missing for a long time, togetherness. It started as the Scottish traveled to Boston for their games. They brought a vibrant energy and began emptying beer supplies, putting traffic cones on statues, chanting through the streets for hours, and partying with the locals. The vibes were so well received that Boston and Glasgow agreed to become sister cities.
As more fans traveled over, the party grew larger in America. Thousands of Norwegians gathered in cities to perform their famous viking row. They sat down to mimic rowing a longship and all chanted “RO” in unison. They even brought their chanting to a MLB game at Citi Field. Due to the increase in teams, fan bases like the Norwegians and others were able to participate in the festivities. A lot of teams that normally wouldn’t have qualified like Curacao and Cape Verde were able to play. These new teams and fans increased the positive vibes that added to the hype surrounding the tournament.
The host cities began to also get involved in the celebrations. Americans who have never followed football before were beginning to tune into the World Cup. A local in Boston described the experience as the world having one giant party. In a time filled with conflict and negativity it was beautiful for everyone from all parts of the world to join together in celebrating this event.
The main concern fans and journalists had about adding more teams was competitiveness. They were afraid the quality would drop. The games involving the lower ranked teams ended up being some of the most exciting ones, like DR Congo beating Uzbekistan 3-1 to confirm their place into the next round. Two countries who wouldn’t normally qualify with the old format.
One of the best matches was Argentina vs Cape Verde. It was 2-1 Argentina in extra time and in the 103rd minute Sidny Cabral received the ball on the edge of the side of the box, he unleashed a beautiful curling shot into the top corner to equalize for Cape Verde. The pure passion in his team’s celebration as a stadium filled with Argentinian fans went silent. The smallest nation at the World Cup equalized to one of the favorites of the tournament. Argentina went on to win in extra time but these are the types of moments that adding more teams creates.
The knockout stages were extremely entertaining. It had upsets, such as Germany losing on penalties to Paraguay, comebacks like Argentina coming back from losing 0-2 to win 3-2 vs Egypt, and late drama like Merino scoring late for Spain against Portugal and Belgium. Every game had high stakes and even the lower ranked teams were giving the higher ranked countries trouble. The increase in countries brought more goals than ever with 308 across 104 matches averaging 2.96 goals per game compared to the last World Cup which had 172 goals in 64 games with an average of 2.69 goals per game.
Fans want to see underdog stories, upsets, action, but at the same time the very best players stepping up and showcasing their talent. The World Cup was formatted perfectly to allow this. The group stages and early knockout rounds were filled with goals and all sorts of drama. Mbappe, Haaland, Bellingham, Messi, etc, the best players were able to showcase their talent and they exceeded. It’s no coincidence that the semi final was between the 4 top ranked nations, the later rounds became more of a chess match between the best teams and players in the world.
The World Cup didn’t just succeed, it changed people’s perception of the future of the tournament. More teams doesn’t mean lower quality. Having more countries creates better storylines, experiences, and games. All of the positive fan encounters and entertaining games will leave a long lasting legacy in America.
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