There is this literary metaphor of a little boy getting lost in a ‘mela’, unable to make sense of the surrounding fanfare.
Somehow, I feel similarly bewildered by the excitement that the football World Cup has created around the world. It seems to have invaded the lives of people everywhere, with even greater intensity in the countries that have participated in the tournament.
And now, the fever has peaked and the final is to be played today between defending champions Argentina and Spain. I say today because the match is scheduled on Sunday, July 19, 2026. But the kick-off will be at 3pm on the East Coast of the US. That would be Sunday-Monday midnight for us.
So, do I intend to be up through the small hours on Monday to share an unprecedented experience with a large number people of the world across all time zones? My answer – and it surprises me, too, when I say this – is: Yes. I should add that this would be the first match of the tournament that I would like to watch from start to finish.
There is also the promise of a fascinating closing ceremony. For the greatest World Cup in football history, this ceremony should really be exceptional. Some of the most prominent show business stars will be there. There ought to be ample rewards for being up through the night. Whoever wins, this will be a night to remember.
As the reader may already have guessed, I am not a sports person. What I know about football is restricted to the few nuggets that I have picked from headlines. I can see when a goal is scored or when something dramatic happens on the playing field. I have followed big stories about the tournament. But I cannot talk about any particular game or goal endlessly that the true believers are capable of doing.
For that matter, I am not a keen follower of cricket and my knowledge of the game is peripheral. But I am well-versed in all the cricket idioms that are used in our politics. Actually, cricket has been the principal passion of lovers of sports in South Asian countries. Imran Khan is one example of how cricket stars can capture the imagination of the people. But football, in the larger perspective, is much bigger than cricket.
Anyhow, I need to explain why I am trying to get on the World Cup bandwagon at a time when it is concluding. The main reason is that this final is projecting an astounding human story which is more beguiling than a fairy tale. The two leading players in this story are Lionel Messi of Argentina and Lamine Yamal of Spain.
Messi, of course, is accepted as the greatest player of football ever. He is 39. One measure of his stature in the game is that I saw this headline of a major column published on Thursday in the New York Times: “Lionel Messi is walking into history”. Yamal, on the other hand, is the star player of Spain. He is 19.
How Messi had met Yamal in 2007, when Yamal was only five months old, is known to the world for some time. This account is being repeated on the eve of the final when the two will confront each other for the first time – and that too in a very crucial match in the history of football. A greater thriller could hardly be imagined by a writer of fiction. Only destiny could bring about a miracle of this kind.
Once again, photographs of a young Messi cradling a baby Yamal in a towel have appeared in the media this week. Now, Yamal is as young as Messi was at that time. It was also a stroke of luck that the photographer who took these pictures had saved them and Yamal’s father had shared the snaps on social media in 2024.
It is to be noted that Yamal was born to a poor family and his parents had won this opportunity in a lottery. The idea at that time was to get the main players of the Barcelona squad photographed with children. It just so happened that Yamal was paired with Messi.
I am also mindful that this World Cup is the biggest in the game’s history, and the controversies it has generated have been significant. It has made its splash in the time of great political tumult, with increasing military skirmishes between the US and Iran.
In fact, I am repeatedly surprised by the impact that this World Cup has made. For instance, the BBC has collected some stunning photos of the tournament to reveal their similarities to classic works of art. I also wanted to highlight the emotional involvement of citizens of particular countries with the games played by their teams. These games play a significant role in the manifestation and promotion of patriotism. At times, the playing field resembles a battlefield, the game simulating war.
Can you guess how many viewers will watch the final on television? One projection is that the global audience could reach 1.8 billion viewers. Yes, 1.8 billion. What a great sensation it would be for isolated viewers that they are, in a sense, connected to a large chunk of the world’s population. This is the magic of a live transmission and I love to watch such spectacles even when I cannot appreciate the finer points of how the game is played.
However, the economics of the game is beyond my comprehension. There have been reports of ardent fans facing high costs to travel to the tournament venues in North America. Being there in the stadium and cheering for your side would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Would you believe that the net worth of one leading star, Cristiano Ronaldo, is more than one billion dollars? Messi is also believed to be a billionaire.
Why shouldn’t the world, then, be enthralled by this game?
The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: [email protected]
