On Thursday the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in the Russian Federation with a match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. The match took place in Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, capacity 80,000. The result was expected, Russia bested the Saudi side 5 to 0. The matches, of which there are 64 in total, will continue through mid-July, when there will be one winner out of 32 competing nations.
Unlike international friendlies, or tournaments among regional nations like CONCACAF or Copa America, the World Cup commands a global audience that befits its name—over 1 billion people will watch the final match of this competition. That makes it the most watched sporting event on the planet.
Americans have long had mixed feelings about the game and its place here. Some despise the sport, considering it insufficiently “American” and lacking action. (In the 2014 World Cup, an average of 2.67 goals were scored per match, which typically runs 90 minutes.) But, hey, it’s a free country, right? Those who can’t stand it don’t have to watch the World Cup. They can watch baseball, golf, or some other fast-moving sport.
Making it even less likely than usual that Americans will watch the World Cup this year, the U.S. team didn’t qualify for the tournament. After a bad loss to Trinidad and Tobago in October, the U.S. men’s national team didn’t have enough points to advance to the next round. So this year there’ll be no sense of national pride, no sense of national inferiority or fear of the inevitable defeat. No skin in the game—whatever that means.
But that’s a reason to watch the Cup, not not to watch it. This year, American spectators will be able, dispassionately, to watch soccer at its artful, athletic best.
Instead of hoping that Clint Dempsey or Jozy Altidore somehow scrape past their clearly superior opponents (as World Cup-watching Americans have had to do in the past), we’ll be able to watch great teams play other great teams. No need, this World cup, to give up watching Neymar in order to watch a faltering, mediocre Team USA.
What the American side can do is prepare. Top young prospects like Christian Pulisic and DeAndre Yedlin will, we hope, ready themselves to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. And from there, it’s on to the 2026 World Cup, which will be held jointly between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
It’s a shame our boys didn’t get to go to Russia this year. But maybe, for once, Americans might actually enjoy the Cup.
