Football, futból, 축구 (chuggu), soccer, fußball, كرة القدم (kurat alqadam), サッカー (sakkā), فوتبال (fotbal) is once again bringing people all over the world together.
The duality of simultaneously holding conflicting emotions isn’t new. It is innately human.
My fellow Americans, as the World Cup is uniting soccer fans and not all over the world, you are not alone if you are despairing about men impregnating underage girls incarcerated by the U.S., our president’s $1.8 billion slush fund, and the extrajudicial airstrikes against noncombatants in the Caribbean. Whether strafing fishing boats without proof of narco-trafficking is a war crime or just murder, 205 people are dead. Why aren’t more legislators besides Representatives Maxine Dexter and Joaquin Castro demanding transparency and accountability for all detainees? Especially when detained underage girls and their newborns are disappearing?
Before we could process LAPD cops shooting a dog to death in the midst of a New York Knicks win celebration, a cop in Mississippi shot a toddler to death in a Walmart parking lot. And far too many American media outlets are using the predictably passive and exculpatory language of “officer involved in a shooting” and “was killed” instead of “shot to death by a cop”.
The two-year-old pup was wearing a doggie Knicks jersey. His name was Jameson.
And why won’t the little boy make it to his second birthday? Because someone called the cops and reported that Black women were stealing diapers. Kohen Wiley was just a little boy. He deserved to grow up to be whatever he wanted to be. Not one more name on the unconscionably endless list of unarmed Black people killed by the taxpayer-funded public servants paid to serve and protect them. Everyone with a conscience and a broken heart is demanding the release of the officer’s body-cam footage.
Every day is a new dumpster fire. Every day we’re throttled by despair, hope, outrage, powerlessness, stupefaction, inspiration, fury, the desire to give up, and the resolve to stand up for what’s right, what’s best in all of us, no matter what.
But nor are you alone, my fellow American, if in the middle of all of this devastation you’re also swooning and crying happy tears every time a new video of soccer fans uniting across languages, cultures, and countries graces your socials.
When the Irish national soccer team didn’t qualify to compete in the 2026 World Cup, an Irish bar in Edinburgh, Scotland flipped their green, white, and orange flag to the orange, white, and green flag of Côte d’Ivoire, whose team did qualify.
Biddy Mulligan’s is now importing Ivorian food, beer, and playing Ivorian music during the World Cup and the community is loving this cross-cultural experience.
When the Iranian players silently held pink and purple little girls’ backpacks during their national anthem, they magnanimously and solemnly protested the horrific U.S. bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab. They honored the lives of 168 schoolgirls and teachers cut far too short. Their heartbreaking gesture is a tragically beautiful example of leveraging your platform for a greater good. To the Iranian people, we grieve with you.
Grieving for murdered innocent little girls, their stolen futures, and their devastated families functionally requires cognitive dissonance more than compartmentalization. It’s the only way to explain how your heart breaks but also soars with secondhand joy watching South Korean and Mexican strangers become instantaneous and exuberant comrades. Mexicans in Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey are kissing their Korean visitors, tossing them up in the air, dancing together in the streets, sharing tequila, and posing for millions of pictures together. Their exuberance is contagious. It is exhilarating to watch. And in every gathering of futból fans the Mexicans greet their new foreign friends, chanting and yelling the greatest compliment:
“Coreano, hermano, ya eres Mexicano.”
If countries can have a bromance, South Korea and Mexico are proving it’s a love everyone can be a part of.
These videos are beautiful counterexamples to the hostility experienced by some officials and players who haven’t received the appropriate welcome in the U.S.
Even though the U.S. approved visas for all Iranian players, the team and the entire supporting personnel, our government didn’t permit them to lodge here in the U.S. Tijuana, Mexico welcomed the entire Iranian team with open arms. Team Melli and “all Iranians” were so grateful to be received and treated with dignity that they made another already viral AI video to thank their Mexican hosts. It’s 12 minutes long.
The Scottish team has taken over Boston, and Bostonians couldn’t be happier about bagpipes in the streets, in their neighborhoods, and on the subway. The “Tartan Army” is partying so hard at least four bars in Boston ran out of beer. The Sam Adams Taptroom had to order an emergency delivery of extra lager.
From the moment the Algerian team arrived in Lawrence, Kansas at midnight, hundreds of people, including families with small children, were there to greet them with cheers, Algerian flags, and welcome signs. The hundreds have turned into thousands wearing Algerian team scarves and jerseys. The city has adorned public spaces with banners celebrating the team who will be based in Lawrence while they train for their matches against Argentian, Jordan, and Austria. And the local residents are welcoming them like hometown heroes.
“I hope that all neutrals will cheer on Algeria because it’s been a wonderful feeling to have a great helping hand even in our open training session. We’ve had some real positive vibes,” ESPN reported Algerian coach Vladimir Petkovic sharing with reporters.
“We’ve tried to organise certain visits over the last days, to get closer to the people of Lawrence. We had that open training session as well, and saw so many US citizens with scarves for us, so much support, who wanted to celebrate this moment with our team,” Petkovic said. “Seeing five thousand, six thousand people that first evening outside my hotel gave me goosebumps.”
The World Cup is also giving our neighbors and new friends around the world the opportunity to see yellow school buses in real life. Apparently that’s a “quintessentially” American icon, one we Americans never think about until non-Americans ask about it and are *ecstatic* to find out they’re real. Our international guests are literally jumping up and down and clapping their hands with a childlike joy that adults experience all too rarely.
Our guests are also filming themselves trying classic American food for the first time. They seem to be loving the burgers, tacos, Philly cheesesteaks, and chicken waffles the most.
Yes, you are feeling all the things all the time, all at once.
How do we hold these deeply conflicting truths at the same time? How do we balance our panic and heartbreak with our joyful delight? Allow for the cognitive dissonance. Don’t fight it.
Stay informed. Stay active. But stay joyful.
These videos aren’t just restoring our faith in humanity; they’re reminding us what’s at stake; and how much we can gain.
Yes, racism is fueling policy decisions by the U.S. government, and far too many Americans are not only okay with it, they’re loving it. Overt racism is not a MAGA bug; it’s a feature. But all over the U.S., the open-minded and big-hearted among us are delighted to welcome our international guests and to cheer for their success. We’re delighted to celebrate the immigrants playing on the U.S. team in a country founded by immigrants.
“Six players on the U.S. men’s national soccer team at the 2026 World Cup were born outside the country. More than half the 26 men on the roster hold dual citizenship. And the striker who scored twice in the Americans’ opening 4–1 victory over Paraguay is eligible to play only because of a legal provision the Trump administration has sought to eliminate,” Newsweek reported.
This is a beautiful thing.
But don’t let these cherished experiences fade into fond memories. Ask yourself what you can contribute to international camaraderie. How can we keep the momentum going? How can we welcome one another with delight? What can we learn about each other’s cultures?
Ask yourself what kind of good news you can create. Get involved. Give back.
Follow solutions journalism like Fix The News, That Good News Girl, and David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful.
And as today’s Mexikoreano match begins, feel free to share your favorite posts and video links in the comments.