Despite Everything, the 2026 World Cup's Magic Is Already Here

When FIFA and the U.S. government seem determined to wreck something, you’d think they’d succeed. Price gouging that sparked attorney general investigations. A ticketing process so bewildering it prompted boycott talk. Visa denials that kept athletes, referees, and fans out of the country in mortifying fashion. Hydration breaks that doubled as commercial breaks. An expanded format that threatened to drain the group stage of meaning. By last week, serious soccer fans were asking the question everyone feared: Is this the World Cup that finally killed the vibe?

Then the matches started, and the answer became undeniable—no.

From the opening kick on Thursday at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City through the opening weekend, what emerged wasn’t a tournament drowning in its own corporate excess. Instead, it was pure joy. Mexico’s 2–0 victory over South Africa brought the country flooding into stadiums, with seemingly all of Mexico celebrating—this duck included. Scotland’s first World Cup win in nearly 40 years sent the Tartan Army on a beer-fueled descent on Boston before a full takeover of Fenway Park. Tiny Curaçao scored its first-ever World Cup goal and followed it with inspirational tarmac dancing. The U.S. demolished Paraguay 4–1 in a home opener that was nothing short of magical, even if you had to watch it from your couch instead of the stadium. Japan equalized against the Dutch Orange Army 89 minutes in for a 2–2 thriller. The Ivory Coast pulled off a miraculous last-minute upset victory in a Philadelphia stadium overflowing with Ecuador fans.

And just when you thought the magic might settle down? Cabo Verde—a nation of half a million making its World Cup debut—pulled off a miraculous 0–0 draw against tournament favorite Spain, thanks to an all-time performance by its 40-year-old goalkeeper.

What’s happening here goes beyond good soccer or surprising results. The World Cup, despite everything thrown at it, is doing what it’s always done best: bringing people from every corner of the planet to the same place to share something we all deeply love. The greed is still there. The hate trying to keep us apart is still there. But so are the moments that soccer fans will carry forever—the ones that remind us why we fell in love with this game in the first place. Over the next month-plus, there will be so many more such reminders and so much more joy. And you wouldn’t miss it for the world.