The World Cup That Tickles Me
One Week In, and This Maybe The Most Whimsical WC Yet
Last week, I had made this whole thing about this edition of the World Cup not “feelin’” regal like World Cups past. And sure, that could still be the case, but I also said a lot of stuff went by the wayside when the matches actually started. We’re approaching the first full week of matches, and already, it has been one of the more dissected sports tournaments of all time. Whether you’re upset like most of the world over “mandatory hydration breaks,” upset that Alexi Lalas gets to represent American soccer punditry, or proud of 40-year-old Cabo Verde goaltender Vozinha giving the performance of his life, this WC has something for everyone.
But to me, there’s so much whimsy going on in 2026, I have to share with you some of my favorites.
First off, there is the FIFA Merchandise. To me, it felt like these things just showed up overnight at places you expect (sporting goods stores), places that make sense (7-Eleven), and places I didn’t see coming at all. Southern California Goodwill has all but leaned in and made it into a capsule collection. But I have to give a special shout-out to the official FIFA merch website itself. Even though it sells the jerseys of (a little more than half?) of the teams, they also have host city-specific merchandise that looks absolutely bonkers. I mean, look at this “jersey” for Miami:
Yeah, let me get this one size too small and hit the club with this on. The lady would love that.
Also, you can’t talk about the World Cup without talking about the newest member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s official delegation, Lumumba Vea. Lumumba Vea is a “living statue” portrayed by Michel Kuka Mboladinga as the late DRC statesman Patrice Lumumba. Heavy on the living statue.
Now, as of this writing, DRC draw Portugal 1 -1 but Lumumba Vea was NOT there. Why? Because it wouldn’t be a North American World Cup without visa issues. Mboladinga has been denied entry into the United States due to concerns over Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Which is a shame, because best believe I would root for the guy that would force an entire continent to look up who Patrice Lumumba was.
And lastly one of my favorite things to actually get the chance to happen is Scotland’s Tartan Army runs roughshod over Boston.
The Scotland national team had its first games in Boston this tournament. This has meant that Scotland has annexed the city for over two weeks and they are having the time of their life.
You see what happens when you like people wear their tartans, FIFA?
I actually had the chance to go to a Scottish (sigh, Scottish-American) watch party this past weekend. My room wasn’t hype at all, but the Scottish people on the TV screen were having the time of their lives. My favorite anecdote of the Bos-Scots? These people had completely tapped the city’s beer supply. From ESPN:
Boston Beer Co. said in a news release that from Thursday to Sunday, the Tartan Army -- Scotland’s supporters organization -- drank four times what the company normally stocks during a typical four-day holiday stretch like the Fourth of July, adding that it had to schedule an emergency delivery of beer Saturday morning and are adding extra deliveries this week to make sure it has enough.
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Billy DeCain of the Sam Adams Boston Taproom told NBC Boston. -ESPN
These are my people. I said it before on social, and I’ll say it here: I nominate the Scots to be Earth’s ambassadors when the aliens land. They’ll be in for a time!