In a few days the 2026 Men’s World Cup kicks off six month of football/soccer madness, and to put it lightly, I have mixed feelings.  Generally, I enjoy the spectacle of international sporting events.  It’s a chance to see the top athletes in the world, and even better when a team of “minnows” goes on an unexpected run, or a little known player has a moment of brilliance.  Then there’s the cultural experience of fans coming together from around the world sharing chants and songs, costumes, and tifosi.

Unfortunately, the governing bodies of international sport are deeply corrupt organizations.  And FIFA outdoes itself in greed, graft, and sportswashing.  Despite living near a venue hosting World Cup matches, the face value of tickets is exorbitant and weren’t really available at that price if I wanted to splurge.  The tickets available on the resale market are only affordable to someone willing to take out a mortgage on their yacht.  Going all the way back to 1934 when Mussolini made a personal showcase out of the World Cup, FIFA has aligned itself with authoritarian leaders. And this year the dictator is the fascist leader of my own country, making the United States a global embarrassment and a font of cruelty.  FIFA went as far as creating a farcical peace prize to appease him.

With all that said, even in the best of times, it’s hard to watch all of the games in a World Cup competition.  So, I’ve decided I’m going to focus on the following teams:

IRAN: With the US regime attacking Iran and committing war crimes, I feel it’s the least I can do to give their football team some support.  In addition to the ongoing war, the US has made Iran so unwelcome that they moved their training headquarters to Mexico, and Iranian supporters are blocked from entering the US to watch their side. A strong run by the Iranian side would be triumph over adversity.

CAPE VERDE:  This is the debut appearance by the team from the island nation off the coast of Africa.  The Cape Verdean community is strong in Boston and members of the team participated in a local parade even though none of their matches are scheduled at the Boston stadium.

CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Because of my ancestry, I root for Ireland in international sports, but since Ireland didn’t qualify, I’ll be joining with Irish people who’ve adopted the African nation of Côte d’Ivoire as their own.  The reason simply began with the fact that the flag of Côte d’Ivoire is the Irish flag in reverse.

MOROCCO: Outside the typical football powers of Europe and South America, Morocco is one of the top teams expected to go far in the tournament.  It would be great to see more of the world succeed at the World Cup.

CURAÇAO:  Another small island nation making its World Cup debut, the Caribbean country is the smallest to every qualify.  Curaçao is known for their success in producing star baseball players, so it will be fun to see if they can also punch above their weight in soccer.

HAITI: Like Cape Verde, Boston is home to a community of immigrants and children of immigrants from Haiti. The team is making it’s second appearance in the World Cup and the first since 1974.  Haiti will even be playing one of their matches in Massachusetts.

NEW ZEALAND: In the current Men’s World Ranking, New Zealand is placed at #85, making them the worst team in the tournament.  Compare this to Italy, ranked #12, who didn’t even qualify.  I always love an underdog and will be pulling for New Zealand to pull of an upset, or at least score a goal.

SCOTLAND: The football-mad Scots are thrilled that their team qualified for the first time since 1998.  Scotland is playing TWO games at the Boston stadium and the Tartan Army are already making the presence known locally.  They chartered a fleet of school buses to transport their supporters to the matches, and will be holding a march through Boston to Fenway Park this coming Saturday!

So will you be watching the World Cup?  If so, who are you rooting for?  Let me know in the comments.