C Wright Mills

 

My 2026 FIFA World Cup favorite match

 

                        My 2026 FIFA World Cup favorite match

My favorite if not, my all-time favorite match was match between England and Mexico that took place on July 5^th. Mexico’s high temperatures and humidity were not doing a great service to England. To add to all of that was the time difference between Europe and Mexico as English fans had to get up at 1am to watch the game. But what a match it was! It was a great English awakening. England played a most beautiful football I have ever seen, from them. Their dedication, energy, survival, and struggle made it into a great heroic event. It felt like watching the finals of this World Cup. As one of the anchors said, “this match made each English player few years ‘older’”. If England ever needed a reminder how great they can play, this match should be in football history books as an inspiration. 

(anchor reference FIFA World Cup England vs Mexico on TSN, cover photo via Pinterest) 

FIFA World Cup 2026, a reflection

                                             

                                FIFA World Cup 2026, a reflection

 

Every four years before the start of the FIFA World Cup I usually arrive with a bunch of questions:  Who is qualified? Is Italy playing? Will Shakira be performing this year, too?  How and in what format will national anthems be performed? How will teams adapt to each other? What colors are their jerseys? Who are team managers and now more exiting, who are the referees? And finally, will Cup Fever, a football show from Australia, be broadcasted here in Canada on YouTube?

 

For the purposes of my work, I studied this World Cup sociologically. Many sociological elements were present: Durkheim’s collective effervescence, Blumer’s symbolic interactionism and Weber’s vocation to name a few.  This year, however, I started with a self-reflecting   question: “Since when did I develop an interest in the FIFA World Cup and football in general?” A significant question having in mind that I never attended a football game in my entire life.  

 

My interest in football or soccer, whatever suits you, dates from a very early age. In my elementary school days back in New Belgrade, I had a crush on my school friend Dušan. For me, Dušan was the coolest guy on earth. Super bright, always full of energy and among many things that made him special is that Dušan played football. To get a bit closer to him, I managed during our class brakes, usually at noon, to talk with my other friend, Vladimir, with whom I shared my school table, we used to sit two per table. Vladimir introduced me to the world of FIFA World Cup, teams, players and thought me a bit about each country’s style and techniques. I learned that Italy, Spain, France, and most of the Latin America countries have somehow similar style of playing, that Hungary used to have a very impressive football team, that you can expect Germans to score a goal in few millimeters of seconds before the end of the match and that English are playing long balls stretching from one goalkeeper to the other. Coming months or so Vladimir prepared me well. I became somehow an ‘expert’ and managed during brakes to sneak in the same group with my crush Dušan. We talked about football players and we even exchanged football stickers. Moreover, I became a fan of Red Star Belgrade and every four years I cheered for Yugoslavia during FIFA World Cup.   

This 2026 World Cup was a powerful reminder of great memories and a beautiful game that brought us together through dedication, vocation and incredible energy of belonging. This inexplicable energy brough us together, with long distance cheering through different time zones and continents at the same time.

I will forever be grateful to my friend Vladimir and my dear Dušan for introducing me into football. As for my friend Dušan, he is not with us anymore as well as our beautiful country that we cheered for. Dušan died on a high school excursion, as he was going from one balcony to another. These World Cup matches reminded me of those four years of our elementary school, of my friend’s energy, brightens, commitment, vocation and his love for football. In those four years our families became closer. When I told them I had a crush on Dušan, they asked ‘why Dušan?”, my answer was “because he always comes to our classroom through the window”.

Dušan really did enter my life through that school window. May this FIFA World Cup reflection be dedicated to my dear Dušan and may this memory of him in these uncertain and unimaginable times be a guiding light. May that window be forever open.  

 (Cover photo via Pinterest) 

In honor of today's Artemis signing 🌝🚀

                                     

"Welcome to the Artemis Accords, Serbia!

Serbia has joined 68 other nations by signing the Artemis Accords, and in doing so, has committed to the safe and peaceful exploration of space "

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1335883798718985&set=a.158678573106186

FIFA WorldCup 2026 Canada

We should never forget that we were competing with giants and that it is a first time that we came on the world stage this far. Bravo and congratulations to our coach. He did a great job and I think that for his work he deserves an honorary Canadian citizenship.
(Cover photo via Pinterest)

https://x.com/CANMNT_Official/status/2073498047217037759?fbclid=IwY2xjawTUtAdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeFJzqqcSOMQOHcXBRK_PiHvD6w4HKSCgLtk9fqsAMwdcnWQRGyjz4cfsR2Fo_aem_tSraX-YJgjEWnlNX9YvVDw