World Cup Day 13: When Everything Is Possible
We stand on the precipice. Just ahead is the edge, from which we will tumble, tumble, tumble, into the unknowable depths of a well so dark and impenetrable our minds cannot begin to comprehend what lies there.
Yet, this uncertainly does not cow us. It thrills us.
We are the blank slate upon which the future will be written.
We are ready to receive all that will be offered.
We know not what we want because expectation flow from the shackles of experience and in this incredible instance, we have none.
Everything is possible.
Wait, do you not feel this way? For you, is this World Cup not so expansive that it is defying even the most-informed attempts to guess what will happen next? Sure, the favorites mostly look like the favorites, the als0-rans (mostly) look like the als0-rans and there's sort of an overarching cosmic order that holds, but even when considering the foreknowledge we carried with us into the tournament, we've managed to be surprised.
Somehow much of the ball-knowing football world also managed to underestimate Lionel Messi. Of course, who could have known a man nearly of nearly 39 years, whose most recent exploits have come against the presumably deficient defending of MLS, would explode for five goals in two matches?
No no, I don't want to hear anything about the deficient defending at the World Cup. You can't tell me that's not a feature.
Besides, whatever the level of the defending, Messi's first touch in the box on his second goal of the evening against Austria was jaw-dropping. We keep recycling the same words because language is finite and Messi's ability to astound is not.
Genius. Wizard. Alien.
Okay, so Erling Haaland doing his rampaging-viking-on-soccer-field thing was very predictable. Monday's output for Haaland including a stunning show of improvisation and athleticism that perhaps only Zlatan Ibrahimovic at his peak could match. If you were building a striker from scratch, you couldn't do better than Haaland.
Haaland finished his night joining his teammates in rowing along with the imaginary viking longboat created by the Norway faithful who are following their team on the country's return to the World Cup.
I'm sorry to be that guy and I understand that it would be silly for the players to turn their backs to the fans, but I just have to point that the players and the fans are rowing in opposite directions.
And while there are many a political issue swirling around this tournament, it had not occurred to me that the symbolism of the Viking row phenomenon might not hit everyone in a good place, particularly back in Scandinavia.
I'm not interested in taking a side in that debate, but I am fascinated that a debate exists while those of us on this side of the Atlantic are almost universal in being charmed by the red-clad army of Norwegians rowing their way through our tourists traps and NFL stadiums.
For the first time in history a society sees a horde of Norsemen coming and thinks "OH GOOD I CAN'T WAIT".
New England, you're next.
The Norwegians aren't alone in charming Americans. The Scots took Boston by storm, matriculated their way to New York, and then popped up in Miami in the last few days. In addition to supporting the Scotland football team on the field in the World Cup, the Tartan Army is taking in our national pastime, baseball.
Baseball players are loving it, which I guess says something about the general atmosphere at a typical June Major League Baseball game. You know that I'm not a fan of judging sports supporting culture on some arbitrary scale, but when two different sports cultures collide it can make for a special brew.
Speaking of special brews, our international visitors have fallen in love with something so quintessentially American it feels too endearing by half: ranch dressing.
An unpredictable World Cup on the field complemented by unpredictable stories off it.
Ranch is such a phenomenon among traveling fans that TSA has issued travel warnings to fans carrying bottles of the stuff in their carry-on luggage...
If you’re visiting for a very large sporting event & you happen to discover RANCH while you’re here… pls pack it in your CHECKED BAG on the way home.
— TSA (@TSA) June 18, 2026
Thank you.
...while Kraft has teased a "TSA-compliant" version of their ranch dressing that seems to simply be packets of ranch that come in under the 3.4 oz limit for liquids.
Today we reach the end of the second round of group stage matches and head into the heady waters of six-matches-per-day to close out the opening portion of the competition. Only a handful of teams are eliminated and while the 48-team format cut down on the jeopardy facing sl0w-starting teams, the soccer has been so good it the trade seems worth it.
For the moment, everything remains possible, up to and including the United States men's national team winning a World Cup on home soil. It would take several small level miracles for it to happen, but as long as the play is still good and the path is reasonable, fans of soccer in this country are allowed to dream. Nothing is written and therefore nothing can be ruled out.
The biggest, wildest, most unpredictable World Cup of all-time is still only getting started. I can't wait to see what happens next.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Today I'm on SiriusXMFC with Melissa Reddy from 4-7 PM ET. We'll react to the Portgual-Uzbekistan match and be check in live on the England-Ghana happening while we're broadcasting.
Come by! It will be a blast.
See you tomorrow.
