{"id":3077,"date":"2026-06-19T10:34:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3077"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:34:52","slug":"week-1-review-the-world-cup-has-delivered-in-a-big-way-and-other-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3077","title":{"rendered":"Week 1 review: The World Cup has delivered in a big way, and other takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first week of the World Cup is complete, and whether you\u2019re a superfan shelling out several thousand dollars for tickets or just a casual fan tuning in as a curiosity, the takeaway is the same:<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Three hundred miles from shore, their sailboat sank. They\u2019re back this week to finish the race.<\/a><\/p>\n

This tournament has delivered. <\/span><\/p>\n

There have been dramatic finishes, such as Japan tying the Netherlands in the 89th minute, Ivory Coast defeating Ecuador in the 90th, Ghana overcoming Panama four minutes into extra time, and Qatar tying Switzerland in extra time. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A few Davids have hung tough with Goliath, with tiny Cape Verde tying Spain and Congo tying Portugal (a rough start for the Iberian Peninsula).<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States dominated its first match, crushing Paraguay, 4-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the stars have shined. Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland, France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, and England\u2019s Harry Kane each scored twice, while Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi notched his first World Cup hat trick (we won\u2019t mention the potential red card that Messi got a pass on). <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the logistics, such as traffic, parking, and security, still need to be ironed out, and the ticket prices are absurd, but the soccer has been phenomenal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other takeaways from Week 1 of the World Cup:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 The blending of cultures is always one of the best aspects of the tournament, but of course politics has gotten involved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly questioned after a 3-1 loss to France why his countrymen can\u2019t attend the games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe federation did the work for us to have parents or our close family with us,\u201d Koulibaly, a defender for Chelsea, told The Athletic. \u201cI think that every team can have their people, so I don\u2019t understand why people from Africa cannot have their people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cape Verdeans were supposed to be able to pay $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 to be granted a tourist visa, but the documents didn\u2019t come through for players\u2019 families.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum could not be here either for a visa issue, and the money we had to pay for it. We did not manage to do this in time,\u201d said goalie Vozinha, whose Instagram account has ballooned from 30,000 to more than 13 million followers after the tie with Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 However, I\u2019m having a hard time getting worked up over a dust-up with the Iranian team and its travel plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the tournament, Iran was forced to switch its training home from Tucson to Tijuana, Mexico, because of US travel bans. For Monday\u2019s opener against New Zealand in Los Angeles, Iran had hoped to arrive Saturday and leave Tuesday, but instead was told to arrive Sunday and leave immediately after the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei called his team the \u201cmost oppressed team in the whole World Cup\u201d after the 2-2 draw, and while that may be true, Iran\u2019s travel arrangements don\u2019t seem overly punitive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump approval on Iran low even as tentative deal to end fighting emerged, new poll finds<\/a><\/p>\n

Soccer is a grueling sport, but is it really that hard to get on a plane after a match and fly, what, 45 minutes from Los Angeles to Tijuana? Especially when the next match is five days away? NFL teams routinely fly out the day before the game, and immediately fly home after players slam into each other for three hours. British journalist Simon Evans, who used to write for Reuters and now produces The Soccer Business newsletter, chimed in that European teams commonly fly home immediately after Champions League games, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran is getting tougher treatment than others, but it shouldn\u2019t affect the soccer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 The temperatures in Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta may be scorching, but fans should bring sweat shirts to matches. The three NFL stadiums in those cities are keeping their roofs closed and blasting the air conditioning for the entire five-week World Cup to create a cool, greenhouse environment in which to grow natural grass.<\/span><\/p>\n

German fan @FreddyLA7, whose tour of the United States has become a social media sensation, attended Germany-Curacao in Houston and posted that he was \u201cfreezing to death in here. We\u2019re sitting below the AC. It\u2019s so cold.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the matches inside the frigid domes still are stopped twice for \u201chydration breaks,\u201d which bolsters the case that these are really meant for selling commercials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 Speaking of @FreddyLA7, his tour through the southeastern United States has been endearing, from his discovery of Waffle House, Buc-ee\u2019s, and SEC football stadiums, to the generous hospitality shown by J.J. Watt and country music artist Ella Langley.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now the opportunists are coming out, trying to get a piece of Freddy\u2019s social media clout, and the journey is losing its charm. Loads of free stuff now shows up on Freddy\u2019s doorstep, he gets VIP treatment everywhere he goes, and Circa Las Vegas even offered a free hotel room and use of a private jet. Way to take something wholesome and ruin it, America. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 The best prop so far \u2014 the blue trash bags from the Japanese fans. Japan has a reputation as the tidiest team at the World Cup, always leaving its locker room impeccably clean after matches, and the fans follow suit. In the 2-2 draw to the Netherlands, Japanese fans first used the blue trash bags as noise makers to cheer on their team, then to dispose of their waste after the match.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 The sprinklers are running constantly at the venues, during pregame warm-ups, hydration breaks and halftime. But when a sprinkler malfunction Tuesday in Foxborough spewed gallons of water onto the field at halftime of the Norway-Iraq match, the grounds crew turned off the sprinklers for the rest of the evening, to noticeable effect. Norway manager Stale Solbakken said the ball stopped rolling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really dry, tinder dry, after five minutes, so all of the passes we want to pass through wound up in duels,\u201d Solbakken said after the match, via translation. \u201cThe ball stuck to the grass. It\u2019s not an excuse. It\u2019s a fact. Things moved too slowly. The game is influenced by the really dry grass, which is what we experienced today. That\u2019s why they water it, to speed up the game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 How petty is FIFA in \u201cprotecting\u201d its sponsors? In Foxborough, a piece of tape covers the \u201cGillette\u201d name on approximately 64,000 seats. At Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., they taped over the names on the condiments in the press box.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u22c5 According to Opta Stats, Monday\u2019s action marked just the second time in history (June 15, 1958) in which there were four draws in one day. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Christian Pulisic trains separately for fourth straight day, could miss US World Cup game against Australia<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There have been dramatic finishes, and a few Davids have hung tough with Goliath. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nWeek 1 review: The World Cup has delivered in a big way, and other takeaways - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3077\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Week 1 review: The World Cup has delivered in a big way, and other takeaways - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There have been dramatic finishes, and a few Davids have hung tough with Goliath.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3077\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T10:34:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c08a982d5d5e7124cea9158df226037e\"},\"headline\":\"Week 1 review: The World Cup has delivered in a big way, and other takeaways\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T10:34:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077\"},\"wordCount\":1138,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4b00000cf4fc955609f09598daf5d159.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\\\/?p=3077\",\"name\":\"Week 1 review: The World Cup has delivered in a big way, and other takeaways - 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