Cup of Life

The 2026 World Cup shows why football is full of joy, sadness and drama

Football is more than just a game. For many people around the world, it feels like life itself. No other sport can create so much happiness, heartbreak, excitement, fear, hope and sadness all at once.

Iran’s World Cup story showed this clearly. Before the tournament, Iran had been hit hard by attacks from the US and Israel. For a while, people were not even sure whether Iran’s football team would be allowed to travel to the US for the World Cup.

Their preparations were difficult too. Their training base was moved from Arizona in the US to Tijuana in Mexico. The team also faced strict travel rules. For their first two group matches, they were allowed to enter the US only one day before the game and had to leave soon after.

Even Iranian fans in the stadiums were divided. Some came to support the football team, while others used the matches to protest against Iran’s government.

In spite of all this, Iran came very close to reaching the knockout stage. They suffered heartbreak twice. First, against Egypt, Iran thought they had scored a winning goal, but VAR ruled Khalilzadeh offside by the tiniest of margins.

Iran still had another chance. When Algeria scored a late goal against Austria, it looked like Iran would qualify. Many people saw Algeria’s goal as revenge for the famous “Disgrace of Gijón” from 44 years earlier, when Austria and West Germany played in a way that helped both teams and knocked Algeria out.

But then, in the final seconds, Austria scored an equaliser. That goal knocked Iran out of the tournament. It was crushing.

But football also gives us fairytales. Cape Verde, a tiny island country in Africa, became one of the happiest stories of the World Cup. Before the tournament, many people had barely heard of Cape Verde. Now it is the smallest country ever to reach the knockout stage.

Cape Verde was also part of a bigger African success story, with nine out of ten African teams reaching the next round.

Their goalkeeper, Vozinha, became famous almost overnight. His mother could not afford a visa to travel to the US, but a Chinese businessman later helped her. Her story became part of World Cup history.

This is why football is called the beautiful game. It can make people cry from sadness, and it can make them cry from joy.

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