Tcelebrations of The 250th anniversary of America’s birth, although it produced many good events, did not produce the great sense of national unity that some people had hoped for. Some Americans found the July 4th weekend too political, too bigoted, and too much for President Trump.
But another event this summer has proven to be a source of contagious patriotism: the World Cup. A race that started with a lot of anger”uh,” some might say—has turned into a celebration of joy for America. A nation that, by reputation, doesn’t even like soccer is now rallying around its top team. TV ratings are high, attendance records have been set, and the U.S. can advance to the quarterfinals if it wins tonight’s game against Belgium (yesterday). arguments), and many Americans have briefly set aside their red vs. blue differences to come together in the national football kits of red, white, and blue.
Something else has happened in the last four weeks of this tournament: People from all over the world came to our shores and fell in love with our country. America’s international standing has been badly damaged in the Trump era—alliances have been disrupted, bombs have been dropped, foreign aid has been cut—but waves of foreign visitors have been moved by what they’ve found. There have been exceptions, and some positive trends are certainly online phenomenons, but for most, geographic tensions have been sidelined for a while. Thousands of Norwegians marveled at the Times Square lights. The Algerians were delighted with the warm welcome they received in Lawrence, Kansas. The Scots drank Boston from beer. A alleged to be a German tourist it spread to a tour of the restaurant chain in the South. America on the show was a land of abundance: full supermarkets, those air conditioners really work in a heat wave, endless appetizers and breadsticks. American soft power now depends less on USAID than on Applebee’s.
Rest time may be short. When the US match is over, Trump will leave Washington for the NATO summit in Turkey, where, if the former is a prelude, he may clash with world leaders over defense spending, the war in Ukraine, and who knows. what else. The high-stakes midterm elections are coming up, and there’s little hope that the good feelings created by America’s contingent race will last. But for now, let’s enjoy this summer celebration—even if it’s not what we expected.
For timeorganizers and others thought the America 250 could be a flag-waving, flag-waving force. And there was an example. The nation’s bicentennial, in 1976, also came at a difficult time, just two years after the resignation of President Richard Nixon. There was the oil crisis, rising inflation, high unemployment, the recent trauma of Vietnam, as well as the Cold War. Yet the nation’s 200th anniversary was a triumph. President Gerald Ford, knowing that the country needed to recover after Watergate, tried to make it a bipartisan celebration. He allowed the nation’s history, good and bad, to take center stage. He admitted that a lot of work needs to be done to make the nation safe and balanced. For many, the parade of tall ships through New York Harbor and the huge fireworks display was a time of renewed hope.
Our politics have become more partisan in the past 50 years, and Trump has never pretended to be interested in ruling all of his nation’s people. He took office promising revenge, and has shown a sincere desire to restore the nation, especially its capital, to its image. The Kennedy Center. East Wing. A triumphal arch. The list is boring. He has placed himself in the role of telling the story of our nation; His administration has removed signs he doesn’t like from national parks, and that’s it looking at the Smithsonian the next. It was no surprise that he would hijack the half-century, pushing out a bipartisan group of 250 Americans in favor of Trump. 250 freedom. Predictably, the anniversary celebrations in Washington took a MAGA color, and many anti-Trump Americans made it clear. A concert featuring C-list stars was cancelled. The state fair on the National Mall drew a small crowd in the sweltering heat. The much-discussed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was closed. Trump’s July 4 speech, delayed by the storm, didn’t begin until much of the nation was asleep. And the smoke from the fireworks display left Washington in a fog of poor weather.
To be clear, there were good times across the nation to celebrate the Fourth of July. Lovely parade in small towns. Families across the country hosting BBQs and laughs, and maybe reminiscing about James Madison. Citizenship celebration on Long Island. Studies of the Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts. Trump recognized several elderly veterans in his speech on the National Mall. And, yes, the tall ships returned to New York Harbor, this time accompanied by a military flyover.
On July 4in addition to watching the fireworks, millions of Americans were watching France will face Paraguay in the cradle of freedom, Philadelphia. The game lost its historic luster when Germany was upset by Paraguay (FIFA prevented England from suffering a second terrible loss on July 4), but the list of history makers in Philadelphia added names: Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and now Mbappé. France’s 1-0 victory four miles south of Liberty Hall was just one of the highlights of the tournament—and perhaps its biggest victory on these shores since Yorktown.
The tournament has been without problems. Tickets are astronomically expensive. The highly decorated referee was barred from traveling from his native Somalia. International tours were much lower than expected. The Iranian team played a match on the same day that Trump authorized strikes against his nation amid the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz. But, like me he wrote last month, there was always hope that sports would overcome anything that seemed out of step with the competition. And they have succeeded. Who will forget Cape Verde’s magical run and near upset of defending champions Argentina? England survive the pot that plays with Mexico in Mexico City? How many of the tournament’s biggest stars—Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, and more—have given up for their teams?
But those bravura performances won’t be what I remember most about this World Cup. I will remember the Brazilians singing on the NJ Transit train as we traveled to the World Cup match at MetLife Stadium. Norwegians take the subway escalator to perform their traditional “Viking Row” celebration. Check out the festivities at JCPenney stores. How every game day brings a new wave of fans who use soccer equipment. In a popular culture that is so fragmented, there was something refreshing about how much of the conversation, either online or in person, was about the same thing. At dinner the other night, I happily flagged down a neighboring table whose cell signal wasn’t strong enough to refresh ESPN programming. The cities with the highest TV ratings—Boston, Austin, and the greater Kansas City area—are in red and blue states. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, went to the game. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were at the US opening. Trump is expected to attend the final. For Americans who have grown to fear judgmental looks when traveling abroad, it was a joy to see foreigners enjoying America again.
Trump, for a whilehe was preoccupied with the 250 celebrations and largely stayed out of the World Cup. But I knew that wouldn’t last. After a successful group stage, the United States played Bosnia and Herzegovina in its first playoff game last week. With a 1-0 lead, one of the team’s stars, Folarin Balogun, was given a red card, which meant he was ejected from the match and left his team playing with 10 men. The United States still managed to win and advance to face Belgium, but Balogun was suspended as part of the red card penalty. Now, let’s be clear: the call was a hoax. No foul was assessed in real time, and the red card was issued after the official watched a slow-motion replay. It was a bad break, but there was also little the United States could do.
Enter Trump. He called his friend Gianni Infantinohead of FIFA—who has spent nearly two years anointing Trump, including awarding him the first FIFA Peace Prize. And suddenly, suddenly, FIFA lifted Balogun’s ban, a decision that sparked outrage from many international teams and fans. (Perhaps it escaped Trump’s attention that Balogun, who grew up in England but was born in the United States while his Nigerian mother was visiting New York, was allowed to play for the United States because of birthright citizenship, a constitutional protection that Trump wants removed.) The president took a quick victory lap, but the karma is not great.
The hard feelings surrounding the decision will hopefully be short-lived. A series of big games await before the World Cup ends, on July 19. And right now, an amazing sense of national spirit is worth appreciating, and a new love for the United States that many nations feel is worth enjoying.
Most countries – except Belgium.
