{"id":1386,"date":"2026-07-17T17:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1386"},"modified":"2026-07-17T17:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:44:29","slug":"how-the-world-cup-finally-won-over-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1386","title":{"rendered":"How the World Cup Finally Won Over America"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube <\/em><\/p>\n

Why does the World Cup endure in an age of fractured attention? Is FreddyLA7 a real person? Charlie Warzel speaks with Men in Blazers founder Roger Bennett to chart how the World Cup has become far more than a sporting event and how this year\u2019s tournament marks a turning point for soccer in the United States. They talk about how social media is transforming fandom into an endless thread of storytelling\u2014amplifying goals, celebrations, memes, local rituals, and fan \u201cbits\u201d across the world. On the eve of the final, Bennett breaks down what the World Cup has taught us about national pride, collective memory, and the internet in 2026.<\/p>\n

Read more Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a transcript of the episode:<\/em><\/p>\n

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Roger Bennett:<\/strong> When two teams take the field, their nations\u2019 histories, their nations\u2019 politics, their nations\u2019 cultures take the field alongside them. So the World Cup is actually a mirror, complete and utter mirror, to the world that surrounds it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

[Music<\/em>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie Warzel:<\/strong> I\u2019m Charlie Warzel, and this is Galaxy Brain<\/em>, a show where today we\u2019re going to talk about the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Over the past month, I\u2019ve seen strangers in the airport rapturously celebrating over last-second goals. I\u2019ve watched gaggles of men and women kicking soccer balls on city streets, clad in a veritable United Nations of jerseys. There are people in my life who are normally allergic to sports, and they\u2019ve come over for marathon World Cup viewing sessions. At one point I found myself\u2014a man originally from Cleveland, Ohio\u2014wearing a Senegal jersey, sweatily embracing a Senegalese man after a spectacular volley sent a ball into the back of the net. It all felt like a dream.<\/p>\n

But heading into the tournament, the vibes were, it should be noted, pretty bad. There were concerns about ticket prices, about the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies or the war in Iran interfering with the event. Or, at the very least, casting a long shadow over what is, in a perfect world, supposed to be a triumphant global fusion of cultures around the world\u2019s most popular sport.<\/p>\n

And then, something happened. Even before the tournament started, as kilted Scots marched on Boston and the Algerians were welcomed by Lawrence, Kansas, as the South Koreans shared tequila with Mexican fans in Guadalajara, the mood lifted. The infectious spirit of the World Cup was, it seemed, undeniable. And then there were the matches. The thrilling, unexpected rise of Cape Verde; Germany and the Netherlands\u2019 early exit. Stellar performances from Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi, France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, England\u2019s Jude Bellingham, and Norway\u2019s imminently meme-able Viking Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n

Here in America, I experienced something that I hadn\u2019t felt in a long time, maybe ever. This universal enthusiasm: not just for the tournament, but for the cultural spectacle that surrounds it.<\/p>\n

And maybe the timing had something to do with it; the World Cup taking place during America\u2019s 250th birthday, an anniversary that, for many, is quite complicated. National pride is a tricky thing for some people to access these days, as our political divisions overshadow almost everything else. As America\u2019s 250th approached, I just kept hearing people lament how different and muted this anniversary felt, compared to the bicentennial in 1976.<\/p>\n

But think back on this last month. Hundreds of thousands of foreigners coming to our country, joining in common cause, learning about our abundant varieties of Mountain Dew. Deliriously tweeting about the size of our truck-stop stores. These people were reflecting back the quirks that make this country unique. Americans basking in and giddily accepting new cultures, all while donning their own stars and stripes and cheering on the U.S. men\u2019s team with an irrational hope and confidence. It all felt like a very fitting America 250 celebration.<\/p>\n

So what has the World Cup taught us over the last month? To try and understand, I spoke to the man who taught me to love soccer, and who I argue is America\u2019s Chief Soccer Evangelist: Roger Bennett. Rog is the founder and CEO of the Men in Blazers media network\u2014a Liverpudlian who, from an early age, was so enamored with America that he made it his life\u2019s mission to (1) become an American citizen, and (2) teach Americans to love soccer the way so many around the world do.<\/p>\n

I first wrote about Bennett 12 years ago. And since I have known him, he\u2019s been traveling around the country, hosting TV shows, recording thousands of podcast episodes that view soccer through an emotional lens. The sport, he argues, is a way to talk about all the big stuff in life: community, love, agony, joy. Also poetry and \u201980s movies.<\/p>\n

Bennett isn\u2019t just a soccer pundit; he\u2019s also a media executive and a keen observer of how information travels and how spectacle and memory are made in the internet era. The World Cup is one of only a few monocultural events that we have\u2014the World Cup final, which will take place on Sunday, will likely be viewed by more than a billion people at the same time. But it\u2019s also been changed profoundly, both by the internet and by social media.<\/p>\n

We are days away from the final match, and there is so much to unpack. What has the World Cup taught us about ourselves, about the rest of the world? Why does this event seem to grow more important as the world\u2019s attention continues to fracture into niche subgenres? Is any of this possible without the internet? And, of course, is FreddyLA7\u2014the anonymous German tourist who became an internet celebrity overnight\u2014even real? Roger Bennett joins me now to talk about it all.<\/p>\n

[Music<\/em>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Roger Bennett, welcome to Galaxy Brain<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Roger Bennett:<\/strong> Charlie Warzel, you legend. It\u2019s lovely to be with you.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> So, Men in Blazers\u2019 mantra is that football is more than just a game; it is \u201ca lens to understand the world, feel human emotion, experience a sense of global connection, and make memories together.\u201d What do you think this World Cup has taught you that you didn\u2019t know about football and also the world?<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah; I mean, the premise is really true, Charlie. The World Cup is the world\u2019s last global billboard. It\u2019s like a global eclipse that sweeps the nation for 39 straight days, holds everybody in its sway. It\u2019s like watching an enormous telenovela acted out live by 22 dudes at a time wearing polyester, sweating away under the crucible of extreme human pressure. That\u2019s what really makes it fascinating on the surface. They\u2019re making these decisions in real time. Some are glorious and ecstatic and transcendent. Others are just humanly disastrous. But we get to live every step of the way vicariously through them, and then make the memories with this enormous audience who are following every step.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s been different about this? I mean, there\u2019s a number of things. The first is, I think in terms of the American context, it\u2019s been fascinating to watch global football discover America in the most beautiful, really enriching, I think, important way. I think we really needed this as a nation, to see fans from all over the world. They weren\u2019t going to come\u2014you know, the tickets, the political [unrest], everything. They came, they saw, and they didn\u2019t conquer. But ate every single chicken wing, every single Waffle House, every single nugget from Buc-ee’s, and were utterly enraptured. And, you know, often in life we love what other people love about ourselves. It\u2019s very validating. I think America needed that validation.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a second story that I love, which we can talk about, which is America falling in love with global football, which has really been the story of my life. But the third and final thing is that this has been a World Cup of love\u2014which the world really needs, and it\u2019s been beautiful. And we\u2019ve all been enraptured. I was just in Boston reliving on stage with the mayor and with Pedro Martinez, that incredible 12-day period when Boston temporarily became the capital of Scotland. And we were enraptured by Lawrence, Kansas, falling in love with the Algerian team, which is a really nuanced story, a really beautiful human story. The Norwegians, the Colombians, the Congolese, the diasporas of their fans traveling. The Egyptians from all over the United States, coming together to cheer their team.<\/p>\n

The point I\u2019d make is\u2014when I grew up, you can tell I\u2019m not American originally. I am now very American, but I was born in Liverpool, England. And football fandom was violent. It was full of hate. It was us against them. And the thing that\u2019s been so beautiful\u2014and I\u2019ve really never seen before, to this mass and this impact, and social media has no doubt had a lot to do with it\u2014is: These fan bases are welcoming. They are warm. They are loving. They have porous boundaries. The Scottish fans, if you want to focus on them, they said: Come be with us. Come seize this moment. The worst parts of our journey are going to be the football matches we actually have to sit through, because our team is terrible. But either side of that, we welcome you. Come and join our joy. Come and march with us.<\/em> The Dutch fans in Kansas City, marching behind their bus. And that kind of warmth and that joy and that openness and that fluid identity. And that has been one of the greatest changes in football, and I think an antidote for the United States right now. It\u2019s very much what we all needed.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> You talk about falling in love\u2014America falling in love\u2014with global football as the project of your life and your work. What made you so confident that Americans would? \u2019Cause I think they have in this Cup, really truly. But what made you so confident Americans would?<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah, I wrote a book about this, We Are the World (Cup)<\/em>. It came out ahead of the World Cup. And it was really about reliving the World Cups that I\u2019ve lived. So that, if you haven\u2019t lived them, you could watch this World Cup with like a deeper sense of context. Almost like on Game of Thrones<\/em>, if you joined Season 4 when they have, \u201cin case you missed Game of Thrones<\/em> \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> \u201cPreviously, on the World Cup \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah, yeah. But, you know, also if you had lived it, then I hoped it would rekindle a sense of the powerful memory for those who\u2019d seen [Diego] Maradona and [Roberto] Baggio and had actually seen [David] Beckham as a footballing figure outside of the incredible array, dizzying array of commercials that he\u2019s put into the world for our viewing delight.<\/p>\n

It really is the sub-theme, ultimately. I didn\u2019t intend it to be, but the growth of the game in the United States and what I\u2019ve witnessed. Look, I moved here in 1994 when the men\u2019s World Cup was last here. I was a kid. I was obsessed with John Hughes movies\u2014we\u2019ve talked about this, Charlie\u2014you know, Chicago Bears Super Bowl\u2013winning team. Public Enemy. And I moved here, and football was not here. I had been on summer camp the World Cup before, 1990. And the bars of Maine\u2014if you\u2019re listening now, sports bars of Maine\u2014when England were in the semifinal, biggest game of my life to that point. One after the other refused to put the game on in empty bars. Just so they could enjoy my misery; that on my day off, I couldn\u2019t watch the bigger. They want to watch minor-league baseball, whatever the Portland Sea Dogs were back in those days. So people hated it.<\/p>\n

I wrote in my book that when I moved here, right before the World Cup, there was a study done where they revealed that soccer was America\u2019s 67th-biggest sport, and tractor pulling was No. 66. And I don\u2019t know where tractor pulling is now, but the economist has just revealed that soccer\u2014football, all forms, men\u2019s, women\u2019s\u2014is America\u2019s third-most-popular sport. Just pushed baseball into fourth, which is food for thought.<\/p>\n

And it was 2006. I used to watch Premier League football in D.C., where I lived, early on Saturday morning. They played one game. It\u2019s a terrible game, but we\u2019d feast upon it as if it was the NFL playoffs, because we were so hungry and we was expats. It was a group of 12, 13, 14 expats, not an American voice in the room. And I happened to be back for the World Cup 2006 in D.C. with my wife. And we went to the bar that I used to watch kind of lonely football with, and it was mobbed. The line was around the block. And I turned to my wife; I was like, Holy crap; this, this is the audience. This is what I\u2019ve been waiting for. This is what I\u2019ve been hungering for.<\/em><\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> So the gateway into this tournament for so many Americans, I think, as you said, has been those moments. You know\u2014the Scots in Boston, the people of Lawrence, Kansas, rolling out the red carpet to the Algerian team. And especially the way that they were packaged on social media, the way that social media played that. And I\u2019m curious, because you are both running a media company dedicated to capturing these moments. What makes the World Cup so perfect for the internet and social media? Do you think this could have happened\u2014this connection that Americans have had this year with it\u2014without the internet?<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> No, absolutely not. You know, the World Cup: I\u2019ve lived, and I\u2019ve loved. I want to say the World Cup is incredibly powerful. It was always very powerful. When two teams take the field, their nations\u2019 histories, their nations\u2019 politics, their nations\u2019 cultures take the field alongside them. So the World Cup is actually a mirror, complete and utter mirror, to the world that surrounds it. So, you know, it contains multitudes. And so the levels of storytelling, the levels of feeling, the levels of wonder.<\/p>\n

And when you have the scale of audience also, and you know, Bren\u00e9 Brown quotes [\u00c9mile] Durkheim about football: \u201ccollective effervescence.\u201d The feeling when you watch Lionel Messi play football; you\u2019re fully aware you\u2019re watching somebody. I actually was blessed to watch Argentina beat Egypt. They were down, two nil down. They seemed down and out. We were watching the end of this casual demigod\u2019s World Cup career. But no: They came back, so late, roared, and ended up winning 3\u20132, with Messi scoring a sensational goal.<\/p>\n

And you were aware that you were watching, as if you\u2019re watching Mozart compose. You\u2019re aware as if you\u2019re watching Michelangelo sculpt. Watching Lionel Messi, you\u2019re watching with the world. People were weeping. I sat by someone who\u2019d never been to a football game before, that was not Argentinian. She wept. I said, \u201cWhy are you crying?\u201d I didn\u2019t mean it aggressively. She said, \u201cIt\u2019s just it\u2019s like an incredible evangelical church in here, in this moment.\u201d The raptures.<\/p>\n

People are aware they\u2019re making incredible memories. And we\u2019ll be talking about Lionel Messi in 100 years, 150 years, in the same way as we do, just as I said, Michelangelo, Mozart, Picasso, the like\u2014he is that man. But social media has taken that, Charlie, and just turned it up. The noise, the storytelling, the feeling, the multiple angles of everything, by a thousand. Any game now, there\u2019s a rhythm that my social team have to follow. Where there\u2019s the game; there\u2019s the goal. And then that\u2019s like a stone in a beautiful pond, rippling out. And immediately, the game\u2019s over. There\u2019s just a rhythm. There\u2019s UGC shots from fans in there. Then the players go up and meet their fans as a song plays. Everyone weeps. Then you have, boom, what\u2019s the scene like in Rosario in Argentina, where Messi\u2019s from? The shot you get is the empty street, completely empty\u2014the noise exploding from every single room when Messi scores. Then people flood out onto the street. Then you\u2019ve got Bangladesh, where they\u2019re obsessed with Argentina as if they are Argentinian. There will be genuinely a shot then: 20,000 Bangladeshis almost rioting with joy. Then you get into the locker room, the players, the individual players.<\/p>\n

It goes on forever. The storytelling\u2014that\u2019s what\u2019s changed. When England would lose in 1982 and kid Roger would just feel sad, the final whistle ended. And then you\u2019d wait for the newspapers in the morning to relive your shame. That was it. But what\u2019s happened now is multiple\u2014dozens and dozens of angles. Dozens of feelings, dozens of experiences, dozens of refractions. And it is almost endless and exhausting and wonderful. And the noise that this is making is something that is a cacophony of the world enraptured. And that, part of me\u2014it\u2019s very long, 39 days.<\/p>\n

Read more A Pulitzer Winner Who Keeps Pushing Himself<\/a><\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Yeah.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> The end is within touching distance. I\u2019ve not slept in a long time. I\u2019m in a post-sleep world. We\u2019re laughing, Charlie, when you were with us. I\u2019m in a post-sleep world right now. And part of me can\u2019t wait for it to end, humanly, because it is so humanly shattering. But part of me never wants this to end\u2014because it is the good vibe around the world in the moment. The shared sense of experience is the shared sense of wonder at this stage. It\u2019s an all-too-rare commodity in our day and age.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Well, and it\u2019s so interesting, because as you describe how the World Cup and all these teams\u2014they bring their politics, they bring their histories, they bring in some ways all the baggage to the table. And that\u2019s part of the stakes of it, and what keeps us rapt. That is happening, and we\u2019re feeling that.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, it also feels like this reprieve, right? It feels a little bit like geopolitics without all of the messy politics. You know, you get to have a little bit of\u2014it\u2019s felt like a vacation. It\u2019s felt like a time to get away from the more difficult parts of the whole world being mashed together and talking to each other all the time, and to enjoy the better parts of the world being put together, and talking to each other all the time.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah; I mean, I want to be clear there have been dark moments, very dark moments. Like if it was Iranian Charlie Warzel and Iranian Rog doing this podcast, we would not be as relaxed. What happened to them was unprecedented in World Cup history\u2014that a team who were at conflict with the host were meant to be living and playing in the United States, and they ultimately had to move after some geopolitical brinksmanship. Move to Mexico. And then were only allowed by the United States to come in and out for very small windows. Same time\u2014their relationship with Mexico. I mean, Mexico is very much a fascinating winner of this whole World Cup. The way their fans, the way their nation have welcomed; not just the Iranians.<\/p>\n

But by and large, you\u2019re right, Charl. It has been absolutely rhapsodic. And then from your POV\u2014and you\u2019ll understand this better than I do\u2014part of the reason it\u2019s been so positive and rapturous, and I\u2019m fascinated by this, sports fandom itself has been contorted by the internet. You can\u2019t be fans now without a bit. And we all see the Dutch fans; they have an orange bus. They deliver this bus wherever they\u2019re playing. They had to ship it over from the Netherlands via Galveston and then drive it up. They have a bit. They march to the match. Lynx and Rex in their orange, you know, 20,000, 30,000. They got bigger and bigger each time, I think as more and more Americans joined in. The Norwegian fans with their Viking row, row, row.<\/em><\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> The row. Right.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> You know, starting it in the game. Then they took over Times Square. But fans become deeply performative in beautiful ways, really beautiful ways. You know, the Japanese fans tidy up after themselves.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Right.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Which is the antithesis of a football fandom, where you go to fight, you go to smash things, you go to break everything. Football fandom is contorted by the internet now to put out beauty and vibe and wonder. And again\u2014your brain will understand it more than I do, but there\u2019s something, I use the word performative<\/em>. I don\u2019t mean it in a disparaging way, but the internet itself has changed the way we fan.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Speaking of performative and the internet, I\u2019ve been meaning, wanting to ask you about FreddyLA7. Freddy7LA? I can\u2019t remember which it goes. Do you think he is real?<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> So this has been an ongoing argument. I have a partner, one of our many voices on the Men in Blazers media network, Rory Smith. This is probably the thing we\u2019ve argued about the most. He thought it was just beautiful. He\u2019s kind of a Scots Englishman who loves travel and is really open-minded. And I think does travel the world just with a sense of wonder, one great ice cream at a time. And he, you know, and I argue about this. I\u2019m fairly cynical. I\u2019m a fairly dark human being. I did not understand from the very beginning. When Freddy did his first post\u2014I love the Waffle House. I adore the Waffle House. I feel like it\u2019s a place of real American wonder. And I think one of his first posts was about the Waffle House. And I reached out and said, Hey, man, that\u2019s really beautiful<\/em>. I got no reply. It didn\u2019t make a lot of sense to me, to be honest.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> You got snubbed. You got snubbed by Freddy.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah, yeah. A lot of people got snubbed by Freddy, because I spoke to a lot of people who\u2019d reached out from some pretty sizable outlets. And I mean, that was fascinating because if you just do one great tweet\u2014you\u2019re seeing now, today\u2019s sensation is a Norwegian super fan who refuses to do the Viking row, because it\u2019s ahistorical. Vikings didn\u2019t row. They sailed. And so there\u2019s all this footage of 20,000 Norwegian fans, row row<\/em>. And there\u2019s one very large-looking, very Viking-looking man who\u2019s just sitting there with his arms crossed. I think Franklin Leonard just tweeted that he\u2019s \u201cNorwegian Larry David.\u201d He\u2019s doing a round of media.<\/p>\n

This gentleman, for whatever want, is completely free to decide to avoid the media. You kind of avoid the media if you know where you\u2019re going, if you have a master plan, if you know you don\u2019t need it. So it\u2019s kind of fascinating to me. The covering the face was another very odd thing. And the fact that he\u2019s never been uncovered, despite where he\u2019s gone. They\u2019re going to stadia, gonna meet people. The fact that there\u2019s no 16-year-old with a cell-phone camera, who\u2019s been like, Oh my god, this is Freddy<\/em>. It\u2019s kind of fascinating. So I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> But you lean psyop.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Well, I don\u2019t really know what a psyop is, to be honest. Can you just tell me what a psyop is? Tell the world, because I use the word all the time, and I don\u2019t know what the hell it means, Charlie Warzel.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Yeah\u2014it\u2019s sort of a government-orchestrated plan to, you know, to indoctrinate people with some sort of idea, right? People are saying he might be a great way to reflect the core values of America, right, through this guy, and he might not be who he says he is.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah. When he\u2019s going to Eastern Ohio towns, he\u2019s been like, These are beautiful. This is just the greatest beauty I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/em> I\u2019m like, cool family. I mean, I love America, man. I do. I share his\u2014you go to Minnesota, you go to Matt\u2019s Bar, you eat a Juicy Lucy. It is life changing. But we will see. I\u2019ve got a feeling that somebody who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on a show that maybe\u2014<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> A guest on our show here, yes. Pablo Torre, yeah.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Yeah, I have a feeling that in the next couple of weeks we will learn more from someone much smarter than me.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> So talking about America, in that sense. You are an American citizen. You\u2019re one of the most patriotic people that I know. Truly someone who has those types of values and expresses them very publicly. Without getting too political about it, it\u2019s been a tough, divisive time to be an American. And the Cup has felt like it is this reprieve. It\u2019s felt like the actual America 250 celebration, right? What lessons can we take away from this? How can we harness that national pride on days when we\u2019re not putting on the American-flag jersey and going down to the bar to sing the national anthem with people and root on the team? How do we keep this type of positive patriotism going in our everyday lives?<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> I do want to say\u2014this U.S. story, the U.S. journey, the U.S. team. That was an agony, you know, the beginning. Just swaggy, buccaneering football, watching the nation rise up behind its team. I found it incredibly moving. I really did, Charlie. When they do well, seeing people take interest, beyond interest, but learn that the true joy of football is to be in a huge space with thousands of strangers throwing beers in the air when your team scores. That\u2019s the good stuff, man. I\u2019ve got this John Madden bus. I\u2019ve been driving it across America. We\u2019ve been doing these match day lives, these college game days. We did one in Seattle for the second game, and we had 5,000 people on the waterfront listening to us. And Marshawn Lynch was one of the guests. It was really beautiful. And afterwards we marched to the match, 15,000 fans from all over America. Just talking to them\u2014where have you come from, why you\u2019re here, what\u2019s brought you a sense of joy, sense of optimism, sense of wonder. It was dashed too soon.<\/p>\n

You know, U.S. women kick ass and take names. You know, we love a dream team. The U.S. men are very much a dream-on team, and they kind of self-sabotage. They strapped on a pair of wax wings and just Balogun themselves onto the\u2014back down to, you know, in a very self-harming way, back to Earth. But those scenes of coming together joyously around this team, this diverse team, this remarkable team from all points, [Folarin] Balogun himself a birthright citizen leading this. I do, I think, ultimately\u2014look, football by 2030, the fan base will be the perfect refraction of American demography. U.S. Soccer did a study and found that out. I think that\u2019s beautiful. And that\u2019s what excites me. The football fandom is a refraction of who we are, in a unified and remarkable way. But I do think the last thing, the self-love that we\u2019ve garnered from this\u2014and I know it sounds funny to your listeners, because I\u2019m saying this in an English accent. But you\u2019re right. I do care; I care deeply. When England played the United States, I support the United States. I\u2019m all in. But those are the memories.<\/p>\n

I think that I really do believe that often when you\u2019re feeling down in life, when you\u2019re feeling challenged, seeing what other people love about you is the greatest pick-me-up that there can be. And I think those are the memories. And it\u2019s also been fascinating; the things that people love about us are the most accessible, the most democratized. I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s been so funny seeing Japanese fans go to a taco restaurant and be completely confused and almost like bewildered, in the most joyous way, by the free chips and salsa that constantly were refilled. And they kept eating them, dozens of bowls, because they felt obliged to honor the gift that was being brought. We live in an incredible society. We really do. The Waffle House. It\u2019s an incredible institution. But by the way, the Waffle House\u2014you and I tried to go into the Waffle House late night in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> We did.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> It was mobbed. It is hard to get in. The Waffle House has been the hardest restaurant to get into in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Atlanta\u2019s hottest club.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> I know; it\u2019s like beautiful. That\u2019s the America that we want to live in.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> At midnight, by the way.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> And there\u2019s been almost like a democratizing of joy, a democratizing of wonder. And I hope that we can see what the world has loved. And they really have. Erling Haaland\u2014I\u2019ll leave you with this. Erling Haaland, who\u2019s essentially Shaquille O\u2019Neal if he was a Viking and he chose to wear football cleats instead of basketball high-tops. He\u2019s a deeply charismatic man in a singular way. His message is: I just love America. I love America. I love the people. I\u2019m blown away by how warm, how welcoming, how funny, how different, how joyous they are<\/em>. And I think hearing these things, I hope, will be the legacy of this. And we can feel some self-love and some self-worth and some real joy through this.<\/p>\n

Look, I\u2019m talking as if it\u2019s over. There\u2019s still a couple more games to play. And so there\u2019s still a lot of story to be written, Charlie. And hopefully we can talk afterwards and really decompress and talk in a more articulate way.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Well, Rog, I know you gotta go. Thank you for sharing the Cup for us, but also giving us a lens to look at it through, to make it something bigger. I think we all feel it. I think it\u2019s difficult. We have to be reminded of what we\u2019re witnessing, and why it\u2019s special.<\/p>\n

Bennett:<\/strong> Charlie, man, it is just genuinely the honor to have lived in America. That America that didn\u2019t want to know, that almost protested too much, that genuinely hated it. Watching World Cup to World Cup, the internet has connected us to these teams in between, in a way as if we lived in Liverpool and not Los Angeles. The power of the video game, EA Sports<\/em>, which has sensitized an entire generation. The rise of the women\u2019s game, which is something we\u2019ve not talked about\u2014the women\u2019s World Cup is coming next summer, I can\u2019t wait. We\u2019re one of the only populations where football has become popular largely, and one of the great drivers is the success of our women\u2019s team. That\u2019s an incredible story in its own right. And we owe a debt of thanks to the U.S. women\u2019s national team and the rhapsodic moments of pride they\u2019ve given us.<\/p>\n

But to see that journey from 1990\u2014those Maine bars, you know, 67th-favorite sport in the world\u2014to now is the journey of a lifetime. And I do believe the impact of this World Cup on home turf\u2014please God, if we can stick the landing, I believe this is kind of the moment. We always joke on my show, and you know this, Charl. Soccer: America\u2019s sport of the future, as it has been since 1972. You know, this is the beginning of the next phase, where ultimately football is going to enter the whole American century.<\/p>\n

Warzel:<\/strong> Roger Bennett, thank you for coming on Galaxy Brain<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Bennett: <\/strong>Big, big love.<\/p>\n

[Music<\/em>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warzel: <\/strong>That\u2019s it for us here. Thanks again to my guest, Roger Bennett. If you liked what you saw here, new episodes of Galaxy Brain<\/em> drop every Friday. You can subscribe on The Atlantic<\/em>\u2019s YouTube channel, or on Apple or Spotify or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. And if you want to support this work and the work of my colleagues, you can subscribe to the publication at TheAtlantic.com\/Listener. That\u2019s TheAtlantic.com\/Listener. Thanks so much, and I\u2019ll see you on the internet.<\/p>\n

This episode of Galaxy Brain<\/em> was produced by Renee Klahr and engineered by Miguel Carrascal. Our theme is by Rob Smierciak. Hadley Robinson is our senior supervising producer. Claudine Ebeid is the executive producer of Atlantic<\/em> audio, and Andrea Valdez is our managing editor.<\/p>\n

Read more The Researchers Who Want Dads-to-Be to Stop Drinking<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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