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| LV and the Trophy! |
#sriGINthoughts #GBUF #GoodBadUglyFunny #FIFAWC2026
After 104 matches, that post-final brawl,
and the World Cup trophy ending up in a plastic bag after all the Louis Vuitton
pomp, here's what I'm left remembering. Enjoy!
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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| SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles |
1. 🏟️ The ticket prices were
obscene. The in-stadium food was exorbitant. There were thunderstorms (or was
it a typhoon, or whatever?) that forced thousands to be stacked in the
concourses for hours. But... but, the sheer size and magnificence of the USA,
Canada and Mexico stadia were something to behold. FIFA managed the unmanageable. Full houses! #KickAssStadia
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
Lingering on...
|
2. 📸 Trophy presentations
are usually about the winners. Not this one. Infantino handed over the trophy
alongside the FIFA Peace Prize winner before sensibly vacating centre stage.
The Roja-tie man, though, refused to take the hint. He lingered... and lingered...
until it felt as though the trophy belonged to him. Poor Spain probably never
got a proper photograph with it. #LingeringPhoto%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| Lakshmi Ammal with Selvi Ammal (AI) |
3. 👕 It started as a meme.
Lamine Yamal became Lakshmi Ammal; Messi became Lassi; Ronaldo became Narado;
Mbappé became Mappillai (son-in-law)... But Selvi Ammal from Puducherry, India,
did not worry about any of it. She sold her fake jerseys with gusto and became an instant sensation, with people from far and wide descending on Puducherry
just to post stories with her. Those who condescended were floored by her
disarming smile! #SelviAmmalStyle%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| CBV Vozinha |
4. 🇨🇻 Every edition throws
up a surprise package. This time it was Cabo Verde, the Green Cape! The
country's stellar performance generated more articles than its entire
population of 500,000. Vozinha became a household name and did not concede a
goal against the eventual winners! Bonus: perhaps the Goal of the Tournament by Sidny Lopes against the other finalists, Argentina, in the Round of 32! #SuperDogCBV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| Kane and Juju |
5. 😂 What do you do if you
suffer from vertigo? Take Viagra. The English footballers may or may not have
done that to beat Mexico. But the meme factory never stopped running, with the
best one being Harry Kane's goal being ruled offside because of a longer-than-usual
appendage! The wags, of course, said they definitely needed one during the
hydration break against Argentina in the semi-finals! Or was it a delayed-release Juju from the Ghanaian
witch doctor? #DilatoryTactics%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| How to name it? Haaland's Raccoon |
6. 🛶 Yes, Erling Braut
Haaland was the darling of the tournament. The paternal and maternal surnames.
The stuffed raccoon. The braided tresses. Oh, and a small matter of seven
goals, including that outrageous trundle-and-header against Brazil. Yes, the
Norwegians behaved like our Gujju uncles and aunties by bringing their own
food. But the real scene-stealer was the Viking Roing. Dum-Dum-Ro! If you
haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favour and look it up. #VikingRoing%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| Hey Jude! |
7. 🎵 It was a tough
quarter-final. England and Jude Bellingham held on to win a bruising encounter.
But Jude took a happy song and turned it into a war cry! When asked about
Tuchel saying that the English team could do better, Jude's repartee was
simply: "Whatever!" Not sure whether the boss excoriated him
sufficiently, especially after the young man had a go at Messi (sacrilege!)
following the semi-final! #RefrainJude%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| Adiós from Tijuana, Iran! |
8. ✈️ I think the Iranians
accrued a million frequent flyer miles each just by travelling back and forth
between California, Washington State and Tijuana. Well, if Algeria had won that
game against Austria (3-3 after a last-minute equaliser), they would have accrued
even more! #HormuzVisas%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| White is the new black! |
9. 👟 I was told the
excessive use of pink in the players' apparel was because it looked better
against the lush green pitches on television. Fix It For Argentina (FIFA) head
honcho (and soon to be UN Secy General if DJT has its way!) Infantino went one
step further and wore blindingly white, custom-made Adidas trainers (complete
with the FIFA logo) for the final. Why? Apparently, he wanted to look cool and
relatable to the younger generation. #BoomerBlanc%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| This was before they ran out of beer! |
10. 🍺 Football without booze
is simply not football. Especially with the Scots around. Apart from strutting
around in kilts (Kilt Lifter is a beer in the US, by the way), their adorable
claim to fame was running Boston dry of alcohol. A forewarned Miami ordered six
times more booze and just about managed to keep afloat, pun intended! #TartanTricks%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 |
| Staale, Cody, Didier |
10+1: ❤️ Football is not about life and death. Take it
from Norwegian coach Ståle Solbakken, who came back from the dead; the
Netherlands' Cody Gakpo, who stayed on despite the loss of his stillborn son;
and French coach Didier Deschamps, who flew home and back after his mother
passed away. Football was, and is, simply life for these men and billions more.
Hashtag, you ask? My favourite. #CircleOfLife |
| Life is not messy! |
Goodbye Messi, Ronaldo,
Modric and a few other beautiful people.
Thanks to the USA, Canada and Mexico
for a wonderful tournament, despite "some" people trying to hijack
it. 😉
Well, these are my 10+1.
I am sure you have your own ten too!
Views are personal.
Any hurt unintentional.
Sources:
Various. Thanks to all of them.
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