Politically Fraught World Cup Serves Up Surprises

As the World Cup’s 16-team knockout round begins in Qatar Saturday, America surprisingly seems united around Team USA, while some long-established soccer superpowers are divided over politics. Major League Soccer players in America earn a fraction of what their professional counterparts in baseball, football, and basketball take home. Even hockey is more popular in America than soccer. Yet, Team USA, which will play the Netherlands Saturday, is cheered by almost all Americans.That is largely due to Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Iran, which allowed our eleven to advance to the knockout round. Even as America unites in supporting players of a game still alien to most of our sports fans, Iran, where soccer is king, is deeply divided. Amid the ongoing revolution, Iran’s players earned respect among those seeking the downfall of the regime by refusing to sing the national anthem before their first match. Yet, many Iranians cheered on America to beat their own team, defying the ayatollahs’ attempt to etch the “Death to America” chant into the national ethos. Iran is far from unique, with many nations’ politics standing in the way of what soccer usually accomplishes: bringing people together. The Qatar tournament, in fact, may be the most politically fraught international sporting event since Hitler’s summer Olympics in 1936. The world’s most soccer-crazed country, Brazil, leads the betting to win it all in Qatar. Following a deeply divisive recent national election, though, many Brazilians now wear their politics on their sleeves rather than their national team’s shirts. Supporters of the election’s loser, President Bolsonaro, have adopted the national team’s yellow and green jersey as their party’s symbol. Some of their foes on the left are wearing “LULA” shirts of the same colors, but most supporters of the president-elect, Ignacio Lula Da Silva, now shun the national jersey altogether.After Brazil’s top star player, Neymar, pronounced his complete loyalty to Mr. Bolsonaro, Brazil’s coach, Adenor Leonardo Bacchi, known as Tite, is begging his countrymen to eschew politics and support the team — a request that seemingly would have been unimaginable in years past. The politics of the Qatari hosts have also been quite visible. They couldn’t hide their glee after another soccer giant, Germany, which won it all in 2014, was unexpectedly eliminated from this tournament Thursday.Before the tournament began, many Europeans wanted to don “one love” armbands in solidarity with the oppressed LGBTQ community in Qatar and around the Arab world. The World Cup’s governing body, FIFA, ruled out such political displays, so the German players placed hands over mouths to protest the Qatari-inspired ban on free speech. On Friday, Qatari officials did the same to mock Germany’s failure to move beyond the group stage.Earlier, even after FIFA pleaded with all involved to ignore politics and just enjoy the game, it did not stop Qatari taxi drivers and store owners from harassing Israeli media crews covering the Cup in response to alleged “crimes” against Palestinians. Palestinian flags have been prominently displayed by Arab teams and their fans. In Communist China, broadcasts of the tournament are being credited with igniting the uprising against President Xi’s “zero-Covid” policies: Seeing maskless fans from around the world cheer on their teams, the Chinese — many now prisoners in their homes under the policies — couldn’t help but wonder if they share the “same planet” with the rest of the world’s inhabitants. In contrast to all that, many Americans who are otherwise deeply divided have been united by the victory over Iran. Although seemingly unaware of earlier matches, President Biden was so proud that he seemed to take credit for Tuesday’s victory. “When I spoke to the coach and the players I said, ‘You can do this.’ They went, ‘Ehhhh,’” the motivator-in-chief said at a rally in Michigan. “They did it, God bless them.”Even Mr. Biden’s most adamant critics couldn’t help but erupt in chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A.” This enthusiasm, though, may not last. Even an unlikely upset over the Dutch team is not as likely to register in the American psyche as deeply as the Iran win. The Netherlands match, after all, is only soccer, not politics. Oddsmakers place the Netherlands in the eighth spot to win the World Cup: Bet $10 to win $150. America is placed 14th. Wager a Hamilton on America to win the whole thing and you can win $1,010. Yet, the current Dutch team is not as good as past squads, such as when the great Johan Cruyff trod the fields in the 1970s, or when Dennis Bergkamp was one of the world’s top players in the 1990s. Now Team Oranje, as the boys from Holland are known, has a less than stellar offense.At 71, the Dutch head coach, Louis van Gaal, the tournament’s oldest, is heavily favored to win. His American counterpart, Gregg Berhalter, first became familiar with soccer in Holland, where he spent some time after college. So he is quite familiar with the Dutch style of play.Meanwhile, the Iran game’s American hero, Christian Pulisic, has been cleared to play following an abdominal injury suffered while scoring Tuesday’s decisive goal. Can he inspire the dormant American offense? In this stage of the tournament there will be no draws: If a match is tied after 90 minutes and extra time, expect a penalty shootout. One team will either win or lose — and that’s the American way.

Politically Fraught World Cup Serves Up Surprises

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