World Cup Wonder
In an excerpt from his new book, Sam on Sport shares his earliest memories of the FIFA World Cup
World Cup Wonder
This week’s article was meant to be a preview of sorts of some of the favourites for this year’s World Cup. However, there are already millions of articles like this out there and I already have a podcast series (worth a listen by the way!) which does exactly the same thing. With this is in mind, I thought I would do something a little different and share an excerpt from my new book, ‘The World At Their Feet: A History of the World Cup through the lens of the 2026 tournament’, which covers how my own journey with the tournament began.
“My World Cup obsession began with two penalties. Diana Ross sending her opening ceremony spot kick ballooning high and wide of an exploding goal was mirrored by Roberto Baggio’s skyward effort that ultimately cost Italy the final at the expense of Brazil, those two events bookending a magnificent tournament that had brought all the colour, excitement and suspense that I had been hoping for.
I was 9 years old by the time of USA ’94 and my interest in football was rapidly growing. A subscription to Roy of the Rovers, courtesy of my Grandpa, had opened up a wide world of knowledge and I was frantically trying to absorb as much as I could. My toes had dipped into the water of the international scene for Euro ’92 and I remember marvelling at the wonderful Danish side that won that tournament, completely oblivious to the political events that had seen them be dragged from their holidays on the beach to compete in the first place. At that stage, football was all fun for me, a process of memorising team names and colours and exposure to an ever-growing list of players that fascinated me.
A few trips to watch Dundee United play at Tannadice Park had been coupled with an appreciation of Liverpool after watching the 1992 FA Cup final and therefore the roots that turned into steadfast devotion for both sides had started to take hold. However, a World Cup on the horizon was even more exciting at that point as it opened up literally a whole world of possibilities and provided a huge opportunity to further my learning. Hours were spent devouring the information in my Panini sticker book, even before and actual stickers were lovingly lined up and put in place. The study of names, positions and clubs played for started to stick in my mind, although my pronunciations were probably awful in an age before getting to see these players on television and therefore hearing commentators talk about them on a regular basis. When this was coupled with the joy of trading in the playground, determining how many regular stickers a ‘foily’ was worth and perfecting negotiating tactics that Sir Alan Sugar would be proud of, the buy in increased exponentially.
I also remember convincing my parents to get me a World Cup preview book from the school book service catalogue so that I could immerse myself further in facts, figures and those to look out for. In a way it was an advantage that none of the home nations had qualified, although the Republic of Ireland were an easy draw for my affections, as it allowed me to focus more on the talent that was on offer rather than forcing me to diminish certain performances or results based on personal preferences. Regardless, certain teams still managed to grab my immediate attention either through having kits that I was drawn to (Spain and Mexico), or players that I liked the look of (Romania’s Gheorghe Hagi, Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov and Nigeria’s Daniel Amokachi).
One downside of the tournament being held in the United States was that I could only watch certain games live, as many were scheduled for well after my bedtime. Major ones seemed to be at more reasonable hours though and, from memory, there also seemed to be a decent highlights service as I have profound memories of significant moments from across the tournament. I was amazed by the passion of the fans and the skills of the players involved. There are literally hundreds of moments that stand out to me from that summer, permanently etched into my mind, but ones that jump out immediately are: Hagi’s goal from the touchline against Colombia, Maradona screaming maniacally into the camera before being sent home for violating drug regulations, Ray Houghton’s lobbed goal against Italy, Rashidi Yekini grasping the net in celebration after scoring Nigeria’s first goal, Roberto Baggio being substituted after Gianluca Pagliuca had been sent off against Norway, Saeed Al-Owairan’s wonderful individual goal against Belgium, Yordan Letchkov’s superb diving header against Germany, Bebeto’s rocking baby celebration, Branco’s thunderous free-kick against the Netherlands, Thomas Ravelli’s performance in the penalty shootout against Romania and, of course, those two missed penalties mentioned earlier.
Any World Cup can be broken down into a series of moments as it is virtually impossible to remember the entirety of every game that you watch but there are always a number of particular matches that do stick with you that when fellow enthusiasts ask, you can immediately recall to show off your knowledge. USA’s defeat of Colombia, Ireland shocking Italy, South Korea coming back from 2-0 down to draw with Spain, Romania seeing off Argentina in a classic, Italy coming back in dramatic fashion to end the dreams of a seriously impressive Nigeria, Bulgaria downing the mighty Germans and Brazil beating the Netherlands in the game of the tournament all stuck with me from that World Cup. These weren’t all necessarily the greatest of games but they are the ones that stuck with me over time. By the time the final had finished, it didn’t matter that the showpiece game itself had been a disappointment or that the team that I had wanted to win had actually lost, I was completely hooked and unsure how I would possibly wait another four years for the next edition to come around.”
I cannot wait for the 2026 World Cup to begin on Thursday to start the obsession all over again. My own children may still be a little too young to be able to take in the occasion and the local hype around Scotland returning to the tournament for the first time in 28 years but I am still excited to share the experience with them nonetheless.
I, on the other hand, will be fully immersed in the whole experience, reliving my youth as I marvel at all of the huge American stadiums and the colour and carnival atmosphere of the whole thing.
If my book is something that you are interested in, copies are available in paperback, on Kindle and via PDF. Links to these are here:
Another great read Sam. Your writing makes for exciting reading.
Ordered your book and looking forward to reading it. Thank you. BFF.