Sidebar #74 - World Cup in Costa Rica

Inspired by my recent trip to the States to attend a World Cup match, I wanted to talk about the World Cup experience in Costa Rica. Although the US is hosting the 2026 version of the Men's tournament, along with Canada and Mexico, and the US Men’s National Team is in the field (Costa Rica is not), the World Cup is a FAR bigger deal in Costa Rica than it is in the US. Last week, the class schedule was modified so students could celebrate the “inauguration” of the tournament. I couldn’t ever see that happening in the States. Additionally, almost every student of mine has a photo trading card-like album of all of the international rosters in the tournament.  

Whereas soccer competes against many other sports in the US, soccer is King in Costa Rica, meaning that the quadrennial World Cup is quite literally the Super Bowl here. In 2014, Costa Rica made the quaterfinals of the World Cup. Despite none of my elementary school kids being alive in 2014, it's something that they never let me forget. It was disappointing that Costa Rica didn't qualify for this year's edition of the World Cup, but I'm hoping that they can qualify once again in 2030. There is much more energy for the World Cup here than in the US; however, one advantage US viewers have is that the matches are on cable. Here, only a select few are on cable and the rest are on streaming. 




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