What It’s Like Living In a Country Obsessed With Football
The FIFA World Cup and Argentina’s strange priorities.
It’s that time again. The FIFA World Cup officially kicked off yesterday, and tomorrow is the day Argentina has been waiting for four years to arrive: the national team’s first game this time around.
As a Finn, I used to watch World Cup games growing up even though we absolutely suck at football. I even saw one live in France in 1998.
When I lived in Barcelona between 2006 and 2009, I saw a football-crazy city with the world’s best team, el Barça, take home every possible win.
But I never knew what it was like to watch the World Cup in a country that truly stops when a game is on.
It’s spooky, and kind of disappointing.
Nothing Else Matters
Everyone watches football in Argentina. Even if you normally don’t, you watch the World Cup games.
I’ve never been as scared walking alone in Buenos Aires as when a World Cup game is on. It looks a lot like the first days of the pandemic, when there was nobody anywhere. The streets were empty and there was an eerie vibe in the air.
