By Dr Zaman E. Tongper
Every four years, for about a month, daily routines quietly change. Work is planned around kick-off times. Meals are delayed, appointments are adjusted and conversations begin with, “Did you watch the match?”, “Which team do you support?”, social media is flooded with goals, predictions and celebrations. Even those who have little interest in football find themselves listening to discussions about it at work, in classrooms, at tea stalls or around the dinner table. That is the effect of the FIFA World Cup.
There are those who follow football throughout the year. They know every player, every club and every transfer. Then there are others who only recognise names like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. There are also many who do not care about football at all. Yet, somehow, during the World Cup, everyone comes into contact with it in one way or another.
My parents often told me about how they watched the World Cup on a small Sanyo black-and-white television during the 1980s. That television still sits in our house today. Whenever I look at it, I imagine what those nights must have been like. A family gathered around one small television, carefully adjusting the antenna and watching football without colour. I often wonder how they even knew which team was which. But perhaps that was never the important part. Watching together was.
Today, everything has changed. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is perhaps the first to be experienced in an age where artificial intelligence has become part of everyday life. People create AI-generated photographs showing themselves standing beside football stars or celebrating inside stadiums they have never visited. Others create videos of players doing things that never happened. Some are obviously meant for fun, while others are convincing enough to make people look twice. From a black-and-white television to artificial intelligence, the way we experience the World Cup has changed dramatically. What has not changed is the excitement.
Because this World Cup is being played on the other side of the world, many matches begin at unusual hours for Indian viewers. People stay awake long after midnight. Alarm clocks are set not for work, but for kick-off. Then, in the silence of the night, cheers suddenly erupt from somewhere nearby. You may not know who scored or even which teams are playing, but you know a goal has been scored.
Some people gather at a friend’s house to watch the matches. Others invite relatives over. In some villages, everyone squeezes into the only house with a television. If there is no space inside, some simply stand outside and watch through the windows. It does not matter whose house it is. For those ninety minutes, it belongs to everyone.
The Government of Meghalaya has embraced this spirit by organising the Chief Minister’s Football Fan Park, where supporters can watch matches together on giant screens. It is another reminder that football is often best experienced together rather than alone.
Some students have examinations during the tournament. Somehow, they manage to balance revision with late-night football. Many promise themselves they will watch only one half, only to end up staying awake until the final whistle.
Some fans save for years to attend the World Cup in person. Through their photographs and videos on social media, the rest of us get a glimpse of what it feels like to be inside the stadium. For many, it is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.
The World Cup also teaches us about the world in ways that textbooks sometimes fail to do. Countries that many of us barely remembered from our geography classes suddenly become familiar. We google search for places like Curaçao and Cape Verde not because they are part of an examination, but because their national teams have captured our imagination. We learn about their flags, locations, populations and histories simply because football has taken us there.
The tournament also brings out another side of people. Some place bets involving money, cars or even land. Others suddenly become conspiracy theorists, passionately explaining how the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was misused, how football politics favours certain teams, or how hidden interests decide the outcome of matches. Whether these theories are true or not, they become part of every World Cup conversation. Friendly debates become heated arguments and arguments sometimes become real fights. Sadly, there have also been reports from different parts of the world of people taking their own lives after suffering heavy gambling losses linked to football. It is remarkable that one tournament can bring so much joy, hope, obsession and heartbreak at the same time.
Sometimes I wonder what India would be like if it ever qualified for the FIFA World Cup. If this much passion exists when India is not even playing, imagine what it would be like if our national team walked onto the world’s biggest football stage. It would be unlike anything we have experienced. Every match would become a national event. Every goal would be celebrated by millions. For those ninety minutes, differences of language, ethnicity, politics and religion would matter a little less as the country rallied behind one team. That dream may still be some distance away, but it is not impossible. Football history is filled with countries that have transformed themselves through patient investment in youth development, coaching and grassroots football. India already has one of the largest football audiences in the world. If we truly hope to see the Indian tricolour flying at a FIFA World Cup someday, our support cannot end with Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France, England or Portugal every four years. We must also support our own national team through victories and defeats, encourage young footballers, attend local matches, strengthen our domestic leagues and believe that Indian football deserves its place on the global stage.
When the World Cup ends, life slowly returns to normal. The late nights stop. The conversations move on. The cheers fade away. Social media finds a new topic. But the memories remain. Long after the final whistle has blown and the trophy has been lifted, what many of us remember most is not just the goals or the champions. We remember where we watched the matches, who we celebrated with, the arguments we laughed about, the countries we discovered and the dreams the tournament inspired. And perhaps, one day, one of those dreams will be seeing India walk onto football’s biggest stage, not as spectators, but as participants.
