The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home - Financial Times
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After decades of attending every World Cup in stadiums, journalist Simon Kuper discovered that the true heart of the tournament lies not in the stands but in living rooms where family memories merge with sporting passion. His unexpected week watching from home transported him back to 1978, when as an eight-year-old he watched the Argentina-Netherlands final with his parents and grandparents.
The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home
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The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home
For the first time in decades, I didn’t see the tournament kick off in the stadium
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Simon Kuper
Published4 hours ago
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By the time you read this, I hope to have landed in Philadelphia, and perhaps even passed through customs and begun watching the World Cup in the stadium. It will be my 10th tournament. But for the first time in decades, I’ve had a week watching the World Cup the way normal people do: at home. The experience has confirmed my long-held suspicion that the emotional centre of this event isn’t the stadium but the living-room.
I delayed my departure from Paris because my boys are doing their final school exams, and it was felt I should be present at least for bits of the experience. I think they are revising, but the evening before the first exam I was watching Germany-Curaçao with one son, 17, when he remarked: “Is this the first World Cup game we’ve ever watched together?” It was. That evening I was going to a Dutch friend’s house to see my team, the Netherlands, play Japan. The son asked, “When was the last time you watched Holland at a World Cup at home?” I had to think. I’ve been to every World Cup since 1990. The Dutch didn’t qualify in 1986 or 1982. The correct answer was therefore the Argentina-Netherlands final in 1978.
I was eight years old, sitting in my pyjamas in our living room in a small Dutch town, watching with my parents and grandparents. Argentina were 1-0 up with 12 minutes left when Dick Nanninga, the big Dutch centre-forward who ran a flower kiosk in daily life, headed the equaliser into the confetti-strewn net. In my memory, a communal cheer rose from the neighbouring houses. Argentina won 3-1.
My grandparents and mother are long dead, but I can still picture us sitting in the living room — as vivid an image as almost anything else in my childhood. A World Cup is like Proust’s madeleine. Each new World Cup reminds you of past World Cups, and the people you watched with.
My children’s golden World Cup is 2018, won by their team, France. They watched each French game with their school friends and the parents in somebody’s flat over pizzas. When it was our turn to host, our living room walls were smeared with red-white-and-blue face paint from the children’s celebrations — or so I’m told. I don’t feature in my kids’ World Cup memories, because I was always at the World Cup.
Contrary to popular opinion, the stadium at World Cups is usually a tame place. The crowd tends to be less involved than at a club match, because the spectato
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+ World Home
+ Middle East war
+ Global Economy
+ UK
+ US
+ China
+ Africa
+ Asia Pacific
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+ Europe
+ War in Ukraine
+ Americas
+ Middle East & North Africa
Most Read
+ What is the point of Berkshire Hathaway?
+ US and Iran sign deal as Trump vows to release frozen funds and ease sanctions
+ JPMorgan Chase cuts off Anthropic access for its Hong Kong staff
+ Ukraine hits Moscow with largest-ever drone attack
+ How Brexit still divides British voters
* US
Sections
+ US Home
+ US Economy
+ US Companies
+ US Politics & Policy
Most Read
+ What is the point of Berkshire Hathaway?
+ US and Iran sign deal as Trump vows to release frozen funds and ease sanctions
+ JPMorgan Chase cuts off Anthropic access for its Hong Kong staff
+ Fed officials tilt towards rate rise as Warsh era begins
+ Chinese universities gain ground on UK and US in global rankings
* Companies
Sections
+ Companies Home
+ Energy
+ Financials
+ Health
+ Industrials
+ Media
+ Professional Services
+ Retail & Consumer
+ Tech Sector
+ Telecoms
+ Transport
Most Read
+ What is the point of Berkshire Hathaway?
+ JPMorgan Chase cuts off Anthropic access for its Hong Kong staff
+ Thoma Bravo hands Medallia to lenders in one of PE’s biggest losses
+ Billionaire trader Alex Gerko loses tax appeal at UK Supreme Court
+ Anthropic chief tells G7 leaders to ‘resist the temptation to splinter’ over AI
* Tech
Sections
+ Tech Home
+ Artificial intelligence
+ Semiconductors
+ Cyber Security
+ Social Media
Most Read
+ Thoma Bravo hands Medallia to lenders in one of PE’s biggest losses
+ Anthropic chief tells G7 leaders to ‘resist the temptation to splinter’ over AI
+ Meta’s AI gamble: Dina Powell McCormick opens door to Wall Street
+ Buying Cursor could be SpaceX’s Instagram moment
+ To avoid backlash, tech giants must share their AI wealth before it’s too late
* Markets
Sections
+ Markets Home
+ Alphaville
+ Markets Data
+ Private markets
+ Equities
+ Bonds
+ Currencies
+ Commodities
+ Crypto
+ Monetary Policy Radar
+ Wealth Management
+ Moral Money
+ ETF Hub
+ Asset management
Most Read
+ Thoma Bravo hands Medallia to lenders in one of PE’s biggest losses
+ How the oil market shrugged off the Iran crisis
+ Trump administration to pay $765mn to scuttle offshore wind projects
+ Investors pile into bullish dollar bets as ‘US exceptionalism’ trade returns
+ Intertek board agrees £11bn takeover by private equity group EQT
* Climate
* Opinion
Sections
+ Opinion Home
+ Columnists
+ The FT View
+ The Big Read
+ Lex
+ Obituaries
+ Letters
Most Read
+ What is the point of Berkshire Hathaway?
+ China’s tribute system and the new world order
+ Buying Cursor could be SpaceX’s Instagram moment
+ To avoid backlash, tech giants must share their AI wealth before it’s too late
+ Andy Burnham and the search for hope in a hopeless Britain
* Lex
* Stock Picking Game
* Life & Arts
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+ Life & Arts Home
+ Arts
+ Books
+ Food & Drink
+ FT Magazine
+ House & Home
+ Style
+ Puzzles
+ Travel
+ FT Globetrotter
Most Read
+ The best economics books to read this summer
+ Restoring your vintage superyacht? You’ll just need £30mn
+ The Four Seasons — midlife crisis never looked so cosy
+ Postcard from Boston: on tour with the Tartan Army
+ The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home
* How To Spend It
MenuSearch
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* World
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* Tech
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* Climate
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* What is the latest news on the UK economy?
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FT Magazine
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The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home
For the first time in decades, I didn’t see the tournament kick off in the stadium
*© Harry Haysom*
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on x (opens in a new window)
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on facebook (opens in a new window)
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on linkedin (opens in a new window)
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on whatsapp (opens in a new window)
*
current progress 0%
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on x (opens in a new window)
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on facebook (opens in a new window)
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on linkedin (opens in a new window)
* The unusual experience of watching the World Cup at home on whatsapp (opens in a new window)
*
Simon Kuper
Published4 hours ago
Jump to comments section
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
By the time you read this, I hope to have landed in Philadelphia, and perhaps even passed through customs and begun watching the World Cup in the stadium. It will be my 10th tournament. But for the first time in decades, I’ve had a week watching the World Cup the way normal people do: at home. The experience has confirmed my long-held suspicion that the emotional centre of this event isn’t the stadium but the living-room.
I delayed my departure from Paris because my boys are doing their final school exams, and it was felt I should be present at least for bits of the experience. I think they are revising, but the evening before the first exam I was watching Germany-Curaçao with one son, 17, when he remarked: “Is this the first World Cup game we’ve ever watched together?” It was. That evening I was going to a Dutch friend’s house to see my team, the Netherlands, play Japan. The son asked, “When was the last time you watched Holland at a World Cup at home?” I had to think. I’ve been to every World Cup since 1990. The Dutch didn’t qualify in 1986 or 1982. The correct answer was therefore the Argentina-Netherlands final in 1978.
I was eight years old, sitting in my pyjamas in our living room in a small Dutch town, watching with my parents and grandparents. Argentina were 1-0 up with 12 minutes left when Dick Nanninga, the big Dutch centre-forward who ran a flower kiosk in daily life, headed the equaliser into the confetti-strewn net. In my memory, a communal cheer rose from the neighbouring houses. Argentina won 3-1.
My grandparents and mother are long dead, but I can still picture us sitting in the living room — as vivid an image as almost anything else in my childhood. A World Cup is like Proust’s madeleine. Each new World Cup reminds you of past World Cups, and the people you watched with.
My children’s golden World Cup is 2018, won by their team, France. They watched each French game with their school friends and the parents in somebody’s flat over pizzas. When it was our turn to host, our living room walls were smeared with red-white-and-blue face paint from the children’s celebrations — or so I’m told. I don’t feature in my kids’ World Cup memories, because I was always at the World Cup.
Contrary to popular opinion, the stadium at World Cups is usually a tame place. The crowd tends to be less involved than at a club match, because the spectato
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