3 billion people, one game

It’s the semi-final of the 2014 world cup. The host Brazil has huge support on its home ground. Children, women, and men having painted flag faces can’t wait to see their country win and go to the final. For much of their youth, this would be the biggest match they’ve ever seen in their country. 32.5 million eyes are glued to the TV screens as well. The whistle blows at the start and then the whistle blows again at the end of the match. The same happy faces are now in agony, as the Germans have annihilated the hosts with a thumping margin. The world is shocked and the Brazilian supporters start leaving early and booing their own team. Because that’s what football is to the people. Emotions and pride make the “beautiful game”. The same beautiful game played by 265 million people around the world at while almost half of the world population watch it and around 100,000 people play professionally.

22 players affecting millions of people.

Football lives in billions of hearts and there are many things that make it special.

The passion and togetherness

Politics may divide people but football has a way of bringing them together. Your mate may support and vote for a different political party from you, and have arguments about who is better or worse. However, if you both support a team like Barcelona, you’ll both forget about your differences and watch together when the team has a match. Football involves a lot of money with football club owners aiming to maximize their profits from their investments in the team. But the club doesn’t just belong to the owners, it belongs to the fans. The kind of fans who stopped the European Super League from happening that would have seen the top football clubs break away from their respective leagues and start their own competition, aiming to get a huge cash grab. Proving just how much the teams mean to the fans. The joy of reaching the finals or of qualifying to the continent’s champions league, the sorrow of being relegated to the lower division or winning a trophy after decades. These reactions in the crowded stadiums really show what football is all about.

The World Cup tournaments

Only 32 nations out of 200 football-playing nations go to the World Cup. Yet it’s still watched by half the world’s population. The spectacle of the best teams battling it out to become the best in the world is truly awe-inspiring. It creates amazing memories, David vs Goliath moments, and intense competition as players leave their all on the pitch. This is why people whose team might not even be in the competition would be watching the games and have favorites. A recent example is when Croatia, a people when only 4 million people, ended up as runners-up of the competition in an underdog story in which they defeated the hosts, the creators of football, and the team with the greatest player of all time.

A simple game

Some games require a bat and ball to play, some require rackets and sticks but football only requires one ball. One ball and you can start a game with friends and imagine yourself as Cristiano Ronaldo because many professional footballers played in the streets. The rules are simple and the game is fun and inexpensive. Only a ball and you are among those millions that play the game. Old or young, short or tall, nothing limits you from enjoying.

The billion-dollar clubs, the huge governing organizations, and the best players, but at the end of the day, the community of billions is what truly makes it special. So as K’naan said, “let’s rejoice in the beautiful game”.