Football unites us all, a beacon of shared passions that connects nations across continents, the Opening Ceremony MC informed us. With a straight face. Well, as long as she was well paid.
We have seen enough of these global pageants to separate truth from tosh. Some, like this kaleidoscopic showpiece in Mexico City, are suitably light and jolly. Others more profound, projecting power and eminence.
The lead-up to this moment gave Fifa the World Cup it deserves, racked with tensions and distrust, overly policed, overtly politicised, eco hostile, brazenly monetized to the benefit of itself, cue projected $9bn (£7m) dollar windfall, and callously detrimental to the community that actually cares about the game: football supporters.
None of that touched the sides, of course, swept clean under the red carpet by the alternative reality choreographers cosplaying utopia in the Azteca. Credit to Ian Wright for cutting through the froth 2,500 miles away on the banks of the East River in Brooklyn. Spirit of the game? They have no idea about that here, he said. Keep politics out of sport? Do me a favour.
The man who made this tournament possible, according to Fifa president Gianni Infantino at least, the venerable Donald Trump, would at least appreciate the welly in Wright’s message. Trump was mercifully absent from Mexico City, precluded one assumes, by preparations for “hitting Iran big tonight”.
Gianni Infantino looks on at the opening ceremony (Photo: Reuters)The kick-off between Mexico and South Africa could not come soon enough for Infantino, who has endured a similarly torrid build up to that of Qatar four years ago. The connective tissue that he insists bridges political divides and cultural difference did not extend to Omar Artan, Somalia’s African ref of the year, denied entry to the United States.
The footballers of Iran must have wondered what they were watching when Shakira and co were floating about the pitch singing about love and peace. Subject as they are to a military campaign by the hosts, and allowed into the United States only on match days, the very idea of participation must feel grotesque.
Watching the arriving Senegal team being processed by US officials on the tarmac in North Carolina you can only imagine what welcome Iran might receive when they touch down in Los Angeles on Monday for their opening fixture against New Zealand.
Iraq’s Ayman Hussein was detained for seven hours. Perhaps they will settle for that. At least Hussein made it through. The team’s official photographer, Talal Salah, was searched, interrogated then sent packing.
It appears this overbearing scrutiny of teams and officials from remote places will be a defining feature of Trumpland, the United States authorities by increments unpicking the central motifs laid down by the founding fathers and celebrated in the national anthem.
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Kat Lucas: The ‘real Mexico’ Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see Daniel Storey: The seven most outrageous things Gianni Infantino just said at the World CupUzbeki team and officials were searched as they alighted the bus ahead of a friendly with the Netherlands in New York. Welcome to the land of the free. Or should that be fee? The price gouging of tickets, hotels and public transport has dominated the build-up. Infantino told us to chill and relax, all’s well that ends well.
In other words, pipe down and watch the bloody football. With a record 48 teams playing a combined 104 matches the next five and a half weeks will hook us in, placing reality somewhere between the back burner and Narnia.
It’s all about Harry and Jude from now on, Leo and Ronnie, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, showing up, taking your chances, respecting the badge, and the wrath of Roy Keane. The cost of watching, the hell of being turned away, the vanity and inanity of Infantino, melting in the heat of blessed competition.
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