Disclaimer: I still do not (nor will I ever) like soccer, or football as the rest of the world more accurately calls it. Really, U.S. sports: Why IS American football called football?

Despite the aforementioned disclaimer, I’ve taken to enjoying the World Cup. Chances are when I get back to the United States this week, this interest will likely wane and I’ll be glued to MLB standings and Mets games, but in the meantime I’m embracing the world’s pastime.

Do I understand football? Not completely, but I get the basics thanks to a certain ex-boyfriend obsessed with Manchester United. Personally, I don’t find football interesting, especially not on TV. The athletes are tiny and the camera is zoomed way out just to pan over the entire field. Football players are constantly falling and melodramatically feigning injuries before picking themselves up and resuming play. What bothered me most about the beginning rounds of the World Cup (if you saw my Twitter feed and Facebook statuses you already know this) was that they could end in a tie. Competitions should not end in a tie. That’s why it’s a competition.

For all the things I don’t like about soccer — errr, football — one thing outweighs those in favor of the World Cup. And no, it’s not the infectious world music and addicting commercials (BTS, Bangkok friends?), or even the fact that the U.S. team’s players are all incredibly attractive (yum!), though those certainly all are big pluses.

The World Cup has the power to bring peace, even if just temporarily. It is a common interest the entire world shares and that’s something special. Worldwide events like the World Cup and the Olympics bring a common ground to warring countries, first-world and third-world countries, even those without a team participating. It does not matter what time it is in the world, if a football match is on, people around the world are tuned in watching, creating an instant common bond.

Don’t agree with me? Watch this video that has since gone viral on YouTube showing reactions around the world over the United States’ astounding win against Algeria.

I was the only American, female AND customer in a restaurant in Alexandria, Egypt watching with a group of waiters who all were hoping for the elimination of the Algerian team. The reaction, though there were only six of us, was not unlike those showed in the video. Even I, the devout not-a-soccer-fan found myself standing and cheering and high-fiving those working in the restaurant.

Title photo courtesy of The Big Picture.