The World Cup has not yet fully landed in parts of the United States, even as the tournament moves toward a place in the last 16. Sport reporters covering the early days in New York and Florida said the first signs were low-key, with local attention pulled in other directions.
Ian Dennis said he landed in New York on the same day as game three of the NBA finals, and that his first week in the USA felt like New York Knicks fever, not World Cup fever. He said there was so much happening in the city that the tournament sometimes seemed like just another tourist passing through. The comparison was sharp because the Knicks had clinched their first title in 53 years, and that run, Dennis said, dominated the mood.
Those first impressions matter because the World Cup is partly being held in the United States, and its success depends on more than the match schedule. Before arriving, reporters said there had already been unease over whether tickets would be too expensive, whether football fever would take hold, and whether the sport sat too far down America’s list of priorities to break through quickly.
Alex Howell said he had spent a week and a half in Florida with England at two non-tournament venues before flying into New York City, where he found the same pattern. His initial reading was extremely low-key, with no clear feel for the World Cup at that stage, and he said the Knicks’ title run appeared to be the story locals cared about most. He added that in Mexico City the atmosphere was unlike anything he had ever experienced, and that several reporters covering the opening match felt it would have been incredible if the whole tournament had been staged there alone.
That contrast is the striking part of the early picture. One host city felt transformed by the tournament; parts of the United States did not. Howell said security concerns and political matters had overshadowed the build-up, and that before arriving in the United States he and others were not sure how much excitement there would be around the World Cup. His first impression, he said, was that the tournament had not quite landed, and that some host cities were still not fully connected to it.
The next measure of that interest comes on the field. The United States will face Bosnia-Herzegovina for a place in the last 16, and that result should show whether the tournament can finally cut through in the country that is helping stage it.
