Many football fans have this experience during World Cup watching parties: the “home” team scores a goal and fans in a beer garden or pub celebrate as one – and may even embrace in celebration – even though they were complete strangers just moments before.
For Katie Wood, a clinical psychologist at Swinburne University in Melbourne, these shared moments can actually support mental health.
“The biggest protective factor for our mental health is connection — connection to ourselves, to other people, to our community and to our culture,” Wood told DW. And in his view, the game hits exactly this note; It brings people together.
This form of connection is not limited to families or friends. It can also emerge when, for a brief moment, someone feels that they are part of something larger. The World Cup is the perfect place to give people this kind of feeling.
Americans celebrate with Algerians
What this looks like in practice has shown up throughout the World Cup: fans from different countries cheering together, swapping jerseys, or suddenly finding themselves supporting the same team together.
In Lawrence, Kansas, the city center was spontaneously transformed into a green and white public viewing area during the match between Algeria and Austria. Because the Algerian national team had established its World Cup base there, hundreds of local Americans came wearing Algerian jerseys, with national colors painted on their faces and flags in their hands.
It is becoming clear elsewhere how quickly football can build bridges. After the round-of-16 match between Switzerland and Colombia in Vancouver, DW spotted two fans switching jerseys as a memory of the evening they shared. Meanwhile, in Seattle, following the United States’ elimination, a Belgian supporter was seen consoling a disappointed American fan.
A tourist visiting San Francisco told DW about the moment: “A guy saw my jersey. He didn’t know me at all. He came up to me, hugged me and just said, ‘It’s the World Cup.'”
Sense of Belonging: A Basic Need
Katie Wood sees this as the unique strength of a tournament like the World Cup. People who have never crossed each other’s path in everyday life share the same feelings for a short period of time.
“You may come from very different walks of life. But the moment you support the same team, a collective experience with a shared goal unfolds.”
This goal focuses on a fundamental need that many people underestimate: the need to belong. It doesn’t matter whether one has been a fan for decades or is watching the match for the first time. What matters more is the shared experience, the tension before kick-off, the roar when a goal is scored, the shared frustration after a loss.
“Nobody knows what we go through day after day as human beings,” a visitor to a fan zone told DW. “That’s why moments like these are so special.”
And even those who don’t have a favorite team can get caught up in this environment.
“I’m very happy,” a visitor to Philadelphia told DW. “I don’t even have a team, but I like watching sports.”
Freedom from the stress of everyday life
The World Cup can provide a way to step back from everyday life for a while.
“With so much going on in the world, we look for ways to escape our daily routines for a while,” Wood said. “And experiencing the World Cup – with all the excitement surrounding it – together with other people is a very healthy way to do so.”
Of course, the focus of a tournament like the World Cup is usually football. However, for many fans, the strongest memories of the World Cup are the moments that occurred during the matches.
This article was originally published in German.
Edited by: Jonathan Harding