World Cup 2026

Providence, Rhode Island, June 23

Another 2 trouble free days on the bike, a distance of around 1.000 km, from Toronto to Providence in Rhode Islands. We chose the place because it gave us easy access to Boston, where we saw England playing Ghana today, and New Jersey, which has Germany playing Ecuador in 2 days.
The ride was harmonious, had a good flow. Hundreds of small villages, some picturebook wealthy and well kept, many others in different stages of decline, main streets with nearly all shops closed, empty and derelict wooden houses. We had hyper friendly US border control officials – “you’re here for FIFA? You are very welcome”…We crossed a landscape that made it straight into my all time favorite list: a magical land of water, rainforest like thick green intensity and hundreds of tiny bays with wooden structures with boats and canoes, called Thousand Islands. Breathtaking…

The day was spent with a good breakfast, a jump into the Gym and then – rain came to the North East for a day – a surprisingly affordable Uber ride to the Boston stadium, usually home to the New England Patriots, and a steep, concrete intimidating monster of astonishing proportions. It was a rough affair. England’s performance as usual, bringing up, again, the question how such a lot of talent can produce that boring football. My seat neighbours from Newcastle getting into a fight with 2 local ladies refusing to sit during the game. A middle aged couple so drunk that he fell of his seat, she unable to move and their boy, maybe 6, 7 years, searching for help and stewards, since his mother wasn’t responsive anymore. 12-15 security staff and police trying to deal with this incredibly sad situation. And it all happened efficiently, friendly, decisive. And this is true for the whole logistics and organization of the Cup. The US and Canada know how to handle this, no doubt…It is not only the quality of the stadiums: Excellent logistics, fast and efficient access and exit to the stadiums, a service infrastructure as smooth and well oiled as a Disney World amusement park.

Besides being back in a country where the World Cup is one of many entertainment options of overseable importance one aspect gets stronger the longer the tournament goes on: this is the first post-national World Cup. The fan camps are not dominated anymore by citizens of the specific country, but by global citizens adopting a team for a tournament. Or just a day…A development in the making since a while, and supported here by the fact that very few countries brought significant numbers of fans (exceptions are the Latinamerican nations) and by the American sports attitude: neutrality is boring. I would guess that less tan 10% of the people wearing the German colors in Toronto have been German citizens, and the same was true today in Boston.
The effect this has on the tournament is massive: things are getting a lot more relaxed. Or a lot less intense. However you wanna see it…The first World Cups I have seen could best be described as peaceful substitutes of war or diplomacy, a repositioning of nations in front of the global eye, while this here is a spectacular, light hearted display of an astonishingly powerful global entertainment industry.

Back on the bike tomorrow, for a half day ride to New Jersey, and using the rest of the day to sort out flights and tickets for my special VIP guest, a very smart and joyful little kid who’s dear to me…