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The 2026 World Cup, which will end on Sunday with the final match between Spain and Argentina, has been described in so many ways by pundits, writers and commentators. Some have dubbed it the World Cup of chaos, the beautiful game and other wonderful epithets. For me, the 2026 World Cup reminds me of Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe’s 1984 Highlife classic, Osondi Owendi, which loosely translates in English language to “it pleases some and displeases others.” Even this translation didn’t quite capture the nuances of the Igbo adage.
That is usually the problem with translation. It does not necessarily capture the mood, texture, tone and essence of the original language. Other translations are “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” and “one man’s treasure is another man’s trash.” However, the Pidgin English equivalent, “as e dey pain dem, e dey sweet us,” though not perfect, is very close to its natural meaning. This translation was also popularized by Timaya’s hit track “Sweet Us.” To understand Igbo language, the learner must be conversant with its proverbs. This is why Chinua Achebe describes proverbs as “the palm oil with which words are eaten.” It explains also why every Igbo speech event is decorated with proverbs.
It was the former Arsenal player and pundit, Ian Wright, who described the 2026 World Cup as “World Cup of chaos” following a series of visa rejections, especially after Somali referee, Omar Atan, was denied entry into the United States by Trump’s border control officials. The Arsenal football star and other pundits criticized the astronomical ticket prices, travel and accommodation problems as well as restricted access for officials and fans.
The 2026 World Cup, the first with 48-team format and the first to be co-hosted by three countries, United States, Mexico and Canada, is controversial and highly politicized. It is about the most commercialized of all World Cup tournaments. FIFA intends to generate over €12billion from this edition alone. This is far above Qatar 2022 revenue of €6.6billion and Russia’s 2018 figure of €5.6billion.
It is also a World Cup of tears and laughter, which is also close to my theme, Osondi Owendi. To some, the 2026 World Cup is a laughing matter, to others; it is a weeping or crying matter. On Saturday for the 3rd place match, some will laugh and others will weep. Sunday will witness the mother of all weeping and laughing at the same time. Those who bet will win millions of dollars while others will lose as well. In Nigeria, many will lose and others win millions of naira via betting.
The betting cruise has caught up with many Nigerians, including men, women, and young people. Apart from religion and weed or ganger, betting has become our next opium. It has assumed epidemic proportion that even varsity students are not left behind. The increasing poverty in the country has worsened the betting epidemic.
Football is also about international politics. The game unifies people; it also divides people, the winners and losers. It causes more anger than laughter. Its competiveness evokes anger, hate, joy, enmity, tears and sorrows. Some fans die after watching football due to heart attack arising from their favourite team’s loss. Some fans also die while jubilating after their preferred team’s victory. Look at the aggressiveness in the competitive game, the shoving, knocking down opponents and pushing and holding of opponents jerseys all in an attempt to win a game. Imagine the violence in the attacks which a times leads to bodily injuries to the players.
The bias of the referees and assistant referees and the VAR can ruin the game. Losers always complain of referees’ bias. We saw it in Egypt versus Argentina, Spain versus France and England versus Argentina. All football tournaments including CAF and World Cup have been marred by poor officiating and VAR judgements. At times, match referees behave like electoral umpires in some elections in African countries and others where the process is far from being fair and transparent. This World Cup witnessed the undue interference of political actors to the extent that FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, appeared to be under the control and influence of US leader, Donald Trump. FIFA’s waiver of the suspension of Folarin Balogun is a case in point.
Just as in language, there is politics in football. The FIFA politics tend to favour the big four highly rated football nations, Spain (Group H), England (Group L), France (Group I) and Argentina (Group J). Ab initio, these big four were intentionally placed in different groups that none of them will meet each other during the group stage. This is indeed the first step of rigging the game against other continents, especially Africa. They never planned that African country should ever win this Cup at all at all. No African nation has ever won the Senior Men’s World Cup. With latent global football politics and sociology, it is not likely that any African team will dream of winning the FIFA World Cup, a European Cup, which of course includes South America.
The closest Africa has come to impressing in the World Cup is Morocco’s semi-final in Qatar 2022 and the 2026 quarter-final in the United States. Other African teams flopped at the group stage, while the majority stepped aside at the round of 32. With 48-team format, Nigeria failed to make it. We hope that it will make it if FIFA committee approves Infantino’s 64-team format. The FIFA boss is amazing with his crazy ideas over number and his determination to make the World Cup truly an event for the entire world, by making it inclusive of other countries including Italy and Nigeria and other major football nations who were absent in this year’s edition.
Nigeria’s absence was ameliorated with the presence of our cultural ambassadors, Burna Boy, Davido, Rema in the musical department of the game. Some players with Nigerian origin participated in the game via other countries, Balogun (US), Olise (France), Musiala and Nmecha (Germany), Nusa (Norway), Saka, Madueke and Eze (England) Okon (South Africa), Alaba and Chukwuemeka (Austria), Akanji and Okafor (Switzerland), and Owen Goodman (Canada).
These stars show that Nigeria can still make it in the next World Cup in 2030. However, Nigeria can only do it if the present Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is disbanded now. A new dynamic and responsive NFF is what is needed to guarantee our going to World Cup in 2030. The Super Eagles must be rejigged with new players from the home League and some from the Diaspora. We must evolve a new football culture rooted in discovering new talents and being serious with the game like Argentina.
Some former and current Super Eagles players featured in the Super Sports Tv panel on the World Cup. They include former Super Eagles captain, William Tros-Ekong, and Fulham midfielder and Nigerian international, Alex Iwobi. They were at their best in football analysis throughout the tournament alongside Asamoah Gyan of Ghana, South African football icon, Siphiwe “Shaba” Tsahbalala, Salamon Kaluo of Cote d’Ivoire and Bacary Sagna, former French footballer with Senegal roots, and Nigeria’s ace sports commentator, Mozez Praiz.
Apart from the world-class creativity of Lionel Messi (Argentina), Kylian Mbappe (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Harry Kane (England), Jude Bellingham (England), Mikel Oryazabal (Spain), and Lamine Yamal (Spain), I recognize the heroic exploits of Cape Verde’s Goalkeeper, Josimar Jose Evora Dias alias Vozinha. His clean sheet against Spain and impressive seven saves against Argentina were legendary. Cape Verde made Africa proud.
My latest discovery in football commentary was the exploits of Chief Suo Chappelle (Tracy Chapele-Ugo), the best female football commentator in Pidgin English in the world. Her Pidgin English lingo and linguistic prowess knew no bounds. Her commentary was smooth, memorable, relatable and highly entertaining. She makes watching football an interesting, loving and enjoyable experience. She is indeed the Queen of Sports.
