With 112 days until the World Cup, even the CVS in Davis Square is stocking tournament merchandise. I sat down with two Tufts students to hear what the tournament means to them.
Sophomore Brynn Martin grew up playing soccer and vividly remembers the first World Cup she watched seriously: the 2014 tournament in Brazil. She was in Europe at the time, which made the experience unforgettable.
“That was such a good World Cup,” she recalled. “You had so many players at their peak, like prime Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi. And I was also in Europe, which made the atmosphere particularly electric.”
She watched the final wearing an Argentina jersey and rooting for Messi, despite being surrounded by European fans. When he missed a crucial free kick late in the game, it was “devastating.” She admired him as the underdog, “small but mighty,” even though, she said, “that’s not actually true.” Messi has never truly been the underdog.
Can the United States, hosting for the first time since 1994, recreate that atmosphere? Martin was doubtful. “I definitely think the atmosphere in other places is going to be a lot higher, to be honest. The U.S. never really has that much of a chance,” he said.
The difference, she explained, is cultural. Still, she believes hosting means it will be “bigger than it's ever been before” in the United States. And while she supports the United States Men’s National Soccer Team “because it’s my country,” she admitted she gravitates toward the women’s team instead. “[USWNT] is one of the better programs.”
Sophomore Nicolás Varela Pascual can tell you every detail of the day Panama qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2018. He was in sixth grade, watching from his family room with his little sister. When Panama’s captain scored in the 82nd minute, excitement filled the house.
“My little sister and I yelled, we cried. We were so excited,” he recounted. Then-President Mauricio Macri canceled school and work the next day. “It’s a memory I hold very dear.”
At the World Cup itself, Panama lost every game, finishing dead last. But none of that overshadowed the national anthem playing on that stage for the first time. “My dad was crying. I was crying. It was very emotional to see our flag, our anthem on a big stage for the first time.”
And when Panama scored their first ever World Cup goal against England, down 6–0, there was pandemonium. “It was literally like an on switch … We all stood up and screamed as if we had scored a winner. We lost 6–1, but that one goal meant a lot to us.”
For Varela Pascual, that passion is inseparable from patriotism. Would Panamanians ever support another team over Panama? “Never,” he said. Being the underdog only makes it sweeter.
“It makes it a million times more gratifying … We tie against a bigger country and it feels like a win,” he said.
Panama enters this World Cup in a group with England, Croatia and Ghana. Varela Pascual is disappointed by the draw, but not without hope. As for who wins it all, he landed in the same place as Martin: Spain.
“Very objectively,” he said. “And even unobjectively, I don’t think Panama is there yet.”
Both interviews revealed the same deep passion for the sport, but what differed was telling. For Varela Pascual, supporting Panama is effortless and unconditional because, in a small country with little else competing for that loyalty, the national team carries the weight of an entire identity. For Martin, it’s more complicated. In a country as large and fragmented as the U.S., where patriotism itself feels contested, even cheering for your own team becomes a choice rather than a reflex. The World Cup doesn’t change that. If anything, it puts it on full display.
