Every World Cup crowns a champion

Written by: Vedant Gunda

Edited by: Aditi Makkanthra 

Graphic Designer: Vedant Gunda

Every World Cup brings with it a winner. But every World Cup does not bring about a change of heart. This one did.

While headlines and history books will always remember the country that won the cup, it is what the fans will remember many years from now that truly makes this tournament unique. It is the countries that came into the tournament with nothing except hope.

Whereas most countries participating in this tournament consisted of football royalty, playing their way through tournaments laden with expectation of being million-dollar teams, the small countries proved why the sport of football became the world's favorite pastime in the first place. They were invincible, with no guarantee of winning tomorrow.

They had nothing except belief, but in some cases, belief is all it takes to change history.

Morocco did not return as underdogs but rather as believers. The incredible story that was witnessed in the 2022 tournament had been described as one of the most unbelievable events that would only happen once in their lifetime. That World Cup was their chance to prove something. Having managed to survive a highly stressful penalty shootout against the Netherlands team, they proved to the whole world that they were fearless as they played with everything in them, clearing doubts about them and proving that they had Africa's hopes in them, which they will not let go of.

Lastly, there was Norway. For so long, they had been watching World Cup tournaments from afar, waiting for that special day to come where they can showcase their talents. When that day came, they took advantage of it. They managed to beat Ivory Coast and then go further by beating the giants of the game, Brazil, a feat that seemed almost impossible. The streets of Oslo city and villages that lie between fjords and mountains witnessed people hugging each other like they were old friends because

Certainly Paraguay penned some of the most memorable pages of the tournament. As they played against Germany, it was expected that they would put up a good fight but at the end would be beaten. However, football cannot always be dictated by expectations. In those one hundred and twenty exhausting minutes, they battled with all the energy they had left. The legs cramped, bodies collapsed, but they still did not want to give up. With the strike of the deciding penalty, decades of sorrow turned into bliss. It was not just victory, it was freedom.

Then there was Cape Verde.A small country of less than five hundred thousand inhabitants.An island that could hardly be pointed out on the map by people from other countries of the world.Yet in ninety brilliant minutes against Argentina, nothing of this matter any more.They attacked fearlessly. They fought every ball with all their might as though the whole future of their country depended on it. Each goal that they scored was felt in far away Atlantic Ocean. Even when they finally lost 3-2, the end of the match brought not the defeat but their appearance on the world stage. Millions who had never heard their anthem now sang their praises. They had lost the match, but somehow won the hearts of the world.

But Egypt had its own tale to tell, a tale no less heroic. Against Australia, they battled on until exhaustion took hold of every fiber of their being. Each and every challenge they made was one made out of sheer desperation to realize the dream of becoming a champion, even for just once. Penalties became their nemesis, the cruelest test ever devised by the beautiful game. But they triumphed in the end, not because of luck, but because of sheer determination.

These teams did not conquer the entire world. What they did was far more difficult than that. Expectations. They taught us that football does not belong only to the rich, the famous and the powerful. Football belongs to the boy and girl that kick around a battered ball in a dirt road. To parents who have sacrificed everything they could to give their son and daughter the opportunity of achieving an unattainable dream.

And that is the mystery that no statistic can ever quantify.For generations beyond the years when medals tarnish and champions become part of history books, the world will remember Morocco’s bravery, Norway’s fearlessness, Paraguay’s defiance, Cape Verde’s innocence and Egypt’s tenacity.

For trophies make champions, but stories make legends. And this World Cup was that of the dreamers; those countries who dared to believe they were bigger than everyone said they were.Even if it just lasted a few weeks, geography did not matter.numbers did not matter.history did not matter.Only heart did.

And for this reason, these small countries did not just play in the World Cup.They became the heart of it.