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The Daily

How This World Cup Changed Soccer

For weeks, much of the globe has been riveted by the highs and lows of the World Cup in Qatar. On Sunday, the soccer tournament culminated in a win for Argentina and its star, Lionel Messi, against France. Here’s how the thrill of the game eclipsed the tournament’s tainted beginnings, and what that might reveal about the future. Guest: Rory Smith, the chief soccer correspondent for The New York Times.
Duration
32m
Broadcast on
19 Dec 2022
Audio Format
other

For weeks, much of the globe has been riveted by the highs and lows of the World Cup in Qatar. On Sunday, the soccer tournament culminated in a win for Argentina and its star, Lionel Messi, against France.

Here’s how the thrill of the game eclipsed the tournament’s tainted beginnings, and what that might reveal about the future.

Guest: Rory Smith, the chief soccer correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. From the New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernisi. And this is The Daily. For the past few weeks, the world has been riveted by the drama of soccer's biggest tournament being played in Qatar, the World Cup. On Sunday, it culminated in a breathtaking win for Argentina and its star player, Lionel Messi.
Today, I talk to my colleague Rory Smith about how the tournament's tainted beginnings were eclipsed by the thrill of the games and why this World Cup may be an unsettling sign of things to come in professional soccer. It's Monday, December 19th. Rory? Hey, Sabrina. How you doing? Hi. I'm good. I'm good. What's going on around you? I hear a lot of sounds. Yeah, so I'm sitting outside the Lucille iconic stadium, the venue of the World Cup final. I'm surrounded by a little battalion of kind of glazed-eyed policemen who are, I suspect, at the end of their shift. And they're kind of going through what they've seen over the course of the evening. There's an endless parade of journalists coming out of the stadium, milling around all with an equally glazed expression. And there's just the kind of the detritus of the global media. There is the... Hey, detritus. What are you calling detritus? I include myself in that. There are little groups of people who work in hospitality, coming out, staff at the stadium, leaving. The game finished a couple of hours ago, but it's a big place and there's a lot to do after games. So these are the kind of the final few people

Transcription truncated.

For weeks, much of the globe has been riveted by the highs and lows of the World Cup in Qatar. On Sunday, the soccer tournament culminated in a win for Argentina and its star, Lionel Messi, against France. Here’s how the thrill of the game eclipsed the tournament’s tainted beginnings, and what that might reveal about the future. Guest: Rory Smith, the chief soccer correspondent for The New York Times.