A total of 48 teams competed in the 2026 World Cup, hosted across the USA, Canada, and Mexico. For some tiny nations, it was their first appearance at this international jamboree of football; for others, a return after a very long absence. Names like Curaçao, Cape Verde and Bosnia and Herzegovina had fans turning to Google Maps to see exactly where they were.
The host countries were also introduced to cultural traditions and mores that they may not have come across before, with visiting fans – and their players – leaning into their culture, their traditions, and their idiosyncrasies to celebrate the beautiful game.
The result was a truly memorable tournament, best captured by these iconic cultural moments.
1. The Japanese philosophy of meiwaku
Japanese fans leave stadiums just as they find them (Alamy)
The USA is famous around the world for being bombastic and individualistic. Bigger and louder is always better, especially in sport. But the Japanese fans who travelled to America to support their team showed that there is another way. A quiet, dignified way that recognised the need to respect others.
It’s not that the Japanese are not as passionate and vocal as other fans. Far from it. They wore terrifying face paint, dressed as fearsome samurai and cheered their team with gusto. But once the game was over, no matter the result, they stayed behind to clean up after themselves, producing plastic bin bags seemingly from nowhere and leaving the stadium as they found it.
Rooted in the philosophy of atarimae (things that are naturally expected) and meiwaku(avoiding causing trouble to others), this habit is a way to show respect for the venue, the host and fellow attendees. Japanese players tidy up their dressing rooms too, but they also show respect to their fans, bowing towards them after every match. They are not just thanking them. It is a sign of deep respect and appreciation.
Something the world could do with a lot more of these days.
2. Scottish Irreverence
George Washington gets ‘coned’ by Scottish fans in Boston (Alamy)
Their team may have had an underwhelming tournament, but that didn’t stop Scottish fans celebrating. It was the first time the Tartan Army’s team had made the World Cup finals for 28 years, and they were determined to enjoy themselves.
Scottish fans quite literally invaded Boston. It was where the Scottish team were playing their group games, and within days of arriving, the Tartan Army had drunk the city dry, leading locals on a merry dance through the parks and public places of Boston, invariably accompanied by bagpipes. After beating Haiti, they made their way to the Robbie Burns statue in Evans Way Park, wearing kilts and waving the Scottish flag.
Speaking of statues, it was actually a lesser-known Scottish ‘tradition’ that perplexed, then delighted, the residents of Boston – putting traffic cones on the tops of statues. What started as a late-night, drunken prank in Glasgow in the 1980s when the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art was ‘crowned’, the practice has since become an unofficial symbol of Scottish culture.
While in Boston, the Scottish fans playfully ‘coned’ George Washington, Samuel Adams, and the famous bronze duck sculptures in Boston’s Public Garden. Boston’s mayor, Michelle Wu, joined in on the fun, placing a cone on top of the statue of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell.
3. Norway’s Viking row
The Norwegian football team row for their fans.
Norway was another nation that hadn’t been to the World Cup for a while. Also, an absence of 28 years, as it turns out. And, like the Scots, they weren’t about to miss the opportunity to celebrate. Leaning heavily into their Viking heritage, their joy and excitement were infectious.
Their Viking row celebration was arguably the hit of the tournament. Based on the legends of Norse seafarers and devised before the tournament by fans in a pub back in Oslo, the row was initially considered a bit ‘cringe.’ But it was executed with such gusto and passion – by both fans and players alike – that the call of the Norse horn, blown to announce it was about to begin, sent a ripple of excitement around the ground.
The Norwegian fans didn’t just row at the stadium. They famously rowed up an escalator at the Boston South Station. And at New York’s Times Square, they performed the row during the annual Solstice Yoga event.
The Norwegian players also won American hearts by embracing the local culture too. Footage of star striker Erling Haaland buying cowboy boots and hats in Texas quickly went viral. As did the photo of him returning to Oslo, stepping off the plane with a taxidermied raccoon under his arm.
4. The DRC’s lessons in history
DRC super fan Michel Kuka Mboladinga standing statue still at 2026 Wold Cup (Alamy)
One of the real joys of the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been some of the planet’s lesser-known footballing nations staking centre stage. Not just tiny island nations like Curaçao and Cape Verde, but nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The last time the DRC played in the World Cup in 1974, the country was known as Zaire and they were ruled by President Mobutu Sese Seko, famous for his leopard-skin caps. It’s a look the team mimicked when they touched down in Houston, styling it out in custom-tailored black suits featuring bold leopard-print panels and lapels and throwing down a sartorial marker for all the other teams to aspire to.
If those outfits peaked the world’s interest, the sight of super fan Michel Kuka Mboladinga standing statue still on a plinth for every minute of their matches got viewers scurrying for their history books. Looking very much like one of Kinshasa’s famous sapeurs (dandies who walk the rubbish-strewn streets in haute couture), Mboladinga was in fact channelling Patrice Lumumba, the Congolese revolutionary leader who led the country out of colonialism and towards independence before being assassinated for his Pan-African ideals.
The CIA were suspected to have played a part in his demise. Perhaps that’s why Mboladinga was unable to secure a US visa and could support his team only in Canada and Mexico instead.
5. Cape Verde defying expectations
Cape Verde goal keeper Vozinha soaking up applause at the 2026 World Cup (Alamay)
Everyone loves an underdog and there was no bigger underdog at the 2026 FIFA World Cup than the tiny island nation of Cape Verde. With a team cobbled together with journeymen who plied their trade in the lower leagues of Europe, this band of misfit brothers held the mighty Spain to a draw and came close to upsetting another member of World Cup royalty, Brazil, in the round of 32.
The Blue Sharks defied expectations to the very end and their success reflects the Cape Verdean belief that hard work and dedication will one day be rewarded. Nowhere was that more acutely shown than in the story of the side’s 40-year-old goalkeeper, Josimar José Évora Dias, better known as Vozinha. He made a staggering 18 saves across four matches for Cape Verde, most of them ‘worldies’, holding international superstars like Vinícius Júnior and Lionel Messi at bay. His social media profile exploded, gaining 22 million new followers over the tournament. (He started the World Cup with only 50,000.)
The players returned to Cape Verde as heroes, where Vozinha received the honour of having a newly discovered sea slug named after him.
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