After Past Controversies, World Cup Opens With Fanfare

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I still remember the first time my country, Ecuador, qualified for a World Cup. It was 2001, and I was 4 years old. I might have been little, but the joy that filled the entire atmosphere is impossible to forget. 

My dad always says that when the match between Ecuador and Uruguay finished 1-1 back on November 7, 2001, people in the stadium jumped so hard that in many places around it, it felt like an earthquake. That’s just what soccer, or fútbol, as we call it in Spanish, is. It is a very powerful force: a force that moves around 5 billion people around the world and can even simulate an earthquake in a small country.

I guess that’s why so many people are fine with waiting four years for the FIFA World Cup although they can't wait one hour in the Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s the most important event for soccer fans, and sometimes, even for those who are not really fans. I remember back in high school, some of my friends would sneak in their phones and watch matches during class. We all got distracted trying to get a peek at someone’s screen, even me, who was always trying too hard to be on my best behavior and getting the best grades.

I couldn’t resist, and it’s not just me. There is something so contagious about soccer that the World Cup is the most watched event on the planet. According to FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football, it is estimated that the World Cup attracts 5 billion viewers worldwide throughout the tournament, while the final reaches record-breaking viewership of up to 1.5 billion people watching the match simultaneously, despite being in different time zones.

However, there is a dark side of the World Cup that we ignore or try to hide. The first time I heard of something sketchy was before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. I remember hearing about mass forced evictions, unsafe working conditions, and even environmental destruction. 

Unfortunately, that is not the only World Cup that has been filled with controversies. In fact, it is not the only sports event that has raised concerns about human rights, gender equality, or environmental issues. The Pulitzer Center has funded several stories that cover other sides of massive sporting events:

• In “Qatar: Unpaid Wages, Workers Stranded,” Ana P. Santos documents how migrant workers in Doha, hired to build construction for the 2022 World Cup, were living without pay for their work and sometimes prevented from leaving the country.  
• “Nigeria Women’s World Cup Players Speak Out Over Unpaid Wages,” by Reporting Fellow Jacinta Fernandes-Brough, amplifies the voices of Nigerian players in the 2023 Women’s World Cup missing wages from FIFA.
• The project Too Hot for Work: How Qatar Offers Lessons for the Economy of a Heating Planet—by Aryn Baker, Ed Kashi, and Tom Laffay—explores the climate change impact and health effects of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where thousands of workers died due to extreme heat.
• “The President, the Soccer Hooligans and an Underworld ‘House of Horrors,’” by Robert Worth, looks into what can happen when soccer fandom goes too far. In Serbia, some of the most dangerous criminal gang members and drug traffickers got their start in soccer fan groups.

This year, players, referees, staff, and even volunteers from around the world are navigating the United States’ increasingly restrictive visa policy as tensions rise over the Iranian national team and the denial of entry to a decorated FIFA World Cup referee from Somalia.

In addition, a national teachers union strike in Mexico City also threatens to disrupt scheduled World Cup matches, with teachers declaring “Without a solution, the ball won't roll.”

I don't want to discourage you from following the World Cup or supporting your country. I believe sports can bring people together, and that’s great. But it’s also good to remember that it can break us apart, so let’s just be kinder, more conscious, and better-informed fans.

Now, please, go ahead and enjoy the games!

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Doménica Montaño
Program Coordinator

This message appeared in the June 12, 2026, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.