Pura World Watchega: Iconic FIFA 2026 moments that won fans

NEVER in my wildest dreams did I think I will be asked to write a FIFA piece. 

PRmoment India came across my LinkedIn post on my nascent article on the Morocco football team and asked could you write me a larger piece on FIFA's cultural connect? 

What you're reading now is an extension of that piece for PRmoment India - Falling in love with football, one story at a time.

So, here it is : For over three decades, cricket has been my constant. It shaped my weekends, my conversations and my understanding of what sport could mean. Football, on the other hand,always felt like a language I admired from afar—beautiful, universal, but one I never truly spoke.

I've always noticed how there are two kinds of sports fans:

1) Who can recite statistics, formations and tactical systems from memory, and
2) Those who fall in love with the stories first.

I''ve always belonged to the second group and the FIFA World Cup 2026 when it had a global citizens connect as well, how could I possibly not be interested?!!

The FIFA 2026 MASCOTS 

The opening ceremony set the tone beautifully. Three host nations—the United States, Canada and Mexico—came together to stage the first-ever tri-nation FIFA World Cup, where technology, culture and football blended seamlessly.

The introduction of three official mascots felt symbolic of the tournament itself: different identities, one shared celebration. Each of the three host countries of North America is represented by an iconic native animal each representing the spirit of its country.

• Maple the Moose (Canada): She is an artist and music lover who plays as a goalkeeper. Maple loves street-style fashion and making big saves.
• Zayu the Jaguar (Mexico): From the southern jungles of Mexico, Zayu is an agile striker who loves to dance and celebrate her culture.
• Clutch the Bald Eagle (USA): Representing the United States, Clutch is a fun midfielder and sports fan who loves soaring across the country and rallying teammates.

What began as casual viewing quickly became an education in something much larger than football. I wasn't captivated by scorelines as much as I was by the emotions surrounding them. Every match seemed to carry the weight of history, identity and hope and the moments that lingered with me weren't always the ones that made headlines.

They were found in:

Cape Verde's fairytale journey and a goalkeeper who proved that sometimes the biggest winner isn't the team that progresses but the one that earns the world's admiration.  Vozinha quickly became the most followed  goalkeeper on Instagram jumping from 50,000 to over 20 million followers.

Norway's travelling fans, whose Viking-inspired chants echoed across America and reminded everyone that passion has little to do with population size. Not to mention Erling Haaland  of the flowing locks reminding 'House of the Dragon' fans of the 'Rogue Prince' Daemon Targaryen.

Scotland's wonderfully absurd traffic cone tradition.

During the World Cup, thousands of Scottish fans traveled to Boston. They placed traffic cones on the heads of several local icons, including the Samuel Adams statue, the Bill Russell statue at City Hall Plaza and the Paul Revere statue

Mexico's heartfelt "Sí se puede" chant ( Yes, we can!) —a reminder that belief can survive even when the result doesn't.

Now let's come to how the tagline for viewers in India was - Pura India watchega. When I initially read it, I was like wait - Why have they made it geographical? By the time you finish reading this, I hope the tone of THAT messaging would've been for not just the fact of accessibility to a different time zone it's being played in and media rights for the same, but to actually bring people together.

As a media person I obviously think about these things too. Okay, so what struck the emotional chord with me? 

Okay, so what struck the emotional chord with me? Unlike cricket where there has been a 100% sentiment from people in India supporting the home team, the football WC made me realise that for a few weeks every four years, geography gives way to emotion and that football had an extraordinary ability to make complete strangers care. 

For those 90 minutes I watched that humanity I have ALWAYS believed in, reveal itself. 

• People adopting countries they've never visited 

•Celebrating players they've never met

•Mourning defeats that aren't technically theirs

Perhaps that's why the World Cup feels different from any other sporting event. It isn't merely a competition to crown the best football team. It's a global archive of human stories—of resilience, heartbreak, humour, identity and hope.

Watching this tournament also reminded me why underdogs occupy such a special place in our hearts. We aren't always cheering for perfection. More often, we're cheering for possibility.

As someone who has spent years immersed in cricket and only recently wandered into football and motorsport, I find myself approaching every new sport with curiosity rather than expertise. That may actually be the most enjoyable way to experience it. Without preconceived loyalties, every chant becomes fascinating, every tradition worth discovering, every celebration a window into another culture.

Maybe that's what sport has always been trying to tell us : The trophies eventually gather dust, records are broken, champions change, but the stories?

The stories, endure. ❤

Pura World Watchega, indeed

Anuradha Kumar is a cultural storyteller, PR strategist and a sports culture chronicler.