There are plenty of things you can do to bond with your young family. You could go camping together; or watch Zootopia 2 (for the twelfth time); or take a rocket into the Earth’s stratosphere for a few minutes of weightlessness alongside Katy Perry —or, whatever it is that people do for fun these days. But can any of that really compare to a watching a semi-final with two red cards, extra time, and a penalty shootout? And unlike on a Blue Origin flight, you can eat crisps and (if you’ll make an exception) a Coke or two.
If you are genuinely looking for a way to help build closer bonds with your kids, you can do a lot worse than watching the World Cup together. In fact, that also holds true with your uncles, nephews, nieces, grandparents, and cousins. Done right, the whole ritualistic process can be a great bonding moment, starting days before the game as the anticipation builds—the uncertainty of what will happen, the thrill during the match, and, finally, the relief.
Or the pain. Either way, the anxiety, excitement, suffering and jubilation is a highly emotional experience that forges a bond.
For 90 (or sometimes 120) minutes, both adults and children can feel in sync, cheering the same team on, and talking through what they are seeing and things they are feeling. After all, who feels the excitement, anxiety, suffering, and jubilation more intensely than a child?
So often are experiences such as these so formative in people’s lives that people recall childhood memories of what game they watched, and with who, and how that made them feel. Especially important: their first World Cup.
For some, it was watching the diminutive Diego Maradona marvel the world in 1986. For others it was Roberto Baggio missing a penalty at USA ’94; or Zinedine Zidane, either score two goals in the Final in 1998, or headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the Final in 2006; or watching a Bisht-wearing Leo Messi finally achieve his destiny last time out in Qatar. In any case, every World Cup is always an adventure, and it will be again at the 2026 World Cup.
Of course, with a World Cup held on the far side of the planet, the time differences will naturally be a stumbling block, but this is one that plays into your hands. Remember the joys of staying up late as a kid? Well, an important part of the experience for children is the glory of staying up extra late (or waking up early). That late-hour intimacy makes it feel like you’re the only ones watching and that only makes it more exciting for the kids, but also the adults as well. Plus, it’s cheap. Essentially, all you need is a TV screen and a subscription
For the kids, it might not be as immediately brag-worthy as hanging out with a weightless Katy Perry, overlooking our home planet, but the memories will be just as poignant— and you wouldn’t be able to guarantee a stable Wi-Fi connection up there?