Lessons for life from World Cup 2026

SINGAPORE – I don’t consider myself a diehard football fan. Staying up late to watch the English Premier League or Bundesliga final is not a must for me.

The only time our local football scene got me all riled up was when the Dream Team captained by Fandi Ahmad brought home the Malaysia Cup in 1994.

That night, the Kallang Wave reached fever pitch at Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor. That much-anticipated win rejuvenated Singapore’s passion for the game.

For me, the only thing that comes close to the 1994 Malaysia Cup is the World Cup. There is just something deeply galvanising and inspiring when the best players of every club around the world fight for their home country. And when their scorer smiles with a goal, the whole nation smiles with him.

The four-year wait also builds excitement. And every game played at that level carries with it the promise of glory and greatness for the team left standing.

I therefore find myself being drawn to the pitch frenzy, willingly sacrificing sleep and daytime attentiveness for games involving football giants like Brazil, England and France. It is difficult to resist sitting through to the end to find out who will be crowned the next World Cup champion.

To add to the excitement, I invited my son to join me in the early morning games. We sat through one of the matches where second-place France played 34th-place Sweden.

The final whistle came in close to 7am, and one moment in the game stayed with me.

After 27-year-old French striker Kylian Mbappe scored his first goal, he rushed over to embrace his coach Didier Deschamps. The rest of his teammates joined in.

That collective huddle not only showed their hunger for the trophy, but also the unity of the team. France would go on to win with an impressive score of 3-0.

I later read in the papers that their coach Deschamps had returned four days earlier after attending his mother’s funeral. It must have been a difficult time for him.

I believe the embrace was not just to celebrate the game’s opening goal for France, but also to show solidarity with their coach. For me, that moment felt like family.

Those who are family look out for one another. They show concern and care. It is all for one, one for all, and what affects one affects all. The team was telling Deschamps: We are here for you.

Football is about teamwork. Like a family, the team defends and advances together to secure the winning goal. Individual talent on the pitch can only take the game so far. It is just physically impossible to dribble past a team of 10 coming at you for the ball.

You don’t win on talent alone. You win because you trust one another like brothers. The team members may have their own differences, but they are always united as one against a common opponent on the pitch.

The patriarch of the team is their coach. They look to him to inspire and unite them. He is the father figure who guides and supports them. Deschamps has been quoted as saying: “They are on a mission, and I’m on a mission with them.”

After the game, I had a talk with my son. He is currently running the SMU Athletics club, which comes under the SMU Sports Union. The club he manages governs track, field and cross-country events.

The other sports arm of the SMU Sports Union covers sports like basketball, sailing and floorball. They regularly compete in the Singapore University Games and the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic Games.

He has been running competitively since his primary school days. He started with JS Athletics, a track and field academy providing professional training. His best timing for 2.4km is 7 minutes 30 seconds.

Inspired by the World Cup matches, I asked him what it means for him to be an active participant in sports. He said it is about challenging himself and to persist even when you don’t want to. He added that anything worth doing is not worth doing half-heartedly.

That happens to be the definition of endurance adopted by Italian professor Samuele Marcora: “Endurance is the struggle to continue against a mounting desire to stop.” It is that struggle all sportsmen and sportswomen have to go through to achieve their dreams.

In football, especially during a penalty shootout, this inner battle to push beyond the limits is crucial.

The words of Singapore captain Hariss Harun bring out the raw grit and focus needed. He told The Straits Times: “You can take lots in training, but you cannot replicate how you feel after 120 minutes, the heavy legs, the full stadium and the nerves.

“The goal can appear smaller, the goalkeeper bigger. Controlled breathing helps me calm down. I keep my eyes on the ball, pick a spot and I find it important not to change sides at the last minute.”

Keeping one’s eye on the ball and making up one’s mind to stay the course, especially against the mounting desire to stop, is the winning mindset for any person in competitive sports.

This is also sound advice to apply in our life: on focus, perseverance and a calm disposition that is unshakeable.