Memorable Moments and Notable Blunders Mark the World Cup
The World Cup is over: 64 teams, loads of late twists, unforgettable moments, surprise eliminations and… memes galore.
Some are certified memes, others sit somewhere between serious (barely) and playful (much more so), and then there are moments so surreal they seem fake (if only).
Wilton Sampaio’s announcement in Mexico-South Africa
The opening match at the Azteca let us see that same light that shone on Italy in the “Game of the Century,” that 4-3 in 1970 that earned us a place in the World Cup final.
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In 2026, though, the Azteca gave us Wilton Sampaio’s English delivery: the Brazilian referee sending off a South African player (Zwane) after reviewing a foul on the monitor.
The stadium announcement is almost impossible to understand, and player Mudau watches the referee as if he were living through Netflix’s greatest end-of-season cliffhanger.
But this is one of those endings where you have to look up the explanation online: why did he show red? What happened? “Serious foul play” is Sampaio’s answer. Ah, good thing I checked, because I never would have figured it out on my own.
Empty stands at the World Cup? FIFA: “The fans are in the concourses”
Some World Cup matches drew surprisingly small crowds: who wouldn’t tear their clothes off to watch Czechia-South Korea live? After all, a ticket only cost a few thousand dollars.
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Indeed, Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium looked half-empty in many sections, a perfect chance to go after FIFA, which, however, always has an answer ready: “Several ticket-holding fans were seen standing in the concourses rather than remaining seated in their assigned seats for the full duration of the match.”
Whoever came up with that response has a master’s degree in “mirror climbing”, at the very least. Or they might as well try putting “their elbow out a little like this”, just to see what happens.
Balogun’s red card gets overturned
The decision to overturn Balogun’s red card after a completely standard sending-off would never be funny if it happened in a comedy show. It wouldn’t be funny because it’s objectively an awful joke. Too silly to be real and not exaggerated enough to reach full-blown absurdity. In short, cringe with extra steps.
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And yet it is funny because it actually happened, because news like this even reached people who don’t even know what a football looks like. Everyone got outraged, and almost everyone smiled when they woke up in the morning and read: “USA-Belgium: 1-4.” We can never say it enough: Charles De Ketelaere saved this sport.
US journalist mocks Bosnia, but her boss is Bosnian
ABC News journalist Abigail Velez says live on air:“I don’t know where Bosnia is and I don’t want to know, because Team USA is stronger than ever”. Let’s ignore how illogical the sentence itself is, let’s ignore the outrage, let’s ignore all the negativity. Well, all that would be left is a facepalm.
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And instead comes the twist, the karma that leaves that little grin on your face when a harmless misfortune happens to someone you can’t stand. The president of ABC News is Almin Karamehmedovic: guess what country he’s from?
Keisuke Honda on commentary… but he knows nothing
Keisuke Honda’s adventures have led him to play matches between Bhutan and Cambodia, despite being 40 years old. We can imagine the reasons in this form: $$$. Nothing wrong with that.
Much worse was his commentary on Japan-Netherlands as co-commentator. The former Milan man didn’t recognize several players (“where does Dumfries play?”), was surprised by how tall others were, and complained about the hydration break. (Nobody touch Keisuke, at least on that point.)
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Not satisfied, he put himself forward as national team coach after the Samurai Blue‘s elimination. Then again, one of the most famous Japanese proverbs is “To ask is a shame for a moment, not to ask is a shame for life”. We would advise Honda not to follow this Confucian ethic.
RAI’s blunders
RAI’s slip-ups and inaccuracies during this World Cup have been numerous, but these words are not meant to sound like an invective, because anyone can make mistakes. We’ll just stick to a list.
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Bill Gates was mistaken for Steve Jobs (who died 15 years ago)
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Senegal’s players were said to have used the spider-cam to look for shade on the pitch
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Haaland was kept on the bench in the final group-stage match, surely so he could come on in the 30th minute of the first half. (He won’t, obviously)
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Alexia Putellas (2-time Women’s Ballon d’Or winner) wasn’t recognized even though her name was written on the chair
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In the radio commentary of Egypt-Argentina, the commentators celebrated Egypt’s goal for 2-0 by saying: “Rule this one out too, let’s see if a little phone call comes in.” To them, yes, hopefully(?).
The Japanese fan who becomes “Hero Chicken Nugget Cookie”
During a FOX live broadcast, a perfect blend is created between the reporter’s excitement and a Japanese fan: “My name is Hirochika Nakakuki… I cannot speak English, but I AM EXCITED!”. A smile and then you scroll on? No. You check the comments, and that’s where the rabbit hole begins.
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Under the official video, a comment goes viral, almost as much as the video itself: “Take it easy, Hero-Chicken-Nugget-Cookie is an incredible name”. Instagram doesn’t let that kind of sound-alike slide.
At that point Hirochika Nakakuki (or rather Hero-Chicken-Nugget-Cookie) does the only sensible thing in the face of the internet’s wave: he embraces it with open arms on his profile. His 15 minutes of fame are already over, but in this case it’s absolutely true: “We made the right person famous.”
Enzo Fernandez: “We love the English, the people who clean our house are English”
Enzo Fernandez scores the screamer for 1-1 against England in the semifinal, celebrates by putting his hands to his ears like “El Mudo” Riquelme, and whips his fans into a frenzy. But he plays in England, and after the match he immediately has to answer for that celebration.
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His comment isn’t exactly one of his finest: “There was no malice in it. My family and I have great respect for the English, especially my wife. Everyone who handles the cleaning and cooking in our London home is English, and we love them.”
That half-synecdoche really didn’t come out very well. And thank goodness all the domestic staff he chose are good people, otherwise who knows what he would have thought of all 60 million English people on this Earth.
Daniele Adani
Daniele Adani was the third most talked-about personality in Italy during this World Cup: ahead of him, only Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump. The comments directed at him range from sublime to rock-bottom, depending on which side of life and football you look at it from (or should that be Fútbol?).
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The number 10 who needs to hydrate, the “Possession-sex-sex-sex”, the Einstein quotes during Argentina-England, the screams until he lost his voice, and Alberto Rimedio’s arms trying to contain a torrent (Albiceleste, carajo) after Lautaro’s goal for 2-1.
Lele Adani from Correggio (Emilia, 5,029 km from Buenos Aires) is certainly a divisive personality. Some love him on Que Viva el Futbol, and some “hate” him on RAI, thinking about that fraction of a cent that leaves each person’s pocket to go into his. But what does it really cost us? Very little, almost nothing. What does he give us? A lot, practically all of himself.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.