Do I have World Cup thoughts?

A couple.

I watched most of the USA-England soccer game yesterday.

(Disclaimer: While I am a massive sports fan, I have not watched a lot of soccer. I’m not going to try to sound knowledgeable by using specific, accurate terminology, like calling it a “match” instead of a game. And I’m certainly not going to call it “football.” A good chunk of what I know about the game's intricacies probably comes directly from Ted Lasso.)

Anyway…

I watched most of it because I want to like soccer. I have tried before, usually during the World Cup. There are aspects of it that seem really cool to me: the fervent support that people have for their teams. The promotion and relegation system in European pro soccer. I’m sure there is strategy that I would begin to appreciate if I watched the game more. But today’s result encapsulated so much of why I have had a problem developing any sort of passion for the game.

Spoiler alert, in case you are avoiding the result for some reason, but the United States faced off against England and the tilt ended in a scoreless tie. Nil-nil.