The world’s greatest football festival, the FIFA World Cup, has come to its most awaited conclusion for the year 2022. Unlike its former editions, this year’s World Cup was special in many different ways. It was not just the game. It was about life and philosophy. If you take time to think about it, there are plenty of life lessons from World Cup 2022 worth noting down. No wonder Pele called football a beautiful game. Change my mind!
Rise of the Underdogs
From the group stage up to the semifinals, we saw the rise of the underdogs in the World Cup. Nobody ever thought that Germany would go home, again, from the group stage. It was supposed to learn from its 2018 fate. But history repeated again. Japan finished as the Group E winner ahead of the heavyweights like Spain and Germany. Morocco created a rare history by reaching the semifinals after beating Spain and Portugal in the Round of 16 and the Quarterfinals respectively.
Every “under” dog has a day, and that’s what exactly happened in 2022. Change is the only constant phenomenon in this universe. What goes up must come down. Even the best teams with star players were unable to save the day for themselves. The underdogs turned over the tables proving that it’s not over until it is actually over. There is always hope. Never lose that hope. Keep Calm. Stay Confident. And give your best.
Be Humble. Overconfidence Kills
Confidence is a tricky thing. You should have a moderate amount of confidence to get through any situation. Both overconfidence and underconfidence do more harm than good.
I am not trying to hype up Lionel Messi here, but it is what it is. Messi is the most humble, patient, and disciplined person I have ever witnessed. There are several world-class football players, but Messi is still the reason we call football the “beautiful game”, passing on the legacy of Pele and Maradona.
Many thought that this would be the last World Cup for Messi. It was a do-or-die situation for him. Cristiano Ronaldo’s time is up. Messi had that one last chance for him to bring the trophy home. And alas, he did. He deserved it and he did it. Better late than never. We are happy for him.
Be humble. Be modest. Celebrate while you can but know where you stand. You are not always gonna be at the top. Sooner or later, you will have to come down to earth and face the reality. Embrace that and you will not be disappointed when life hits you hard.
Life is a War, Not a Battle
No… war and battle are not the same things. I don’t know who said it exactly (I guess it’s always Sun Tzu): you may lose the battle, but you cannot lose the war. Life is like war, full of smaller battles. Sometimes you win the battle, and sometimes you lose. Don’t let the minor setbacks hold you back for longer. The sooner you fall down, the more time you have to get yourself up, dust down your failures, and get back on track again. Be grateful that you lost the first few battles. It was a learning experience. But don’t fall into the habit of losing for longer. Learn from your mistakes, and make sure that you win the next battle. That’s how you win the war.
World Cup is one of the perfect examples of a war-battle analogy. Argentina faced an unexpected fate against Saudi Arabia. That was the battle Argentina had to lose to win the battle in the end. It didn’t let that loss decide its fate but learned from it to come out as the most awaited winner to take the trophy home after 36 years. Again, better late than never.
Bottomline
I could write a book on what the FIFA World Cup 2022 can teach us about life. There are literally endless life lessons that we can derive from this beautiful game. It was not just any ordinary quest for the trophy. It was about life. We experienced the rare history witnessed the game full of tears, joy, angst, and anecdotes. That’s life!
