Every four years, the World Cup reminds the world that football is not merely a sport. It is one of the last global events capable of making millions of strangers feel part of the same story. Yet much of the conversation before a tournament revolves around forecasts, probabilities and favourites. Analysts debate which squad is strongest, bookmakers calculate odds and data models estimate likely winners.

Useful as they are, such exercises miss a larger truth about what makes the World Cup matter. The tournament’s enduring appeal lies not in confirming the superiority of established powers but in its capacity to create moments that transcend sport. A World Cup is remembered not because the strongest team won, but because a nation discovered a new sense of itself, because a generation found a common memory, or because an unexpected contender altered the imagination of what is possible. History offers ample evidence. When Argentina triumphed in 2022, the celebrations were about far more than football. The victory became a national catharsis in a country long accustomed to economic crises and political disappointments.

Likewise, when Croatia........

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