Underdog Uprising

The Smaller Teams May Not Lift The World Cup, But They Are Keeping Fans On The Edge Of Their Seats

- Reuben Joe Joseph

The Luzhniki Stadium is an absolute dream of an arena. It is no surprise that it has been aggressively advertised as the crown jewel of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. What makes the experience of watching a game in this 81,000-seater even better is having fans like the Mexicans chanting and roaring as their team stunned the reigning world champions in their very first game of the tournament.

The Mexicans had swarmed the city days ahead of the game and were absolutely everywhere. They made their presence felt. If the Russian fans drew their energy from their national team’s stunning opening-day victory over Saudi Arabia, the Mexican team drew theirs from their scores of fans. It worked, and the counter-attacking football that the Latin Americans displayed against the four-time champions did wonders.

It seemed almost impossible that Germany would be the victim of the champion’s curse; three of the last four World Cups saw the defending champions crash out in the group stage. Germany became the sixth reigning champion in World Cup history to lose its opening match. It was also its first loss in an opening game since 1982.

A laid-back German side in their traditional black and white resembled misfiring stormtroopers from Star Wars. “We didn’t realise the Mexicans would run away from us like that,” German midfielder Thomas Mueller said after the game. “I guess we were caught napping when they attacked repeatedly.”