Football is a valve. Problems arise when the game becomes a machine.

The World Cup has once again demonstrated football's power to halt the world, driven by a single goal or a surprising defeat. The elimination of Brazil and Erling Haaland's impactful goals have shifted millions of conversations from everyday concerns to the tournament's drama.

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One of the secrets of the World Cup is that it allows people to step out of their reserve for a short time. To show joy, disappointment, fear, hope, and belonging.

The World Cup offers a unique social release, allowing people to momentarily shed their inhibitions and express a full spectrum of emotions – joy, disappointment, fear, hope, and a sense of belonging. This collective experience transforms ordinary Mondays into moments of louder, softer, more childlike, and more communal behavior.

Dr. David Zupančič highlights football's ability to connect people, suggesting that the most profound moments are often not the goals themselves but the spontaneous embraces between strangers that follow. He views football as a vital "valve" for releasing stress and pent-up emotions, but crucially, warns that this release should not morph into aggression.

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Football can release tension. But it must not turn it into aggression.

As the tournament progresses, with teams like Mexico and Brazil exiting and France and Morocco advancing, the stakes intensify. Upcoming matches, such as Portugal vs. Spain and USA vs. Belgium, promise further drama. Regardless of individual team outcomes, the World Cup creates a shared global experience, a "Disneyland" of moments where, for a brief time, a stranger's joy can make one feel less alien.

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Such is the World Cup, the world championship in football, a cycle, a show, or a 'Disneyland', which does not actually yield results of 2:1 or 3:2, but a moment when a person, in the face of another's joy, is for a moment no longer a stranger.