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Samuel Levander: The Football World Cup has been a sad spectacle and an incredible party
🇸🇪 Sweden /Sports

Samuel Levander: The Football World Cup has been a sad spectacle and an incredible party

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Outcome reported
  • The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the largest ever, is concluding with its final in New Jersey.
  • The tournament is described as a "sad spectacle" but also an "incredible party," reflecting a duality of experience.
  • Literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of the carnival, a temporary subversion of hierarchies, is used to understand the event's contrasting aspects.

The largest FIFA World Cup in history is drawing to a close, with its final match set to take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The tournament has been a global spectacle, a "party that traveled the world," yet it is also characterized as a "sad spectacle."

Tonight, the biggest World Cup of all time concludes, with the final in New Jersey.

— Samuel LevanderSetting the scene for the end of the tournament.

This duality is starkly apparent as the event concludes. The author notes the presence of "unpleasant figures" at the heart of the celebration, personified by a "large and heavy and very familiar figure" and a "Swiss old man with a stiff grin." As the "electric twilight" fades into "pale sobriety," these figures appear more "frightening and bizarre," raising questions about whether attendees should have left earlier or declined the invitation altogether.

And in the middle of the carnival, a jester could be crowned king.

— Samuel LevanderHinting at the complex and perhaps ironic outcomes of the event.

Despite the unsettling undertones, the decision to participate was unequivocally the right one. The tournament was, as the author states, "of course, a sad spectacle. But also – just as obviously – an incredible party." To comprehend these contrasting facets – the public's "happy smile" alongside the "Swiss-American bank grin" – the article turns to the ideas of Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin.

The party is over. A final crescendo, tonight at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, then the lights in the ceiling will be turned off.

— Samuel LevanderDescribing the end of the World Cup festivities.

Bakhtin, who lived from 1895 to 1975 through periods of revolution and world wars, is known for his theory of the carnival. In his work "Rabelais and the History of the Middle Ages," he described the medieval carnival as an "ideal festival" characterized by a temporary "overturning of all hierarchies" and a "suspension of the prevailing order." This state of "exception" allowed for "free" interaction, a concept the author uses to frame the complex experience of the World Cup.

As usual, we will blink in surprise, and suddenly discover that we have shared the dance floor with extremely unpleasant figures all evening.

— Samuel LevanderReflecting on the underlying issues or figures present during the tournament.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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