You are likely a casual American sports fan. You know the World Cup is here (the first of six Philadelphia matches is scheduled for June 14), that it matters but don’t totally understand why. Many news, social sites and ads are telling you to be excited. I tell you what all that attention assumes but rarely explains. Every four years the world stops — quietly, together — to care deeply about one thing: the World Cup.

The largest sporting event on earth is setting up in our American backyard; an estimated six billion people around the globe will be watching. It is the Super Bowl playing out across 16 cities at once. When qualification began, 206 countries entered the tournament; over two years, most countries have failed to qualify. China, India and Russia entered and failed. The 48 who made it didn’t just show up. They survived.

The World Cup brings together communities and cultures in a way few events ever have. The next six weeks are not something you watch so much as something you get to live in. The tournament is an invitation to participate in a world party and not just as a spectator. Certain moments will feel tense; late goals and ties matter. There is emotion, pressure and tradition. Nations will pause, argue, celebrate and mourn. Each country has national pride with no irony, just hope, quietly and without formal endorsement. There is belonging, joy, shared emotion, ritual and global engagement. Strangers hug, cry and sing together.

If soccer feels slow at first, it’s not because nothing is happening. It’s because the game is happening in a way you haven’t been trained to see. The absence of a score does not mean the absence of drama. A match that ends 0–0 can leave a person physically and emotionally drained. If you feel something during a 0–0 draw, you’re not imagining it.

Soccer thinks and acts differently from how we Americans have been taught to understand sports. The American way of watching and experiencing baseball, football and basketball is essentially straight ahead action; what I call “linear.” In all three sports the purpose is to go forward. Once you’re on first, your objective is to get to second. Football progresses four downs, 10 yards. In basketball the shot clock asserts urgency. Every play, every action, is designed to gain ground. Play often stops, coaching decisions are made, players are given instructions, play restarts.

The central premise of soccer is the opposite of linear. Movement is nonlinear, what we can call “circulatory;” both the players and the ball move freely around the pitch. Understanding that soccer is circulatory shapes everything that follows, most importantly our enjoyment. The ball is passed in all directions and players move constantly; play is continuous, never stopping. Circulation explains why moving the ball backward is not giving up. It’s often how teams prepare to attack. There are no pauses; there are no timeouts; there is no shot clock. It is a player’s game.

The crowd participates; it influences play. You will feel it. At times, the crowd carries the team forward or it may intimidate the opposition.

During each half, play is inevitably interrupted by injuries, fouls, cautions, substitutions, arguments, delayed restarts and, at times, deliberate time-wasting. For this reason, additional time is added at the end of each half. This is known as stoppage time. Stoppage time prevents a weaker team or the team which is leading from gaining advantage through delay. Participation, not obstruction, is the principle being protected.

There is only one referee. Having one referee isn’t a bug. It’s a design choice. When Americans see one referee, our instinct is, “This can’t be right, one ref can’t do it all.” However, soccer says “No — this is intentional. Having only one referee allows for continuity and flow.” Continuity is the essence of the game and flow is protected over certainty. With one referee there is consistent interpretation. Interpretation matters more than getting every call right. Decisions must be immediate. Perfect justice is not achieved at every moment. Soccer values continuous action over perfect correctness; this concept allows the game to feel alive.

These concepts are not obstacles to enjoyment; understand them and they are entry points. As we become familiar with them, the game opens up. What once seemed confusing becomes clear. What once seemed slow becomes deliberate. What once seemed odd becomes meaningful. You will begin to watch differently. Not as many Americans do now — seeing only a low score and wondering what the point is. But with a growing awareness of tension, movement and possibility, you will recognize when something is building, when a moment is dangerous, when a match is about to turn.

Understanding the World Cup begins with seeing the game differently. Soccer is not experienced as a sequence of events; it is felt as something continuous, something that builds and accumulates. To follow the match, we must recognize not only what is happening, but how it feels as it unfolds — how tension grows, how emotion shifts, and why the final moments carry a weight unlike anything in American sport.

Adapted from “The Least an American Should Know” and “Understanding the Game: Thinking and How the Game Actually Feels,” © 2026 by William D. Schroeder, Jr. Excerpted by permission.

JR Schroeder lives in Chestnut Hill and has written seven dispatches addressing the World Cup. 1. “The Least an American Should Know” 2. “Understanding the Game: Thinking and How the Game Actually Feels” 3. “How the World Cup Decides Who Survives and Who Goes Home” 4. “Tradition, Pageantry and Why They Matter” 5. “Laws of the Game (and the Large Things Worth Knowing)” 6. “Playing the Game, Part 1 – Tactics and Organization” 7. “Playing the Game, Part 2 – Winning Beautiful, Winning Ugly, Just Win.” They are written for curious American viewers; no prior knowledge required. JR will answer your questions and provide additional insight if you want further engagement. Soccer is JR’s passion and lifelong obsession; he has been playing, coaching and studying the game for 56 years. His essays are written to help you watch and participate in the World Cup without embarrassment or overload. You won’t have to fake enthusiasm; you can enjoy the tournament without apology. For the seven-dispatch series, find JR on Substack: @JRSchroeder or email him at JRSchroeder12@icloud.com.