For the next month or so, keeping my normal level of work productivity will be a challenge.

On Thursday, the FIFA World Cup began, and I will be taking every opportunity I can to watch any of the four or more games per day over the next three weeks, then the slew of knockout round games for the next few weeks after.

Those of who that follow this column know my love for soccer. I started playing when I was 3, played competitively and refereed at a high level throughout my teen years, and, at multiple points throughout my youth career, played with and against people who have worn the US crest on the international stage.

I have many, many fond memories of World Cups in my formative years, from France’s 1998 run and the infamous Zinedine Zidane headbutt to the 2002 8-goal domination by the original Ronaldo (R9) of Brazil to the Italian title in 2006 the summer after I graduated high school. I could literally go on for thousands of words about the memories of those three tournaments and more thereafter.

It’s an uncanny thing, the World Cup, because no matter your fandom or favorite team or player, the tournament always does one thing — unites the world in excitement over a game billions (yes, billions) of people can share the proverbial breaking of bread.

The Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup and the World Series all garner interest, but there’s something about watching a game between two countries (like Iran and New Zealand right now) where you can count on there being watch parties and similar reactions to key moments all across the world.

The expansion of this year’s tournament has also brought in World Cup debutants like Curacao, an island nation with a population 3/4 that of Springfield’s that scored a goal on Sunday against Germany, to Cape Verde, a nation of under 500,000 that held Spain — a tournament favorite — to a 0-0 draw in their opener this (Monday) morning. 

Every four years, I have watched tournaments in France, Germany, South Africa, South Korea and Italy, among other countries, dreaming of having the means to be in the stadium for just one game, no matter the teams playing. Attending a World Cup game has been on my bucket list since before I could spell Luxembourg (a country that has never qualified for the World Cup but was part of the 1994 soccer game I had for SEGA Genesis).

Now, at the age of 38, that dream is coming true in Missouri’s backyard. At the end of this month, I will be traveling to Kansas City to watch Netherlands play Tunisia and Algeria face Austria, with both games being played in the familiar Arrowhead Stadium, where I have attended multiple Chiefs games and, one time, been on the sidelines.

While it would be amazing to watch any of the USA games, proximity and my pocketbook led me to choose the two games I did, and with good reason. A star player for the Netherlands, arguably the best defender in the world in Virgil Van Dijk, plays for my favorite English Premier League team, Liverpool. I’m beyond excited to see him play in person. As for Algeria and Austria, that game has the potential to be a possible knockout game, the third and final for each in a group that also includes Argentina and Jordan. 

Like Curacao, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan, it’s Jordan’s first-ever qualification to the tournament. The country shares its name with my wife, who I promised would be mentioned in this column — promise kept. 

While those who love the game will be glued to the tube, as they said in 1998, for the next month, I can’t help but think how far soccer has come at our local level. 

Nearly a decade ago, a few of us who love soccer in Cassville banded together to create Seven Valleys Soccer Club with the intent of growing the sport in the fields of Barry County. Today, the impact of that effort cannot be understated. The Cassville High School boys soccer team has had numerous players in the last few years making significant impacts on the team — one that averaged just over four wins per year from 2017-2021 to a team that has won 49 games since from 2022-2025.

Likewise, the ladies were not excluded, and their accomplishments with a fresh crop of Seven Valleys alumni has been a sight to see. In this week’s edition, the season recap of the Cassville High School girls soccer team lauds a squad that won the program’s first-ever Big 8 Conference title and set a new season wins record, not to mention the many individual records set by — you guessed it — Seven Valleys players.

Leading up to this World Cup, I watched a couple documentaries. “Soccer Meets America” chronicles the rise of the sport in the U.S., from a sport in the 1980s people had never heard of to now rivaling baseball in popularity. “You Don’t Know Where I’m From, Dawg” chronicles the path of Clint Dempsey, a kid from a small Texas town who became one of the faces of the sport to my generation of players and fans, and who now is a commentator for this year’s tournament.

I hope all of the kids in Cassville who play or have any slight interest in soccer get to watch these World Cup games and see and feel the passion I had for the sport at that age. As much as I love it, it’s an itch that will never be fully scratched.

I hope the game continues to grow locally and beyond. Like most sports, it teaches skill, discipline, sportsmanship and all kinds of life lessons I still subconsciously use in my everyday life to this day as I approach 40.

If you are a fan of sports at all, and whether you know anything about soccer or not, give the biggest World Cup games a watch. You won’t be disappointed in the passion, the pageantry and the excitement of tens of thousands of fans packing stadiums across the country witnessing the biggest spectacle in the world.

Also, if you watch the Netherlands-Tunisia or Algeria-Austria games and see me on TV, send me a screenshot.

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He is a three-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or [email protected].