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Football fans around the world were quick to mock the National Football League's (NFL) Super Bowl after an Instagram post drew a comparison between attendance figures of the American mega-event and the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.
The Super Bowl has served as the grand finale of the NFL season since 1966. It is played between the playoff winners in the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference. It is a highly televised event and is watched all around the globe.
Lionel Messi's Argentina and Kylian Mbappe's France shared a 3-3 scoreline post 120 minutes of grueling action in the 2022 World Cup final, with Argentina going on to lift the trophy after winning 4-2 on penalties.
Messi scored a brace and Mbappe netted a hattrick to lead Les Bleus' comeback, as the entire world watched in anticipation. However, Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman missed crucial spot-kicks to hand Argentina their third World Cup title.
This year, the Super Bowl had 123.4 million viewers, which may seem like a big number at face value. However, the 2022 FIFA World Cup final had a staggering 1.5 billion viewers, more than 12 times the viewership of the American football extravaganza.
Several football fans have criticized American football in the past as well, calling it a 'fake' sport. The use of hands in the sport has led to fans mocking it with terms like 'hand egg'. The criticism was fuelled by the Instagram post, with one fan saying:
"Logical: a real sport vs a stupid game."
Another one added:
"A Mr. Beast video gets more views than the Super Bowl."
Here are all the fan reactions:
Preparations begin in Houston, USA, which plays host to seven FIFA World Cup games in 2026
The preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup are underway in the city of Houston, Texas, as they get ready to host seven games in football's grandest competition.
Bishop James Dixon, chairman of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, said that the FIFA World Cup will bring an economic impact equivalent to seven Super Bowls to the region. He said (via Houston Public Media):
“It (The FIFA World Cup) will bring an untold economic impact to the Harris County, Houston region. To put it into perspective, the Super Bowl in 2017 was one game. One week. And an economic impact of $347 million.”
Leah Mastaglio, the assistant general manager at NRG Park (one of the host stadiums), is confident in Houston's ability to deliver a superb World Cup experience to the fans. She said:
"We’ve been having meetings and technical site visits with FIFA...from all the technical departments that spent the entire day with our team here at NRG park, the overwhelming comment back was, ‘There’s not much more that we need to do.'"
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
