Lessons I Didn’t Expect to Learn from the World Cup.
Now, before some of you roll your eyes and say, “Ria, please don’t start talking football,” relax….This is not really about football. Football simply volunteered to be today’s classroom.
The lesson is about life.
By the time the World Cup reached the third-place match between England and France, I suspect many people had already moved on mentally. The trophy was gone and neither team would be crowned world champions.
The real prize, many thought, was gone…Third place. The consolation prize. The “at least you tried” medal. To be honest, I almost skipped watching it, then curiosity won. Thank goodness it did.
By halftime, England had raced into a four-goal lead…Four. At that point, most reasonable people would have concluded that the match was finished. And perhaps it was but something else wasn’t.
You see, Kylian Mbappé had another competition quietly unfolding inside the competition…The Golden Boot…The race for the tournament’s highest goalscorer.
Lionel Messi was still ahead of him, and with the final still to come, it would have been easy for Mbappé to think, “What’s the point?” Even if I score today, Messi still has another match. He’ll probably score and he’ll probably win it. It’s over.
How many times have we had similar conversations with ourselves?
“I won’t get the promotion anyway.”
“That business is already too crowded.”
“Someone else is better than me.”
“I’m too late.”
“They already have a head start.”
“I’ve missed my chance.”
Interesting, isn’t it? How quickly we write endings to stories that haven’t finished yet. Mbappé didn’t. He came out in the second half and played as though something can change and like the Golden Boot was still within reach. Because technically…It was.
He scored once and then again. Two brilliant goals. France still lost the match. The scoreboard did not change in the way they had hoped. England still walked away with third place but Mbappé walked away with something else. He had done everything within his control. He climbed above Messi in the goalscoring rankings and now the rest was out of his hands. Then came the final.
Everybody expected Messi to score. After all, great players usually do. Except…He didn’t. The tournament ended, the rankings were finalized, and because Mbappé refused to surrender before the final whistle of his own match, he finished as the tournament’s highest goalscorer.
Imagine if he had stopped trying because somebody else still had another game to play. Imagine if he had spent the second half calculating Messi’s possibilities instead of maximizing his own. Imagine if he had allowed assumptions to replace effort. He would have lost a title before the tournament even ended. Not because life took it from him but because he handed it away himself.
And that, Diary, is when football quietly leaned over and whispered something to me…Never abandon your assignment because of somebody else’s future.
Read that again.
Never abandon your assignment because of somebody else’s future.
One of the greatest ways we sabotage ourselves is by becoming overly interested in what might happen to other people.
We stop writing because someone else might publish first.
We stop applying because someone else looks more qualified.
We stop building because someone else has more money.
We stop creating because someone else has more followers.
We stop dreaming because someone else appears to be ahead.
Meanwhile, life is standing there asking, “But have you finished your own race?”
The older I get, the more I realize that comparison is one of the most sophisticated thieves on earth. It doesn’t steal your talent, it steals your willingness to use it. It convinces you that because someone else appears closer to the finish line, your own legs should stop moving.
What a terrible bargain.
Mbappé could not control whether Messi would score in the final.
He couldn’t mark him from another stadium.
He couldn’t whisper into Spain’s defenders’ ears.
He couldn’t influence the referee.
He couldn’t change the fixture list.
He couldn’t rewrite the script.
All he could do was play his own match.
Sometimes we spend so much energy trying to predict other people’s stories that we neglect writing our own. Life has a funny way of rewarding people who focus on the part they actually control.
Another lesson quietly revealed itself too…Never confuse losing with failing.
France lost, there is no polite way to say that. The trophy was gone and third place slipped away too. By every team statistic, it was a disappointing run. Yet one player still left the stadium having achieved something remarkable.
It reminded me that life has many scoreboards. You can lose one battle and still win another.
A company can fail and teach you the skills that build your next one.
A relationship can end and prepare you for a healthier one.
An exam can humble you and eventually redirect you toward your true calling.
A rejection letter can quietly become an invitation to somewhere better.
Not every loss is total. Sometimes we declare ourselves defeated simply because we are looking at the wrong scoreboard.
Then there was something else, something even more personal. The second half.
Have you noticed how obsessed we are with first halves?
We celebrate child prodigies.
Young millionaires.
Early success.
Fast growth.
Thirty Under Thirty.
Forty Under Forty.
Everything seems designed to convince us that if you haven’t figured life out early, you’ve somehow missed it. Football doesn’t think like that. Football simply says, “There are still forty-five minutes.” Life says the same thing.
Some people build the best businesses after forty.
Some discover purpose after fifty.
Some find love after heartbreak.
Some become parents after years of waiting.
Some finally become themselves after decades of pretending.
Never underestimate a second half. It has rescued many lives.
Perhaps the most beautiful thing about Mbappé’s performance wasn’t the goals themselves. It was his refusal to let circumstances decide his effort. He did not play according to the scoreline, he played according to his standards. There is a difference.
Anyone can work hard when they are winning. Character reveals itself when excellence survives disappointment.
Can you still give your best when the applause has stopped?
Can you still be kind when life hasn’t been?
Can you still create when nobody is watching?
Can you still prepare when opportunities seem delayed?
Can you still show up when success looks unlikely?
Those are the moments that quietly shape destiny. I think that is why I loved that second half so much. Not because France lost and certainly not because England won. But because one man refused to let a losing scoreline become an excuse for a mediocre performance.
Maybe that is the kind of people we should all become. The kind who continue writing even when the book isn’t selling. Who continue learning even when promotions aren’t coming. Who continue planting even when harvest feels far away. Who continue loving even after disappointment. Who continue believing long after everybody else has emotionally packed their bags.
Because here’s the thing about final whistles… You never know exactly when yours will come.
Until then…
Play.
Run.
Create.
Try.
Score.
Let life be the one that tells you it is over. Do not make that decision on its behalf.
Anyway, Diary…I sat down expecting ninety minutes of football. Instead, I got a reminder that the match may be slipping away, but the mission doesn’t have to. Perhaps that’s true for more of us than we realize.
– Ria