World Cup: The Cult of the Individual Threatens Football's Team Ethos

Remember when a World Cup draw between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was reported as a historic day for Congolese football? Not anymore. The Reuters match report led with Cristiano Ronaldo's disappointing start, reducing a milestone for a footballing nation to a footnote in a superstar saga.

This is the irony of the superstar-heavy narrative: it embellishes rather than diminishes the importance of the collective. By focusing on individual brilliance, we risk forgetting that football is a team sport where tactics, cohesion, and shared grit decide knockout ties.

Something feels qualitatively different this summer. A tectonic shift, driven partly by on-pitch events and partly by the industry itself, has turned this World Cup into a festival of star names. France beat Iraq? No, Kylian Mbappé threw down the gauntlet to Erling Haaland and Harry Kane. The team becomes a backdrop.

This cult of the individual is not new, but its intensity is unprecedented. Google searches for Miroslav Klose's goals record spike every time a forward nears his mark. The media feeds this beast, harvesting search traffic with every keyword-laden headline.

The implications are serious. Younger fans grow up idolizing players, not teams. Club loyalties shift with transfers. At World Cups, where national pride should be paramount, we end up debating whether a 41-year-old man scored, not whether the team advanced.

Football is complex, and the World Cup should reflect that. The group stage is a puzzle of matchups, not a runway for individual coronations. As the knockout rounds loom, let's hope the beautiful game reminds us why eleven players matter more than one.