It starts from being a player, the sheer emotion and amusement you can get getting things right hits very different. And the best thing about football might be that this amusement is transferred from the personal player level to a greater audience level, sometimes it is enhanced I’d say. So, for the just the joy of the game is interesting. And also the fact that your head matters more than your legs in a game played by legs is fun. When you can SEE the game, man oh man.

The stadium atmospheres, the drama of fighting 90 minutes for a goal and finally getting it. The pageantry, the passion, the tradition. It’s magic.

Tactics. Formations. Some teams play 352 defensively, or a modern 433 possession style, or an attacking 4231, or a classic 442 etc etc.

Darwin Nunez

Growing up it was one of the few things my family and both my parents enjoyed all together. To watch our national team play. When the team was crushing it in the continental cup I was captivated because it was the performance I wanted to see from a national team. I went all in at that moment.

Referring to the sport, I like it. I like the teams, team crests and identity and the fact football is a continuous game. No constant commercial breaks or waiting for something to happen like in the NFL or MLB.

It’s the world’s game.

Could have been any other thing, but it’s not. It’s this particular game with its history and enormous depth.

The simplicity.

More specifically, the fact that that simplicity allows for worldwide popularity and creativity.

I used to play football and volleyball for years, I was in junior national team, but unfortunetely my body gave up, so I can only watch now

At this point its different to what it was 10-15 years ago.

Now that the guys I grew up idolizing are retired or collecting their last bag, I no longer have the same sentimental value to these new players. Not saying they are bad, just not as invested. Obviously as you grow priorities change. I have always been into football history, looking up past players, teams, leagues and competition is also fun because it helps you put into perspective how great players of the past were.

I guess nowadays, I still watch but I can view the game objectively without any real bias.

Dortmund somehow bottling the bundesliga EVERY DAMN YEAR!

Probably not the usual answer, but one thing I love is the heterogeneity of athletes. You can see some are short and technical; some are bulked and physical; some based a career on high stamina; some can do one thing only but it always works; the fast paced wing can be outplayed by the expert defender or viceversa; the player with poor ball control can be a monster in aerial duels; some strikers excel in the box; some others prefer to partecipate in the build-up; some players just have unique vision; and so on.

If you are 1.7m you can’t play in NBA. If you are 1.7m you can win 8 Ballon d’Ors. It’s up to you to create yourself as a player and there are really no limits to find your own tactical utility.

The value of a single goal. I know people may think it’s boring for that reason but there are few other sports I can think of where this is the case. To score a goal is a special feeling.

To steal from a norwegian commentator - the beauty of football is the unpredictability. Within those 90 minutes a game lasts everything can happen. You never know. You might be going to a mid-season game on a rainy day in Stoke, everything set for a dull evening but then both teams performs as if it was a Champions League final, someone pulls out something spectacular and you have witnessed something you will remember for a long time.

And it stretches beyond single games also. I am a norwegian, been a supporter of Bodo/Glimt since 1993. It was almost 30 years of hurt and disappointment, several relegations and almost bankruptcy. Then slowly the club started becoming good, won their first league title in 2020 and won their third this year. That they managed to become the biggest club in Norway was totally unbelievable as late as 2016.

The fact that anybody with a ball can play the sport. It’s simplicity, the way it brings people together beyond boundaries, religions, wealth divide, culture and race is what makes this beautiful game interesting to me. The fact that even the Word Champions have to go through the gruesome task of qualifying for the next world cup makes it more democratic

Just look up “History of the world cups” or any golazos reel.

And even worst fails.