Why the World Cup Can Be Good for Your Mental Health

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - It's the kind of thing many football fans experience during World Cup watch parties: The "home" team scores a goal and fans in a beer garden or pub cheer as one – and may even embrace in celebration – even though they had been complete strangers just moments earlier.

For Katie Wood, a clinical psychologist at Swinburne University in Melbourne, these shared moments can actually support mental health.

"The greatest protective factor for our mental health is connectedness—the connection to ourselves, to other people, to our community, and to our culture," Wood told DW. And sport, in her view, hits exactly this note; it brings people together.

This form of connection isn't limited to families or friends. It can also emerge when, for a brief moment, one feels they are part of something bigger. A World Cup is the perfect setting for giving people this sort of feeling.

Americans celebrate alongside Algerians

What this looks like in practice has been on show throughout this World Cup: fans from a wide variety of countries cheer together, swap jerseys, or suddenly find themselves side-by-side supporting the same team.

In Lawrence, Kansas, the city center was spontaneously transformed into a green-and-white public viewing area during the match between Algeria and Austria. Because the Algerian national team had set up its World Cup base there, hundreds of local Americans turned up wearing Algerian jerseys, with the national colors painted on their faces and flags in their hands.

It is also becoming evident elsewhere just how quickly football can build bridges. After the Round-of-16 match between Switzerland and Colombia in Vancouver, DW observed two fans swapping jerseys as a memento of the evening they had shared. In Seattle, meanwhile, following the USA's elimination, a Belgium supporter was seen comforting a disappointed American fan.

A visitor to San Francisco told DW about a moment that stuck with him: "A man saw my jersey. He didn't know me at all. He walked up, hugged me, and simply said, 'This is the World Cup.'"

Mexico’s R. Romo (right) competes for the ball with Ecuador’s G. Plata during their 2026 World Cup Round of 32 match at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico, on June 30, 2026, local time. ANTARA/Aditya Pradana Putra

A sense of belonging: a fundamental need

Katie Wood sees this as the unique strength of a tournament like the World Cup. People who might never have crossed paths in everyday life share the same emotions for a brief time.

"You can come from vastly different walks of life. But the moment you support the same team, a collective experience with a shared goal emerges."

That goal taps into a fundamental need that many underestimate: the need to belong. It makes no difference whether someone has been a fan for decades or is watching a match for the very first time. What matters more is the shared experience, the tension before kickoff, the roar when a goal is scored, the shared frustration after a defeat.

"No one knows what we go through as human beings day in and day out," a visitor at a fan zone told DW. "That's why moments like these are so special."

And even those without a favorite team can get caught up in the atmosphere.

"I'm just happy," a visitor in Philadelphia told DW. "I don't even have a team, but I've come to love watching the games."

An escape from the stresses of everyday life

The World Cup can offer a way to step back from everyday life for a while.

"When so much is happening in the world, we look for ways to escape our daily routine for a bit," Wood explained. "And experiencing the World Cup—with all the excitement surrounding it—together with other people is a very healthy way to do that."

Of course, the focus of a tournament like the World Cup is usually the football itself. For many fans, however, the strongest memories of a World Cup are about the moments that happened on the fringes of the match itself.

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