One Way to Become a World Cup Booster? Travel.

We had a wonderful evening sitting at a cafe on a plaza in Sevilla watching Croatia beat Russia. Tapas, sangria and soccer. No one in the crowd cheered for the Russian team. Our family of 7 has been watching matches at bars, restaurants and houses during our trip to Portugal and Sevilla. It's fun to cheer for a team. We started with Columbia. SIL is Columbian but switched to any South American team after Columbia was eliminated. Now we'll cheer for Croatia.

Allez Les Bleus !!!!!!!

It is surprising to read all the hype over a tournament that is taking place in a country that bribed its way into hosting the tournament, is poisoning people in England and assisting in the massacre of thousands of innocent people in Syria. I could go on with more atrocities, but the main point is that Russia is a doing a lot of bad stuff in the world and the world is willing to overlook all of this for the sake of entertainment. A tragic time for the free world and in line with the USA’s willingness to overlook a lot of corruption and medicate with football, baseball and basketball while our leaders pillage our environment and forget the people.

I have been rooting for Brazil for many years, they bring joy to football, they bring the ‘jogo bonito’ (beautiful game) to the field, and I adore how they celebrate their goals. Too bad they are out ... let the World Cup continue and enjoy the rest of the games.

Nice article. When I was a kid, I lived in Uruguay, then Brasil and then before college, in Spain. I always root for these three teams but Spain (my favorite country) is top of the list. In addition, every other Latin American team gets my support. I always read the Spanish sports dailies (Marca and AS). To say I’m bummed would be an understatement but soon La Liga will be back and I can watch my favorite team again, Real Madrid.

I am a soccer (football) globetrotter. Any preconceived notions I may have had about a people and its culture were put to rest when I interacted with them. In the course of my football travels I have made new and lasting friends (mates). Yes I like to go to the museums and tour a country to learn about their history and culture. That is mostly historical. In the present I find it immensely enjoyable to socialize before, during and after a football game with the people of that country. Over a few beers with them I have learned a lot. Vive la France!

Today in Ireland I'm sitting at a cafe wearing my Croatia shirt, purchased on my first trip there. I spent 2 months camping, Couchsurfing and totally falling in love with the place and the people. Every time I wear this shirt it brings on conversations with people who have been there or are thinking of going there. It would be FABULOUS if Croatia won! The country is so poor and winning could bring so much potential tourism to the area. One woman told me "we only have work in the tourist season; we are often HUNGRY during the winter. That's why there are vegetables growing on every inch of land in this village!" I support Croatia because I love it, and they deserve it! Susan Expat in Ireland

I spent my junior year abroad of college in England. And every tournament, England is my team. There is nothing like watching a match in a pub packed with a few hundred of your new mates. In Boston you can catch different matches by country. The North End, several Italian cafes. There is an Australian pie shop on the water, decorated Socceroo style. And British and Irish pubs as well as Brazilian and Portuguese restaurants in the area. Once I saw a match at the French Consulate and they provided French wines, beer, and food.

We were great Spain fans but we decided to root for a team from the Americas. Didn't work out but now we'll root for Belgium. We were hooked on these games after being in Spain when they won a while back. Your point is well made!

Terrific. I select Germany, and they don't make it out of the group stage. I spent a month in then-West Germany while in the Army. I really loved Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. Someday I would like to visit Munich. As for the quarterfinals, England will be my team.

I’m visiting Croatia now— as an American it’s adding a layer to my understanding of the culture to observe and be swept up by the Cup Fever of seemingly every man, woman and child here. We arrived to our rental during the Croatia match with Denmark on Monday—what an awesome welcome. The whooping and hollering after the win was thrilling, even from inside our flat.

I guess this might be one way to make an extraordinarily boring sport less extraordinarily boring: create a fantasy that the team you're rooting for represents some fond memory you've had of some place you are not from but once visited. OK. If that makes it interesting, sure. Me, I'll use my next two hours not to watch something that ends in a 1-0 win for some team from some country that no one really cares about except the people from that country. I'm sure that if soccer, footie, football, etc. disappeared tomorrow nobody would miss it in the least in this country.

I'm all in for France where we lived 3 years! If they fall out, well, Belgium is also a French-speaking country.

I became a great supporter of Sweden during my 2 yrs study there . I have been following them very closely this time specially after Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from the national team. Sweden has a relatively very strong squad despite any spectacular player. As a team, Sweden can still win against the mighty England and i am hoping Sweden reach the finals in this World Cup 2018.

My wife is an obsessive Francophone, so I have traveled to France frequently. Since we have made such great friends and know the land so well, it is easy to yell Allez les Bleus with conviction.

Great story. I am a great fan of Croatia, a country we have visited a number of times in the last 4 years. It's a great country, and they have a great team. Can they win it all? Possibly. The Bracket GODS have delivered to Croatia a great opportunity. Last summer, my wife and I were in Zagreb, watching the finals of the Champions League in an outdoor bar with hundreds of Croatians. Neither team was Croatian, but a number of the players were. What a great place to be!! I'd love to be in Croatia this Saturday, 07/07, to watch Croatia-Russia. Croatia could win, if they don't look past Russia. Go, Croatia!!!!