"When you're an adult, you chase the feeling of your first World Cup" hit me too. Mine was France '98. It was the year I left my country for the first time, a family trip to France of all places (2 months before world-cup), and I came back with Brazil shirts and a ball. I'm not Brazilian. I just loved Ronaldo. I still remember crying when he lost that final. Childhood fandom doesn't care about passports, which is maybe your whole point.

The stat that stopped me in your piece: 96% of Curaçao's squad born abroad. The smallest nation ever to qualify, built almost entirely from its diaspora, coached by a 78-year-old Dutchman. Politics, identity, and history in one squad list.

Beautiful piece. The Doué brothers framing is the right note to end on.