From the end of May to the beginning of September, there was a bonanza of huge sporting events, many of which broke viewership records across the United States. Throughout the country, sports fans witnessed once-in-a-lifetime sporting events in person, long-awaited championships and iconic moments all summer long. The sheer volume of events made this summer feel like a whirlwind of sports — so, what happened?

World Cup

The FIFA World Cup kicked off with the group stage on June 11. There were too many matches and moments to cover in one article, but it’s worth mentioning that Team USA. outperformed expectations, making it all the way to the round of 16 and finishing 12th, their highest finish since 2002. 

Other Cinderella stories include Cape Verde, a small island nation off the west coast of Africa that is relatively unknown in the soccer world, as it was their first World Cup as a sovereign nation. Goalkeeper Josimar “Vozinha” Jose Evora Dias shocked the soccer community with his debut, saving eight shots on goal in a sweat-breaking stalemate match against the future world champion: Spain. Cape Verde’s underdog story came to a heartbreaking end in a 3-2 thriller against the eventual finalists and reigning 2022 champions, Argentina, in the round of 32. Despite their loss, Cape Verde’s success story brought massive attention to the country, as the team’s resilience and determination on display won over the hearts of millions around the world. Cape Verde proved to everyone that success at the World Cup doesn’t have to be dictated or dominated by big-name teams; anyone can win.

The match for gold took place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home of the New York Giants. Spain and Argentina took to the field with history at stake and over 80 thousand fans in attendance. Spain entered as the favorites — not only did they have the new  star on the scene, Ballon D’or nominee Lamine Yamal, they also had Ballon D’or winner Rodrigo “Rodri” Hernández Cascante as well as Pau Curbasi, a young defender who matched Yamal’s offensive prowess. Argentina was led, of course, by soccer superstar Lionel Messi. It seemed like fate that these two teams would meet, with Argentina representing the old era and Spain the new. Ironically, a picture surfaced of a young Messi at the beginning of his career holding Yamal when he was just a baby. There was a raffle held in Barcelona in 2007 that Yamal’s parents entered to win a photoshoot with Messi, and 19 years later they met again at MetLife, playing for the trophy. Unfortunately, the game ended up being severely one-sided, with Argentina not registering a single shot on goal for the entire duration. Spain won in extra time with Ferran Torres scoring the winning goal. 

There was some controversy surrounding the final. The Argentinian team had been criticized for their more physical style of play and had already received a few fines over the course of the World Cup, but some roughhousing is par for the course when playing soccer. However, after the final whistle was blown and Spain’s players began to celebrate, some Argentinian players took the passion of the match past acceptable boundaries. Argentina defender Nahuel Molina exchanged words and appeared to grab the arm of Rodri. Spain’s Eric Garcia came to his teammate's defense, but Leandro Paredes, an Argentinian player who had already received a yellow card during the game for shoving a Spanish player, grabbed Garcia by the throat and attempted to throw him to the ground. Given this extreme reaction, media outlets were quick to jump on any other moments where Argentinian players could be scrutinized for unsportsmanlike conduct. A clip of Messi asking the referee for a player to be removed after speaking with his hand covering his mouth, or Argentinian players refusing to shake hands after losing and turning their backs when Spain received their trophy, were reprimanded by news outlets, with some calling their actions comparable to those of petulant children. Argentina’s head coach, Lionel Scaloni, apologized in a post-game interview, saying, “We’ve been great in victory, we need to be great in defeat.”

On a more positive note, the World Cup brought cultures across the globe together in many unique ways. This was the first World Cup held in North America since 1994, when the United States hosted and visiting tourists took full advantage. Many clips went viral of people from Europe, Africa and Asia reacting to America’s flair for commercialization. A video on TikTok garnered millions of views, showing German tourists fascinated that you could buy both tomatoes and T-shirts in a Walmart. A man named Bob from Japan went viral for trying famous southern cuisine like Texas BBQ, Tex-Mex street tacos and snacks from Buc-ee’s gas station. Scotland’s fanbase, dubbed the “Tartan Army,” took to the streets of Boston, celebrating with the locals and making sure bagpipes could be heard at all hours of the day. Several pubs and bars reported their taps were fully drained of beer soon after the Tartan Army’s arrival. Despite playing against each other in a tense group stage match, Mexicans and South Koreans still had an enduring bond between their respective countries, after Korea saved Mexico from elimination back in the 2018 World Cup, and fans on both sides could be seen trading jerseys and celebrating together. Of all the wonderful unifications between nations, none stand out more than the efforts of Lawrence, Kansas. One of the larger metropolitan areas in Kansas, Lawrence found out two years prior that they would be hosting and providing practice facilities for the Algerian team. Home of the University of Kansas, thousands of students and citizens took to the streets of Lawrence sporting Algeria’s red, green and white and chanting praise for the team. Banners hung from every telephone pole reading “Viva L’Algerie” and the flag of Algeria was carved into the earth at the University of Kansas. Lawrence native Bella Otter summed it up by saying, “Algeria is here, we’ll love them forever.”

NBA Finals

The World Cup was not the only competition that sent cultural shockwaves throughout the United States. If you asked an NBA fan at the beginning of the season who would make the finals, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who would say the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, yet both teams demolished expectations on their way to the championship. 

The San Antonio Spurs had missed the playoffs the previous year, but showed promise with new young players who were only getting better, like Stephon Castle and Dillon Harper. They also added veteran guard De’Aaron Fox, but their biggest X-factor was still Victor Wembanyama, who was already in MVP talks despite it only being his third year in the league. The biggest indicator that the Spurs were the heavy favorites to win the finals was their matchup with the defending champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Led by back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder looked like an unstoppable force aimed straight at the championship, but they met their immovable object with the Spurs. Throughout the season, the Spurs were the only team that could consistently defeat the Thunder, winning four of their five matchups, so fans were watching with bated breath as they met once again in the Western Conference Finals. In one of the most exciting playoff series going all the way to a game seven, a few clutch plays from the Spurs allowed them to pull out the win and sent them to the NBA finals.

The New York Knicks are known for losing, so much so that it has been the subject of jokes in movies and TV for several years. However, their streak had started to break thanks to Jalen Brunson, a former second-round draft pick who was traded from Dallas and quickly took the city by storm, leading them to a few deep playoff runs. After acquiring center Karl “KAT” Anthony-Towns last year, they had real playoff promise, but were unfortunately sent home by Tyrese Halliburton and the Indiana Pacers in a major upset. Many considered this the first nail in the coffin for any playoff potential the Knicks had, with some saying that Brunson simply didn’t have the qualities necessary to lead a championship team. The analysts' lack of confidence may have fueled the team since despite entering the playoffs as the third seed in the east, they only lost two games on the way to the finals, sweeping both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

A Spurs-Knicks final was a welcome surprise, and the games didn’t disappoint. Fans had already seen the matchup play out in the NBA’s in-season tournament, where the Knicks took the win over San Antonio. The Knicks were once again flaming-hot, taking the first game and winning the second by one point after a bad turnover from Wembanyama. The Spurs fired back by taking game three and were absolutely destroying them in game four until the Knicks mounted an astounding 29 point comeback and won the game thanks to a decisive tip-in by forward OG Anunoby. This was the largest comeback in NBA finals history and pushed the advantage majorly in the Knicks' favor, since only one team has come back from a 3-1 deficit, that being the 2016 Cavaliers led by LeBron James. In a final effort to cement himself in NBA history, Jalen Brunson put up 45 points in game five, winning finals MVP and completing an all-time great underdog journey. 

There was mild controversy similar to the World Cup, as San Antonio players also didn’t remain on the court to congratulate the New York team, and Wembanyama gave an oddly passive-aggressive post-game interview, signing off by saying, “See you guys. Never.” However, a more egregious offense was raised during game two when Wembanyama appeared to grab the head of Brunson and attempt to spin him around like a bobblehead. There was no foul called on the play, but uproar from fans caused referees to review footage in between games where they once again ruled that no unsportsmanlike conduct occurred. Seeing as another flagrant registered by Wembanyama would’ve meant he would’ve had to miss a game, fans were furious at the blatant display of favoritism, although the decision wouldn’t end up mattering in the following games and was probably the correct choice for viewership numbers.

Outside of the games, the behaviors of New York’s fanbase is a noteworthy part of any Knicks playoff run. Knicks fans are known for their explosive personalities, often catalogued on the show “Sidetalk,” and the finals only furthered their exploits. Buses were overturned, telephone poles were climbed and Spurs jerseys were lit on fire and stomped on as Knicks fans flooded the streets. Despite a certain level of rowdiness, police on scene made sure the situation remained safe. 

Wimbledon

While the Knicks had the underdog story of the summer, Wimbledon was about redemption. Jannik Sinner was having a historic year, completing his Golden Masters and winning six consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments, the most of any player. Then, in the second round of the French Open, he suffered a five-set loss to Juan Cerondolo, citing the intense heat as his downfall. As is natural when the best player in the world loses unexpectedly, the media was quick to dissent Sinner’s rise to the top. Needless to say, the pressure was on for his performance at Wimbledon, and he didn’t back down. While his first-round match went to five sets, Sinner didn’t lose another set on his way to the final against Alexander Zverev. Given the opening with Sinner taken out early and Carlos Alcaraz out due to injury, Zverev jumped on the opportunity and took home his first Grand Slam tournament at the French Open. All eyes were on Zverev to see if he could perform at an elite level, since he didn’t play against a single top ten player during the entire French Open.

Zverev came out swinging in the first set, winning by two points in a tense tiebreaker. Not only was this Sinner’s first dropped set since the first round of Wimbledon, it was also the first set Zverev had won against Sinner out of their last seven matches head to head. Sinner would then go on to decisively win the next three sets, cementing his match win, and ultimately defending his previous Wimbledon title and silencing doubts about his skill. He announced soon after the win that he would be taking a small break for his physical health and did not play in this year’s U.S. Open. His victory at Wimbledon was also his 100th Grand Slam win.