The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway and while some of the sport’s biggest names would be putting their bodies on the line to win football’s most covetted trophy, one of the most succesfull teams in the tournament is sitting out yet again, with a fair dose of existential dread hovering over them. This is the third consecutive men’s World Cup to not feature Italy, a rather unthinkable scenario considering they are the joint second most successful team in the history of the tournament, just one behind Brazil’s record of five titles. However, there is a contribution from an Italian great that will be seen right at the beginning of matches throughout this tournament, and possibly after that as well in senior football. Regular football watchers would’ve noticed something different about the pre-match routine before the opening game of the tournament between Mexico and South Africa, and later between South Korea and Czechia. When the time came for the national anthems to be played, the full squads of both teams, including the substitutes, stood around the centre circle facing each other. The usual routine is for starting lineups of both sides to stand adjacent to each other along with the match officials facing one side of the stadium. FIFA president Gianni Infantino had explained before the start of the tournament that the idea came from a conversation he had with Italy great Alessandro del Piero, who had won the 2006 World Cup. ALSO READ | Between Qatar and the US World Cup, four years and a culture of hypocrisy “We always want to do something new; in this case, it’s not a business idea,” Infantino had said in a press-conference that was more famous for his comments on several contentious issues that have plagued the 2026 World Cup. “It all started with a conversation with Alessandro Del Piero. A few months ago, he said to me, ‘Why don’t you let all the players come out on the pitch for the anthem? We’re all part of the same team.’ I don’t know if he told me this because he scored a historic goal, against Germany at the 2006 World Cup, coming off the bench… It seemed like an interesting idea, and we proposed it to the players and coaches: everyone was in favor. In today’s football, we have 11 starters, with five or six substitutions. But the entire squad can take to the field; it’s positive that all the players can experience the anthem moment,” Infantino said.
Why national anthem routines were different at 2026 FIFA World Cup opening games
