The World Cup taking place every four years is filled with excited fans ready to see the tournament unfold, many of these fans are students and teachers from all over the world. However, in The United States, with games between 4am and 1pm, many games took place during the school day. So what have students been doing to watch the World Cup, while simultaneously having school work?

At Parker, students and teachers have been approaching the World Cup in different ways. 

Senior Jaritzi Lopez highlights how she has been watching it during the school day. 

“I have been watching it, I try to watch it during my breaks so it doesn’t interfere with my school work,” Lopez said. 

Junior Luna Lissalde, mentioned how she has been following the World Cup because she wants to see her favorite team, France, advance in the tournament. “I have for sure been following the World Cup. And the reason why is because I love soccer…so I want to follow to see if they’re gonna win again this year,” Lissalde said. 

There are many differences in having the World Cup take place during the winter rather than the summer, besides having school. Some students have highlighted that they usually watch the World Cup with their parents or family, while at school, they are watching it with friends and teachers. 

Avid World Cup fan, Senior Emre Emanet, highlighted some of these differences, and how he has enjoyed watching it at school. “Well, it happens once every four years. So it’s kind of like a big deal because you don’t get to see this every day. And the majority of the World Cups I’ve watched, I’ve watched it with my parents with my family because it always takes place in the summer but this year, especially since it is in the winter I get to watch it with my friends,” Emanet said. 

Emanet along with other World Cup fans, have been watching the World Cup during school breaks, specifically in Upper School History Teacher, Dan Greenstone’s room, who has been streaming the games when he has a break for any students who are interested. Greenstone highlighted his thoughts when asked what it is like watching the World Cup during the school day. 

“Challenging. I’m a teacher and I love the World Cup in the summer, I get to focus on it normally. On the one hand, it’s been really fun to talk about it with students, many of whom are as interested as I am, or even more so,” Greenstone said. 

At some point, however, as Greenstone said, the matches can’t keep students from school work and teachers from continuing on their curriculum. 

“Sometimes we have to turn off a game at a key moment. Sometimes we have to miss games that we’d like to see. But it has been a cool bonding experience,” Greenstone said, who also created a unit about American-Iranian relations in order to contextualize the United States vs. Iran game on Tuesday November 29. “It was a great unit,” Greenstone said. 

The historical significance of the World Cup is also prominent as 32 countries convene every four years to participate in the cup. 

“​​It does raise all sorts of interesting questions to ponder. I’m a history teacher. We’ve got 32 countries gathered together, different cultures, different histories,” Greenstone said.  “However, the corruption of FIFA, the abuse and exploitation of the workers in Qatar, all give pause to those of us who enjoy the game. But I try to discuss those things with students as well,” Greenstone said.