You don’t have to ask Josh Brooks how much he loves soccer. His front yard says it all.
“I love the World Cup,” he told NBC Los Angeles. “What we have here is a World Cup display.”
Outside his La Mirada home, every team still alive in the tournament has a place. More than 30 flags line his yard, and after every knockout match, one comes down. Every win keeps a flag flying, while every loss changes the display.
“When the World Cup started, everybody was grouped all the way around my lawn,” Brooks said. “Now my Netherlands lost as well, so I’m just slowly taking them down.”
It’s a World Cup bracket that you can watch unfold from the sidewalk. This is the second World Cup that he’s transformed his yard.
“I do an unbelievable Halloween display, an unbelievable Christmas display, and I just figured, you know, this is something that I like to do and show my creativity,” Brooks said.
But this year, it’s bigger, brighter and built to bring the tournament a little closer to home. He says the best part isn’t the display itself, but rather, what happens because of it.
“I’m a soccer coach, so I’ve been doing it for 35 years, and I just got inspired,” Brooks said. “I’m out here, working on it, or just out in front, people are waving at me, honking their horns. Many of my neighbors come by and say thank you,” he said.
And with his favorite team, the United States, entering the knockout round, he’s feeling confident.
“The stage is set for something spectacular,” he said. “I’m calling it, 3-1.”
When the tournament ends, every flag will eventually come down. But Brooks is already thinking about the next World Cup. When asked if the display will be back up in 2030, Brooks said “100%.”
“Soccer just brings a whole bunch of people together, and it’s really cool,” Brooks said.