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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJude Bellingham, player for England’s Men’s National Team, is a star on the field and in the hearts of two unnamed reporters at the “Dallas Observer.”\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJude Bellingham, player for England’s Men’s National Team, is a star on the field and in the hearts of two unnamed reporters at the “Dallas Observer.”\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Mike Brooks for Dallas Observer<\/p>\n
Even if you hate soccer, the World Cup has brought us many sights <\/a>to behold. Regrettably, most of them are wearing shirts the entire time because removing them results in a yellow card. We\u2019d like to talk to whoever came up with that rule immediately. Either way, the World Cup has shed a much-needed light on an underrated sport in the United States and shed a bigger light on its chiseled players.\u00a0If the next tournament is played shirts and skins, we foresee soccer becoming even more popular. <\/p>\n The indisputable, unexpected heartthrob of the tournament has been the charming Norwegian leader, Erling Haaland.<\/a> The star\u2019s charisma won the heart of every American spectator, soccer fan or not, for his sense of humor on and off the field. But since Norway was knocked out as a contender last week, the people have had to re-strategize and are now backing England\u2019s Jude Bellingham, who is also very hot and a close friend of Haaland. The duo has given a lot of content to the tournament\u2019s real athletes: TikTok thirst-trap editors. It was a game-time decision, but one that has paid off.<\/p>\n This World Cup was notoriously hot in more ways than one. With the semifinals set to begin in Dallas on Tuesday, we think now\u2019s the best time to take a walk down memory lane and remember what the World Cup is truly about: camaraderie. This is good sportsmanship.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Arts & Culture newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/p>\n You’re all set.<\/p>\n CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The entire Congolese team, specifically in their custom leopard suits\u00a0<\/p>\n The Congo knows what it means to arrive in style. For their return to the tournament after 52 years (appearing under the nation\u2019s former name, Zaire), the team arrived in matching suits with leopard-print stoles, an homage to the Congolese subculture, La Sape. The identifiable aesthetic originates from houseboys who were paid in old European designer clothing. The clothes were modified and reimagined, creating a vibrant, highly tailored look. The suits, designed by Congolese designer Alvin Jmak, brought Les Leopards, as the team is known, an instant victory at the World Cup, and women everywhere a different kind of victory. <\/p>\n All of Iran\u00a0<\/p>\n Because of the conflict between the United States and Iran, their men\u2019s national team had an irregularly difficult time getting visas. The team was required to move its base camp from Arizona to the Mexican border, with a 24-hour window to return after each match played on United States soil. But extended exposure to airplane air and unneeded paperwork stress from a federal department, which brings out the ugliest in most people, did nothing for the Iranian Men\u2019s National Team. The internet seems to be in consensus that being beautiful must be a prerequisite for making the team, because no roster boasts as many 10s as Iran\u2019s. <\/p>\n Cho Guesung\u00a0<\/p>\n Some people really do have it all. If this were your first World Cup, you wouldn\u2019t be familiar with Cho Guesung, a striker for the South Korean Men\u2019s National Team. The player went viral after the 2022 World Cup for reasons you can clearly see. Four years later, and he still looks good. <\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo<\/p>\n What can we say? We\u2019re traditionalists. Just because Cristiano Ronaldo has remained one of the hottest soccer stars for two decades doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t include him. An obvious choice? Yes, but one that is no less deserving. Staff writer Emma Ruby momentarily breathed the same air as Ronaldo when the Portuguese Men\u2019s National Team played in Dallas and, through important boots-on-the-ground journalism, concluded that he looks even better in person.<\/p>\n Jackson Irvine\u00a0<\/p>\n Australia has done more for the daydreamer than any other country on the planet. Hugh Jackman, Jacob Elordi, Margot Robbie, all the Hemsworths and now Jackson Irvine. If Australia was created as a nation built from criminals, then lock us up, sheriff. On top of being great at soccer (we assume), Irvine also has more personal style than his ball-kicking contemporaries.<\/p>\n Petar Musa\u00a0<\/p>\n You might recognize Croatia\u2019s Petar Musa from his day job as a member of FC Dallas. The European is a high-caliber player for a team like FC Dallas, and he\u2019s spoken about choosing to play in our city over one of the European Big Five leagues because of more playtime and the opportunity to leave a legacy. Fittingly, Musa scored his first World Cup goal at Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium, for North Texans). We hope we can keep him, but it wouldn\u2019t be beyond Dallas sports teams to trade their Baltic franchise player.<\/a><\/p>\n Mo Salah<\/p>\n