Football Captivates India Amid Cricket Struggles
Football Takes Center Stage
Conversations across digital platforms have centred on Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt (Photo: @KirenRijiju/X)
Guwahati, July 11: Indian cricket is currently facing one of its toughest periods, marked by a historic loss to Ireland and three consecutive defeats against England in the ongoing T20I series. Typically, such outcomes would dominate sports discussions nationwide. However, the focus of Indian social media has shifted to a football match occurring thousands of kilometers away.
This week, discussions on various digital platforms have revolved around Argentina's thrilling 3-2 comeback win over Egypt in the FIFA World Cup round of 16, with Lionel Messi once again taking the spotlight.
The reigning champions rallied from a two-goal deficit to secure their spot in the quarterfinals. Although Messi missed a penalty, he redeemed himself by netting the crucial equalizer in the 82nd minute, leading Argentina to complete the comeback. The exhilarating conclusion, along with several controversial VAR decisions, ignited intense online debates, overshadowing the discourse surrounding India's disappointing cricket tour.
Search trends in India indicated that topics related to football, including Lionel Messi, Argentina, Egypt, and VAR, dominated public interest throughout the week.
Nick Fox, head of Google's Knowledge and Information unit, noted that the match triggered an unprecedented spike in online searches.
“Google Search broke all prior usage records and saw its highest usage in history right after Argentina scored their winning goal,” Fox shared in a social media post.
He added, “Great to see the global excitement for the World Cup... can’t wait for the semis and final!”
The match also generated several viral moments that kept fans engaged long after the final whistle.
AI chatbots from Meta and X indicated that discussions about football, particularly the Argentina-Egypt match, surpassed conversations about the India-England T20I series during the same timeframe in India.
The reasons for this football frenzy are clear. Messi is one of the most followed athletes in India, and Argentina has a passionate fan base in the Northeastern states, West Bengal, Kerala, and Goa.
The controversies surrounding refereeing decisions and VAR interventions further fueled engagement, with supporters and critics debating every significant incident across social media platforms.
In contrast, the India-England series has struggled to generate similar excitement. India is fielding a relatively inexperienced team under Shreyas Iyer, with several senior players absent. The results have dampened enthusiasm. After the first match was washed out, India lost by four wickets, suffered a 125-run defeat, and then fell to a nine-wicket loss on July 9, trailing 3-0 in the five-match series.
Veteran sports journalist Jaydeep Basu believes this shift in public attention is temporary and not indicative of football surpassing cricket in India.
“This is merely a temporary setback for cricket. Cricket remains the country's most popular sport by far,” Basu stated. “World Cup football occurs once every four years and is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event on the planet. Additionally, the 2026 event features numerous huge stars. While they are stars in their own right, they also benefit from extensive marketing efforts. Investors ensure that football remains in the spotlight during this one-month period.”
However, he added that much of the excitement is centered around football's global icons rather than the sport itself. “I may sound skeptical, but the craze is more about Messi, (Kylian) Mbappe, (Cristiano) Ronaldo, (Erling) Haaland, and (Harry) Kane than football.”