I love the Super Bowl. I love the World Series and the College Football Playoffs. The Stanley Cup is great — especially when the iconic trophy is used to pour beer off of the Elbo Room’s second-floor balcony — and the Olympics are fun every two years.

But after nearly six weeks of the World Cup, I think I am convinced. It was the most amazing sporting event I’ve ever witnessed.

For 39 days, we got to watch amazing soccer in front of animated crowds. We lived and died with every shot attempt. We learned new traditions and invented some of our own. The world came to us, and many of us delighted in being good hosts.

That’s not to say everything about the World Cup was perfect. Ticket prices were exorbitant. Hydration breaks proved controversial — especially when they were still enforced in domed stadiums. Politics also reared its head with President Donald Trump’s call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino on behalf of American striker Folarin Balogun.

But now that it’s over, we should appreciate this year’s World Cup for what it was: a truly magical time.

The games

We were spoiled with amazing matches from the very start. The group stage included shocking results. Cape Verde, the darlings of the tournament, held Spain scoreless. Global star Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal tied with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Curacao, the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup, completed a scoreless draw with Ecuador, a solid South American team.

The surprising results and wild games continued into the knockout rounds. Paraguay eliminated Germany on penalty kicks in the round of 32. Belgium shocked Senegal, coming back from a 2-0 deficit, to secure its trip to the round of 16. Norway, led by star Erling Haaland, ended Brazil’s World Cup run in the round of 16.

For us Americans, the group stage was bliss. The U.S.A., led by Argentinian coach Mauricio Pochettino, started the tournament with a stunning 4-1 blitz of Paraguay. The winning continued against Australia, and the U.S. won its group. We crowded into bars and blasted “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as America won its first knockout match since 2002.

Unfortunately, what seemed poised to be a magical run deep into the tournament came to a shocking end against Belgium. That has led to questions about this generation of American players, including star Christian Pulisic, and how the U.S. handles its youth system. Maybe those questions will be answered by the time we host again.

All three hosts made it to the round of 16, but no further. Morocco ended Canada’s run, and England won one of the best matches of the tournament against Mexico in Mexico City.

The games delivered right up until the end. Argentina pulled off another late comeback to reach the final. England and France traded blows in an electric bronze final. And the title game between Argentina and Spain was tense all the way until Ferran Torres sunk the cup-winning goal for Spain in extra time.

Miami got the best

We were truly fortunate down here in South Florida. We got some of the tournament’s best scenes.

Uruguay and Saudi Arabia kicked off the first World Cup match in South Florida history at Hard Rock Stadium. That match ended in a 1-1 draw; Uruguay got an equalizer in the 80th minute and spent the last 10 minutes trying to find a winner, to no avail. It ultimately set up Uruguay, the first World Cup champions, for a group-stage exit.

Cape Verde and Uruguay drew in the second Miami match, and Brazil dominated Scotland 3-1 as the group stages progressed. Colombia vs. Portugal ended the group stage on an exciting note.

The knockout games we got? Incredible. Argentina and Cape Verde played what might have been the best match of the tournament. Argentina, the reigning world champions and heavy favorite, needed extra time to beat the upstarts in their first World Cup, but not before Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral scored an incredible extra-time goal and ran into the crowd to celebrate.

The quarterfinal match between England and Norway needed extra time, too. The English kept Haaland, whose popularity exploded during the World Cup, off the scoresheet. It was England’s Jude Bellingham, Haaland’s former teammate at the German club Borussia Dortmund, who scored two goals to send England to the semifinals.

Even the bronze medal match, a consolation for the semifinal losers, was thrilling. Neither England nor France played much defense, and the result was a 10-goal thriller that saw England go up 4-0 in the first half before allowing France to score three times and nearly pull off an improbable comeback.

The stadium was effectively packed for each match, and Hard Rock Stadium provided a great atmosphere — even with the summer heat — for a month.

The stars

On the field, superstars reigned. Although Argentina ultimately came up short, Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi scored eight times in what will almost certainly be his last World Cup. Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe scored 10 times for France to win the Golden Boot. England’s Harry Kane excelled as England rolled to the semifinals, and Bellingham set an English record with seven World Cup goals in one tournament. America was formally introduced to Haaland; the Manchester City star became a social media icon during the tournament.

And the Cup created new stars, like 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who gained millions of Instagram followers after shutting out Spain.

The fans

The best thing about this tournament, though, were the fans who left an enduring image. If you’re anything like me, your social media feed was deluged with videos of people celebrating their teams. One video would show Korean fans doing keg stands in Mexico. Another would show Dutch fans dancing or the people of Lawrence, Kansas, embracing the Algerian national team that was based there. Swipe again, and it’s the Norwegians rowing, the English singing “Wonderwall,” Ghanians dancing, Argentines singing and the Scots’ Tartan Army drinking its way through Boston and Miami.

We heard stories of people visiting America for the first time, discovering Costco and Buc-ee’s, and being pleasantly surprised by the free drink refills and complimentary chips and salsa and bread at restaurants throughout the country. They also marveled in awe at the sheer number of massive stadiums we have — even in small towns in SEC country.

Sports are a business. FIFA surely made billions of dollars from this World Cup. But sports can find a way to unite people, to create inspiration, to bring so much joy. And for six amazing weeks, the world came together during an awe-inspiring tournament for the ages.

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