Those who love the sport were eagerly awaiting the draw for the 2026 World Cup, where 48 countries — including New Zealand — will be battling it out for global bragging rights.
Those who love the bathos were eagerly awaiting presentation of the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize, an utterly ludicrous award invented purely so Fifa’s head sycophant, its president Gianni Infantino, could gush and fawn over United States President Donald Trump, this grotesque gong’s utterly unsurprising first recipient.
Ever since Fifa announced that it was creating this unneeded new endowment, it was pre-ordained that President Trump would be its recipient. The Fifa president attended Trump’s inauguration of president, and before and since has done his level worst to attract the US president’s support for the 2028 event the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.
Trump has been invited to every Fifa event going and no occasion to unabashedly flatter him has been missed.
Saturday’s award presentation was graceless, gawky and hamfisted, the president grinning serenely as he awaited the presentation of the ugly bronze statue (a cluster of hands holding up a globe).
"This is your prize — this is your peace prize," Infantino grovelled, before adding the piece de resistance: "There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go."
Presumably that would include the White House situation room, from which in recent months President Trump has overseen bombings in Somalia, Yemen and Iran, and where presently the US is monitoring the results of it blowing up boats being used by alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers — quite possibly in contravention of international law.
Fifa says the prize is for “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”. Quite.
"This is truly one of the great honours of my life," the Prince of Peace told the audience. And well deserved, we are sure.
The All Whites will likely have a glass half full, glass half empty view of their pool opponents.
There will be some disappointment that they did not draw a glamour team such as Argentina, England, Brazil or Spain, but these were teams that New Zealand would have struggled to get a result against.
Belgium, the one seed in New Zealand’s pool, qualified from a weak European group, following a disappointing Euro 2024. Their golden generation is ageing, and they are not the force they were.
Egypt’s superstar, Mo Salah, is currently in an enormous strop with his club side Liverpool. Traditionally one of Africa’s strongest nations, they too were disappointing in their most recent international tournament the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Iran won a game at the last World Cup and secured its qualification with some ease from the tough Asian qualifying tournament: it will fancy its chances of making it out of the group stage.
These countries will not be easy beats, but it is not inconceivable that New Zealand could foot it with them. A tournament like the 2010 World Cup, where New Zealand drew all three of its matches, might be hoping for too much, but the All Whites should at least be competitive.
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Speaking of Kiwis on the world sporting stage, New Zealanders will have breathed a collective sigh of relief at the news that Liam Lawson will once more be suiting up in Formula 1 next season.
Whether one is a petrol head or not, it is difficult not to take a patriotic liking to the affable and always honest Lawson. In a cutthroat sport, he endured the embarrassment and disappointment of being dumped by Red Bull after just two races, to repair his reputation by helping its secondary team, Racing Bulls, to sixth place in the constructor’s championship.
Lawson finished 14th out of 20 in the drivers' standings, but it must be remembered that he was never behind the wheel of one of the sport’s fastest cars. There was just a 54-point spread between 8th and 19th, showing how tight the middle of the pack is. He has acquitted himself well and deserves his second year.
