From Bangladesh to US: A childhood dream comes true as I watch Brazil play with my father

The first World Cup I remember after beginning to understand football was the 1994 edition. Interestingly, that tournament was also held in the United States.

My father was a devoted Brazil supporter. Since the matches were in the US, they were broadcast late at night in our country. I would often wake up in the middle of the night to find my father sitting in front of the television.

I would join him, sitting on his lap to watch. In one match, Brazil’s Leonardo received a red card. For some reason, that incident made me cry intensely. That was perhaps where my love for Brazil began.

I spent my childhood in a joint family with my uncles, aunts and many cousins. Watching my father and uncles, we siblings also became sports enthusiasts from an early age. As we grew older, the entire family would stay up all night together to watch World Cup matches. Even today, those memories evoke a different kind of emotion.

Now, 32 years later, as the World Cup returns to the United States, I said to my younger brother (Arnab Wares Khan) one day, "How about we take Abbu to watch the World Cup this time?"

He agreed instantly.

Later, I spoke with my uncle who lives in Germany (Mamun Ahsan Khan) and my cousins in the United States (Sumit Wares Khan and Tanveer Wares Khan). We all reached the same decision. This time, not on screen, we would watch the World Cup from inside a stadium.

We from Bangladesh, my uncle from Germany and our relatives in the US—all of us wanted to bring those childhood memories back to life.

The planning began that very day. First, the flight tickets were booked.

However, the biggest challenge was securing match tickets. After applying for nearly 36 tickets, we received only two. We decided those two would go to my father and my uncle. For ourselves, we kept searching for alternatives. Eventually, we managed to buy tickets at a significantly high price from FIFA's secondary market.

Financially, it was far from small. But we knew that money could be earned again. This time, this moment, these memories and the experience of being with our father and uncle would never return.

Unfortunately, due to new US visa regulations, my younger brother could not join us in the end. Even from afar, he kept checking on us and sharing in our joy.

Another special highlight was the presence of our family friend, Shuvo Kamal. He drove for nearly 10 hours from Michigan just to watch the match with us.

On 14 June, we watched Brazil's match against Morocco together. The stadium where we watched this match will also host the World Cup final. Personally, this will remain one of the most precious memories of my life. Some memories cannot be measured in money—and this is one of them.

Years from now, the result of the Brazil-Morocco match might fade and become blurry. But this journey, the time spent with family, and the feeling of turning a childhood dream into reality—these memories will stay with us forever.