What My First World Cup Match Taught Me About Sweating For Your Dreams

I am having one of those surreal, pinch-me-am-I-dreaming-right-now? weeks that feels entirely scripted by a benevolent universe.

First, I got married. It was the absolute best day of my life. A monumental, beautiful life event where tribes of family and friends from all over the world flocked to California for a few weeks and showered us with love and many wonderful hangs (…and we wow’d them with an Austin Powers impersonator to introduce us at the wedding itself). A couple of days later, the universe decided I hadn’t quite peaked yet and dropped me onto the pristine turf of Los Angeles Stadium for a World Cup match.

Kurt Vonnegut had a great rule for times like this. He urged people to pause during the good moments, look around, and say out loud, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” I have been saying it to myself a lot lately.

I am still trying to process the sheer magnitude of the roar from 70,000+ at Los Angeles Stadium during a World Cup match. I have been to the Super Bowl. I’ve sat at the World Series. I’ve felt the bone-rattling rumble of the Daytona 500 and the euphoric collegiate frenzy of a Final Four. But the World Cup towers above them all. It stands alone as the absolute, undisputed pinnacle of live sports.

I attended the match as a guest of Degree, who gave us an incredible behind-the-scenes tour before the stadium filled up. Standing on the sidelines, I was struck by a thought that felt very much like George Plimpton—the legendary writer who used to practice with pro teams just to prove how terrifyingly vast the gap is between normal guys and elite athletes. I touched the immaculate grass on the pitch and felt the invisible yet palpable weight of the pressure these guys operate under.

Degree is running a campaign right now with USMNT superstar Christian Pulisic. Inside their suite, they showcased a striking original painting of Pulisic by Allison Hueman, a brilliant Oakland-based artist known for a vibrant, layered style she calls “etherealism.” The piece captures Pulisic mid-action, cloaked in sweeping waves of blue and gold, perfectly illustrating the surreal, almost mythical aura that surrounds these athletes.

But the real story of the game was Degree’s guy, Pulisic. During the half, I texted a buddy (…who was also the officiant and our wedding) that he’s going to turn it on in the second half. Returning to action for the first time after nursing a calf injury since the opening World Cup match against Paraguay, he managed to score a big goal in his limited minutes on the pitch, proving he’s healthy and primed for the do-or-die knockout rounds.

That resilience is hardwired into his DNA. He recently opened up about his journey, noting, “I was always very small, so growing up, I was always getting kicked around. It was something I kind of grew up with.” Whether it was rushing out to play on a hard floor soccer court the second the school bell rang as a kid in England, to suddenly having people in his hometown say, “Oh you’re that kid that’s doing well over there in Europe and with the national team!” he has always put in the work. As he put it simply: “What I learned is that nothing is given easy to you. I think any kid wants to get on the field as much as he can.”

But beyond the stat sheet, the core ethos of Degree’s campaign with him is what really stuck to my ribs. It revolves around one very simple yet completely undeniable truth:

Dreams are just dreams until you sweat for them.

Let’s repeat that…

Dreams are just dreams until you sweat for them.

Pulisic remembers the exact moment that dream crystallized for him. “I was watching the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, and I was playing with the U-17s, I think, at the time,” he recalled. “I remember watching it in the summer, and I was like, ‘You know what? It’s a pretty crazy goal, but I want to be there in 2018.’”

Pulisic summed it up perfectly in the release for the campaign. He said, “Representing the U.S. on the world stage is something I’ve worked toward my entire life. Moments like the FIFA World Cup™ come down to the preparation. It’s in the training and the work you put in every day leading up to kickoff. That’s why partnering with Degree felt like a natural fit.”

I absolutely love that tagline. In a world of corny marketing dreamed up in conference rooms, it’s a very good one for a leading deodorant brand. It is a wildly profound piece of life advice masquerading as a sports mantra. It captures the heavy pressure, the insane perseverance, and the intense preparation required to perform at an elite level.

The brand itself leans heavily into this exact sentiment to redefine sweat as a badge of effort. Chris Symmes, the Head of Marketing at Degree, nailed the reality of the tournament. He noted, “The FIFA World Cup™ is the ultimate test of preparation, and preparation is where the real sweat happens. Through Here for Sweat, we’re celebrating that effort and showing up for the moments people push themselves the hardest.”

Ultimately, Degree shows up at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ to celebrate the effort behind the game. By reframing sweat as proof of dedication, they are spotlighting the passion and perseverance that drives players, fans, and communities throughout the tournament. As the World’s #1 deodorant and antiperspirant brand, Degree delivers reliable, all-day sweat and odor protection designed to keep up with movement, pressure, and everyday intensity—helping you stay fresh and confident from kickoff to the final whistle.

The brand itself leans heavily into this exact sentiment to redefine sweat as a badge of effort. Chris Symmes, the Head of Marketing at Degree, nailed the reality of the tournament. He noted, “The FIFA World Cup™ is the ultimate test of preparation, and preparation is where the real sweat happens. Through Here for Sweat, we’re celebrating that effort and showing up for the moments people push themselves the hardest.”

1. Coasting Is The Enemy Of The Good

You have to adopt a goal mentality. For decades of my life, I was terrible at this. I coasted. I drifted by without a firm target, making excuses about things being out of my control, when the reality was I just wasn’t chasing the dream hard enough to manifest the vision I wanted for my life. I operated as a professional passenger. Hitting 40 radically changes your perspective. You realize that you have to be the architect of your own momentum, and that you can’t waste a second of time. Sweating for something bigger than yourself—whether it’s building a career, writing a book, starting a family, making that movie, or hitting a PR in the gym—gives your journey a defined purpose.

2. Uncomplicated Patriotism Is A Hell Of A Drug

When they unfurled the massive flags across the pitch before kickoff, my stomach flooded with butterflies. I actually got a little misty.

The stadium erupted in a beautiful, soaring display of humanity and international camaraderie. In a modern culture where everything feels incredibly tense and fractured, it was intoxicating to revel in pure, unfiltered patriotism without the exhausting clatter of a meaningless what-are-we-mad-about-today culture war. It was just an arena full of people, happy to be happy, unified by a shared hope and a love of sports.

Getting goosebumps from pure, unironic unity is a rare jolt to the nervous system. We need more of it right now. If you ever get the chance to chase that high with 70,000 strangers, I highly recommend the dosage. It’s life-affirming.

3. Science-Fiction Stakes Demand Analog Effort

The scale of this tournament is difficult to comprehend.

Before the match, we got to examine the official FIFA match ball. It isn’t just leather and air and a bunch of logos; it houses incredibly sophisticated GPS trackers and data sensors. It literally needs to be plugged into a charging station. It is a highly tuned piece of technology. And yet, despite all of that science-fiction machinery calculating spin rates and velocity, the game still comes down to human lungs burning, muscles aching, and guys leaving every ounce of their physical being on the grass. The tech is futuristic, but the effort is primal. It’s symbolic of a dream that some of the world’s best athletes, like Pulisc, have sweated for their entire lives.

4. The Biggest Life Moments Require The Most Perspiration

You have to sweat for the big moments off the field, too. My wife and I just sweat through the monumental task of planning our wedding. I know, I know… who cares?! But let me cook here. We brought 40 family members and 60 lifelong friends out to beautiful Los Angeles, which was pretty much an alien planet for all them. We put in the work, dealt with the logistics, and managed the stress of venue string lights being out and last-minute flower deliveries. Standing there at the end of it, surrounded by everyone we love, the sense of accomplishment felt incredible. The juice was entirely worth the squeeze.

This past Sunday evening, trying to decompress from the madness of the best week of my life, I took my new e-bike down the path at Dockweiler Beach. I called my mom from the beach just to check in. Then kept pedaling on my 25-mile loop.

Golden hour bathed the California coast in a surreal, warm light. I looked out over the Santa Monica Mountains. I saw Point Dume resting quietly in the distant ocean mist. I sighed a very good, relieved sigh, remembering that Vonnegut mantra once again: “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”

I felt completely at peace, and I realized something fundamental on that ride.

If you want something in life, you have to do the work. You have to push yourself past the point of comfort. Zero shortcuts exist. It remains the ultimate golden rule of a life well-lived.

Dream big. But more importantly, sweat for it.