It's the kind of thing many football fans experience during World Cup watch parties: The "home" team scores a goal and fans in a beer garden or pub cheer as one – and may even embrace in celebration – even though they had been complete strangers just moments earlier.
For Katie Wood, a clinical psychologist at Swinburne University in Melbourne, these shared moments can actually support mental health.
"The greatest protective factor for our mental health is connectedness—the connection to ourselves, to other people, to our community, and to our culture," Wood told DW. And sport, in her view, hits exactly this note; it brings people together.
This form of connection isn't limited to families or friends. It can also emerge when, for a brief moment, one feels they are part of something bigger. A World Cup is the perfect setting for giving people this sort of feeling.
Americans celebrate alongside Algerians
