Now what? For some fans, when the World Cup ends, the emotional hangover begins

By Maria Santana, CNN

New York (CNN) — For more than a month, life revolved around kickoff times.

Calendars were rearranged. Meetings were moved. Lunch breaks became suspiciously long. Group chats operated around the clock, filled with memes, tactical analysis and predictions that aged poorly within minutes.

For millions of fans around the world, the men’s FIFA World Cup wasn’t just a tournament. It became a routine.

“You get off work every day and you’re like, ‘OK, 4 p.m., it’s game time,’” said Shreesh Byreddy as he celebrated Spain’s win over Argentina at Sunday’s watch party in New York’s Central Park.

But then the final whistle blew, and the World Cup was gone.

No more checking the schedule over morning coffee. No reason to wear a national team jersey to work anymore. No stranger at a bar to embrace after a stoppage-time goal. No referee decision to ruin your entire afternoon.

“The days are going to be boring,” said Amir, another Spain fan, laughing. “We just got so used to watching all of these matches”

Amir is hardly alone in feeling this way.

The world’s biggest sports tournament leaves behind something many fans know all too well: the “sports fan’s blues.” It’s the inevitable emotional comedown that mental health experts say follows weeks of intense, entirely voluntary stress.

Psychologists have long noted that major sporting events create powerful psychological and social rhythms. Fans invest time, their identity and anticipation in every match. Whether their team lift the trophy or exit in heartbreaking fashion, the sudden loss of that daily ritual can leave them feeling unexpectedly adrift.

“There’s definitely some sort of depression,” Byreddy said. “You spend the entire month going to games, buying jerseys, arguing over the next match and going out to bars. Then the World Cup is over, and you find yourself struggling to find a reason to go out.”

It can feel dramatic and even, as some fans readily admit, a little irrational. Your house is still standing. Your family is fine. You still have a job – unless your month-long commitment to “working remotely” during afternoon kickoffs raised a few eyebrows. And yet, something still feels missing.

For weeks, the tournament gave fans something increasingly rare in today’s fractured media landscape: a shared daily experience. Entire countries celebrated and grieved together. Families gathered. Friendships were renewed. Even coworkers who rarely spoke suddenly had opinions about formations and red card decisions.

“Nothing brings everyone together like the World Cup,” said Tashfique Tanim as fans slowly filtered out of Central Park after the final. “When it’s gone, you’re just watching highlights and reminiscing about the memories.”

And that’s what makes the silence afterward feel so strange.

The joy, despair, rage, relief and occasional spiritual crisis brought on by a missed penalty become woven into everyday life. Then, almost overnight, it’s back to normal life.

Normal life, unfortunately, has fewer dramatic entrances, fewer reasons to hug complete strangers and almost no acceptable opportunities to throw a drink into the air.

“You just get so wrapped up in all the hype that it feels like it will never end,” said avid soccer fan Glenn Viola. “But then you wake up and think, ‘Oh wait, there’s no game today.’ And then you realize you have to wait another four years? Yeah, that’s hard.”

The good news? The feeling usually doesn’t last.

Mental health experts say one of the best ways to shake the post-tournament blues is to hold on to the parts that made the World Cup so special. Stay connected with friends, keep the group chat alive and find something else to look forward to.

Soon enough, the jerseys will find their way back into the closet, the conversations will drift to other topics, and another major sporting event will inevitably steal the spotlight.

But if you open your phone, realize there’s no match today and still feel an unexpected pang of disappointment, you’re in good company.

Right now, you’re not the only one asking: Now what?

The-CNN-Wire
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