What the World Cup Can Teach Us About Human Connection

Rutgers organizational psychologist explains why shared experiences create connection, culture, and belonging

As the FIFA World Cup comes to a close, Katrina Monton, director of experiential learning in organizational psychology at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, says some of the tournament's most lasting moments may have little to do with the final score.

Monton, who is also a former member of the Canadian women's national water polo team, reflects on what the World Cup can teach us about belonging, organizational culture and the power of shared experiences.

Why do you think the World Cup resonates with so many people around the world?

Every four years, the FIFA World Cup offers something increasingly rare: a genuinely shared human experience.

In a time marked by uncertainty, polarization, loneliness, and fragmented attention, that may be one of its greatest gifts. For a few weeks, people rearrange schedules, text family members during matches, wear national colors, cheer for countries they may never have visited, and feel emotions that seem almost too large for a game.

It is tempting to think this is simply about soccer. But what makes the World Cup so memorable often extends well beyond what happens on the field.

What is it about the World Cup that creates such a strong sense of connection?

We spend so much time talking about the extraordinary moments in sport: the winning goal, the trophy, the champions.

But perhaps the real magic of the World Cup happens everywhere else.

It lives in conversations between strangers, the crowded cafés, the office watch-parties; families gathering around a television; the child wearing a jersey that is still too big; the collective gasp before a penalty kick; the eruption of joy when a ball hits the back of the net. None of these moments determine who wins the World Cup. Yet they may be the reason the tournament matters so much.

As an organizational psychologist, I spend much of my time studying how people build connection in workplaces and communities. One lesson emerges again and again: connection cannot simply be communicated into existence. It grows through shared experiences, shared emotion, and shared stories.

The World Cup reminds us what it feels like to be human together. Shared experiences become shared stories, and shared stories are one of the ways communities, teams, and cultures are built.

What lessons can organizations learn from the World Cup about building culture and belonging?

Organizations often spend enormous energy trying to cultivate culture, engagement, and belonging. They develop mission statements, launch initiatives, and measure employee sentiment. Those efforts can be important.

Yet they sometimes overlook something the World Cup illustrates so vividly: culture is not built only through what people are told. It is built through what people experience together.

People do not simply want to understand the mission. They want to feel part of it.

In workplaces, communities, and institutions, we often underestimate the power of ordinary moments: welcoming rituals, shared meals, collective celebrations, inside jokes, ceremonies, stories, and moments when people pause together to recognize something meaningful.

These moments may seem small, but they are often how people come to feel, "This is my team. These are my people. I belong here."

What do you hope people take away from the World Cup?

I hope people remember that connection and belonging are not things we create simply by telling people they belong. They are experiences people share together.

The World Cup doesn't erase conflict, division, or uncertainty. But for a few weeks, it reminds us that people can still gather, celebrate, hope, and feel connected despite those differences.

Whether in our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, or families, the moments that bring people together often aren't the biggest or most carefully planned. They're the everyday rituals, traditions, and shared experiences that help people feel connected to one another.

Eventually, someone will lift the trophy. But years from now, many of us will remember something else -- where we watched, who we were with. The stranger we hugged after a goal. The café that erupted. The family group chat that came alive. The child in the oversized jersey. The brief feeling that, despite everything happening in the world, we were part of something together.

Perhaps that is the World Cup's greatest victory. It is not simply about deciding the best team in the world. It is about reminding us that even in uncertain times, there is extraordinary power in ordinary moments of connection.