Sunday morning, Argentina won a narrow victory over France in the finals of the 22nd World Cup, which began on Nov. 30. Throughout nearly a month of matches, the excitement was tangible across the CHS campus, creating a sense of camaraderie amid the student body. 

This World Cup, hosted by Qatar, brought 32 teams into competition. Both on campus and online, the event created a buzz throughout the Calabasas community.

“The enthusiasm I’ve seen generated by the World Cup is amazing, and I believe it brought a great amount of life to the Calabasas campus,” said senior and varsity soccer outside back Chance Chrisman. “And it’s impossible to ignore the social media aspect. I’ve seen people from the school doing the Brazilian dance challenge with one another on Tik Tok.”

During December, many students have used the thirty-minute support periods at the end of each class as World Cup watch parties. Students have gathered around their laptops, and teachers have projected the matches on boards so everyone can cheer on their respective teams. 

“Once, we watched the Argentina match in the MPR, which was really fun,” said sophomore Sarah Pace, who had predicted Argentina would win it all. “The community of everybody screaming [and] watching it on their own separate computers is really fun.” 

Even though team USA was eliminated in a knockout round match against the Netherlands on Dec. 3, there are CHS students whose countries made it even further. Junior Omar Sijlamassi, who is of Moroccan heritage, cheered Morocco into the quarter finals. 

“I’ve brought my Moroccan flag after the Moroccan wins,” said Sijlamassi. “It’s been really fun having other kids root for Morocco with me.” 

The World Cup has also brought about an increased enthusiasm for CHS athletics and an increased turnout at recent CHS soccer matches. 

“The World Cup has made soccer way more exciting for me and those on the soccer team,” said Chrisman. “The increased turnout for boys soccer games is noticeable and much appreciated. Hearing people in the stands cheer on the team has pumped up the team and given us players a boost of motivation.”