How the world’s names became American names, too

Notes on watching the World Cup

Let others haggle over hand balls. When I watch the World Cup, I track the names.

Caicedo. Van Dijk. Jalali. On the backs of players’ jerseys, a found poetry of humanity, the rhythms and melodies of every continent.

As I watched this year, it occurred to me: I recognized so many of these names — and not because I follow soccer. I recognize them because I’…