The 2026 FIFA World Cup officially kicked off with Mexico facing South Africa, and for the next 40 days, Malaysia is going to be running on kopi, teh tarik, adrenaline, and very little sleep. We didn't qualify. We never do. And none of that matters even slightly once the group stage kicks off and the mamaks fill up and the arguments about Mbappe start.
This is the biggest World Cup in history by design. For the first time, 48 nations are participating across 104 matches spread across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The expanded format means more games, more upsets, and more excuses to stay up until 5am on a Tuesday watching a group-stage match between countries you'd struggle to find on a map before this month.
For Malaysian fans, the scheduling reality is both beautiful and medically questionable. Most fixtures will fall between 3am and 10am Malaysia Standard Time, with the opening match shown at 3am on June 12 and the final scheduled for 3am on July 20. The afternoon windows are the precious ones. When a big match falls at 6am or 8am MYT, half the country is going to be at the mamak by 5.45am in a jersey.
The good news for those who want to watch legally and free: RTM and Unifi TV will be broadcasting all 104 World Cup matches live, with free streaming also available via RTMKlik. If you have a smart TV and decent internet, you're set. If you have a 2014 Astro remote and a family of seven in a Pandan Indah apartment, the mamak remains the answer.
NST described the coming weeks plainly: "The World Cup will turn Malaysian life upside down for one month," as eateries stay packed deep into the nights and local politics, daily stressors and social divides take a back seat to world-class football. Truer words have rarely been written in a football article.
The favourites? France, Brazil, England, Germany, and Argentina are the names that dominate the conversation. Spain and Japan are the dark horses worth backing for a run. And Brazil is going to break someone's heart in the quarterfinals, as they always do. (That last point is my personal opinion and I will defend it.)
My Opinion
This is the version of Malaysia I genuinely love. Whatever is happening in politics, the cost of living, the traffic, the haze forecast, none of it matters when a match is on and the guy next to you at the mamak is from a completely different background, speaking a completely different language, and you're both screaming at the same goalkeeper for the same reason. Football is one of the few things left that reliably makes us all the same for 90 minutes. Enjoy it. Sleep when you're dead.
Ronny M (ronny76netstuff@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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