An American said fewer than a dozen people in the US had heard of Côte d’Ivoire before the World Cup but as a snapshot of Trump’s US it’s hard to beat
To the World Cup, which not even a week in might already be exceeding expectations with lots of goals, unexpected results and not a hint of Donald Trump turning up to a game. Not yet, anyway.
The learning curve for Americans is turning out to be a steep one, though. Not just the rules of the game but the names of the countries … and the fact that some of these countries exist at all.
But don’t take our word for it, ask Boston ‘media personality’ and inventor of Barstool Sports (it says here) Dave Portnoy.
There can’t be more than 11 people in the United States who knew what Côte d’Ivoire was before the World Cup.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 15, 2026
But did it say more about Dave Portnoy than it did Trump’s America? Maybe. Also – maybe not.
1.
dumb people always be like, “Everyone else is dumb like me” 🙄 https://t.co/C7kTmuETj6
— Bird Law Expert 🇺🇦 (@RealBirdLawyer) June 15, 2026
2.
Vastly underestimating the amount of FIFA addicts who mained Ivory Coast
Shoutout Drogba https://t.co/neJjvW5mEl
— Brandon Carney (@BenchwarmerBran) June 15, 2026
3.
https://t.co/uqEPErzxpw pic.twitter.com/y7kxSSIwBJ
— DEI speedwagon (all eyes on Cuba) 🌹🇵🇸 〽️ (@uhshanti) June 15, 2026
4.
I actually think Ivory Coast is one of the most iconic soccer teams that many casuals even know because of prime Drogba and Yaya https://t.co/4CCJAG0BhI
— Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) June 15, 2026
5.
https://t.co/9mLAVuhq1f pic.twitter.com/DEFc3fuVDI
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) June 15, 2026
6.
There’s a guy on insta who works at barstool and he goes around the office asking the other barstoolers geography questions and a lot of them are really stupid about geography so it makes sense that dave portnoy would think this https://t.co/vz3ZKjbsEI
— rory (@aurora_f) June 15, 2026
7.
How could we forget? https://t.co/WEMZFDcQDh pic.twitter.com/VJsojETg7N
— IcyVert (@IcyVert) June 15, 2026
8.
Some things are best kept as inside thoughts https://t.co/6i2jp3NVJA
— Drew (NTE) (@NotTheExpertYT) June 15, 2026
9.
Some of us paid attention in school and read real books actually https://t.co/eO4ssdWJnS
— amanda (@jailedamanda) June 15, 2026
Not that Ivory Coast supporters will care after their team beat Ecuador – a country surely more than 11 Americans have heard of – 1-0 in their opening group game. Next!
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Source @stoolpresidente