👋 Welcome..
..to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your first-gen Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe.
I like large things. There’s nothing like some tall beers, double decker burgers and wide-screen TVs to make my heart flutter. I also like World Cups, and WC2026 is set to be the biggest of all time.
The BOAT of World Cups. BOAT is a thing, right?.. Right??
Let’s tap in.
🥃 Top Shelf: Why This World Cup Will Be The Greatest
222 days to go until the U.S., Canada, and Mexico host the biggest World Cup in history.
Here’s what makes this edition different:
48 teams, not 32 → Expect underdogs, upsets, and chaos.
Games in NFL stadiums → Imagine Messi at MetLife or Ronaldo in Dallas. These aren’t soccer temples — they’re coliseums.
Three countries, one party → First time ever. A cross-border tournament with fan zones across North America.
U.S. team isn’t just showing up → This squad wants to win (dare we believe?).
Sponsorships, content, chaos → It’ll be the TikTok-iest, celeb-endorsed, drone-cam-covered tournament ever. But fear not - I’ll be with you every step of the way to serve only the content that really matters.
⚽ Tell me Joe: The ‘tap-in’
I think it’s time for a refresher on where our name - The Tap-Inn - comes from, folks. It’s inspired by my favourite type of goal, a tap-in.
A tap-in is the most simple goal you can score.
It’s one yard out.
It's nothing fancy, no extra fluff.
There’s nada between player, ball, and net.
It’s plainly unmissable…
…just like this newsletter. 🤨
So let's tap into soccer with The Tap-Inn and some simple explainers that are as easy to understand as a tap-in is to score.
Yes, I know the bar's name works on so many levels. Yes, I am still very happy about it.
📝 Trivia on Tap
Which animal was the first-ever official World Cup mascot?
🧠 Quickfire
🏟️ Stadium of the week
Images of this stadium have gone viral across social media over the last week (it has also gone viral in The Tap-Inn, the regulars won’t shut up talking about it). It is proprosed to be built for the World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034.
But I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear, it’s not real. Who knew you couldn’t built a stadium over 1000 feet in the air?
📆 On this day
Barcelona forward Marcus Rashford was born on halloween in 1997. I’ll leave some candy at the bar for you, Marcus.
📝 Trivia Answer:
A Lion. World Cup Willie.
No, I’m not joking.
Say hello to World Cup Willie
👋 Until Next Time…
Thanks for stopping by The Tap-Inn.
If you enjoyed this, forward it to that friend who knows nothing about soccer and help spread the good word.
I’ll be behind the bar every week, Monday and Friday, serving up soccer. Sláinte.
— Joe