‘Let’s go with the heart’: Zohran Mamdani thinks this African team will win the World Cup

N ew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani walked confidently across the City Hall lawn on Thursday, sat down, and admitted that he had not had time to do much research into who he thought was going to win this summer’s World Cup . On the face of it, this should come as no surprise. Mamdani oversees the municipal government of the United States’ largest city – one facing record-high rents and continued fears over ICE , and which faced a budget crunch among myriad other issues upon his election to office. However, Mamdani is also an avid soccer fan – a rarity in American politics, made especially so by his strong, repeated engagement with the sport as both a matter of public policy and cultural force. He attended Eid al-Adha prayers in the Bronx wearing an Arsenal-branded kurta . He has campaigned against Fifa’s dynamic pricing policy, while also hosting a watch party at a municipal court for the Africa Cup of Nations final. Mamdani’s connection to African football will get even stronger now. Playing the Guardian’s World Cup Bracketology game , Mamdani offered his prediction of how he sees the tournament playing out: he sees Morocco beating France in the final. Just before making his selections, I asked Mamdani if he would be making picks with his heart (what he wants to see in the tournament) or his head (what he thinks is likely). The result ended up being a bit of both. Some selections were easy. …