Trending, NYCFC.comās weekly compendium of soccerās greatest viral hits, returns just in time to round up a dramatic first five days of the 21st FIFA World Cup.
Itās already been a memorable first round of group stage games, with Iceland and Mexico delivering the two standout results in the first 16 games of play.
Hereās some of the choicest cuts from the first 1440 minutes of action in Russiaā¦
PanaMania
This is what the World Cup is all aboutā¦ Panama may have gone down 3-0 to Belgium in Group G on Monday but this moment will inspire generations to comeā¦
A Different Kind of Shoot
Perhaps only Cristiano Ronaldo can claim a better first 90ā at this World Cup than Icelandās Hannes Halldorsson.
The goalkeeper saved a penalty from Lionel Messi to secure a point for the minnows but when heās not stopping shots, heās setting them up in his day job as a film director.
Halldorsson created this stunning advertisement for the World Cup, showing that he is a man of many, many talentsā¦
Fire and Ice
Staying with Iceland, how about this for a phenomenal statistic? Just 0.04% of the 335k population of the Icelandic nation was not watching them draw 1-1 with Argentina (the majority of which were on the field, playing in the game).
Thanks Grandma!
El Tri have produced arguably the best performance so far, defeating defending champions Germany in Group F on Sunday.
Mexico clearly has one woman to thankā¦
Missing Amigo
We take off and doff our sombreros to this group of Mexico fans who ensured that their friend wouldnāt miss the many photo opportunities thrown up by soccerās greatest show.
Hips Donāt Lie
The opening game wouldnāt be a happy one for Colombia but they did have the best celebration of the tournament so far when they equalized vs. Japan todayā¦
"Iāve Got Some Things to Say..."
Youāve probably read this already but, if you havenāt, get on it. Now.
A terrifically inspiring read from Romelu Lukaku who got his World Cup off to a perfect start, scoring twice vs. Panama on Monday.
#FuerzaMata
Forgive us an NYCFC-flavored ICYMI. We followed Ronald Matarrita to his native Costa Rica to shoot a documentary on the realization of his FIFA World Cup dream.
Tragically, this dream was shattered when Mata picked up an injury three days before Los Ticosā first game but, with Ronaldās blessing, we still wanted to show you how the NYCFC defender got his start and for you to meet the colorful cast of characters who helped to shape Ronaldās career.
Although itās a tough watch now in the context of the injury, the groundwork for a super uplifting documentary in 2022 is right hereā¦
Thatās it for this week, weāll return next Tuesday with more clips and pics from Week Two in Russia and beyondā¦
