Yesterday was the 6th FIFA World Cup Final I’ve ever watched.

The first one was in 1998 (I was 10 then), the World Cup I remember the best (all the 64 scores, all the goal scorers with minutes for every match) since I was putting down stats after every single match in the notebook gifted by my uncle.

This time I witnessed Les Bleus’ grandmaster level efficiency and pragmatism taking over Croatian idealism in the company of friends in Delhi. Including Google and Web Search legend Amit Singhal who just arrived on Sunday from his home base in Silicon Valley.

As I started to think where and how I watched the last 6 WC Finals, here’s the summary I came up with: 1998 final - I watched it in Almaty

(w/ my parents) [fun fact: my younger brother Nurym was born the next day!], 2002 - in Belousovka

(Eastern Kazakhstan) with my relatives, 2006 - in Bukhtarma

(Eastern Kazakhstan) with my relatives [there was no TV in our tents so I was following that final on radio

], 2010 - in Tokyo

(by myself in a tiny hotel room) [I still remember the hotel name - スーパーホテル Ueno-Okachimachi], 2014 - in London

(by myself in a bigger hotel room), 2018 - at a restaurant in Delhi

with my wifey & friends.

When & where was your first FIFA World Cup Final?

‍