Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The World Cup final is on Sunday. Argentina will play Spain at MetLife Stadium.
Lionel Messi plays for Argentina. Lamine Yamal plays for Spain. This is the first time they will play against each other in a World Cup final.
There is a famous old photo. In 2007, young Messi gently bathed baby Yamal at an event. Now they are both stars at the same World Cup final.
Before the game, singers will perform at a big show. At halftime, more singers like Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will perform too.
- final
- The last game that decides the winner
- face (someone)
- To play against someone in a game
- famous
- Known by many people
- gently
- In a soft, careful way
- bathe
- To wash someone or something in water
- perform
- To sing, dance, or act for an audience
- halftime
- The break in the middle of a game
- stadium
- A large building where sports games happen
Level 2 — Elementary
Argentina and Spain will meet in the World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, and the game carries a special storyline between two of the sport's biggest stars.
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will face each other in a World Cup final for the very first time. Argentina reached the final by beating England 2-1, while Spain got past France 2-0.
The matchup feels especially meaningful because of a photo from 2007 that has gone viral again. In the photo, a 20-year-old Messi is gently bathing five-month-old Yamal at a Barcelona charity event, years before either player became a global star.
The final will also feature big musical moments. Before kickoff, a closing ceremony will feature performers including Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, and IShowSpeed, and Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem. At halftime, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will co-headline a show.
- storyline
- A meaningful thread or narrative connecting events
- viral
- Spreading quickly and widely, especially online
- charity event
- A gathering held to raise money or support a cause
- kickoff
- The start of a soccer match
- co-headline
- To share top billing at a performance with others
- global star
- A famous person known around the world
- meaningful
- Full of significance or importance
- matchup
- A pairing of two competitors or teams
Level 3 — Intermediate
Argentina and Spain will contest the World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, a matchup that pairs a generational farewell with a generational arrival.
Lionel Messi, playing what many expect to be his final World Cup, will face Lamine Yamal in a major international final for the first time, a meeting made possible by Argentina's 2-1 win over England and Spain's 2-0 victory over France in their respective semifinals.
The occasion has been amplified by the renewed circulation of a 2007 photograph in which a 20-year-old Messi gently bathes five-month-old Yamal at a Barcelona charity event, an image that, at the time, meant little but now reads as an early, almost prophetic link between the two eras of the sport Messi has helped define.
FIFA has built substantial spectacle around the occasion: a pre-match closing ceremony featuring Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, and IShowSpeed, along with a special appearance from Tom Cruise and a national-anthem performance from Jennifer Hudson, followed by a halftime show co-headlined by Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, and BTS under the creative direction of Coldplay's Chris Martin.
- generational
- Relating to or characteristic of a particular generation
- farewell
- An act of departing, often marked with ceremony
- amplify
- To increase the significance or intensity of something
- circulation (of media)
- The spreading or distribution of content
- prophetic
- Accurately predicting what will happen in the future
- spectacle
- An impressive public display or event
- creative direction
- The overall artistic vision guiding a production
- occasion
- A particular event or moment, often significant
Level 4 — Advanced
Sunday's World Cup final at MetLife Stadium pits Argentina against Spain in a contest freighted with symbolism well beyond the scoreline, staging what may be Lionel Messi's valedictory World Cup appearance opposite Lamine Yamal, the player many regard as his heir apparent.
The pairing, the first time the two have met on a World Cup final stage, arrives courtesy of Argentina's 2-1 semifinal win over England and Spain's 2-0 dispatching of France, results that set up a collision not merely of nations but of eras.
Underscoring the narrative is the renewed circulation of a 2007 photograph capturing a 20-year-old Messi tenderly bathing a five-month-old Yamal at a Barcelona charity function, an image that has been retrofitted by the football press into something approaching prophecy: an unwitting handoff, captured on film nearly two decades before either man would headline the sport's grandest stage against the other.
FIFA has matched the occasion's gravity with production scale, mounting a pre-match closing ceremony featuring Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, and IShowSpeed, a special Tom Cruise appearance, and a national anthem rendition from Jennifer Hudson, before ceding the interval to a halftime spectacle co-headlined by Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, and BTS under Chris Martin's creative stewardship.
- freighted
- Loaded or burdened with significance
- valedictory
- Serving as a farewell
- heir apparent
- The person expected to succeed or follow someone prominent
- dispatch (verb)
- To defeat decisively and efficiently
- retrofit
- To reinterpret something after the fact to fit a new purpose
- unwitting
- Not aware or conscious of something at the time
- gravity (figurative)
- Seriousness or importance of a situation
- cede
- To give up or hand over control of something
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