Why the US men’s national team wore beer goggles during World Cup celebrations

Callum Boyle

The tradition is more common than you think

As the USA men’s national team celebrated their qualification for the 2022 World Cup, several members of their squad were spotted wearing protective goggles.

Despite losing 2-0 to Costa Rica on Wednesday night, the US still qualified alongside neighbours Mexico. Heading into the game they knew they needed to either win, draw or lose by less than six goals to ensure qualification.

After the game, players including Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and RB Leipzig’s Tyler Adams were all spotted wearing goggles as the US squad celebrated in customary fashion by spraying champagne.

See you in Qatar, babyyyyy!!!! pic.twitter.com/tgDDvh6ehO

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) March 31, 2022

Some may think that the measures taken were overly cautious, but the use of goggles to celebrate achievements is actually a long-time tradition in the US.

But why do they do it and what does it represent?

Why do they wear the goggles?

WORLD CUP QATAR 2022!!!! LETS GOOOO!!! 🇺🇸@KellynAcosta @cpulisic_10 @USMNT pic.twitter.com/wMFRjnxPHf

— Tyler Adams (@tyler_adams14) March 31, 2022

It’s quite simple, in all honesty. Players started wearing protective goggles to prevent champagne from spraying in their eyes as well as from stopping any corks from flying into their eyes during the celebrations.

On reflection, it does seem quite sensible. I’ve not experienced such an accident, but one can imagine it is quite painful to have a cork hit your eye mid-celebration.

The tradition is unlikely to die down any time soon and is a trend that remains steeped in American sporting history, especially with some of the country’s most successful sporting teams.

Where did the celebrations originate?

The celebrations are most commonly seen in basketball and came to prominence around 10 years ago in 2013, while it has also commonly been seen in MLB (baseball) too.

What started off with players wearing either Oakley or Nike ski goggles turned into such a trend that sides even started designing their own custom-made ‘champagne (or beer) goggles.’

Ever since then, it’s become a stable of American sporting tradition when celebrating a win. The likes of the LA Lakers, Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals have all been spotted donning the goggles as they celebrate their respective wins.