The first task is deliberately simple: identify the country represented by a preferred team and find it on a globe or world map. The report says this football connection has made map-based learning more engaging for students.
That is the project’s central strength. Instead of presenting geography as a list of places to memorise, it begins with an existing emotional connection. A favourite team becomes a route into borders, landscapes and national identity.
The reported activity has also expanded beyond the countries directly followed by students. The school says pupils have begun exploring neighbouring nations and researching countries including Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Curaçao and Senegal.
That wider curiosity gives the exercise value beyond World Cup trivia. Football provides the opening question - where is this country? - while geography supplies the next ones: who are its neighbours, what is its terrain, and how does its climate shape life there?
The project is reportedly being led by ninth-grade students, with recognition planned for participants. That student involvement could prove important. Pupils are not simply receiving a worksheet; they are helping drive an activity built around their own interests.
The report says the project remains ongoing. Its next challenge will be sustaining that curiosity after the final whistle. If students continue exploring countries, cultures and landscapes once the tournament fades from daily conversation, the school’s football experiment may become a lasting lesson in how sport can open the world map.