Before last year’s mayoral election, Rafael Gomes, a Manhattan bank security guard and amateur soccer player, was herded into a van by colleagues at Coney Island’s “Soccer Fest.” “I thought it was another fun competition,” he tells this newspaper. After the game, he saw a handsome man in a black suit, bearded and handsome, sprawled near the dugout. “Someone threw the ball at him, and he did it beautifully. Beautiful touch, he might be professional, I thought,” he says.
He asked who he was; Friends said he was running for mayor. “I don’t listen to politics and all that. But I thought, wow, cool we’re going to have a mayor who plays football,” he says. He watched the speech on television and became an instant admirer. “He said soccer is a big part of New Yorkers and a unifying force in the borough. I was impressed with all the talk of action on immigrants, and here’s someone who talks about soccer and unity,” he says.
In a few weeks, Mamdani, born to Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Meera Nair, will take over the post. Within a year he had become a public hero not only for his politics but also for his love of the sport that held the city together. “While soccer may not be the most popular sport in America, it is an identity of immigrant communities in New York, especially in Queens, where there are Hispanics, Caribbeans and Asians,” says Uruguay FC’s Joseph Aguilero.
For working New Yorkers, every minute counts. But for too long our buses have been stuck in traffic instead of keeping pace with the city that never sleeps.
Today, I’m proud to unveil The Next Step – our roadmap for faster, more reliable bus service across all five boroughs. we… pic.twitter.com/mN4fCq7Y0p
— Mayor Johran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) 9 July 2026
Popular measures to make the World Cup affordable added to its appeal. “He got the pulse of the World Cup, probably because he is a keen footballer,” says Joseph FIFA’s Infantino defends ticket prices Mamdani made 1,000 tickets available for the five boroughs at $50 each as “fair in the American market”. When FIFA banned water bottles in the summer, Mamdani objected and backed out. After NJ Transit raised the Penn Station-MetLife round trip to $150, Mamdani and Gov. Hochul introduced $20 shuttle buses. “He loves people and the game so much. We can relate to him,” Rafael says.
On Wednesday, at a press conference to unveil New York’s new bus routes, Mamdani calculated the travel time saved: “It means agreeing with our friends that Egypt was robbed yesterday,” he said. Pressed on what he would do with those extra six minutes, he dropped a strategic answer. “I’ll probably watch the replay of Egypt being robbed again,” he said. “VAR should be put in.”
Before the academy, before the job as a foreclosure prevention consultant, before politics caught up with him, he just wanted to be a football player. An uncle caught the bug in Uganda: he supported Arsenal and Mamdani. His love for the club, the English champions, is great. “I was hopelessly in love from the beginning,” Mamdani once said of his commitment to soccer.
He played youth football on the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights, captaining his team at the Bronx High School of Science, when a pro career seemed unrealistic. Yet the love lingered: The Sunday League in Brooklyn turned into a defender until it got in the way of the mayoralty. “Soccer helped me discover the breadth and beauty of the city,” he said.
Q: What would you do with your extra six minutes?
Mamdani: I’ll probably watch a replay of looting Egypt. pic.twitter.com/paWnDjzRMh
— Acyn (@Acyn) 8 July 2026
He also continued his old watch-party haunts: He was at the Fancy Tree sports bar in Fort Greene with Spike Lee when Arsenal met PSG in the Champions League final in May. Bartender Joshua Salem remembers him as a devoted yet musical fan. “He’s been here often. He didn’t have any hang-ups like the mayor, like one of us. He was cheering and yelling for his team, but when they lost, he was quiet about it. He was even here for the (New York) Knicks game the other day. He’s had a great year, hasn’t he?” he asks. His favorite team is Morocco, who next face France in the quarter-finals, another shot at Mamdani’s year.
Both teams ended the drought, Arsenal after 22 years, the Knicks after 53. The Knicks’ parade to City Hall was stirring. “The Knicks didn’t just win for New York City, they won as New York City. What is New York if you don’t have your back against the wall, a dream that’s just out of reach, a rent payment you don’t know how you’re going to make?” He said.
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He also criticized the federal government’s anti-immigration campaign. “The World Cup is considered a celebration of the whole world,” Mamdani said. “And some of the decisions we’ve seen made by the federal administration are antithetical to what this competition is supposed to be about,” he said.
The best person before the competition was the President of the United States Donald Trump; The real winner is Mamdani. Mayor playing Sunday League.