Coming from a country with loads of history in this competition (to give you an idea of the magnitude, only 8 countries have won it in almost 100 years and Argentina did it twice), Draw Day is anything but an ordinary day.

From today and for the next 9 months, every tv show in Argentina will talk about the countries we’ll play against. We’ll get to know about their population, culture, traditions and anything that can be described as “related content”.

Back in 2018, we had Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria. We learned that Iceland has less than 500,000 people, that Croatia has the richest collection of neanderthal remains, and that Nigeria is the place where 7% of all the spoken languages in the world meet.

But Draw Day is not only the beginning of a world tour. It’s also where nightmares are born. The so-called Death Groups spin around two potential candidates to win the tournament (sometimes even three) plus two more accessible teams. Add some rough experiences from past tournaments to that and you get dozens of thorough analyses regarding every possible combination and what would be the ideal scenario to reach immortal glory.

In addition, it’s possibly Lionel Messi’s last World Cup appearance, giving a whole epic vibe to the situation.

Today people will leave work early just to experience the beginning of all that. They’ll get some delicious cheese, craft beer and why not some olives. They’ll get together at someone’s place, turn the tv on, and let the magic begin.

Right now, 5 hours before madness, life is good. Let’s see how that plays out.

Universal terms can be dangerous. You might end up believing there’s only one definition for them. Such is the case of summer.

If you were to google it, this is what you’d get: “the warmest season of the year. In the northern hemisphere from June to August. In the southern hemisphere from December to February.” Apparently, Google has never been to Denmark.

Here, summer lasts for about three weeks plus some random days that toy with the weather forecast. But it’s not its length nor its temperature what makes summer in Denmark unique. It’s the lack of it.

There’s no other feeling like submerging your fingers into the warmth of the sand while remembering how many pairs of gloves you had to wear to survive the winter.

Happiness cannot exist without sadness. Take that to the extreme, and you get what Danes have to experience every year. A quest for the holy grail, in a loop, forever.

But that’s not the only perk summer in Denmark has to offer. In addition to all its wonders, it also grants us the ability to enjoy the other seasons differently.

In winter, when the sun went to bed at around 3 pm, I found out candles still exist. Suddenly I was surrounded by them instead of electricity. And it was amazing.

It’s not the harsh weather that brings us closer together but rather the longing for warmth that needs to be satisfied.

It’s quite interesting to notice there’s no intrinsic value in the danish summer. But if you dig deep enough, you’ll find its biggest asset is how it unlocks new versions of ourselves that were yet to be discovered. In my case, it made me edit the meaning of at least three words: coziness, gifts, and walks.

Picture this: the sky is dark, there’re candles around you, and some band is playing jazz on Spotify. You make yourself a warm cup of coffee and spend time with your partner. Sounds so easy, yet when was the last time you experienced it?

Another treasure in my scavenger hunt was the way I think of gifts. I received so many meaningful presents. But the best one so far was the one I gave to myself: how to be a better gifter. I’m now aware of the dedication and the time I spend thinking about how I can bring joy and warmth to my loved ones.

And finally, walks. Such a dull, mechanical action that can actually change your day. I must confess it was my wife who introduced me to walks. As silly as it sounds, I noticed how with every walk I was acting like a plant. Following the thin sun rays across the city, searching for some droplets of warmth.

Two years ago, my definition of summer was the same as Google’s. Now I know that even monopolies cannot have all the answers.

So what if a group of people questioned the way the dictionary defined an action? Could they.. cancel it? Is that even possible?

The dictionary has been around for some time now. It knows its business. What works and what doesn’t. Heck, it even has the monopoly of what is what. Don’t believe me? Try defining what a sheep is. You’re thinking “a sentient being that makes weird noises and has wool”, aren’t you? What about a pug with a coat? See, it’s not that easy. And they know it.

Take chess, for example. The dictionary has made quite a statement when declaring what chess is. If you try to find an answer, it'll probably spin around the fact that it has two players, there's a board and for someone to win they have to basically deprive their opponent's king of any kind of move.

Now don’t get me wrong. I respect the realm where all these similar definitions live, but I do think it falls a bit short. And maybe that’s what a definition is all about. But then again, who are you gonna ask that? The dictionary?

If we were to use a “filter for controversy”, I guess we could agree that the fact that it involves two players, that it’s played on a board, and that it involves specific rules is kinda okay.

But what about everything related to "the main objective" of the game? You'll find definitions that orbit around a one and only "this is what chess is all about". And yes, it's all about winning.

What about improving yourself? Or maybe spending time with someone? How's there space for only one objective? There’re thousands of them!

Playing to win is just an excuse to reach so many new horizons. To experience how you react to specific situations. To try something new. To play mind games. To bet. To learn about risk management. To embody sacrifice. You get the point.

In that sense, the dictionary’s spectrum of what chess is does fall short. It might have been fitting for the past 1500 years, but we need more. Way more.

When I was a kid I remember taking a test to see what I should become as an adult based on my abilities and desires. I got a score of 99% in sports and 99% in literature. At that time I wanted to be a football player and a writer, so the test was working just fine. The question is, what about the options I didn’t even know existed?

A pawn is an expendable piece in a chess set. It symbolizes a soldier. It can only move forward -occasionally to the sides to take down a victim-, and its only purpose is either to protect those behind it or -if it’s lucky enough-, to reach the other end of the board.. to become someone else.

There’s a point in your life when you realize there’re way more options than you ever imagined. Some think it’s too late to start over, some are comfortable enough to avoid even considering if it would be worth it. But in the realm of the very few, there’s an idea that’s beginning to emerge: what else is there for me?

You’re a pawn. You made it till the other end of the board. Now what? Well first of all, congratulations! You’re still alive and that’s already a lot. But don’t get too comfy, you still need to pick what you’ll get promoted into. What do you mean you want to stay a pawn? You can’t do that. You can choose between becoming a Queen (our most popular pick if you ask me), a Rook, a Knight, or a Bishop. No, you cannot become a King, that’s off-limits. I don’t know why, that’s the way it’s always been.

The best part about asking what else is there for yourself is understanding that that question will bring many other questions. And the only way to stumble into an answer is to keep on asking. But let me tell you, it’s not an easy path to walk. You’ll find yourself defending your past self way too many times. You’ll be tempted with reincarnations into better you’s in your field, and you’ll over analyze every possible scenario before making a decision.

But unlike a pawn, we can always look back. Unlike a pawn, life is not black or white. So the question is, what do you wanna be when you reach the other end of the board?