iStockphoto / Mihaela Rosu
- The first-ever Balloon World Cup recently took place with Peru winning it all after some of the most intense action I’ve ever seen
- The gist of this sport is a balloon is in the air and it cannot touch the ground. It is played in a room full of obstacles and the players try to hit the ball in a position where the opposing player can’t get to it
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I haven’t seen anything as exciting as the Balloon World Cup in years. The first-ever Balloon World Cup recently took place with Peru winning it all.
If you’re not familiar with this sport then don’t worry, you’re not alone, but you are also about to become a super fan.
What is the Balloon World Cup
The gist of the Balloon World Cup is pretty easy to understand. This game is played in a room full of obstacles and obstructions (cars, couches, trees, etc). If the balloon touches the ground, a point is awarded. The game is played man vs. man and the strategy is to hit the balloon in an area where it will fall and hit the ground.
If you hit the balloon and your opponent can’t get to it in time and it touches the ground, you are awarded a point. So your strategy is always to hit the balloon and make the next shot impossible or miserable for your opponent, and you use all of the obstacles in the room to your advantage. Car in the way? Hit the balloon over that so your opponent has to jump over the car!
Now that you’ve got the gist of the first-ever Balloon World Cup, let’s check out these absolutely electric highlights and some reactions by the sports world.
Here’s a Team USA match:
This is a full 21-minute replay of the 2021 Balloon World Cup Finals and it’s absolutely electric.
People like myself who were discovering these Balloon World Cup highlights on Twitter were immediately hooked and everyone had a comment on the action:
I believe it’s called keepie uppie?
— Dane Cockrell (@DaneCockrell) October 17, 2021
I wonder who will win the Balloon D’or this year?
— HaleSpur (@hale_spur) October 18, 2021
When my country is losing during the Final: pic.twitter.com/tJb8WApcOg
— The Great Abti-Libaan 🧙🏿♂️ (@Abtilibaan) October 17, 2021
This is hilarious. My brother and I used to play balloon ball in our family room. We suffered a few carpet burns over the years. ❤️
— Love is Kind (@TMcG1972) October 17, 2021
Where's the mom shouting at them to take it outside?
— Devin Redlich (@dredlich) October 18, 2021
I firmly believe I could be the world champion of this sport. I was made for this.
— DL 138 (@DL_138) October 17, 2021
I 100% played this game with my older brother, cousins, and friends when I was a little kid. I plan on playing this game with my son when he’s older but I’ll need to wrap my body in bubble wrap to avoid injuries.
The existence of a ‘Balloon World Cup’ suggests to me there are regional qualifiers. I’d expect to read about this in ‘Obscure Sports Quarterly’ from Vince Vaughn’s Dodgeball. And I want in on this action in real life. I think I have what it takes to go pro because even though I’m injury prone I’m willing to sacrifice my body for something silly like this.