Origins still debated, but witnessed by all in 1986 World Cup
When you say, in Wave theory lie the underpinnings of Optics, you might in a tiny chance, be talking of Foundational Physics. Mostly, you would be thinking of football though. In June of 2026 with the FIFA World Cup 10 days away, the optics of how the Mexican Wave, came to acquire that name, tend to be resented by Americans who in a show of defiance, call is just the ‘Wave’. The Canadians, expectedly follow. At the heart of this consternation is its provenance – something American football University and franchise cheerleaders, and attendees of the 1984 LA Olympics and even a Vancouver hockey team, bicker over, amongst themselves. The Mexicans simply rose in unison with hands raised, and sat down after a moment of un-self conscious grinning smiles, as the wave moved, and then sat down promptly back in the 1986 World Cup that they hosted solely. Television broadcasts beamed the stadium phenomenon across the world — and the human crest and trough that needed no rehearsals, acquired the gleeful name of a ‘Mexican …
