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The Man Who Beckhamed Everything ~ WC 26

Crispin Thomas

Saturday, July 11th, 2026

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 the man who bent free kicks like spoons
the body and the hair
the man who took America
is now a billionaire
and stands for all that’s bland and sad 
the money and the bling
his profile grows where-ere he goes  
he’s Beckhamed everything

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 he’s now the face of this World Cup
you’ll find him next to sheikhs
and drinking Stella on the screen  
in those hydration breaks    
McDonalds on to Pepsi 
Home Depot Maserati
Addidas and Armani  
and evr’y showbiz party
and you can call him what you like 
and many will I’m sure 
but love or loathe the brand of Becks
his profile soars and soars

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 were he to walk on water
I wouldn’t be surprised
nor think it just another stunt
before my very eyes
the glitter and the glamour 
the passion and romance
he’s poured them into all those brands
from crisps to underpants
and where he stops or where it ends
and where else he will go
the depths that he may stoop to
I guess we’ll never know 
his world so far removed from ours
from Vegas to L.A
they love him out in Saudi 
and throw the world his way
A World Cup puppet in Qatar 
ignoring all they do
from migrant workers meagre lives 
to LGBTQ  

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 the man who took America
the body and the hair
who turns a blind eye to it all 
is now a billionaire
and stands for all that’s bland and sad 
the money and the bling
his profile grows where-ere he goes  
he’s Beckhamed everything

Notes

This after reading today’s excellent Guardian article by Barney Ronay in Miami.

‘The ad machine: how David Beckham conquered America’ ~ The former England midfielder is everywhere at this World Cup, having reached a popularity in the US other Britons have rarely achieved ,

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/11/the-ad-machine-how-david-beckham-conquered-america

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Source: https://footballpoets.org/poems/the-man-who-bedckhamed-everything-wc-26/