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Hayley Rodriguez’s father is one of many soccer fans who had always dreamed of attending a World Cup game. But when the global event arrived in his city for the first time, the ticket prices made him resign himself to once again watching on television in his Los Angeles home.
What he didn’t realize was that Rodriguez, 21, had been secretly working with her two siblings to score tickets for him, checking daily to see if they could find a game they could afford.
“It was just funny to hear him be like … ‘If only I was going,’ and in our head we were just like, ‘Just you wait,’” Rodriguez said. “It felt great to be able to surprise the one man that doesn’t accept gifts with the one thing he’s always mentioned wanting.”
With the World Cup in North America for the first time in three decades, Rodriguez is one of a slew of people in the United States now taking the opportunity to surprise their dads with the ultimate Father’s Day gift.
On social media, soccer fans are sharing videos of their fathers’ disbelieving reactions to being presented with World Cup tickets. The posts, which have garnered hundreds of thousands of views, have drawn tearful responses from many online.
Rodriguez said her dad, a longtime truck driver who put her and her siblings above everything, has never been one to treat himself to anything. Even when given the tickets, she said, his first instinct was to insist they should sell them instead, claiming that he’d rather watch from home.
But at the Iran vs. New Zealand game in Los Angeles on Monday, he made it clear to everybody that he was living out his dream.
“He was calling everybody in his contact list, FaceTiming them, sending them pictures to show them where he’s at, telling them how he got tickets to the World Cup,” Rodriguez said. “It felt great because me and my siblings have always talked about how, honestly, our dad’s our world.”
It’s a sentiment shared by others who saw the World Cup as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give back to the fathers who sacrificed everything for them.
Diana Figueira, 25, had been chasing tickets since December. One day, she had two phones open, both plugged into a charger with their auto-locks off so that they’d stay on for the six hours she waited in the resale queue. Eventually, she used her bonus from work to get tickets at around $850 each for Portugal vs. the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“I knew he was going to be out-of-this-world excited … I got some jerseys, and I printed a little paper that said that we’re gonna go to the match, and I surprised him with a box with the jerseys and the message,” she said. “Funny thing, he didn’t see the message. He was just so excited about the jerseys. And then later when I told him we’re going to the World Cup, he lost it.”
Not only was the game in their own city of Houston, she said, but her father has also rooted for Portugal his entire life. Though she and her dad are originally from Venezuela, they have Portuguese roots, she added, making Wednesday’s game a perfect choice as Venezuela didn’t qualify for the event.
“All the money in the world would’ve been worth that experience,” Figueira said. “Just seeing the excitement, seeing a dream come true for him, it just meant everything to me.”
To Jesús Morales, 29, spending more than $10,000 on tickets for the opening World Cup game felt like the least he could do for his father, who immigrated to the U.S. with “nothing but a dream.”
Morales flew his dad from Chicago to Mexico City so he can root for his home team in Mexico’s match against South Africa. Entering the stadium together felt like a scene out of a movie, he said, tearing up at the memory.
“He had dreams of going to the World Cup since he was 8 years old,” he added. “He told me he dreamed of being a professional soccer player, but unfortunately, he didn’t have those resources to be able to pursue that path.”
Now, at almost 60 years old, his dad still plays the sport recreationally, Morales said.
For many immigrants in the United States, seeing the World Cup come to North America has given them a rare opportunity to display national pride for both their past and present homes.
“Immigrants can come and build a life for themselves here, but also still support their home countries in the World Cup, in the country that they’re now calling home,” said Sasha Abdallah, who recently surprised her Egypt-born dad with tickets. “I don’t think any other country in the world, aside from the U.S., which has such a melting pot population, gets to have this unique World Cup experience.”
Abdallah, 29, shelled out about $4,000 to fly herself and her father out from Pennsylvania to Seattle to watch Egypt play against Belgium on Monday.
She said that growing up, there was rarely a day that she didn’t come home to the sound of soccer matches on the TV. But her father, who moved alone to the U.S. after winning a green card lottery three decades ago, had never been able to afford a World Cup ticket.
So when the international sporting event came around this year, she saw her chance to finally give back to the man who put her through college.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever spent my money on,” Abdallah said. “These memories that I’ve built with him in these past few days, just riding the Lime scooters through Seattle, cracking crabs together, watching the game, just seeing the pure joy on his face when Egypt scored — I can’t explain the sense of fulfillment it’s given me.”
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The only Father's Day gift I can recall my own dad receiving was a plate of fried sardines. It was prepared by my mother, his ex-wife, who knew how grateful he’d be for a dish he grew up eating in the Italian neighborhood of a steel town that was dying with such theatrical flair that Bruce Springsteen named a song after it. (An acoustic Springsteen song, at that.) We lived in a nearby city that had plenty of red-sauce restaurants, but they weren't serving tinned fish in those days. As my father had only the most limited of food-preparation skills and didn't date the kind of women who could cook, this was the only way he'd ever taste that flavor again.
As Father's Day gifts go, being united with a long-lost recipe from childhood is pretty good. If you can pull it off, that's what you should give your dad this year. Otherwise, I have here a few ideas that I've spent the last few months gathering for various types of dads and across many different budgets. With the exception of a few items picked by other dads on the team, I've personally tested and approved all of the gifts on this list. I hope they make your dad as happy as those sardines made mine.
Updated June 18: I've added 14 new picks, including pork chops that eat like a steak, rum that drinks like brandy, the toughest grilling gloves ever made, and a pocket knife.
For the Dad Who Plays With His Kids
Last week, I left my Apple Watch Ultra in the Denver Airport. While I hope to retrieve it someday (please call me back, DIA customer service and/or Frontier Airlines), I haven't truly missed wearing it, thanks to the rugged Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, which I’ve been using in its place. The Samsung is more comfortable and has a much more stylish always-on face, better battery life, and a more responsive touchscreen. I've been wearing it to the pool with my daughter and to the driving range, and I've been shocked by how much I prefer it. It's the best product in the Android ecosystem that I've personally used. Samsung has some very good Father's Day promos, including $100 off on the watch and $250 off its top-model phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra (8/10 WIRED Recommends). I'd give this to most dads, but especially to an Android user who's active outdoors with his kids or frequently does yard work and other handy jobs that can be rough on a watch.
For the Dad Who Watches Other People Play (Sports)
Last year I had my friends Lexi and Britaney over to watch the second week of the NFL season. The only problem was that I wanted to see my beloved Cleveland Browns begin their brave and honorable march to 5-12, whereas they wanted to watch the universally reviled Kansas City Chiefs early in their humiliating 6-11 season. To make this work, I had to go dust off a ratchet old 480p TV in the basement to air the Chiefs game. It was not ideal, but this extremely versatile device from Apolosign—the ultimate utility device for your dad—will solve that problem and many others besides.
If you're going to have a second medium-sized screen around the house, this is the one. It’s a rolling 32-inch touch-screen TV that can flip horizontally and has a built-in camera. It reminds me of something you'd see at a booth on a convention floor, but in the good way. It can function as a mega-size Android tablet, a top-flight streaming setup for Zoom meetings, and a rollable screen. Roll it into the kitchen, and you can watch YouTube tutorials on how to cook. Then roll it into the garage and use it to watch a how-to on changing your oil. Then roll it back into the living room to watch Justin Fields play quarterback for a Chiefs team that will finish toward the bottom of their division.
For the Grill Dad
Live-fire cooking has been the hottest trend in grilling for half a decade now, possibly as a reaction to the rise of super-automated pellet grills and high-tech smart grilling. The latest up-and-coming device is the charcoal oven, which Spanish brand Mibrasa is best known for (the smallest model, the Nano, runs just under $12,000). That would be an amazing gift for your dad if the budget allows. However, those of more modest means can confidently gift this super-premium hibachi grill from Mibrasa, which is made of heavy-gauge steel.
The MH 300 Plus is roughly one square foot and weighs about 18 pounds empty—you can carry it around, but it's a little on the hefty side. It gets scorching hot (almost 500 degrees Fahrenheit) and holds the meat very near to the charcoal so that the drippings are vaporized and turned into flavorful smoke. I've made steak tacos and chicken skewers, and they've turned out perfectly with a kiss of char.
Heady Topper is my all-time favorite beer. It's the first and best hazy IPA ever made and is now the only one I'd choose to drink. If your dad is a man of taste, maybe it's his favorite beer, too. If you can drive to Vermont and buy him a flat of it, you should do that. If not, you can get him this mustard and hot sauce gift set from Butterfly Bakery of Vermont, which comes with a Heady-infused hot sauce and mustard. The big ol' box of condiments is a popular Father's Day gift for a reason, and this one is done at the highest level.
For the Dad Who Needs to Take the Edge Off
Maybe your dad just needs to chill a bit. In past iterations of this guide, I've recommended hammocks for that, but we're far beyond hammocks these days. Why not turn to the best loose-leaf vaporizer on the market? I think I've used every Pax product ever made, starting with the revolutionary original Pax, widely considered the first loose-leaf vaporizer. The Pax 4 is the best yet. Following last year's disappointing Pax Flow, which was a letdown due to its extremely thin and unsatisfying draw for anyone who is sipping instead of chugging, the Four is a return to form that finds the company adding a convenient USB-C instead of a proprietary charging attachment, adjusting the door to the herb chamber to make it easier to open, and adding more power for a more consistent cook of whatever herbal substance your dad chooses to load in. It retains the classic Pax one-button system (four heat settings, one per click) but has a new oven design inside while retaining that sleek and durable brushed aluminum exterior.
For the Single Dad
Have circumstances placed your dad on the dating market? If so, maybe hair can help. When my very fine hair grew too wispy around the age of 30, I started shaving my head, and I have been pretty happy with that for about 15 years. Many women also profess to prefer the bald look! Those women are liars, says my friend Liz: All women want a man with hair. (I suggested to her that the exception might be the Big Three of Michael Jordan, Vin Diesel, and me. Liz says both Vin Diesel and I would do better with hair.)
I'm not someone who is going to take a pill, put a chemical on my scalp, or fly to Turkey to have hair, but I am happy to wear a hat with lights in it for 25 minutes every other day. After reading my colleague's work on how effective LED lights can be for hair regrowth, I decided to grow my hair out for the first time in a long time. It's gone pretty well so far, honestly. If your dad is entering or languishing on the dating market, perhaps more hair can help. And if he has dormant follicles, an LED cap like this one from GroWell can help.
For the Beach Dad/Pool Dad
This is one of the few products on this list that I have not personally tested, but for a dad with a pool, it's such a good gift idea that I had to include it. Our reviewer gave the Sora, which sits in the middle of the Beatbot lineup, a stellar 8/10 review, saying it'll clean up the debris from pretty much any mess short of a hurricane. This 20-pound robot crawls the walls of your pool, suctioning up grime and saving dad the hassle of skimming for an hour every week.
What's better than reading in a beach chair in the shade? Reading on a beach chair in the shade using the Kobo Libra Colour (8/10 WIRED Recommends), which is waterproof, has color E Ink,
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