As the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to an end, one team will emerge victorious. Trophies will be awarded, bets will be settled, crowds will cheer, and the championship team will be celebrated at home and around the globe.
What happens for the other 47 teams? Will every player, coach and support staff return home feeling like a winner, filled with pride that they competed on the world stage? Will they delight in the fact that they earned the chance to represent their nation, play amongst the finest players in the world, and bring joy and inspiration to billions? Will they focus on the new friendships they formed and old ones they deepened? Will they feel gratitude for the memories made that will last a lifetime?
Or will the sting of the loss overwhelm them?
The answers to these questions will largely depend on one’s mindset.
While sporting events may appear to represent the ultimate win-lose situation, they teach us that there can be so much more. As individuals, couples, families, teams and nations, moving from a win-lose mindset to a win-win mindset may be the ultimate victory.
A win-lose mindset assumes that there is not enough to go around. If someone else succeeds, there is less success available for me. If another person receives recognition, I am somehow diminished.
Mental health experts call this “zero-sum thinking”—the belief that one person’s gain necessarily requires another person’s loss. Researchers have argued that this instinct is deeply evolutionary. For most of human history, resources like food, territory, and mates really were limited, and groups that failed to compete effectively didn’t survive.
People are prone to overestimate how zero-sum a situation actually is. We see competition even in circumstances where cooperation would serve everyone better. When you find yourself experiencing a win-lose mindset, you have your genes to thank or blame.
Fortunately, we are living in a unique time in human history, and many of us are blessed to live in abundance. We have the opportunity to incorporate new ideas and work to develop a win-win mentality also called a “positive sum gain.” I like to think of it as our brain’s hardware versus software. One comes from the factory and can’t be changed; the other can be continuously updated to ensure we are operating optimally.
When we shift out of win-lose, and embrace a win-win mindset, we can see the truth more clearly. We are all part of humanity, and the strength and success of one of us elevates all of us. As President Kennedy eloquently stated, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
While only one team gets to lift the trophy, all contributed to the tournament. This year’s World Cup with 48 teams was the biggest ever. It entertained 6 billion viewers and was the most watched sporting event ever. The tournament was estimated to bring in $13 billion between sponsorship, TV rights and ticket sales. An additional estimated $8 to $14 billion was spent on travel, lodging and dining. That all sounds like a huge win to me.
We can choose to live with positive-sum thinking by cultivating an abundance mentality—the belief that there is plenty out there for everybody. People living with an abundance mentality can genuinely celebrate the achievements of others, share credit, and welcome new ideas.
Positive states like joy, gratitude, and admiration literally broaden a person’s attention and thinking, making them more creative and more open to connection with others.
Abundance does not mean pretending that resources are unlimited or that competition does not exist. There are times when only one team wins the championship, one person gets the promotion, or a friend gets engaged or pregnant before you do. An abundance mindset simply recognizes that another person’s success does not automatically equal our failure.
Even when we do not receive the desired outcome, we usually still gain experience, confidence, relationships, wisdom, and motivation. The same dynamic appears in families, marriages, friendships, and workplaces.
Win-lose thinking activates the brain’s threat system—the amygdala responds to social threats like exclusion or comparison in ways that overlap substantially with its response to physical danger. We become defensive and rigid. Our field of attention narrows, making it more difficult to see creative solutions or understand another person’s perspective.
A win-win mindset broadens the conversation. It asks what we are each trying to accomplish, what we have in common, how both of our needs can be acknowledged, what we might learn from one another, and what outcome strengthens the relationship as well as the individuals within it.
This approach requires emotional maturity. Young children naturally see much of life from their own perspective—”fair” often means receiving exactly what they want. As we mature, we develop what psychologists call theory of mind: the ability to hold someone else’s perspective as real and valid at the same time as our own, rather than as a threat to our own.
Building this mindset starts with small, practical shifts. Comparison may be automatic, not optional—but our reaction to it is under our control. When another person succeeds, notice whether you feel inspired or threatened, and learn to manage that initial response until you can answer from a mature place. When envy creeps in, catch it and reframe it: instead of asking “Why do they get to have that?” ask “What can I learn from how they got to have or achieve that?”
Widen your definition of a good outcome by adopting a growth mindset. Evaluate yourself by effort and learning rather than by outcome alone, and let that build resilience after setbacks. Rather than judging every experience solely by the final score, ask whether you showed courage, grew, contributed, connected, and stayed true to your values. Remember to celebrate the small victories along the way.
As we gather to watch the final World Cup match on Sunday, one team, either Spain or Argentina will be called the champion. That achievement deserves celebration.
And let us remember that every player and supporter can also go home knowing something extraordinary happened: I was there. I competed. I represented something larger than myself. I helped create the game.
Life becomes richer when we stop believing that another person must lose for us to win. With practice and patience, we can all overcome our innate ability to see the world as win-lose and strive to create a world in which we all win.
Beverly Hills Courier columnist Dr. Eva Ritvo is a psychiatrist with more than 30 years’ experience practicing in Miami Beach. She is the author of “Bekindr-The Transformative Power of Kindness” and the founder of the Bekindr Global Initiative, a movement to bring more kindness in the world. She is the co-author of “The Beauty Prescription” and “The Concise Guide to Marriage and Family Therapy.” She is also the co-founder of the Bold Beauty Project, a nonprofit that pairs women with disabilities with award-winning photographers creating art exhibitions to raise awareness. Dr. Ritvo received her undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA, and psychiatry residency training at Weill Cornell Medicine.
