Featured Image Credit: Jean Catuffe / Contributor via Getty
Few live streamers are able to beat Darren "IShowSpeed" Watkins Jr. when it comes to distance covered, and his latest trip on home soil left him in close proximity to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a World Cup game.
While the main attraction of the World Cup is seeing which nation can take home football's biggest prize every four years, many people also tune in to see the various famous faces littered throughout the crowd.
Football is the world's game after all, and you're bound to see at least one celebrity or icon you recognize no matter who is playing throughout the biggest tournament.
The rise of live streaming in the last decade has given the internet unprecedented access to the stands too, and YouTube streaming sensation IShowSpeed managed to capture his hilarious interaction with Zohran Mamdani while the pair were watching Brazil take on Morocco.
It was only when his live stream's chat alerted him in the 90th minute that Speed finally realized who he was sat next to, as they were shouting at him to finally notice New York City's mayor just two seats down.
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Speed seemed to not recognize Mamdani at first, but the mayor – a vocal football fanatic and Arsenal supporter – was well aware of the streamer in return, noting even that he listens to Speed's 2022 World Cup song 'every morning'.
"W mayor, chat," Speed proclaimed after shaking Mamdani's hand. "We just met the mayor, I didn't even realize I was next to the mayor, small world man."
IShowSpeed didn't realize he was sitting next to Zohran Mamdani the Mayor of New York City the entire time while at the World Cup game 😭 pic.twitter.com/bvVblgxKFJ
— yoxic (@yoxics) June 13, 2026
Mamdani was also joined by East Rutherford, New Jersey Mayor Jeffrey Lahullier, who was sandwiched in between himself and the streamer, so Speed got an unexpected taste of politics during his World Cup watch party.
Mamdani wasn't the only famous face that Speed managed to catch up with either, as during the same game the streamer managed to interact with huge names like Kaká, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo Nazário, Paul Pogba, and even Travis Scott.
It's far from the first time that he's interacted with some of these names, as Speed famously took on Pogba in a 1v1 challenge back in November 2024, and it's become almost expected to see him rub shoulders with the football world's biggest icons.
He's yet to link up with his icon, Cristiano Ronaldo, once again — yet with CR7 still participating in the tournament it's unlikely that he'll find the time to catch up with Speed in the stands.
