Zohran Mamdani's 'Elite Ball Knowledge' Is No Surprise

CBS Sports Golazo recently made a post revealing the “Elite ball knowledge” of New York City Mayor, Zohran Kwame Mamdani.

It led to some surprise that a politician would know so much about the sport, but any politician who has done genuine community work on the ground in New York City will soon encounter soccer at that level, and at a participation level, including locally organized support of global teams.

It’s this link from the hyperlocal to global that gives New York soccer its flavour, and Mamdani has always been part of that as a player, supporter, and politician.

The CBS video is in a popular format where the interviewer names two sportspeople and the interviewee picks between one or the other, with the player chosen then pitted against another player in a winner-stays-on style.

This particular video saw Mamdani answering questions on African footballers on the back of the recent AFCON 2025 tournament in Morocco, and the new New York mayor did indeed demonstrate some “elite ball knowledge,” as CBS put it.

The mayor not only recognized the quality of the players, but also added a personal twist that could only emerge from years of watching soccer.

Mamdani’s “ball knowledge” comes from a genuine interest in the sport, from his days as a player in high school, playing pickup soccer in the city, and as a lifelong fan.

He supports Arsenal, and impressively recalls many of these African players scoring against them, and showed he is a follower of the sport more generally beyond Arsenal.

He once had a poster of Mohamed Salah in a campaign office, and in the video referenced a Hilal truck named after Salah in Astoria — another example of the local connection to a global game that defines New York’s relationship with soccer, and with the world in general.

Something else that epitomizes this is his push for cheaper tickets for local fans at the upcoming World Cup.

Mamdani also knew that Jay-Jay Okocha was “so good they named him twice” and played for Bolton Wanderers. 

He does choose Didier Drogba over Samuel Eto’o, which is controversial, and many followers of African football would say is incorrect. 

As they often say, It’s A Game Of Opinions, but his answers do perhaps indicate a knowledge biased towards the English Premier League.

He also incorrectly stated that George Weah’s son and current United States international, Timothy, grew up on Staten Island, when, as pointed out by Hudson River Blue’s Andrew Leigh, Weah “was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Rosedale in Queens and his family still owns a house in nearby Springfield Gardens.”

It was another example of Mamdani’s linking of the world’s game to New York City, but if you want real elite ball knowledge in New York City, head to Hudson River Blue.

Mamdani’s knowledge of the game is clearly genuine, though. It comes from working at a community level, where New Yorkers will support teams from all around the world.

Politicians in many countries will often use soccer to curry favor with voters. Some will use it as part of a political facade, while others will genuinely support a team, but even then, few can follow it up with detailed info on players, leagues, and teams, etc, on the spot as Mamdani did.

It’s interesting to note that there are no mentions of MLS in Mamdani’s involvement with soccer, and this genuine interest in the game as a whole has led him to the hyperlocal community level or the global level, but not to US soccer’s franchise level.

MLS, and indeed USL, is something he will have to be involved in soon, though, as New York City FC, owned by the multiclub ownership vehicle City Football Group, will open a new stadium in Queens in 2028, while the Brooklyn FC men's team, which plays at Maimonides Park, Coney Island, starts its inaugural season in the USL Championship this year.

Multiclub ownership itself is controversial, and the UAE ownership of Manchester City, along with the issues surrounding that, also poses potential problems for Mamdini from a political point of view. 

It could be a tricky bit of diplomacy for the mayor, who will have to get involved while also maintaining the values that got him elected in the first place.

His own team, Arsenal, is not without its geopolitical issues either, with its Emirates sponsorship and controversial sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda that ends this season.

As a soccer player, fan, and politician, the new mayor might be about to find out just how much these three things are intertwined.