Zohran Mamdani: 'I brought a vuvuzela from the 2010 World Cup to a basketball game'

Tom Weber

• 26 Nov 2025 10:01 CST
• 3 min read

News

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has shared a hilarious story about taking a vuvuzela from the 2010 World Cup back to the US.

The 34-year-old will be inaugurated as New York City's first Indian-America and first Muslim mayor on 1 January 2026 after beating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in the 2025 mayoral election.

Apart from politics, soccer is a big passion of Mamdani. A diehard Arsenal fan, the mayor-elect has gone viral on social media this week for his wholesome reaction to a personal message he received from Gunners legend Ian Wright.

The clip originated from The Adam Friedland Show, where Mamdani met comedian and social media influencer Adam Friedland during Sunday's North London Derby.

The pair primarily discussed football and politics, but Friedland surprised his guest when he revealed that his parents are South African, which is where Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, lived for three years as a child.

Mamdani: I brought a vuvuzela to a D3 basketball game

This prompted Mamdani to reveal that he hasn't been to South Africa since he attended the 2010 World Cup and brought one of the infamous vuvuzelas from the tournament back to the US.

"Last time I went back was in 2010 for the World Cup," Mamdani said. "Was it obnoxious?" Friedland asked, mimicking the action of blowing into a vuvuzela.

"You hate it if you're not the one doing it, and I was one of the people doing it," Mamdani responded. "I brought them back to Maine. I went to a D3 basketball game, my roommate was on the basketball team, and I had the vuvuzela.

"I think it was at Bates College, and I pulled it out, and I blew it, and the ref stopped the game and was like, 'You need to f****** stop."

Mamdani then recounted attending the iconic game between Ghana and Uruguay, during which Luis Suarez kept his country in the game by saving a goal-bound shot off the line with his hand, for which the striker was red-carded. Uruguay would go on to win on penalties.

"I was at the Ghana-Uruguay game," Mamdani revealed, prompting Friedland to shout "No!" incredulously twice. "That's where I cried in public," the mayor-elect continued, before simply uttering "Luis Suarez" and shaking his head.

"The mayor caring about soccer, the mayor caring about Arsenal is like Wakanda for me," Friedland joked, leaving Mamdani in stitches. "It's like representation."

You can watch the full interview below...

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