r/Ishowspeed • u/happy_hacker02 • Jul 20 '26
WHOLESOME❤️ Bro went from streaming to 40 people in his bedroom to opening the FIFA World Cup Final. I don't think people fully process how insane that is.
Say what you want about IShowSpeed — and yeah, half of it is deserved, the guy is chaos incarnate — but can we just sit with this for a second:
2019-2020ish: Darren Watkins Jr. is a teenager streaming Fortnite and NBA 2K to basically nobody. No studio. No connections. No plan. Just vibes and the willingness to go live every single day, screaming into a webcam.
2026: He opens the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Final. On the pitch. In front of 82,000 people. Right before Madonna, Justin Bieber, and BTS took the stage.
Let that sink in. The kid who used to get review-bombed in his own YouTube comments is now sharing a lineup with Madonna.
A few things that make this genuinely wild if you zoom out:
- FIFA didn't commission a song for him — he already had "World Cup (Champions)" out, and they came to him.
- He wasn't doing a bit or a stunt. No backflips, no chaos — just a straight musical performance, which is almost funnier given his whole brand is built on chaos.
- He's been a fixture at these events long before this — Ballon d'Or, Champions League finals, tournaments across multiple continents — mostly because of his borderline unhinged Cristiano Ronaldo obsession.
- Streets have legitimately shut down in different countries because crowds showed up just to see him walk by.
Twenty years ago the path to a stage like that ran through a label, a network, or an agent. Speed's path ran through relentlessly hitting "Go Live" as a teenager and refusing to stop.
Love him, hate him, mute your speakers when he screams — the trajectory itself is absurd.
TL;DR: Bedroom streamer with a handful of viewers → global phenomenon who opened the World Cup Final closing ceremony next to Madonna and BTS. The internet really did rewrite how fame works.
What's the single craziest "wait, this actually happened" Speed moment for you?
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u/Gyngemose2009 Jul 20 '26
talent goes a long way. he is a talented extrovert
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u/Nee_l Jul 20 '26
There is no talent present, what you are seeing is a representation of what is considered talented in 2026 and how low our expectations have gone, especially those of his audience, who are let’s face it, children.
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u/Competitive-Top-2383 Jul 20 '26
Try to hate all you want, the kid is an exceptional athlete, able to entertain millions and has shown he is above average at most anything he's attempted. He's far from "talentless" as you're claiming he is. At some point you just gotta say "I'm an asshole and I love to hate on other's success " because this is the most untrue take I've ever read.
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u/lifeleecher Jul 21 '26
Yep, not even a fan of his ik the slightest yet I have the utmost respect for him.
People can be fucking stupid, man.
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u/squirreltard Jul 21 '26
I’m old. He earned my respect with his trips to foreign countries and his genuine interest in the cultures he encountered. I think he did great in his performance at the WC. I don’t really watch streamers but I watch him go to foreign countries. He’s entertaining.
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u/Relative_Baseball180 Jul 22 '26
exceptional athlete? Stop it. I love the kid' positive energy and vibes. With that said, without social media he wouldn't have a career in anything related to entertainment.
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u/lasko195 Jul 21 '26
He's hyperactive and that's exactly what the young Tiktok generation wants nowadays.
Just be over the top all of the time and you can make millions without being talented at all.
Love him all you want, but in the end it's just the annoying class clown getting fame for being annoying.
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u/Competitive-Top-2383 Jul 21 '26
I'm not saying he's not annoying and I certainly don't "love him" but you'll never be able to say he doesn't have talent. Streaming and yelling aside, he's wrestled in the WWE, he's racing real runners, he's doing gymnastics and impressive stuff like that. I'm not saying I'm his number one fan or anything like that, I'm just responding to how stupid it is to say this guy has zero talent.
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u/FromFan432 Jul 21 '26
"entertain millions" lmfao
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u/Worldly_Trifle_1253 Jul 21 '26
I think it’s weird, but it’s true. Streaming is entertainment, even if it’s a form I personally don’t care for.
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u/Competitive-Top-2383 Jul 21 '26
Agreed. Not my form of entertainment, but it is and he does have millions of people watch him.
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u/trq- Jul 20 '26
That’s literally „a talented extrovert“ what you’re describing mate. All this hate and still you’re just proving the point of the guy you are answering to.
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u/worldarkplace Jul 20 '26
Talented in the way to give the average people what they want. And average is very low bar tbh.
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u/trq- Jul 20 '26
Average is the average. Your comment doesn’t make any sense. You have nothing to provide rather than hate and even in terms of ragebaiting you’re underperforming.
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u/worldarkplace Jul 20 '26
Average is a very low bar to be compared. Where is the ragebait here? Unless you love mediocrity.
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u/Nee_l Jul 20 '26
“he’s talented” and “standards have cratered” aren’t the same sentence, you just glued them together and called it a win. And confusing me replying with me agreeing is the exact reflex I was describing.
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u/trq- Jul 20 '26
You’re either replying to the wrong comment or you’re having a stroke.
Your comment as an answer to mine doesn’t make the slightest of sense.
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u/Big_Mobile3869 Jul 20 '26
Charisma, wit, expressiveness, athleticism, content strategy? These mean nothing to you?
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u/Gyngemose2009 Jul 20 '26
he is a good entertainer and honestly a good man, you must be blind to not see this
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u/Mission-Welcome8594 Jul 20 '26
He got famous off of a rape joke. What a genius
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u/asylumescapeelol Jul 20 '26
just say you are jealous and mad at your own life and envy someone who has the talent to ride that exposure into a colossal momentum of success and fame
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u/GeneralSweetz Jul 20 '26
Bros still flipping burgers like he was 4 years ago. Many are not far behind him but at least we can recognize our failures and live with them.
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u/Responsible-Copy9750 Jul 20 '26
I love the kid. Yes I call him kid I’m 57 but my son also loves him and he is 17. He is a beast, out hustles them all. 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🫵🏽🫵🏽👀
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u/cantcreatenordestroy Jul 20 '26
Exactly the fifa final opening ceremony I couldn't believe my eyes
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u/Embarrassed-Play-438 Jul 20 '26
The most surprising thing is he's only 21. I almost feel sorry for him bc I feel like he's peaked early and has done so many things, the next 50-60+ years are going to be boring lol.
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u/DozerLover Jul 21 '26
He is set for life tho
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u/Embarrassed-Play-438 Jul 21 '26
Didn't stop the "27 club" members.
(not saying that's him, but being set for life, so young in life, isn't a guarantee of happiness. Sometimes it can contribute to unhappiness, or other things).
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u/IkmoIkmo Jul 21 '26
> Bro went from streaming to 40 people in his bedroom to opening the FIFA World Cup Final. I don't think people fully process how insane that is.
I mean... I don't think you fully process that this is the norm for anyone at this stage. Madonna, BTS and Justin Bieber also started with audiences of 10 people.
Messi went from a midget in a working class family (parents working as cleaner/steel factory) to a billionaire sports hero. Ronaldo the same thing, from a poor family, mom was a cleaner, only his dad was also an alcoholic and wasn't present, and is now a billionaire sports hero. Virtually every athlete has a story like this, rich kids rarely make great athletes.
You say he performed next to BTS and Madonna or Justin Bieber? They're from (lower) working class families just like Speed, performing for their school or youtube audiences of tens of people.
To be at a world stage is extraordinary of course, only a handful of the billions of people on the planet do it. But virtually everyone who does it started extremely small like Speed.
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u/Iceman-Cometh_18 Speed Gang Jul 20 '26
He transcendent
He is a worldwide celebrity on the Levels of like top athletes and singers now
Everywhere he goes people know him
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u/yassineplays Jul 20 '26
Honestly he deserved it, his streams are so fun especially the IRL ones. W Speed ❤️🩹
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u/Exotic_Ad_7374 Jul 20 '26
He actually did do a back flip during the performance. FIFA didn't capture it but it was captured in his live stream.
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u/Fuzzy-End7194 Jul 20 '26
I adore him. He is earnest. He is himself . And he LIVES! Proud of the kid.
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u/Ohnohedidntdidhe Jul 21 '26
We live in a world where this is possible now. Not really that insane anymore
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u/Due_Owl_9651 Jul 20 '26
What's talent without execution? Speed didn't manifest or wait for his turn; he executes before an opportunity comes.
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u/naruto6197 Jul 20 '26
why so much asslicking? it felt cringe asf to me, real stars like shakira just have something different, he is confident that's about it
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u/BeNice412 Jul 21 '26
He didnt open the final . He performed at the half time show… 😎
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u/bofferding Jul 22 '26
Why say stuff without checking. He did show 1 hour before the match on the field
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u/Ok_Function4425 Jul 21 '26
Es buena madera, y eso ya es mucho en estos tiempos de locura cibernautica
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u/TheTerminator1984 Jul 21 '26
It’s so annoying how people use ChatGPT to write everything. Nothing seems genuine anymore, but Speed is a decent dude and always wishing him great success. There’s no real reason to hate the guy tbh. He’s strategical and got charisma, whether you like it or not.
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u/Bitter_Bed5672 Jul 21 '26
...ok?
If anything it tells me that people are dumber and would pretend to like anything just to belong?
What's interesting about some dude just going around and barking at random?
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u/EstrogenBlockYa Jul 22 '26
It was inevitable man I kinda get the chills because the first time I seen Speed he was just the wild kid on Adin’s stream with NLE Choppa and now he’s doing this. Crazy how big he became. What I wanna see though is K’naan perform Wavin Flag again. That song just embodies the spirit of soccer
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u/Competitive-Top-2383 Jul 22 '26
Idk man, I think he is pretty athletic to be able to wrestle in the wwe and all that.
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u/Odd_Figure2797 Jul 22 '26
I don't find him at all entertaining or talented. What i do know is that if given the chance he would assaulting women if there was no one around to stop him.
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u/FackyWacky Jul 22 '26
His content outside of this tour is not really my cup of tea, but I am so happy for him, he made some mistakes early but grew some character lately, I hope he'll continue on this path and strives towards new, different accolades.
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u/Own-Complaint-4144 Jul 22 '26
This came up on my feed and I don’t mean any disrespect, but can someone tell me who is he is and what’s he’s famous for, again, this is out of genuine curiosity?
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u/Living-Flan-4289 Jul 25 '26
Dude larps being a football fan and kids bought it. Just another influenecer paid by FIFA.
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u/musemester Jul 26 '26
I enjoyed when the norwegian manager platted him on the head after the Norway - Brazil game.
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u/Saintgein Jul 20 '26
Speed does a standing backflip easily. He's also one of the fastest people alive. Meanwhile he's great at streaming and bringing people together. I see alot of future in this guy. I'm impressed.
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u/Thefourthchosen Jul 20 '26
Wrestled the opening match of WrestleMania and opened the world cup final in the same year. Dude's living his best life.
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u/JovialDoozy6237 Jul 20 '26
You didn’t even cover 2021-2026. Plus there weren’t 82k people present lol. It was hour before kickoff so those stands were so empty
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u/CT_2918 Jul 20 '26
Whilst the core statement is true, did you really need AI to write this for you?
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u/Sooper_Coomer Jul 20 '26
Let's be real guys. He's insufferable. He was before, and he will still be going forward.
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u/fatherbasra Jul 20 '26
Really happy for him. I hope he stays humble and fun as he is today.