WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Before the United States played Sweden in a Women’s World Cup match here this month, some American fans waited in line for hours to be the first to enter the stadium. When the gates finally opened, it was like the running of the bulls.

Parents sprinted down the main concourse. Preteen girls dodged food carts and garbage cans to cut in front of people ahead of them.

They were not off to their seats; their destination was the souvenir shop. In a matter of minutes, a line snaked out the store’s doors. Those poor people. What they didn’t know was that the best memento from this World Cup was actually down on the field, hidden — for the moment — between the blades of fake grass.

Millions upon millions of tiny rubber pellets.

That’s the collectible fans should take home from this World Cup, the first to be played exclusively on artificial turf. It’s certainly what many of the players will remember.