‘A surprising success’: US, Mexico and Canada fans on hosting the World Cup
The joy, love, hope and fun provided by fans outweighed the commercialism, extortionate prices and ugly politicsThis summer has been so vibrant and full of life. I had my doubts but, as the World Cup approached and Boston got ready to host its first game, I started feeling the excitement and enthusiasm in the air. That mainly had to do with the huge numbers of Scottish fans who arrived for their match against Haiti. They were a delight, what with their shenanigans of putting cones everywhere, wa...
Why many Black Americans were rooting for Argentina to lose the World Cup | Etan Thomas
Many Black Americans were not cheering Spain’s complicated history. They were rooting against the racism, politics and silence associated with ArgentinaThere are moments in sports when you realize people aren’t just watching the score any more. They’re watching values. They’re watching who speaks. They’re watching who stays silent. And they’re watching what those silences say.I found myself thinking about that throughout this World Cup. On paper, Sunday’s final looked simple. Spain v Argentina....
‘Rifts began to appear’: Why many Latin Americans want Spain to beat Argentina in the World Cup final
A history of racism and ongoing footballing rivalries have made the choice of which team to get behind in Sunday’s final a charged topicThe Brazilian journalist and columnist Julia Duailibi usually writes about politics in her weekly column for the leading Brazilian newspaper O Globo, but last Thursday she took a different tack, writing instead about why she would not be supporting neighbouring Argentina in the World Cup final.“I have always been an admirer of the hermanos [as Brazilians affecti...
Infantino’s Faustian bargain with Trump has stained football’s biggest stage
The Fifa president sought influence with the US leader. Instead, Fifa’s president has entangled football in politics and wounded the game’s credibilityEver since the United States won the rights to co-host the 2026 World Cup, Fifa president Gianni Infantino has worked to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump at all costs, supposedly to secure preferential treatment for Fifa from the American government. Predictably, he suffered the same fate as everyone who has made a Faustian bargain with the US...
The World Cup used to let us micro-dose politics. Now it is engulfed by it
Whether it is our ‘identity maths’, naked nostalgia or diaspora experience. All seem scarred by the political contexts bearing down on this tournamentDon’t already get The Long Wave in your inbox? Sign up hereI have measured my life in World Cups. The first blurry moments of childhood memory, the passing into adolescence, starting university. Each tournament marks a season of life. Each one is also associated with potent, formative emotional events: Roger Milla dancing around the corner flag whe...
How Spain can knock France off their 'World Cup favourites' perch
And so there were four. As it happens, the four still standing at this World Cup are the same quartet who sit atop FIFA's international food chain. A semi-final line-up for the ages. Aren't we lucky?Perhaps this was the inevitable outcome when the draw was seeded in a way that made it impossible for the top-rated nations to meet one another before this stage. But let's not dig into politics. Not now anyway. Two tantalising ties are the upshot, starting with France vs Spain on Tuesday.
Superstars, politics and hydration breaks: Themes of the World Cup so far
A rest day at the World Cup provides the opportunity to take stock of how the biggest-ever edition has gone so far. Have pre-tournament presumptions about off-field issues been proved correct? Which players and teams have set the storylines on the field? And what will be the legacy of the 2026 competition?
Hossam Hassan and the blurring of lines between football and politics in Egypt
Egypt face Australia in a historic World Cup game on Friday and the manager has been keen to highlight president Al-Sisi’s role in the achievementAfter Egypt’s 3-1 victory over New Zealand at the World Cup, the national team coach, Hossam Hassan, issued a statement of gratitude to the country’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.Al-Sisi had sent a congratulatory message to the team and, for Hassan, that almost seemed like a bigger event than the result. The president’s message, he said, was “a medal...
Starmer considers letting pubs stay open for England v Mexico match after backlash
Government seeks workaround after licensing rules threaten to force pubs to shut before World Cup tie finishesWorld Cup live – latest updatesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer is exploring ways to keep pubs open into the early hours of Monday after facing backlash over strict licensing rules that would force many venues to close during England’s next World Cup game.The team’s win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday night booked a last-16 tie against Mexico that is d...
‘No soccer fans here’: World Cup fever fails to grip Texas Republicans
Houston is a host city but those gathered there for a GOP convention are far more concerned with contentious politics – and an elephantGreg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has just finished a 25-minute address and most of the hits have been played. The radical Democrats must be destroyed in November’s midterms; an Austin-style woke agenda should be avoided at all costs; it is essential the Lone Star State remains the most conservative in the US. He has provided ample fodder for about 5,000 delega...
‘We can do much’: how feeling for family helped end Haiti’s long World Cup absence
Haiti are on football’s grandest stage for first time since 1974 and squad drawn from far and wide are ‘hungry’ for successTamy Michel grew up watching her father run a football club through prison, political upheaval and the endless uncertainties of life in Haiti.Solange Michel spent 18 years leading Baltimore SC, one of the country’s most storied clubs. In the 1990s, he was jailed amid the turmoil that engulfed Haitian politics but the club survived. Later, Tamy Michel’s aunt, Simone Devuleux,...
France followed to World Cup by home politics after Mbappé’s swipe at far right
Platini among former players to accuse captain of creating distraction as Deschamps defends captain’s right to speak“If there’s one wish I have, it’s for you to ask my players about the opponents, about football,” Didier Deschamps told journalists after announcing France’s World Cup squad. “I understand that you might feel obliged to ask other questions, but they’re not there to answer them.”Deschamps has found himself batting away questions about off-pitch issues beyond his scope before his fin...
The most politically charged World Cup ever puts the U.S. and Iran on a collision course while America co-hosts with neighbors it has tariffed
The World Cup has never been free of politics, yet this year’s event may be in a league of its own. The quadrennial global soccer tournament will be co-hosted for the first time this year by three nations: the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. It will also be the biggest version of the tournament ever, with FIFA, the global soccer governing body, utilizing an expanded 48-country format that adds 16 more teams. But Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff, a historian and professor at New York University’s Tisch I...
Marotta: ‘Malagò can be an interpreter for Serie A and FIGC’ with politics
Inter President Beppe Marotta explains why Giovanni Malagò would be the best choice as new FIGC President. ‘We need an interpreter’ to work with politicians. Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News and Content – Free Trial – Click Here The search is on for a new Federation chief after Gabriele Gravina resigned in the wake of failure to qualify for a third consecutive edition of the World Cup.A vote today saw 18 out of 20 Serie A clubs back former CONI (Italian Olympic Commi...
Today’s Papers – Serie A returns after Italy’s flop
La Gazzetta dello SportThe coach leaves, Baldini as caretaker coach, then Conte or ManciniGattuso gives up, Capello reports‘In Italy we walk, the others run.’ Stadiums and bets, Gravina attacks the politics.’Exclusive De BruyneScudetto, we tryI’m okay in Naples. Our target is to win all games, then we’ll do the countingWe have paid for the many injuries. Hojlund will become a top player.Modric to the maxNever in such shape, he launches Milan for a super finaleInter RomaDumfries and Ndicka the ke...