Pogbacité
Is France’s World Cup championship team a bellwether for France’s political future?
10 Articles by:
Laurent Dubois
Laurent Dubois, historian, is the author of 'Soccer Empire' and The Language of the Game.'
The Football Griot
For a long time most football fans experienced the game via the radio, making broadcasters cult figures. Like Allou Ndiaye in 1950s Senegal.
Senegal’s jersey
The Senegalese football jersey is a powerful symbol of nationhood and independence.
Who is Didier Drogba?
Drogba became one of the most famous footballers of his generation thanks to his time at Chelsea, but he never won a major tournament for his national team.
The Stade de France–A History in Fragments
The French national team player Patrice Evra was dribbling up the pitch when the second bomb
Jogo Bonito
"Tear gas is a magic potion," writes Chris Gaffney from the streets of Rio. "Those who launch
The Blood of the Impure
The meaning and performance of nationalism using nothing but examples from the debate about football and the French national anthem.
Who are you rooting for
The historian Laurent Dubois watches the African Cup of Nations in Senegal and can’t help mix it up with the history of colonialism and neo-colonialism in the region.
The Aura of Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba is the master of the unruly and the absurd: when he is in form, none of what the other team does matters.
The Whites-Only French
France today is struggling with race because — unlike its former colonies — it never actually went through its own process of decolonization.