• James M. Dorsey

Algeria reached the African Cup final for the first time in 29 years after defeating Nigeria. It can't be divorced from politics back home.

• Abderrahim Bourkia

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and football’s peculiar hold on national identity.

• James M. Dorsey

Egypt got knocked out in the Round of 16, but the hosts have been hamstrung by multiple events, including the military's control, besides its poor performance in the tournament. 

• Loes Oudenhuijsen

Queer identities, widely accepted on the pitch in women's football, may be the way to challenge gender norms in some societies.

• Kuukuwa Manful

The last time Ghana's men's national football team won a tournament was thirty-seven years ago. The team is beginning to feel like yet another failing state institution.

• Liz Timbs

The story of Surya Bonaly, and her unwillingness to yield to racist demands and expectations in the sport of figure skating.

• Hannah Borenstein

What a documentary film on running can tell us about Ethiopia's development trajectory.

• Hannah Borenstein

The international body governing track and field announced that the longest distance race to be held will be the 3000 meters. We know who will benefit least from this change.

• Clovis Bergère

Who gets to host future editions of the men's soccer World Cup is not just big business, but also a bargaining chip in international relations.

• Susan Thomson

The Arsenal 'Visit Rwanda' sponsorship deal is government image management 101.

• Kangsen Feka Wakai

Star players in Cameroon's national soccer team have always doubled as PR pawns for the protracted rule of the country's aging and hard-line head of state.

• Simon Taylor

Rugby in South Africa is generally understood to be a white sport, but contemporary statistics reveal that a great many more black people than white people play rugby there.

• Ashwin Desai

When former Springbok Ashwin Willemse walked off a SuperSport TV set, he forced conversations on racism in South African rugby and its sports media.

• Ron Krabill
• Danny Hoffman

Organized US Soccer is perceived as middle class and white. Seattle, Washington wants to break with that via its professional women's team.

• Laurent Dubois

Is France's World Cup championship team a bellwether for France's political future?

• Grégory Pierrot

The author, French: "When the game is over in Russia, I’ll go play another at the field down the street. I’ll find a song to sing on the way."

• Emily Suzanne Lever

The 2010 World Cup was tumultuous for France; both an athletic failure and a site of social conflict. The French Football Federation doesn't want to repeat it.

• Haythem Guesmi

Fascists love Mbappé and hate Benzema. Between these two lies the problem of romanticizing the French team as an African team.

• Annette Joseph-Gabriel

A possible French victory hovers like a thin layer of hope that barely veils the simmering anger at France’s neglect of the islands and pessimism about the future.

• Damola Durosomo

Focusing on sports allegiance to Nigeria, offered a break from pondering over all of its social ills.