Northern European Soccer Politics
Watching the World Cup in Finland and Estonia. Sample: "Finns just aren’t very good at, nor are they voracious consumers of the game." As for Estonians, read on.
Football
Rio sur Seine
When Germany played Brazil in the 2002 World Cup final, who would French fans in Paris root for?
Brazil is Haiti’s national football team
Most national teams have 12 starting players — 11 on the field, and their fans in the stands. Brazil’s has a 13th player: Haitains.
The Seattle Afrikan Premier League
Collecting football stories that highlight the world – the African world, in this case – and making the Seattle game global in the process.
Why Argentineans blame Messi when they lose
Argentina crashed out of the 2018 World Cup. It's not Messi's fault.
How I met your mother
The author relives his greatest World Cup moment.
Uruguay is playing for you
Despite what happened at the 2010 World Cup, Africans have more in common with Uruguayans.
A World Cup for the people
Even VAR could not save the Africans who withered away in the first round of Russia 2018.
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.
Ghetto defendants
If the French now have regular, public discussions about race, we have to thank black members of its men's national football team.
That one time Zambia nearly qualified for the World Cup
In 1994, Zambia was on the cusp of qualifying for the World Cup. After a tragedy wiped out the national team it lost to bad refereeing.
Living for the ball
Ndeye Debo Seck has lost interest in local club football in Senegal. It has a lot to do with how the local game is administered.
‘Any way possible’
A Kenyan football fan reflects on a lifetime of World Cup finals.
When Cameroon’s players convinced themselves they could not win
The reason why African teams struggle in the World Cup has everything to do with colonialism.
Why hasn’t an African nation won the World Cup
When African football officials stop being corrupt and identify and develop young talent, an African nation would have a real chance of winning the World Cup.
Senegal’s jersey
The Senegalese football jersey is a powerful symbol of nationhood and independence.
Senegalese pitch dreams
Football in Senegal is magic. That the team has qualified for their second World Cup, heightens the joy.
France ’98 and a genuine moment of Maghrebi solidarity
Tunisia played England in France '98. English hooligans attacked Tunisians in the streets of Marseille. Algerians came to Tunisians' rescue.
Ghana didn’t qualify for the World Cup, so which African team do I support?
One Ghanaian football fan wrestles with which teams to support in this year's World Cup after the Black Stars failed to qualify.
Giant Russian dolls in Egyptian national team jerseys
Reflections on World Cup fever from Cairo and my Canadian immigrant father's Egyptian football nationalism.