Ronnie Das, The University of Western Australia; Audencia and Sara Louise Walker, University of Birmingham In 2018, when the United States, Canada and Mexico bid to host the World Cup, their pitch included a climate promise: the bid committee said it would strive to deliver a carbon-neutral event. The bid’s environmental assessment, a
Keith Rathbone, Macquarie University The World Cup has entered its quarter-finals, and so far the tournament has had it all: a strong team ousted early (Germany), debate over whether an ageing superstar (Lionel Messi) still “has it”, and an underdog in the form of a tiny nation (Cabo Verde) making it through to
Ronnie Das, The University of Western Australia; Audencia and Wasim Ahmed, University of Hull In sport, fairness matters. But when it comes to buying tickets to watch the world’s biggest ever sporting event, money matters too. Attending the men’s Fifa World Cup 2026 will be much more expensive than any previous World Cup.
Gemma Ware, The Conversation https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html When Roberto Baggio missed a penalty in the 1994 Fifa World Cup final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, more than 94,000 people were there to watch Italian heartbreak and Brazilian ecstasy. To this day, no other World Cup has been as well attended as the 1994
Adam Kadlac, Wake Forest University The 2026 World Cup promises to be the planet’s most-watched sporting event. It’s also poised to generate its fair share of controversy. Taking into account the history of corruption in FIFA, the sport’s governing body, it would be hard to blame anyone who decided to ignore this year’s
Ph. Morocco had more foreign-born players than any other nation at the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Abdelrahman Emam / Shutterstock Ben Brindle, University of Oxford Few would have predicted Morocco’s success at the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Heading into the tournament, they were ranked 22nd in the world and had never progressed beyond
Ph. Ghana fans will be cheering their team alongside nine other African nations at the World Cup finals. Adera Abdoulaye Dolo/Pexels, CC BY Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, Stephen F. Austin State University The 2026 men’s Fifa World Cup marks a seismic shift in the global football landscape. The decision to expand the final
Chuka Onwumechili, Howard University The most culturally diverse men’s football World Cup in history is taking place in the United States at a time when foreign nationals feel less and less welcome in the country. The 2026 competition kicks off on 11 June with games in Canada, Mexico, and the US. The US
Qatar claimed millions of dollars in unpaid wages were already disbursed Three weeks ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar’s Labour Minister has rejected calls from human rights groups to compensate migrant workers involved in building stadiums and other infrastructure. A global campaign called #PayUpFIFA was launched by Human Rights Watch (HRW)
These songs have been sources of national pride and politicization The World Cup will kick off in Qatar in November 2022, which means the official World Cup anthem will soon be introduced. The organizing committee first established the theme song tradition during the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile, when organizers used songs