World Cup Fever A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments

By: Simon Kuper

Published by Pegasus Books, 2026-03-03

<b>The story of how soccer has transformed the world—as seen through nine World Cups—by one of our most talented writers on the sport.</b><br><br>The World Cup is the biggest sporting spectacle on Earth—a chance every four years for the greatest players to win international glory, and a month-long media event that's watched by an audience of billions.<br> <br> But the tournament has changed beyond recognition since the inaugural event in Montevideo, Uruguay, in July 1930. What was once a semi-professional meeting beset by haphazard play has evolved to become a game of multinational buyouts, dubious ethics, and questionable aims—and the new era of soccer has much to tell us about the globalized world.<br> <br> Simon Kuper is among the vanishingly small number of writers who have attended every World Cup since 1990. <i>World Cup Fever</i> is his journey to find the heart of soccer, through the nine tournaments he's experienced first-hand—from watching matches in half-empty stands during Italia 1990 (a tournament that at times felt like a village fete) to witnessing the French triumph at home in 1998; South Africa's national dream in 2010; and the troubling legacy of Qatar in 2022.<br> <br> Told on the pitch, in the stands, in the pubs, and on the streets, this is the story of how soccer has changed the world