“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.” 

This quip was famously uttered by Bill Shankly, the legendary manager of Liverpool FC in the 1960s and 70s, and perfectly captures the extent of the world’s fanaticism towards soccer. Soccer is followed almost religiously by billions — and that’s no exaggeration. The 2022 FIFA World Cup final was watched by over 1.42 billion people worldwide, and an average of 175 million viewers tuned into matches throughout the month-long tournament. After Argentina beat France in that final in what will be remembered as one of the greatest games in the history of the sport, an estimated five million Argentinians poured into the streets to welcome their heroes home. At the time of writing, the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 221 days, and the anticipation is building around the world for what will be an incredible summer of soccer in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. 

Yet, for all this global obsession, the United States remains a curious outlier. Since the 60s and 70s, soccer has been referred to as “the sport of the future” in the United States. Though the popularity of the sport has grown in leaps and bounds over the last three decades in this country, it has yet to compete with the cultural stranglehold that American football, basketball, and baseball have over the US sporting landscape. Some blame the characterization of soccer as a “foreign, communist, and deeply un-American” sport throughout the Cold War. Some blame the prohibitive “pay-to-play” model that renders the sport inaccessible to large swaths of economically disadvantaged communities throughout the nation. I’m sure a snarky commenter somewhere in Europe is typing out a paragraph about how the flowing nature of soccer doesn’t allow for enough commercial breaks for Americans to run to the kitchen and grill a burger or some other similar and tired stereotype. 

I instead put forward my theory: we aren’t well enough exposed to the background stories behind soccer that make it so riveting. As the global sport, soccer has a distinct knack for reflecting many complex societal realities of communities, and international soccer has a particular penchant for reflecting the cultural realities of the countries represented, both the beautiful and ugly components of a national identity. From Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right movement hijacking Brazil’s national team to serve as its political emblem, to the Côte d’Ivoire team helping bring an end to a civil war, to the French team serving as the spotlight of the national discussion on the virtues and challenges of migration, there are endless examples of soccer serving as a crossroads for political, cultural, and social issues. In Argentina, a country that has some of the highest inflation rates in the world and where roughly 40% of citizens lived below the poverty line, many Argentinians pinned their hopes for their nation on the success of this team. These are the backstories that make jogo bonito (the beautiful game) so enthralling to a global audience. By understanding some of these narratives, you too will find new reasons to be glued to the TV next June and July. 

In the months ahead, Explaining Offsides will chronicle these accounts of soccer and society for many of the nations taking part in next summer’s tournament. In the same way that explaining the offsides rule without demonstration to a new soccer fan is nearly impossible, a blog about the political and cultural significance of soccer will likely not turn you into a hardened football fan. My hope, however, is that when you are surfing channels on your couch on a scorching summer day and Ecuador vs. Iran appears on your screen, you won’t switch over to Love Island. You will instead say, “This Ecuador team is trying to unite a nation that has been ravaged by organized crime and political assassinations, and this Iran team is seen by many as a symbol of resistance against their extremist regime, particularly during the Mahsa Amini protests. Let’s watch! There’s so much at stake here!” 

Behind every pass and goal, a nation’s identity is revealed. I’m excited to uncover and share these stories with you