The World Cup has never been just a football tournament. Even if we don’t realise it at the time, it tends to reveal something about us. In Germany 2006, it was all about Baden-Baden and the WAGs: the shallowest point of that celebrity-obsessed age. For more romance and happier memories, go back to Italia 90. Pavarotti bellowing ‘Nessun dorma’, Gazza blubbing, Maradona weaving his magic, Roger Milla hip-wiggling the corner flag.
Italia 90 was the last gasp of the old order: modestly paid players with mullets and perms; heaving terraces; the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia playing their last tournaments. And yet also the birth of a glitzy new era: around the corner were Sky TV, the Premier League, all-seater stadia and – gradually, insidiously – money, money, money everywhere.
Gaudy, political, over-commercialised and crass, there’s been little of beauty in the run-up to this tournament
Which brings us to Fifa World Cup 2026, held in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Gaudy, political, over-commercialised and crass: even football’s hardiest boosters would concede that there’s been little of beauty in the run-up to this tournament. Perhaps that’s fitting for a World Cup hosted by Donald Trump.
