The world is not beautiful at the moment. But the 'beautiful game' still has the capacity to gather people, distract people, delight people, and occasionally inspire people.

The upcoming FIFA World Cup stands out for several reasons including number of matches, geographical spread, sky-high ticket fares and others.

There is no sporting event in the world that enjoys such a feverish build-up to the main event. Such is the global appeal of the ‘beautiful game’ and the FIFA World Cup.

The United States is casting a shadow over the FIFA World Cup 2026