World Cup Fever, 9781805224112
Paperback
World Cup: A personal journey through football’s fevered evolution and global impact.
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World Cup Fever

a footballing journey in nine tournaments

$34.39

  • Paperback

    352 pages

  • Release Date

    5 January 2026

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Summary

World Cup Fever: A Journey Through Football’s Global Evolution

The football World Cup stands as the planet’s premier sporting event, a quadrennial opportunity for elite athletes to achieve international acclaim and a month-long media extravaganza viewed by billions.

However, the tournament has undergone a complete transformation since its humble beginnings in Montevideo, Uruguay, in July 1930. Once a semi-professional gathering marked by erratic gameplay, it has evolved into…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781805224112
ISBN-10:1805224115
Author:Simon Kuper
Publisher:Profile Books Ltd
Imprint:Profile Books Ltd
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:352
Release Date:5 January 2026
Weight:440g
Dimensions:232mm x 152mm x 28mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

A delightful memoir, travelogue, and journal, Simon Kuper’s World Cup Fever is a wry and sharp-eyed account of the world’s now biggest public ritual. A brilliant evocation of the joy of the football carnival and the absurdities of the global spectacle, it remains alert to the game’s ever closer pact with money and power. It is an essential companion to the tournament, for it allows us to look at the sun and not be blinded – David Goldblatt, author * The Ball is Round *A series of wise, wry and revealing reflections on football’s greatest tournament and what it tells us about the world. Football Against the Enemy was one the three books that effectively invented modern football writing, and Kuper continues to lead the genre. – Jonathan Wilson, author * Inverting the Pyramid *Praise for Barça: A masterfully written history of the world’s greatest football club – Gary LinekerAn instant classic – Bill BufordSimply unmissable – Amy RaphaelA masterclass on football – John CarlinPraise for Soccernomics: Magnificent * Guardian *An Arsène Wenger of a book - more thoughtful than most of its rivals and, by football standards, positively intellectual. * The Times *

About The Author

Simon Kuper

Simon Kuper is an author and Financial Times journalist, born in Uganda and raised around the world. An Oxford graduate, he later attended Harvard as a Kennedy Scholar. He has written for the Guardian, Observer, and The Times and is also the author of Chums, The Happy Traitor, Football Against the Enemy and Barça. He lives in Paris with his family.

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