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Catherine Steenkeste / Getty The Sumptuous Minimalism of Lionel Messi
An ode to the greatest footballer ever to play the game
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Tim Nwachukwu / Getty American Soccer Comes of Age
After decades of playing catch-up, the U.S. men’s team finally emerges as a World Cup contender.
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Olivier Douliery / Getty Antony Blinken on the Diplomatic Niceties of the Beautiful Game
The secretary of state discusses his lifelong love of soccer and humanitarian concerns about this year’s World Cup.
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Mohamed Farag / Getty; The Atlantic Ode to Not Watching the World Cup
This is an event of such astoundingly obvious wrongness that doing the right thing is easy.
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Erik Carter / The Atlantic The Qatar World Cup Exposes Soccer’s Shame
The absurd spectacle of a tiny Gulf petrostate hosting the world’s premier tournament reveals the ugly side of “the beautiful game.”
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Courtesy Clint Smith Radio Atlantic: For Love of the Game
In this episode of Radio Atlantic, the staff writer Clint Smith talks about the complicated feelings he has for soccer, and which teams and players shaped his love of the sport.
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Buda Mendes / Getty A Short History of Brazilian Soccer
Staff writers Franklin Foer and Clint Smith talk about which teams they’re rooting for in the 2022 World Cup, and give a lesson about one of the most storied teams in soccer.
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Erik Carter / The Atlantic; courtesy of Clint … How to Cheer for America
When I watch the World Cup, I’m celebrating not what this country is, but what it can be.
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Robbie Jay Barratt / AMA / Getty Enjoying Soccer in Its Dark Age
Franklin Foer discusses what makes this year’s game so hard to watch—and what it says about the world in 2022.
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Mohammed Dabbous / Getty A Spectacle of Scoundrels
The 2022 Qatar World Cup may be the tournament’s most detestable yet. I’ll be watching anyway.
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Alessandro Sabattini / Getty The Sport of Short Kings
Soccer is where mini monarchs reign supreme.
