FIFA insists that football is not for sale while preparing to place the World Cup inside a $20 billion company and invite private investors to buy in. The proposal is more than another commercial excess. It reveals how completely Gianni Infantino has personalised FIFA, weakened its internal restraints and blurred the line between public office, private influence and his own future. UEFA has finally threatened resistance. This time, it must go further.
Tag: world-cup
Billions Watching, Nobody Reading the Rules
Billions watch the World Cup, billions are earned from it, and few things matter more to a country’s sporting pride than the fate of its national team. Football has analysts for throw-ins, consultants for sleep patterns and enough data to…
The Right Winner of a World Cup that came at Football’s Expense
Spain were worthy champions, but the World Cup they won was harder to admire. Bloated beyond sporting necessity, interrupted for commercial convenience and damaged by inconsistent refereeing, weak VAR decisions and a group stage stripped of urgency, the tournament often seemed designed around inventory rather than football. Argentina’s cynical run nearly supplied the perfect ending. Spain prevented that. Their victory saved the result, but it could not repair the competition surrounding it.
Argentina’s World Cup has acquired an Asterisk
Argentina's path to the 2026 World Cup semi-finals has become inseparable from a growing refereeing controversy. From Messi's escaped red card to the VAR decisions against Egypt and Switzerland, the debate is no longer about isolated incidents but about consistency. This article examines why journalists, former players and national associations are increasingly questioning whether football's biggest tournament is still being officiated by the same standard for everyone.
The Future of German Football Must Be Built, Not Rebranded
German football does not need another post-mortem or another tactical costume change. It has the talent, the clubs and the infrastructure, but lacks a recognisable idea strong enough to shape them. After Paraguay, the task is not despair, but reconstruction: defensive authority, athletic power, vertical speed, a culture of finishing and a clearer development program that starts long before the national team meets again on a tournament pitch under pressure.
Euro 2028 may be the Tournament that Saves Football’s Soul
The 2026 World Cup already feels like a tournament drowning in bureaucracy, border politics and institutional cowardice. Euro 2028 could be the antidote: close, reachable, fan-centred and rooted in football cultures that still understand the game as a public ritual, not a corporate asset. If UEFA keeps its promises, the tournament may remind Europe that football belongs to supporters before it belongs to executives, sponsors or airport officials. Quite rightly.
The World Cup sells the Names. The Knockouts will test the Bodies.
The 2026 World Cup will be full of famous names no longer playing at the sharpest edge of European football. Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and others may still sell tickets, dominate weaker opponents and provide the tournament with its mythology. But the knockout stage is less sentimental. It does not reward memory, aura or golden contracts. It asks what is left when time, space and legs disappear.
Sports Journalism wants the World Cup Question, But Not the Answer
European football media keeps asking players whether they should speak about the FIFA World Cup 2026. But the real question is whether sports journalism itself has the courage to face what this tournament has become: a politically contaminated event shaped by war, exclusion, hostile entry conditions, security fears, absurd prices and a broken contract with the fans. The question is allowed. The debate is not.
alexreusch 