{"product_id":"kuper-simon-world-cup-fever-a-soccer-journey-in-nine-tournaments","title":"Kuper, Simon - World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e Best Book of 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Highly engaging. Kuper is one of the best sportswriters in the English language today.\"—\u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe story of how soccer has transformed the world—as seen through nine World Cups—by one of our most talented writers on the sport.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe World Cup is the biggest sporting spectacle on Earth—a chance every four years for the greatest players to win international glory, and a month-long media event that's watched by an audience of billions.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut the tournament has changed beyond recognition since the inaugural event in Montevideo, Uruguay, in July 1930. What was once a semi-professional meeting beset by haphazard play has evolved to become a game of multinational buyouts, dubious ethics, and questionable aims—and the new era of soccer has much to tell us about the globalized world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSimon Kuper is among the vanishingly small number of writers who have attended every World Cup since 1990. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWorld Cup Fever\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is his journey to find the heart of soccer, through the nine tournaments he's experienced first-hand—from watching matches in half-empty stands during Italia 1990 (a tournament that at times felt like a village fete) to witnessing the French triumph at home in 1998; South Africa's national dream in 2010; and the troubling legacy of Qatar in 2022.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTold on the pitch, in the stands, in the pubs, and on the streets, this is the story of how soccer has changed the world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Hamlet British Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48761107022074,"sku":null,"price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0586\/6409\/1817\/files\/IMG_0474.jpg?v=1777067128","url":"https:\/\/thehamletny.com\/fr\/products\/kuper-simon-world-cup-fever-a-soccer-journey-in-nine-tournaments","provider":"The Hamlet British Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}