David Goldblatt is a historian of football whose books include The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Football and The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-First Century.
Donald Trump and his ally, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, have plumbed new depths with their political antics before and during the World Cup. But as David Goldblatt insists, they still couldn’t destroy the moments of collective joy it gives us.
Despite corporate and elite attempts to wrest football from ordinary people, it remains a site of struggle for community and belonging amid capitalist alienation. The upcoming World Cup will showcase the game and its contradictions.