It’s a small World (Cup) II: The geopolitics of football

The World Cup is now up and running with four of its 104 matches already played by the time this newspaper reaches the breakfast table, including all three hosts. Not that we are likely to have already seen the future champion – no host nation has won in this century, even after including the tournament’s top heavyweights (Brazil and Germany), while there were no less than six home triumphs in the 16 tournaments of the previous century. Will a new champion emerge from the record 48 competitors? Such upsets in the warm-ups as Japan beating England (with an experimental side) or Algeria defeating the Netherlands (deploying their top team), both 1-0, might presage this World Cup being a turning-point or they might have no more significance than the opening defeats of Spain in 2010 or…

Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Buenos Aires Times.