'A brilliant evocation of the joy of the football carnival and the absurdities of the global spectacle... an essential companion' David Goldblatt

It's the biggest sporting event on Earth. A four-yearly opportunity for our greatest footballers to realize their ultimate dream. A month-long spectacle watched by billions. But the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, was semi-professional, poorly attended, and haphazardly organized – so how did it become a bonanza of multinational sponsorship, dubious ethics, and shadowy characters, and the ultimate stage for football's greatest drama?

Simon Kuper is one of the very few people to have attended every World Cup since 1990. In World Cup Fever, he looks back at each tournament he's experienced – from nearly empty stands at Italia 90 to France's triumph as hosts in 1998, South Africa's national dream in 2010, and the troubling legacy of 2022 – to reveal a captivating portrait of sport in a globalized world.

World Cup Fever is the story of how the tournament touches and sometimes even changes our lives, by one of the best writers on the beautiful game.

Pages: 352, Year of Publication: 1002, Dimensions: 15.8x15.8cm