{"product_id":"9798897100644","title":"World Cup Fever","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of 2026\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"Highly engaging. Kuper is one of the best sportswriters in the English language today.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\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\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e But 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Simon Kuper is among the vanishingly small number of writers who have attended every World Cup since 1990. \u003ci\u003eWorld Cup Fever\u003c\/i\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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Told on the pitch, in the stands, in the pubs, and on the streets, this is the story of how soccer has changed the world","brand":"Simon Kuper","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":48067848044766,"sku":"9798897100644","price":39.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0425\/4567\/6440\/files\/BNCImageAPI_22494fc6-9640-4783-9ace-3a2a7d299cc2.jpg?v=1775615520","url":"https:\/\/paragraphbooks.com\/products\/9798897100644","provider":"Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}