FIFA World Cup 2026: What happened to the beautiful game?
East Africa News
How the World Cup has changed over the past 50 years and why there are only flashes of the beautiful game in 2026.
“They don’t care about the beautiful game. They don’t care about the elegance of football. In my time, we used to think and give a little show.”
The words of arguably the greatest player of all time, Pele, back in 2014 before the World Cup in Brazil, which Germany won, say it all about the state of the world’s most popular game.
Regional Impact
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Do fans still trust referees and VAR at the World Cup?
– list 2 of 4Mbappe and France kick off World Cup quarterfinals with Morocco clash
– list 3 of 4‘History in the making’: Lord’s set for first-ever women’s Test
Analysis
– list 4 of 4‘We are not influenced by anyone’, FIFA refereeing chief says
That tournament was a watershed moment for Brazil: it was meant to showcase the individual talents of the likes of Neymar, Oscar and Hulk in front of a global audience.
Instead, Brazil were humiliated in the semifinals 7-1 by a ruthlessly efficient German side, a defeat that still haunts the nation to this day.
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