Martin Meissner/AP
What FIFA’s leadership still fails to realise is banning Russia does not introduce politics into sports – it removes the stench of it.
Can football really have an impact on society?
Gnodeuy/Flickr
For the millions celebrating on the Champs-Elysées last month, Frenchness was not just an idea, it was an intense shared experience. But what happens to that identity when the celebrations end?
Two of France’s players with African roots, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé, celebrate winning the World Cup.
Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
It is important to understand that African diaspora constitute complex and multiplicitous identities.
PixHound / Shutterstock.com
What does the sale of the ‘home of football’ have to do with grassroots development?
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin
New! Mega sports events wash your government’s tarnished reputation whiter-than-white.
Senegal’s World Cup coach Aliou Cissé.
Atef Safadi/EPA
Although Senegal’s overall World Cup result was disappointing, the team showed that they have a great deal to build on for future campaigns.
Ben Sutherland / shutterstock
Most big bureaucratic organisations are subject to oversight from civil society, but not FIFA.
France’s World Cup winner Paul Pogba was also eligible to play for Guinea.
Peter Powell/EPA
It’s time Africa’s top administrators tried to find out why top African players are choosing to represent European countries, so that they can work to rectify the situation.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / EPA
It seems likely that football will remain a pawn in an intensifying proxy war.
Fans celebrate watching the World Cup on TV as France beat Croatia 4-2.
EPA/Sergei Ilnitsk
Fans have shown they’re willing to watch major sporting events on devices other than traditional TVs, but the technology is letting them down.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is all smiles with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic before Sunday’s World Cup final in Moscow.
Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/EPA
Most Western leaders have little faith the Russian president will pursue better relations after the final football whistle has blown.
Sergei Ilnitsky / EPA
Pussy Riot were the exception – most opposition activists decided protest would be counter-productive during the tournament.
EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga
Croatia lost to France but has won unprecedented public exposure.
EPA-EFE/Facundo Arrizabalaga
The best team to lift the trophy was Brazil’s star-studded 1970 team.
John Walton/PA
Fans are shifting their consumption of the World Cup online.
Christophe Petit Tesson / EPA
The French set up FIFA and the World Cup.
The new recruits look a little green.
Football Association
For players in this World Cup’s England squad, even getting picked to play is at the end of a very long road.
Neymar in pain. Or is he faking it?
WALLACE WOON/EPA
Vocal deception may have played a key role in our progression from primitive nonverbal noises to complex, controlled speech.
Kylian Mbappé (c), France’s new star.
Etienne Laurent/EPA
When France won the world cup in 1998, the team was celebrated for its multiculturalism. What has happened since?
John Stillwell/PA Wire/PA Images
Some estimates say the World Cup will bring a £1.6 billion boost to the UK economy. Do they stack up?