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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.
How much is success down to skill or just a lucky break?
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Be careful how you reward success. Was it achieved through hard-earned skill or just a lucky break?
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.
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.
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?
Many footballs originate in the homes of women in one Pakistani region.
The Pakistani women who make the majority of the world’s high-quality soccer balls belong to one of the most vulnerable groups in the global economy.
NSW researchers found a shockingly high increase in domestic violence incidents following State of Origin matches.
Darren England/AAP
A mix of alcohol, heightened emotions and toxic masculinity are to blame for surges in family violence perpetrated by sports fans.
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Unlike squads before them, this exciting team of millennials have the capacity, courage and honesty to express their emotions.
Shoot straight: could be wise words for those looking to score in any penalty shootout.
Shutterstock/Eugene Onischenko
If any game comes down to a penalty shootout then there’s one spot a player should aim for to stand a better chance of scoring a goal.
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In the hunt for the next Messi, conventional wisdom favours football players with lots of experience at an early age. Research and England’s example may advocate a different approach.
The last time football “came home” coincided with Beatlemania, the Vietnam War, and the start of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
National Media Museum
Every England fan in Moscow knows that that football is ‘coming home’, but can England really claim to be where the world’s most popular sport rests its head?
England fans celebrate the team’s World Cup penalty shoot out victory on the beach in Brighton.
Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Some on the left view sport as a distraction. But life is a struggle. And there shouldn’t be anything wrong with finding something to celebrate.
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The beautiful game still needs to perform on bigger social issues.
In 2016, Norwich City Football Club was one of dozens of English football teams that took part in the Stonewall Charity’s “Rainbow Laces” campaign to combat discrimination against LGBT fans and players.
Canaries.co.uk
Football presents itself as a neutral, universal and, in a way, desexualised sport. Yet despite widespread campaigns against homophobia, deeply negative attitudes about gay players persist.
Ghana’s goalkeepers, Stephen Adams (L) and Fatawu Dauda (R), pray before a 2014 World Cup match.
Robert Ghement/EPA
Africa is a deeply divided continent along ideological, ethnic and territorial lines. Religion and football can produce consensus.
Pexels
An expert gives a few tips on what makes the perfect penalty football kick.
Gareth Southgate dejected after failing to score in the penalty shoot out which ended England’s chances in the Euro ‘96 semi-final match against Germany at Wembley.
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Sport is full of high-pressure language which if eradicated can help athletes to express themselves and perform at their best.
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Heavy hip-hop or heart-plucking instrumental strings? Every player has their favourites, but they all play their part in match preparation.