World Cup Fever

Reviews / Votes

The ultimate book for anyone who loves football, and plenty who don't ... Unmissable -- 'Sports Books of the Year' * Mail on Sunday * Highly engaging... [Kuper] is one of the best sportswriters in the English language today * New Yorker * Kuper is an excellent guide... his book is filled with memorable vignettes * Spectator * Charming and amusing * Literary Review * A chronicle that encompasses history, national cultures, and politics. Kuper's account captures the raw nationalism, corruption and ritual vengeance surrounding the matches, but it's also a tale of love and devotion, told by someone who knows the feelings well -- 'Best Books of 2026 So Far' * New Yorker * Kuper keeps the pages turning ... shines a light on the geopolitical happenings around each tournament * Irish Times * An essential warm-up for making sense of the extraordinary World Cup to come ... [Kuper] is a wry and sharp-eyed guide to the high-camp theatre of Fifa politics and the everyday carnival of fans on city streets; to the collective euphoria and national imagining that takes place at giant outdoor match viewing; and to the way hosts are changed by their encounter with their guests * New Statesman * A delightful memoir, travelogue, and journal, Simon Kuper's World Cup Fever is a wry and sharp-eyed account of the world's now biggest public ritual. A brilliant evocation of the joy of the football carnival and the absurdities of the global spectacle, it remains alert to the game's ever closer pact with money and power. It is an essential companion to the tournament, for it allows us to look at the sun and not be blinded -- David Goldblatt, author * The Ball is Round * A series of wise, wry and revealing reflections on football's greatest tournament and what it tells us about the world. Football Against the Enemy was one the three books that effectively invented modern football writing, and Kuper continues to lead the genre. -- Jonathan Wilson, author * Inverting the Pyramid * Praise for Barca: A masterfully written history of the world's greatest football club -- Gary Lineker An instant classic -- Bill Buford Simply unmissable -- Amy Raphael A masterclass on football -- John Carlin Praise for Soccernomics: Magnificent * Guardian * An Arsene Wenger of a book - more thoughtful than most of its rivals and, by football standards, positively intellectual. * The Times *