The drama spoiling a city’s World Cup moment

DALLAS, Texas — The World Cup was supposed to be Dallas’s moment to shine. The city is famously image-conscious, and the powers-that-be trumpeted the fact that more Cup matches were scheduled here than any other host city. It seemed like a coup for a town whose football team (the other kind of football) bills itself…

Read More

Bastille Day party turns sour in Brussels

The great and good of the Brussels bubble has gathered tonight to watch the France-Spain match in a cavernous art gallery rented out by the French embassy. Ostensibly to mark the country’s Bastille Day, the reception quickly became a watch party for the semifinal, with peoples loading up plates of cheese, bread and canapés. Attendees…

Read More

Spot the pol!

This elected authoritarian welcomed home his national-team captain — a goal-scoring winger currently without a club — after the team’s winningest-ever World Cup performance. That’s Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the right, welcoming captain Mohamed Salah to a reception honoring the team’s efforts. Egypt reached the Round of 16 in this year’s World Cup — before getting eliminated by Argentina on July…

Read More

How to keep a soccer team alive in exile

Farkhunda Muhtaj has spent years fighting to keep the Afghanistan women’s national soccer team alive after the Taliban banned women from sport following President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of American forces from the country. That campaign reached a breakthrough this year when FIFA agreed to establish an official Afghan women’s national team. The 28-year-old Afghan-Canadian,…

Read More

McMaster, Trump look to Graham’s sister for Senate

President Donald Trump said Monday he wants South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to appoint Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to serve the remainder of the late senator’s term. One Republican familiar with McMaster’s plans said the governor intends to appoint Nordone to serve in the Senate for the rest of the year. This person…

Read More