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…

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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…

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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…

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