When the men’s World Cup winds down next week, FIFA isn’t packing it all up and heading back to Zurich. Instead, the global soccer governing body will keep open the Miami office that it has used as an American political headquarters as it looks to expand its presence in the western hemisphere. The strategy marks…
Norway stands out among the historic European powers that dominate what remains of the World Cup. It has the skimpiest soccer heritage of the bunch — with a 28-year break since its last visit to the tournament — and the strongest political agenda: a continued fight to boot Israel from international soccer. Norway’s trip to…
What does it mean to be patriotic? It depends on a country’s politics. Pride in one’s country is itself relatively common, according to new results from an international edition of The POLITICO Poll: Majorities of adults across the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, France and Germany all say they are proud of their country….
Few countries punch above their weight in sport quite like Norway. With a population of approximately 5.6 million, it consistently produces world-class talent across soccer, athletics, winter sports, cycling, golf and tennis — a success many attribute to a distinctive model that prioritizes participation over early specialization, receives sustained public investment and benefits from a…
For all theFIFA promotion of the World Cup’s arrival in Miami — think downtown skylines, Latin music and speedboats on Biscayne Bay — today’s quarterfinal match between Norway and England this afternoon will not, in fact, take place along the azure waters of Miami proper. Instead, star strikers Erling Haaland and Harry Kane will duel…
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is already considering adding an extra bank holiday to the calendar if England wins a World Cup final. But shutting the country down for a day to celebrate a national high might not be the political winner he thinks it is. While rank-and-file citizens may thrill at getting a break…
This lawmaking leader of Cape Verdean descent intervened with the State Department when the mother of Cabo Verde’s dazzling goalkeeper Vozinha was initially unable to secure a U.S. visa to watch him play. That’s House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the June 21 match in Miami between Uruguay and Cabo…
Reports of an aggressive FBI investigation underway in Florida into alleged corruption involving Argentina’s national soccer body are prompting confusion about the Trump administration’s stance toward using U.S. courts and law enforcement to pursue corruption extending beyond U.S. borders. Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper reported Wednesday that U.S. prosecutors questioned a key businessperson by Zoom earlier…
When Argentina defeated Egypt with a last-minute miracle — making it the western hemisphere’s lone survivor into the quarterfinals — the country’s libertarian president Javier Milei said he was “crazy with joy.” As his Argentina faces off today against Switzerland, Milei — arguably U.S. President Donald Trump’s most Trumpian ally in the Western hemisphere, if…
Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Democrats had warned that immigration enforcement agents at matches were likely to cross the line with fans or players and create international incidents in the process. So far, those fears haven’t borne out. As the tournament moves into its final week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the…
