Football: More than just a game

In 2005, the football star used Côte d’Ivoire’s first World Cup qualification to call for peace: he urged his fellow citizens in the war-torn country to forgive each other. His words actually helped bring the opposing parties together.

The men’s football World Cup is one of the few truly global events of our time. We take this as an opportunity to ask what’s so special about this particular sport that both divides and unites the entire world.

At the Africa Cup in January, one Congolese fan attracted everyone’s attention. Michel Nkuka Mboladinga imitated the pose of national hero Patrice Lumumba in a homage that sent a clear message: the DRC needs peace.

Rael Lomoti established the first girls’ football team in Turkana, one of Kenya’s poorest regions. Both on and off the pitch, the Desert Roses are all about breaking with patriarchal norms – and fighting for a brighter future.

FIFA has officially recognised the Afghan women’s football team. As well as improving the team’s prospects, the decision also gives it the chance to draw attention to the oppression of women in Afghanistan.

Virtually no other event brings the entire world together quite like the men’s football World Cup. But the tournaments are hardly models of best practice. What is wrong with the system of international football – and what could be done better?