How Soccer Explains the World summary

In São Paulo, Brazil, soccer is more than just a game – it’s a representation of community and identity. Each club in the city mirrors a distinct demographic. Portuguese immigrants have their own club, as do Italian immigrants, the working class, and the elite. This isn’t a Brazilian phenomenon: clubs representing specific community identities is a common theme across soccer nations globally. Fans support these teams as extensions of their community identities, tied to geography, class, ethnicity, or religion.

According to commentators like Thomas Friedman, globalization was supposed to dilute these kinds of intense local identities, promoting a supra-national mentality that transcended traditional geographic boundaries. These kinds of thinkers suggested that as the world became more interconnected through economic integration, nationalistic sentiments would wane, replaced by a broader, more inclusive kinship. That’s not how things panned out. 

The historical home of soccer is undoubtedly England, where the game was invented and codified. But for many fans, Brazil is the sport’s spiritual home. Brazilians, it’s often said, play the game with greater panache than any other nationality. At their feet, soccer becomes o jogo bonito, “the beautiful game.” 

But for all its self-evident qualities, Brazilian soccer has long been in crisis. In the age of globalization, Brazil’s domestic clubs are increasingly becoming so-called “feeder clubs.” These clubs excel at spotting and developing local talent, but they rarely retain their best players.

When the Shah of Iran assumed power in 1941, he launched an ambitious campaign to modernize the country, embracing Western fashion like suits and ties, and promoting Western sports, especially soccer. The government went so far as to repurpose mosque properties into soccer fields, positioning the sport as a symbol of modernity and progress. This move sparked outrage among religious leaders, particularly due to the attire of soccer players, whose uniforms featured shorts that exposed players’ thighs.

The Shah’s efforts were abruptly halted by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which saw a sharp reversal in policies. The new regime restored the soccer fields to the mosques and actively discouraged the sport, challenging the populace with rhetorical questions about the relevance of sports amid unresolved political, economic, and cultural crises.

Soccer in the US dances to a different beat than the rest of the world, where it roots deeply in working-class traditions. In the US, it’s embraced by the middle class, particularly on the coasts, where liberal values from the 1960s still shape attitudes towards sport. Soccer became the go-to for parents who frowned upon the violence of American football, the competitive spotlight on individual players in baseball, and basketball’s association with inner-city life. Soccer, with its emphasis on team play and perceived gentleness, aligned perfectly with a more cosmopolitan, peace-loving approach.

This association has led to a cultural clash within the US itself. The working class often views soccer with suspicion, seeing the middle class’s adoption of the game as a turn away from traditional American sports like baseball and football – sports that are seen as emblematic of American culture and values. The image of soccer fans as middle-class, French-cheese-eating, anti-war activists watching European matches in Barcelona jerseys only fuels these divisions. Soccer, for many, isn’t just a sport but a statement, and not necessarily a unifying one.