The story of how football transformed the world, told through nine World Cups - by one of our most talented football writers

A Sports Book of the Year in the Irish Times, the FT and the Mail on Sunday

'Kuper is one of the best sportswriters in the English language today' New Yorker

The ultimate book for anyone who loves football, and plenty who don't ... Unmissable -- 'Sports Books of the Year' ― Mail on Sunday


It's the biggest competition on Earth.
A four-yearly chance for the world's greatest footballers to realise their ultimate dream.
A month-long media spectacle that's watched by billions.

The World Cup has changed beyond recognition since the early days, when the players were semi-pros and the trophy went missing. Today, it's a corporate-led bonanza of dark money and dubious ethics.

Simon Kuper, bestselling author of Barça, reflects on every tournament since Italia 90 to reveal a captivating portrait of sport in a globalised world.
Entertaining and compelling, World Cup Fever is the definitive story of football's greatest drama, and of how the tournament can touch - and even change - our lives.


Kuper is an excellent guide... his book is filled with memorable vignettes ― Spectator

'A brilliant evocation of the joy of the football carnival and the absurdities of the global spectacle... an essential companion' David Goldblatt

Charming and amusing ― Literary Review

Kuper keeps the pages turning ... shines a light on the geopolitical happenings around each tournament ― Irish Times

An essential warm-up for making sense of the extraordinary World Cup to come ... [Kuper] is a wry and sharp-eyed guide to the high-camp theatre of Fifa politics and the everyday carnival of fans on city streets ― New Statesman

Details

ISBN13: 9781805224129
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 352
Edition: Main
Publication Date: 01 Sep 2026
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 19.6(H)x12.8(L)x2.4(W)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Simon Kuper is an author and Financial Times journalist, born in Uganda and raised around the world. An Oxford graduate, he later attended Harvard as a Kennedy Scholar. He has written for theGuardian, Observer, and The Times and is also the author of Chums, The Happy Traitor, Football Against the Enemy and Barça. He lives in Paris with his family.

Reviews

The ultimate book for anyone who loves football, and plenty who don't ... Unmissable -- 'Sports Books of the Year' * Mail on Sunday *
Delightful * Economist *
Kuper is one of the best sportswriters in the English language today * New Yorker *
Kuper is an excellent guide... his book is filled with memorable vignettes * Spectator *
Charming and amusing * Literary Review *
Kuper keeps the pages turning ... shines a light on the geopolitical happenings around each tournament * Irish Times *
An essential warm-up for making sense of the extraordinary World Cup to come ... [Kuper] is a wry and sharp-eyed guide to the high-camp theatre of Fifa politics and the everyday carnival of fans on city streets * New Statesman *
[Kuper] is one of the great soccer authors of the past few decades -- Malachy Clerkin * Irish Times *
I love this book. An extraordinary work of nonfiction; it's personal, global - a remarkable book -- John Green * The Away End Podcast *
A zippy history of football's biggest tournament * YOU Magazine *
A delightful memoir, travelogue, and journal, Simon Kuper's World Cup Fever is a wry and sharp-eyed account of the world's now biggest public ritual. A brilliant evocation of the joy of the football carnival and the absurdities of the global spectacle, it remains alert to the game's ever closer pact with money and power. It is an essential companion to the tournament, for it allows us to look at the sun and not be blinded -- David Goldblatt, author * The Ball is Round *
A series of wise, wry and revealing reflections on football's greatest tournament and what it tells us about the world. Football Against the Enemy was one the three books that effectively invented modern football writing, and Kuper continues to lead the genre. -- Jonathan Wilson, author * Inverting the Pyramid *
Praise for Barça: A masterfully written history of the world's greatest football club -- Gary Lineker
An instant classic -- Bill Buford
Simply unmissable -- Amy Raphael
A masterclass on football -- John Carlin
Praise for Soccernomics: Magnificent * Guardian *
An Arsène Wenger of a book - more thoughtful than most of its rivals and, by football standards, positively intellectual. * The Times *