The Power and The Glory – A New History of the World Cup

Jonathan Wilson joined an intimate roundtable with the Ambassador of Uruguay, professionals from the world of football finance, academics, and Latin American football enthusiasts. The gathered company discussed the historical importance of the global sporting competition and key collective memories of various editions.

The author started by explaining the rationale behind the book. Although there have been previous histories of the World Cup, Jonathan’s work explicitly aims to bring the political side of the competition back into focus.

For the author, the World Cup serves as a temperature check on the state of the world every 4 years. Notable events such as the Second World War are reflected in the competition, with it being cancelled in 1942 and 1946. Likewise, the growing prominence of the Middle East on the world stage was reflected in the choice of Qatar as the hosts of the 2022 edition.

Football itself has been instrumental in the process of nation-building, and the World Cup allows for manifestations of national identity on the pitch. This is particularly true for nations in Latin America. At the point that football was flourishing into a global game, the nations of Latin America were still trying to define themselves and solidify their national identity.

A telling example of this is Uruguay’s triumph at the 1924 Olympics. This victory took place mere decades after the country had experienced violent political uprisings and divisions. The football team not only provided unity amongst football federations in the country, but it put the country on the map globally and informed the Uruguayan nation of its own identity.

Likewise, in twentieth-century Argentina, the role of the gaucho was in decline, and the country was searching for a new, unifying national symbol. The image of the pibe, the urban, scrappy, footballer youth emerged. This character prioritised dribbling and playing close to the body. When Maradona made his debut for Argentina in 1977, it was clear that he was the embodiment of that identity. Indeed, Jonathan pointed out, in his greatest game in 1986 against England, his two goals were stylistically identifiably Argentinian and he has gone on to be one of the country’s national icons.

As the discussion opened to the table it turned to the national identity of teams, and how different national teams retain a distinct national character. Jonathan stressed that he certainly did believe that teams retain a national character while playing football. He explained that the short time that national coaches get to work with their teams necessitates a more simplified form of football. When this is the case teams rely on their shared experiences of football from their homes, and so a national character is expressed on the pitch.

Yet, members of the audience expressed their concern about the increasing corporate nature of the event, and whether each national team, and indeed each World Cup, was losing its individual character. Jonathan agreed that recent editions of the competition had the danger of all looking the same and being deliberately homogenized by FIFA.

However, as the conversation continued, participants shared their fond memories of the World Cup and humorous stories: from the unfinished stadiums in Brazil, to the Ambassador of Uruguay’s saving intervention in anthem proceedings in South Africa. The discussion reinforced the power and evocative nature of the competition, and the crucial role that players, teams, and fans from Latin America have played in writing its history.

Canning House would like to extend its thanks to the author, Jonathan Wilson, whose book The Power and the Glory, A New History of the World Cup, can be found using the button below.

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