Will Brazil 2014 be the last time the football world cup matters? International football could be the purest of competitions, but the dominance of the global club brands, the bloated finals tournament and lack of surprise factor together with distaste for FIFA mean that it's increasingly becoming irrelevant. Jens Gluesing on Brazil's crumbling football dream (and more). Brazil gets military training to prepare for street protests at World Cup. Joshua Keating on potential geopolitical grudge matches of the 2014 World Cup. Adidas reveals the Brazuca, a World Cup soccer ball two and a half years in the making. Conz Preti and Marie Telling on everything you need to know about the most important part of the World Cup: Hot guys, yeah, hot guys. How many more must die for Qatar's World Cup? In hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Fifa is choosing to ignore the abuse of migrant workers. From Crazy Facts, the 2022 World Cup final is planned to take place in a city that doesn’t exist yet. Kanishk Tharoor on the next truly great World Cup. Anthropomorphized weirdos: Jon Terbush on all the World Cup mascots, ranked. Et tu, Etas Unis? Tyler Huggins on soccer and the American Dream. Major League Soccer is the only pro sports league in America where superstars can earn 140 times more than their teammates — how much longer will it be able to convince talented, internationally coveted young players like the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Kofi Opare to stay in the U.S. for $35,000 a year? Dmitry Dagaev and Konstantin Sonin on how game theory works for football tournaments.
