Young members of the Verde Corazon ultra during a match of their club RCR, Relizane, Algeria, 2016.
“I remember February 22, 2019, with vivid clarity—the day the Hirak anti-government movement erupted in Algeria. There was a collective intuition among Algerians that something was brewing. It was a Friday, a day that naturally lends itself to protest across North Africa as people get together to carry out weekly prayers. More importantly, in the weeks leading up to that day, scattered protests began to pop up across the country. Tensions were high over the news that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika—then 81 years old and visibly debilitated by multiple strokes—intended to run for a fifth consecutive term. Describing the atmosphere in Algiers as ‘tense’ on that morning of February 22 is too simple. It doesn’t account for the accompanying tangible feelings of hope and fear in the air. In a country where formal political expression is tightly circumscribed, moments like these—when people reclaim public space en masse—become more than just protest. …”
Africa Is a Country
The politics of the football terrace
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“Canada won its first knockout game at the men’s World Cup, beating South Africa in dramatic circumstances to set up a last-16 tie with the Netherlands or Morocco. The co-hosts had never progressed beyond the group stage before but will now have the chance to go deeper still, after Stephen Eustaquio prompted wild scenes by scoring a stoppage-time winner in this round-of-32 game at SoFi Stadium, near Los Angeles. It is the end of the road for South Africa, which was also competing in its first knockout tie at soccer’s biggest international tournament. Canada now travels to Houston, with Jesse Marsch’s side hoping to upset one of the competition’s stronger teams with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. …”
Members of the Moroccan national team line up for the national anthem ahead of a friendly match against Paraguay in Lens, France, on 31 March 2026.
An image of DR Congo’s tactics against Portugal DR Congo set up in a 5-3-2 in a bid to frustrate Portugal
Scissors Kick 