Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev holds France star Kylian Mbappe during a match against Paraguay at Philadelphia Stadium on July 4
“A politician in Paraguay was condemned by her colleagues because she couldn’t let a soccer match go by without outing herself as a bigot. A Cape Verde winger captained the purest fairy tale story of the 2026 World Cup under the very real, very dark cloud of rape allegations. The South Korea coach needed protection from riot police upon returning home because he hadn’t led the country out of the group stage. The Egyptian coach strongly hinted at match-fixing in his team’s loss in the knockout round. The football community in Gaza City is mourning the death of a watch party organizer who was killed on July 7 in an Israeli air strike. The real world has invaded the World Cup. Or, truly, it has always been there, lurking beneath the propaganda of unity and the starry cutaways of A-listers in suite seats. Though we surrender our free time to the drama found in extra time, these 39 days of distraction can’t obscure the truth: The beautiful game is plagued by ugliness. These matches should not divert our attention from something as serious as the sexual assault allegations and investigations facing three players in the tournament. …”
NYT/ATH (Video)