Nigeria: the dictator and the World Cup

2016, famed Portuguese footballer Ronaldo and his teammates win Euro Cup.Portugal is one of the top favorites at the 2018 World Cup. But CR7’s persona divides the Portuguese just as much as it unites them. Many ask if Portugal relies too much on Ronaldo. It’s a love-hate relation ...  Show more

1990, Yugoslavia go to the world cup with a brilliant team. But because of the eastern bloc’s politics, Nationalism and other issues divided its people. The country was breaking apart, which threatened the team’s unity and success. The stakes were sky high : win the world cup and ...  Show more

The 1950s in Libya saw the dawning of a new era, when foreign rule ended and the country became an independent kingdom. Muammar Gaddafi was just a boy then. But inspired by Egypt’s anti-imperialist president, he became a devoted pan-Arab nationalist dedicated to one cause: overth ...  Show more

In 1987, Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was on top of the world. He’d just handed his nation a World Cup, and his club side Napoli its first league title in over 60 years. But Maradona’s hard-partying lifestyle and underworld friends would soon take their toll - and before ...  Show more

It's bizarre how long it took Argentinians to learn to love Leo Messi. His exile from his declining homeland always made him suspect. The comparison with Maradona hung over him from the start. And why was he hardly ever as good for Argentina as he was for Barcelona? We tell the s ...  Show more

In 1995, post-apartheid South Africa hosted, and won, the Rugby World Cup. It was a hugely unifying moment for the country.In 2013, Rob Bonnet heard Francois Pienaar, the captain of the victorious Springboks, explain what the triumph meant to the nation. Eye-witness accounts brou ...  Show more