Three countries, one tournament: the Men’s Soccer World Cup in North America becomes a stage for cultural encounters—between stadiums and streets, migration and myth, commerce and community.
Mexico, USA, Canada: the three North American countries are jointly hosting the World Cup 2026. However, soccer has evolved very differently in each of them. From Mexico, with its millennia-old tradition of ballgames, to the big unknown that is Canada, we introduce you to the three nations and their soccer traditions.
FIFA is promising a greener World Cup. Yet the 2026 tournament will be bigger than ever before. Air travel, high temperatures and social issues make it clear just how difficult it is to make global soccer sustainable.
Soccer is more than a game — it often becomes a mirror of larger social debates. Few other spaces reflect as clearly how a society negotiates diversity. The sport’s immense emotional power is especially evident in the national team, where questions of integration and belonging become visible.
The mental strategies elite athletes rely on can be just as powerful in everyday life. Prof. Markus Raab of the German Sport University Cologne explains how to build resilience and manage stress effectively.
