Who needs fiction when the world of soccer packs so much drama and intrigue? Here are the best books out there on the beautiful game from North London to Brazil, without forgetting Holland and a tiny village in Italy.
1. The Miracle of Castel di Sangro — Joe McGinniss
McGinniss spent a year in the tiny village of Castel di Sangro to write this book and produced a wonderful portrait of a town consumed by soccer. Languishing at the bottom of Italy’s second division, Serie B, the poor team of Castel di Sangro is playing just to avoid relegation. But the players aren’t distant figures who seem to exist only on the field and on television. McGinniss introduces them to the reader as everyday men who happen to play soccer for a living and are part of a small town’s fabric.
2. How Soccer Explains the World — Franklin Foer
With a novel take on globalization, Foer shows just how powerful soccer is on the world stage by examining the social and political dynamics around the game. In Scotland and Serbia, he shows how divisive soccer and its supporters can be, while in Iran he paints it as a force for modernization.
3. Fever Pitch — Nick Hornby
With charming personality, Hornby recounts the trial and tribulations of coming of age as an Arsenal fan. Individual games punctuate his life and loves as they create the rhythm of his first-person narrative. Hornby provides a wonderful case study of just how much the fortunes of 11 men he’s never met can impact a fan when they blur the line between team and identity.
4. Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football — David Winner
In the 1970s, the Dutch national team rocked the game with a brand of soccer that had never been seen before: Total Football. Every player on the field seemed capable of playing every position — and often did. Winner offers a lively, detailed look at how the Dutch pioneered this new system that meshed individual creativity a fresh approach to team movement.
5. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life — Alex Bellos
An insightful look inside that turned soccer into the beautiful game, Futebol is almost a biography of the all-powerful deity the sport has become in Brazil. More than just a game, it is a bastion of the nation’s cultural identity and crops up in every facet of Brazilian life, from the beaches of Ipanema to the floor of the parliament.