Number two in a series, Take Me Your Leader: Christian Pulisic is a good footballer, but he is also a product of media hype. The real Captain America is someone else on the team.

Duke Ellington in Dakar, 1966.

Can't wait for this to arrive in my mailbox.

Via @michiganquarterly.bsky.social. " A Special Folio on Sports."

Bless Mamdani for doing this! Also worth remembering that at the 2010 South Africa WC ~15% of tix were set aside for locals starting ~$20. At the 2014 Brazil WC 400,000 tix for locals started at $30. By @seanjacobs.bsky.social &AnnaOlimpia de MouraLeite elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/category-f...

We invited Pulitzer Prize finalist Suzy Hansen to our office, and the place was packed. She spoke with @seanjacobs.bsky.social from @thenewschool.bsky.social and journalist @natashalennard.bsky.social about her new book, “From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan.”

Die Pulitzer-Preis-Finalistin Suzy Hansen kam in unser New Yorker Büro und sprach mit @seanjacobs.bsky.social von @thenewschool.bsky.social und der Journalistin @natashalennard.bsky.social über ihr neues Buch „From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan".

The global game: From north London to the streets of Nairobi and Kampala @seanjacobs.bsky.social @africasacountry.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"The victory of communism is inevitable," 1978. By Vyacheslav Akhunov.

Join former fellow Suzy Hansen for a conversation about her new book, From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan, with @natashalennard.bsky.social & @seanjacobs.bsky.social at @rosaluxnyc.bsky.social in NY. Please RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We can't rule this out from becoming a reality.

“Three boys at a baseball game in Central Park, N.Y.C.,” 1962, by Diane Arbus.

From Hashem Shakeri’s series “The Kahur Does Not Fall Unless the Earth Wills It” (2018–ongoing).

Big thanks @seanjacobs.bsky.social for publishing an excerpt from my book "Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, & the FIFA Greed Machine" at "11 Named Men"! In it I argue a boycott is unlikely, but activists are ramping up to fight FIFA greed elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/red-card

Happy South African Freedom (Independence) Day.

@blacksoccerdoc.bsky.social, check your email. (Sean)

I stand corrected, but it is a football crime that the Soweto Derby - @kaizerchiefs.bsky.social vs @orlandopirates.bsky.social - is not available on any streaming service or broadcaster outside South Africa.

Just launched, a gathering of resources for teaching & thinking the World Cup, featuring contributions from @brendaelsey.bsky.social @seanjacobs.bsky.social, Peter Alegi & Martha Saveedra. worldcupsyllabus.com

The Mandela United Football Club didn't play much football.

London Review of Books contributing editor Jeremy Harding’s new book, "Analogue Africa" (@versobooks.bsky.social), consists of a series of essays that “offer a brisk, selective glimpse of the anticolonial imagination" in Africa and its diaspora.

"In Africa, soccer enjoys great popularity and has a particular place in the hearts of people..." (Nelson Mandela, May 2010).

Mayor's Ball.

Les États-Unis ont imposé à #Cuba un blocus sur les carburants et menacent de faire tomber le régime. Face à cela, les pays africains sont bien silencieux, alors que certains doivent beaucoup au peuple cubain. 📌 #USA #Colonialism #apartheid #Afrique 👉 Un parti pris par @seanjacobs.bsky.social ⤵️

Equator. Tomorrow, @seanjacobs.bsky.social and Jeremy Harding will discuss Harding’s outstanding new essay collection, “Analogue Africa”, published by @versobooks.bsky.social Register here for free: Sean Jacobs talks to Jeremy Harding about his new book Analogue Africa and the light it casts

 “Each country brings its own rhythm [to the World Cup]: Ivorian fans with their percussion, Ghanaian brass bands, and, if the DRC makes it through the playoffs, the iconic ‘Patrice Lumumba’ figure standing and singing for an entire match.”  Via @forbesafrique.com.web.brid.gy @forbes.com

... sting like a bee.

Michel Kuka Mboladinga, incidentally, did not get a visa to attend DRC's final qualifying match today in Guadalajara.

Les footballeuses sud-africaines pourraient ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives en Amérique du Sud et en Amérique centrale à leurs compatriotes masculins, qui n’ont pas réussi à briller jusqu’ici, en dépit de recrutements ponctuels depuis cinquante ans. afriquexxi.info/La-promesse-...

Mohamed Salah is one of the all-time greats of the Premier League, but he is a G.O.A.T. for this.

An ode to Mo Salah.

I will be presenting, along with Martha Saavedra, on Monday, April 6th, as part of this series on the 2026 World Cup, organized by the Global Sports Lab at the University of Washington. The series is online. jsis.washington.edu/news/spring-...

NTRODUCING EQUATOR SEMINARS! The 2026 Men's World Cup is set to be the most political tournament in history. @davidgoldblatt.bsky.social, one of the world's foremost writers on football and society, breaks it all down in our first ever online seminar. Sign up: equator.org/courses/worl...

On this day in 1951, Iran nationalized its oil industry, triggering a US-backed coup.

"Evening Prayer, Muslim Father and Son, New York, 1963", by Gordon Parks.

Mahmoud Darwish (born 13 March 1941) could bring his lyric precision to anything, even football. On Diego: “Strong as a bull. Fast as a missile. He enters the stadium as if entering a church. He sifts through the defense and scores. Doctors won’t find blood in his veins. They will find rocket fuel.”

White Genocide substack.com/@seanhjacobs...

"A group of boys playing cricket in a Salt River side road during the December Holidays, Cape Town, 2014." By Mads Nørgaard.

People keep waiting for Lionel Messi to say or talk about politics; otherwise, they argue, they can’t make up their minds about where he stands. But just look at how he moves and what he does. That will tell you everything. For example, elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/goat-tours

Lionel Messi has allegience to one thing: money elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/goat-tours...

Abdullah Ibrahim (born 1934) and Carlos Ward (1940 - 2026) in Nyon, Switzerland, 1983. By Dany Gignoux.

Give the good people at @goldengoalmag.bsky.social all your money: www.kickstarter.com/projects/mag...

Rahima Gambo, 2017.

El País summarizes the Bodo Glimt philosophy: "All for one ... always together under the banner of Scandinavian socialist corporatism."

Credit where it’s due: South Africa saw Trump’s tariff chaos for what it is: domestic U.S. theatre. It’s not about deracialisation, foreign policy, or “white genocide” myths. Don’t expect Business Day, News24, the DA, or other Western-leaning critics in South Africa to admit it.

Biodun Jeyifo (5 January 1946 – 11 February 2026). Google him.

From @tonykaron.bsky.social on World Cup danger: "The physical safety of visiting black and brown fans is now threatened not only by the mass shooters... The government itself, via its violent, racist, and unaccountable enforcement of immigration laws, represents an arguably more palpable threat."

Are we surprised mainstream Western liberal media have ignored the CPJ report on the torture of Palestinian journalists in Israeli captivity? Nope. Because the genocide has exposed the fundamental racism of Western liberal media www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...