The Power and the Glory: The History of the World Cup

by Jonathan Wilson

The first comprehensive history of the World Cup, the most watched sporting event on the planet, a global obsession that has become the greatest cultural event there has ever been offering a quadrennial insight into the broader currents of world history.

For readers of David Goldblatt and Franklin Foer, and for Coach Beard (of Ted Lasso) who devotedly read Jonathan Wilson’s classic book on soccer tactics Inverting the Pyramid, here is the definitive cultural and social history of the world’s greatest spectator event bar the World Cup. Nor since Eduardo Galeano’s epigrammatic  Soccer in Sun and Shadow has a book displayed the full century of  soccer history and all of its global significance to such captivating effect.
 

Genres: Soccer, History, Sports, Nonfiction

576 pages, Hardcover

Published October 28, 2025

About the author

Jonathan Wilson is a British-born writer and professor who lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Jonathan Wilson is the author of seven books: the novels The Hiding Room and A Palestine Affair, a finalist for the 2004 National Jewish Book Award, two collections of short stories Schoom and An Ambulance is on the Way: Stories of Men in Trouble, two critical works on the fiction of Saul Bellow and most recently a biography, Marc Chagall, runner-up for the 2007 National Jewish Book Award. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and Best American Short Stories, among other publications, and he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate, Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Humanities at Tufts University.

Wilson also writes a column on soccer for the Internet Newspaper, The Faster Times.

Reviews

[Kadin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A timely read ahead of the World Cup in the U.S. this year. Jonathan Wilson's books are always very thoroughly researched and include some fascinating small details. It's remarkable how far the World Cup (and soccer, in general) has come from being played by part-time and out-of-shape barkeepers to being the height of athletic achievement on the world stage. And how political the most watched sporting tournament in the world always has been.

[Dave Suiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Wilson seamlessly blends real-world political history with the drama of sport in "The Power and the Glory: A History of the World Cup." He does not shy away from the scandals surrounding FIFA or the murky politics behind choosing host nations for soccer’s premier event. At the same time, Wilson revisits the on-field heroics that define the tournament, from Pelé and Maradona to Mbappé and Messi. Most compelling is his ability to view the last century—its wars, conflicts, and social movements—through the lens of football, the world’s most popular sport, revealing how the World Cup has both reflected and shaped the modern world.

[Lennart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly detailed and jam packed with information. Can it be a little too much sometimes, absolutely. But it does justice too all the world cups providing political and sporting insight into the context surrounding the events.

Oddly surprised at the prevalence of political involvement in World Cups, I thought this was a more recent development.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pretty remarkable and usually fascinating book (no surprise coming from Wilson), but it can be a little overwhelming at times, especially when a given Cup's chapter feels more filled with trivia than big picture understanding. The early era and '50s Brazil are especially compelling, but, really, the whole thing's a great read for soccer fans.

[Kenzo Maczo · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5 stars).

Thoroughly researched, tying global geopolitics to the World Cup.

Interesting to learn of Hungary having a golden era in the 1950s, where they lost only once in 6 years. That one loss was the world cup final.

[William McCabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book on the World cup and world history as well. Highly recommended!

[Margery Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read w Miguel Delaney’s book and you’ll considering giving up football. (I mean as if—there’s no replacement is there?) Learned a lot here.

[Charlie Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the later chapters are slightly uneven and assume a level of knowledge about how the tournaments played out but this was otherwise a fantastic read