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  • By Sasha Issenberg

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Allez les … eh, not us

47%The share of voters who associate with France’s far-right National Rally who told the latest POLITICO Poll that they would be proud if their country…

France’s far right didn’t drop its grudge against Les Blues. It recast it.

What was once an attack on immigration and identity has become an attack on privilege and elitism — a shift that mirrors the party's path…

How sports diplomacy for a dead empire built a World Cup underdog

The Jogos da Lusofonia was supposed to be junior varsity Olympics glue for ex-Portuguese colonies. Instead it seeded Cape Verde’s improbable rise.

Boys will be boycotters

14% The share of Spanish respondents over the age of 65 who told the POLITICO Poll before the World Cup began that they expected other…

Birthright citizens score

The scorer of the opening American goal against Bosnia, Folarin Balogun, is eligible to play for the United States only because airline employees in New…

Pride (in the game of love)

Sixty-two percent of Brits say they would feel pride if England won the World Cup, well above the number recorded in France but below Spain…

The real Pride Match is about to kick off

Two gay-rights pioneers walk into a World Cup bracket.

Mark Carney, king of the cup

One North American leader has made the tournament his own.

The “Pride Match” that wasn’t

Local organizers hoped rainbow flags would fill Lumen Field. They were largely outnumbered by lion-and-sun banners and tricolor facepaint.

A drag queen, a rainbow festival and a game FIFA can’t control

Seattle’s “Pride Match” for the Iran-Egypt game is unofficial, unlicensed and entirely the point.