The FIFA World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting event and takes place every four years. This year, the tournament is scheduled June 11–July 19 across 16 different stadiums throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. While millions of people across the globe are hyper focused on the excitement and thrill of the tournament matchups, it’s also important to understand the history and cultural impact of the World Cup.
Researchers from Michigan State University have been busy developing the live turfgrass that will be used at each of the tournament’s 16 stadiums. But with turfgrass installation plans in motion and less than a month before the games begin, there’s another researcher at MSU who has World Cup expertise to share — and he’s been at it for decades.
Peter Alegi is a professor in the Department of History at MSU’s College of Social Science. Alegi is a historian who studies how soccer connects with politics and society and has written several books on the multifaceted role of soccer in African history.
Working with a team across the country, Alegi contributed to World Cup: The Syllabus, a project that teaches students and adults about global politics and the billion-dollar forces behind the game. Here, Alegi answers questions about the project, where he was part of a team that specifically created sections on FIFA’s worldwide influence, the role of stadiums for different cultures, and how technology is changing the World Cup.
What is the World Cup Syllabus project?
Hosted by the University of Washington’s Global Sport Lab, this free digital resource brings together selected readings to help people learn about the FIFA World Cup, both the men’s and women’s tournaments, in ways that go beyond the matches themselves. The website is organized into themes such as FIFA stadiums, migration, and technology.
Each section starts with a short introduction from scholars who explain why the topic matters and provide some background. After that, you’ll find a mix of readings, some hosted on the site and others linked from elsewhere, along with a few discussion questions to help you reflect on the material.
The site is designed to be flexible. You can begin with any topic that interests you. If you like a more structured approach, you can also move through the sections in order, starting with migration and finishing with technology.
The goal is to make this research easier to access and to encourage people to think more deeply about the World Cup. The tournament is not just about the matches. It is also shaped by politics, media, economics and culture in ways that many fans might not notice.
How did this project begin?
As Seattle is a host city for the World Cup, the project was sparked by researchers at the University of Washington. The goal of the World Cup Syllabus project is to spark informed and engaged conversations about the most popular global cultural event and its entanglements with power, culture and society.
To best inform readers, researchers from across the country and across disciplines came together. They met for several months over Zoom to select themes and common readings to best share content, ensuring materials are open access.
The website went live in April, but the goal is for it to be used and referenced by high school students, college students and those wanting to learn more about the sport and history beyond the 2026 World Cup.
What was your role in developing the project?
I contributed to sections on FIFA, stadiums, and technology. Each topic shows a different side of the World Cup. FIFA focuses on power and how the event is managed. Stadiums highlight culture and social experience. Technology explores how the increasing use of computer tools and networks are transforming the game and fan involvement.
Why is FIFA important to understand?
FIFA does more than organize the World Cup. It is one of the most powerful organizations in global sports. FIFA decides how the tournament is organized, where it is held, and how billions of dollars are made and distributed. This power influences everything from fan culture worldwide to the economies and politics of the host countries.
It is important to underscore FIFA's complicated history. It has helped spread the game around the world, but it has also faced serious criticism for corruption and mismanagement. By examining FIFA more closely, we better understand not just how the World Cup operates, but also who benefits from it and why decisions matter.
What can stadiums and technology reveal about the modern World Cup?
Stadiums bring people together, but they can also reveal inequality, protest, and conflict. Technology is similar. It has changed how the game is played and watched, but it has not ended debates or controversy, as we have seen with the Video Assistant Referee system (VAR), which has raised new questions about fairness, access, and the role of human judgment. In addition, data analytics have changed the way teams train and how talent is evaluated. Finally, fandom now often takes place on social media platforms, where positive and negative dynamics unfold, from sharing of clips of goals, exciting moves, and memes, to expressing homophobia, racism, and sexism.
Why should fans think critically about the World Cup?
You can enjoy the tournament while also thinking critically about it. There is much more to the World Cup than what happens on the field, including global economics, media and politics. The syllabus is designed to help people explore these topics for themselves. For example, the section on “Protest and Resistance” highlights moments when nations, players, fans, and human rights groups used World Cup events in support of a range of causes, including greater representation of African teams in the tournament, fighting Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, advocating for equal pay for women footballers, and improving labor conditions in Qatar.
How can this tool be used and shared?
My experience teaching a course at MSU every year about the history of soccer informed my work for the website, which is designed to be a useful academic tool for instructors. I often speak with educators seeking advice on how to integrate soccer content into their pedagogy, and the syllabus can help with an initial set of readings, resources, and ideas about how to do so. Outside of an academic context, it is also created to assist anyone who wants to deepen their knowledge and interest around soccer. While not everyone may be captivated by the game, there is a bit for everyone. Whether readers are more interested in politics and international relations, technology and science or gender and culture, it is meant to be thought-provoking and informative. There is no better time than now with the 2026 World Cup coming to the United States, Canada, and Mexico!