Bairro 6 de Maio
On a cold morning on the outskirts of Amadora, northwest of Lisbon, the ground gives way to rubble. Women roast corn on improvised grills, and residents sit in their doorways with morna playing low, the slow Cape Verdean music the islands call the sound of the soul. A handful of houses still stand among the […]
A Goalkeeper Went Viral. It Took a Congressman to Get His Mother to the Game
Last Monday, in the first World Cup match in Cape Verde’s history, a forty-year-old goalkeeper named Josimar Dias, known to everyone as Vozinha, faced a Spain side that produced twenty-seven attempts and still left Atlanta without a goal. Seven of those efforts forced saves, and the reigning European champions, widely expected to brush aside an […]
Africa’s Largest World Cup, Mostly Watched From Home
Ghanaian fans in the stands at AFCON 2023. Photography by Nana Asomani. The visa regime that will keep most African fans out of the stadiums of the 2026 World Cup is the same one that keeps African artists out of biennials, designers out of Paris fashion weeks, and scholars out of the conferences where their […]
The Jersey Economy: Why Africa Is the Most Valuable Untapped Market in Sports Merchandise
There is a version of this story that begins at a football match. Maybe it is a World Cup qualifier