EPISODE · Jun 23, 2026 · 34 MIN
Can the World Cup save America?
from Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning
‘I have come to sell a product called soccer.’ The former FIFA president Joao Havelange announced himself in 1974 with these words. They have been the model for the expansionist, grasping FIFA that has existed to this day.But maybe what matters was not the product but everything but the product?On Free State today we look at why the World Cup matters and why it might be everything that Donald Trump’s America is not.From David Clifford and Kerry to Messi and Argentina, sport is what it is because of the communities that are brought together.Could it be that as America experiences the World Cup, they see that the world is a better place than their leaders want them to believe? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What this episode covers
‘I have come to sell a product called soccer.’ The former FIFA president Joao Havelange announced himself in 1974 with these words. They have been the model for the expansionist, grasping FIFA that has existed to this day.But maybe what matters was not the product but everything but the product?On Free State today we look at why the World Cup matters and why it might be everything that Donald Trump’s America is not.From David Clifford and Kerry to Messi and Argentina, sport is what it is because of the communities that are brought together.Could it be that as America experiences the World Cup, they see that the world is a better place than their leaders want them to believe? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Can the World Cup save America?
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