Football (Soccer) Media Work
This May 2025 CIES Football Observatory chart tracks French expats.
Since the 2013 publication of The Making of Les Bleus: Sport in France, 1958-2010 (Lexington Books), France won FIFA 2018, UEFA Nation’s League, and contested the FIFA 2022 final. Little surprise that the sport continues to empower the country to punch through international headlines, sporting or otherwise, for it consistently produces some of the world’s top footballers, the second largest exporter of players worldwide and the top supplier of talent to Europe.
France hosted FIFA 2019, served as home to the world’s most dominant professional football club, the women’s side at Lyon, and produced Grace Geyoro, who set a new transfer fee record in her move from Paris Saint-Germain to London City Lionesses in September 2025…even as the women’s game struggles.
Here is my collected media reporting and analysis on global football, French and otherwise, including the two foundational pieces: my 2014 New York Times article on Les Bleus and 2015 The New Yorker feature on French women’s football.
World Cup 2019
“The house that Aulas built: Why the 2019 World Cup’s biggest matches are being played in Lyon instead of Paris,” The Athletic, July 5, 2019
“Why France has won the World Cup, whatever today’s outcome,” Washington Post, June 28, 2019
“‘You open their minds’: Why France moved their women’s football academy away from Clairefontaine,” The Athletic, June 27, 2019
“World Cup excitement lures French legend Louisa Nécib-Cadamuro back into the public eye after early retirement,” The Athletic, June 21, 2019
“How the Argentina women’s team overcame their own federation to win their first ever World Cup point,” The Athletic, June 12, 2019
“Football: Une Succes-Story Américaine,” France-Amérique, April 2019.
Global Football
“The Destroyer: Kadidiatou Diani,” Eight by Eight, July 2023.
[Opinion] “How mega clubs deal with sexual abuse allegations is bigger than sport,” CNN Opinion, February 4, 2022
[Thought Leadership] “Footballing lions show how strong teams can hit their goals,” I By IMD, July 14, 2021
“How the Great War made soccer the world's most popular sport—and led to its first viral moment,” The Athletic, November 16, 2018
“Conjuring good fortune on West African pitches is more complex than mere superstition,” The Athletic, October 17, 2018
World Cup 2018
“France's World Cup title will again help women's soccer,” espnW, Aug 9, 2018
“Soccer players and NBA players are helping to spread the gospel of each others’ sports with their mutual admiration society,” The Athletic, July 30, 2018,
“Blaise Matuidi is France's soldier in the shadows,” The Athletic, July 13, 2018
“France's "Children of 1998" are united by belief (and relatively muted hair styles),” The Athletic, July 9, 2018
“‘Today, life in France stopped’ as brilliant Mbappé leads Les Bleus over Argentina,” The Athletic, July 1, 2018
“Made in France: How 52 players born in a single country made it to the World Cup,” The Athletic, June 24, 2018
