Football (Soccer) Media Work
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.
It’s A Wrap: Paris Summer 2024
It’s been a tough week without that je ne sais quoi magic that the Paris 2024 Games conferred. here are a few things I’ll integrate into my global communications, sports diplomacy, and teaching work this fall.
World Basketball Day WrapUp
Thanks to those who joined me in celebration of World Basketball Day by sharing their bon mots, questions, thoughts on the game’s global imprint, Basketball Empire, and so much more. Stepping back to look at the big picture, here are three key takeaways from the exercise
Peak Wembymania?
Ahead of the NBA Draft 2023, learn more about the intergenerational story told in Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA for, contrary to some media analysis, over the past 25+ years France has become a main pipeline for talent into the North American leagues. This didn’t happen overnight, nor is it a “new” phenomenon this year.
France and the UEFA Euro at 60
France begins its UEFA Euro 2020 campaign against Germany at the Munich Football Arena. The symbolism is rife this year, and this edition is still known as Euro2020, a nod to the competition’s 60th anniversary and celebration of an integrated “Europe” that's had the French as a driving force in the post-1945 era.
Resumption of Rivalries: Women's Football in France a Year After the World Cup
Yesterday the world’s most dominant football club returned to square-off against its biggest rival in a grinding match, delayed by a power outage but finally won at the nail-biting end on penalties. The footballeuses of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) Féminin clenched their ninth Coupe de France title, eeking past Paris Saint-Germain Féminine as the rain streamed down in Auxerre, and earning their 30th championship trophy, according to L’Équipe’s statisticians. But has the pandemic pause negatively impacted women’s football in France, stunting the momentum of last summer’s FIFA World Cup?
Basketball Is Back
When we last saw the NBA in action 141 days ago on March 11, the international spotlight fell on Utah Jazz All-Star center, French international Rudy Gobert, whose positive coronavirus test result effectively shut down the league. Tonight is a very international restart. Eighty-nine players from 34 different countries will participate in the 22-team bubble in Orlando, and according to NBA International, some of the players have opted to wear social justice messages on their game jerseys in their native languages.
A Teachable Moment From #TalkingSport
I appreciated this insightful panel and the speakers’ thoughtful points. You can read my Tweet thread of highlights, which notes several key aspects I noted, and watch the highlights on YouTube. But for me, one of the discussion’s biggest value added was the speakers’ diversity of global views.
🏀The IRIS Interview🏀
Recently, I spoke with with Estelle Brun of the Sport and International Relations Programme, IRIS Geostrategic Observatory on Sport, on basketball. At hand was the question of how the sport’s globalization—and especially the NBA’s worldwide growth since 1984—has impacted international relations, the ripple effects in the WNBA, and how #hoopsdiplomacy gains attention, whether its via Dennis Rodman, the NBA-China “events” and beyond.