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.
EuroBasket: A Continent of Cagers
While you were on vacation, the basketball world was hard at work. Across the globe, FIBA tournaments were played or prepared for as countries vie for national bragging rights. Now, with all eyes on EuroBasket2025 and its NBA and EuroLeague stars, here’s a republication of a 2015 book review of Le Continent Basket, which delved into the history and “making of” basketball across the European continent.