one more good football read for the obsessive fan of the sport. there are good areas of focus suggested here that I wish more football journalists would explore

This is an incredible book in its breadth and scope: a significant portion of the book provides a country-by-country account of the recent history and current state of football, football leagues, and national team football. If you want to understand how world football operates beyond the EPL and Bundeliga, for instance, this is an invaluable primer. Perhaps one of the most striking underlying ideas here is that the health of football in most countries is extremely fragile and dependent on, among other things, foreign investment in infrastructure, national politics, and the increasing impact of the globalization of the five main European leagues: La Liga, EPL, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and Serie A. Goldblatt is an excellent tour guide. Is writing is compelling and keeps you turning pages. You might not have spent much time thinking about football in the Balkans, but you can't help getting drawn into the stories as they unfold in Goldblatt's accounts. If you are missing football during the COVID-19 pandemic, pick up this book and immerse yourself in world football.