FIFA World Cup 2022: Greatest show on Earth returns
At its best and its worst, the FIFA World Cup is more thrilling than any other event can conjure up. A live performance unequalled in its vigour and trickery, the thralling geometry of its movement a mere foil to the violent earnestness of its combat. From 1930 to 2022, from Pele to Zidane to Mbappe, here's a walk down the lanes of the history of the beautiful game
By: Madhu Kapparath
2018
Mid-life prizes
When 45-year-old Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary lined up against Saudi Arabia at Russia 2018, he made record as the oldest player in World Cup history. El Hadary began playing football in his early teens, washing the mud off his clothes in a local river after a game to avoid his parents knowing. Spotted by a second division club at 17, El Hadary was handed goalkeeping gloves in his first training session. After making history in 2018, El Hadary donated the jersey and gloves he wore at the game to the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich where it was displayed in the special exhibition “Foot et Monde Arabe”.
