
What happened to the beautiful game?
What happened to the beautiful game?
Has football lost its soul? From Pele’s “Joga Bonito” to billion-dollar World Cups, sky-high ticket prices and growing commercialisation, the game has changed. But stories like Cape Verde’s fairytale run show football can still be beautiful. Al Jazeera’s Rahul Pathak explains.
Published On 9 Jul 2026