World Cup becomes cult of the individual but ignores team complexity
Quick summary
Jonathan Liew argues that World Cup coverage has shifted toward idolizing individual stars at the expense of recognizing the complex tactical and collective nature of modern football.
Full article
Attributed to original sourceThe irony of the superstar-heavy narrative is the way it embellishes rather than diminishes importance of the collective
“Cristiano Ronaldo’s record-equalling sixth World Cup got off to a disappointing start,” began the Reuters match report of Portugal’s 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo last week. And yes, OK: everyone knows how this game works and why everyone plays it. On one hand, perhaps the greatest sporting day in the history of the world’s 15th most populous country. On the other, 41-year-old man does not score. It’s no contest, really. Get those sweet keywords front and left. Harvest that delicious search traffic. Perhaps you even noticed how I just did exactly the same thing.
And yet something does feel qualitatively different this summer: a tectonic shift driven partly by events on the pitch and partly at the behest of the industry itself. This is a World Cup swimming in star names, and never have those star names been so unapologetically, unquestioningly invoked. France do not beat Iraq ; instead Kylian Mbappé throws down the gauntlet to Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and the rest. According to Google, Miroslav Klose’s goals record has been searched more at this tournament than in the year he set it. At times the group phase has felt like an inconvenient distraction from the real business of the Golden Boot race. ( Can Lionel Messi lift the one trophy he hasn’t won yet? )
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What happened
In an editorial for The Guardian, Jonathan Liew contends that the World Cup—particularly ahead of the 2026 edition—has become a media spectacle centered on individual superstars rather than the intricate team dynamics that actually decide tournaments. He suggests that while the cult of the player drives narratives, ratings, and social media engagement, it obscures the tactical sophistication, collective structures, and systemic complexity that define elite football. The piece is a meditation on how modern football culture prioritizes personality-driven storytelling over substantive analysis of how teams actually function.
Chance analysis
This is a philosophical/cultural commentary rather than actionable football intelligence. It reflects a broader tension in football media: individual brilliance sells stories, but team coherence wins tournaments. For prediction systems, the article reinforces the principle that individual star metrics (goals, assists) often fail to capture the defensive organization, pressing structures, and collective patterns that determine outcomes. It implicitly argues against over-reliance on player-level data in match prediction.
No direct impact on teams, players, or matches; the article offers cultural critique of World Cup coverage rather than tactical or personnel news.
Editorial reminder that team-level tactical cohesion and structural metrics may be more predictive than individual star ratings in tournament football.