Midfield General

Here's our martial World Cup wrap-up -- where the beautiful game is just war by other means.

In case you couldn’t tell, a new Germany has won the World Cup.

Why Germans and Argentines have so much in common, even in soccer.

For Argentina's soccer team, like its economy, diversification is the key to success.

In soccer or in war, a bronze medal isn’t worth much.

Surprise -- there are limits to how well politics and economics can predict World Cup matches.

As a football team and as a people, the Dutch have replaced style with staying power.

The Argentine government’s exploitation of football would make a World Cup victory bittersweet.

If chants and protests in Brazil left egg on FIFA’s face, Russia and Qatar are cooking up an omelet.

Brazil’s stunning exit from the World Cup brings its other problems back into focus.

Alfredo Di Stéfano was a man without a country who may have played for three.

Argentina has made it to the semifinals of the World Cup without its usual tricks.

Neymar’s injury shows what happens when soccer enters a bad equilibrium.

In soccer, as in politics, plenty of Russians think the root of all evil lies in the West.

Match-fixing by soccer players is the least of the sport’s problems.

Failure in this year’s biggest club competition shows money isn’t everything.

Hint: It’s the goals. But that's not the whole story.

German-Americans raised on U.S. bases in soccer’s Fatherland have carried the team to the Round of 16. Can our Asian allies really produce the soccer stars of tomorrow?

Want to find out what an Argentine politician stands for? Ask him about soccer.

Just like in politics and law, saying otherwise won’t do anyone any good.