Pierre Bourdieu, within his vast cultural production, certainly deserves credit for projecting the theory of "fields" (and the concepts of habitus and capital) onto the structures that construct the international and transnational social dimension, contributing to the distinction of practices and tastes. From this perspective, even the sporting "field" acquires social value, and consequently, the FIFA World Cup becomes the phenomenon in which the international character of this passionate sport intertwines with global political dynamics and their distinction.
The sports "field" is not a team's training center, with its name, pitches, and locker rooms, but rather the application of Bourdieu's "princely" concept to football: a space where social agents compete for power through forms, resources, rules, regulations, and strategies . Metaphorically, it's fascinating to note how the football field (and the game that unfolds within it), with its roles, teams, lines, rules, referees, clothing, and technical-tactical skills, can be traced back to Bourdieu's social meaning of "field."
From the Bourdesian field to the football field
But before being a professional, regulated, and institutionalized sport, soccer is an intimately popular game. The FIFA World Cup was born in 1930, and it seems superfluous to say that since then, major changes have taken place, bringing the game to a global and universal level, achieving widespread success in areas that traditionally have little in common with soccer . This has contributed to a broader sharing of the positive and energetic values of soccer, but on the other hand, it has also become a determined and decisive phenomenon that influences the social balance of the planet, through the structuring of economic, communicative, and performative logics.
Over time, within the sports "field," structures have emerged in which play and sporting activity have adapted or conformed to corporate logic, leaving little room for free activity unconnected to the economy (contracts, sponsorships, codes of ethics, etc.). In other words, the sports "field" has become a highly conflictual space through fan bases, contracts, sponsorships, communication, digitalization, and the emergence of social media. Just think of the ultra phenomenon and everything that revolves around football, from amateur leagues to professional championships, including amateur leagues.
Italy and football
Italy, moreover, is a nation with a personal relationship with football, not coincidentally defined by many journalists as national-popular, making it a space for politics, parochialism, and conflict, but also for sharing, participation, and integration. It is therefore a sport that simultaneously unites and divides on a large scale. Still in Bourdieu's perspective, however, the international sporting "field" is acquiring strategic social importance, as we have seen how the phenomenon of football fandom and the national-popular character of football is taking root in different ways and forms, obviously, across the globe. For example, stadiums can be found packed with fans at matches of Thai, Congolese, Saudi, and American teams, demonstrating the engaging and captivating nature of football.
At the global level, the football "field" finds its highest expression and implementation in the World Cup. The World Cup is therefore the stage where nations, corporations, and political strategies of the highest order clash in a conflict constructed by institutionalized structures like FIFA, national organizations, teams, and corporate structures like sponsors, advertising, and television. Obviously, at stake are reputations, huge sums of money, infrastructure development, strategic political planning, and the coveted trophy, which unfortunately increasingly seems to frame the picture of this immense organization.
Questions to ask… in the field
Of course, organization is an essential part of such a major tournament, but in this case I'm referring to the strategies aimed at maximizing profit, for example, through the establishment of cooling breaks for players to rest, but also through the airing of three-minute commercials that generate astronomical revenue. It's tempting to wonder whether this is done more for the well-being of the players, now physically trained and accustomed to high-tempo performances, or for the acquisition of enormous wealth that will be distributed among large capitalists. The Men's World Cup is the quintessential "field" where engaging cultural, political, and social contests are played out. In the World Cup, we find the nationalistic representation of rituals, from anthems to fan demonstrations. We can understand the reason and outcome of the choice of the organizing and hosting nation, we can reflect on the European predominance of the game, and many other elements of investigation.
Analysis of the draw evening
For example, to make the discussion a little more specific and concrete, let's refer to the draw for the 2026 USA-MEX-CAN World Cup. The video of the draw, available on Rai Play , is a valuable preliminary analysis tool for the next edition of the World Cup. Here you can find the leaders of the countries and institutions, the coaches and team selectors, the selected draw makers, the artists performing, and the sponsors appearing.
This is certainly a pre-arranged and partial event that precedes the actual competition, but it can be a faithful preview of the current state of the international sports "field." Indeed, while during the tournament itself, all the debate will be technical and tactical, certainly interesting, the draw represents a purely organizational and decision-making process, providing the theme, color, and direction.
The script and the actors involved
In this scenario where the script has already been prepared, however, not even the only factor left to chance—the actual draw—can be considered autonomous and spontaneous, as there are specific rules that prevent teams from the same FIFA federation from participating in the same group and competing. But this issue touches on another point of analysis. The issue that appears most important, namely the World Cup group draw, and the one unrelated to the structure of the tournament, is actually secondary to the real topic of debate and observation: the management of the relationship between institutional stakeholders during the draw.
FIFA has had a long-standing and ongoing relationship with North America; for example, the continent has already hosted two World Cups, in Mexico (1970, 1986) and one in the United States (1994). 2026 has therefore become an opportunity to integrate Canada, its first-time host, into the World Cup organization and unify the North American continent, proposing the formula of a widespread, transnational World Cup. FIFA recognizes which of these three partners it considers privileged, as can be deduced from the distribution of cities (and stadiums) that will host the matches. Of the sixteen cities, eleven are in the United States, three are in Mexico, and two are in Canada.
The FIFA-USA relationship
The FIFA-USA relationship thus proves to be the most highly valued in political and social terms, while Mexico and Canada are merely props for the main US management. This choice essentially fell on the USA based on who, how much, how, and why they can offer FIFA in economic or organizational terms, and in terms of both planning and current affairs . The United States, therefore, appears to possess a cultural hegemony, strengthened by economic power, in which public communication by television stations, sponsorships, and elements of taste such as brands, keep the myth of the American dream alive.
The draw evening, therefore, should be considered, for this writer, a cultural representation of the US geopolitical status. In this sense, the term FIFA uses to refer to the countries organizing the international tournament, or "host countries," is reductive for the US . Host countries are, in effect, organizing countries, and there are also significant differences among them in terms of their managerial contribution to the event.
Infantino and Trump and the criticized award
The draw evening, broadcast on Rai 2 with the contribution of the Rai Sport editorial team on Friday, December 5, 2025, was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, attended by 2.000 spectators and 1 billion television viewers, according to FIFA sources. The two main entertainers were US President Donald J. Trump, as host, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as chairman. The stage setting between the two was described by Rai as an "old friendship," where "old" would seem to indicate a cunning relationship, a careful staging between two "friends" who are actually mutually strategic partners.
Infantino adopts a tone that could be described as colloquial and obsequious. At one point, he nonchalantly engages the audience with stadium chants, and at another, he honors the US president with an award, the FIFA Peace Prize, which Trump lavishly accepts, declaring that it is the most important recognition he has ever received. This award, which is in its very first edition, was created specifically for the tycoon , according to one of the RAI journalists (Rimedio).
A special award
The award criterion, read by Infantino and anticipated by the all-encompassing preamble "on behalf of the billions of people who love football," is the work of mediating and building peace agreements between countries in conflict. Infantino then reads a list of countries and agreements that testify to the tireless and transversal diplomatic work carried out by the United States and its president (Abraham Accords, Democratic Republic of Congo/Rwanda, Cambodia/Thailand, Kosovo/Serbia, India/Pakistan, Egypt/Ethiopia, Armenia/Azerbaijan, Israel/Hamas, Russia/Ukraine). This award can be interpreted as follows: Trump's second term, characterized by geopolitical activity (territorial claims, customs duties, and the signing of peace agreements), aimed to award the Nobel Prize, thanks to an (inexplicable) global pacification, for the tycoon 's personal satisfaction.
Since the Nobel Prize has been awarded to another public figure, Trump, a man no less remarkable in his professional biography, is seeking new visibility and political recognition within the context of the world's largest sporting event.
Institutional scenography of the draw
The American supremacy on the night of the draw is further highlighted by the recognition of small theatrical arrangements. The main sponsor of the evening is Aramco, a Saudi oil company with ties to the US, present under the large group draw board with the words " powered by Aramco ." When the balls are drawn, three American athletes, one Canadian, and no Mexicans are called upon. FIFA thus appears to be pandering to Trump's personal desires. Leaving aside the awarding of the prize, Infantino repeatedly emphasizes that the majority of the billions of football fans around the world are on his side, that he is speaking on their behalf, and that the World Cup will be watched by six billion people.
A direct message that (self-referentially) positions FIFA as a bridge between the hosting countries and the entire world. The all-encompassing nature of this federal football institution is also highlighted by the slogan "Football unites the world." To conceal FIFA's circumstantial contribution, which changes its partners with each World Cup, an advertisement for FIFA's education fund is broadcast, a social media message that positively showcases the federation's commitment to quality education and its engaging approach to caring for the world's poorest and most disadvantaged. Infantino goes so far as to call FIFA the world's greatest creator of happiness, essentially replacing the institution with the game. The evening concludes with a performance by the band Village People, who perform "YMCA," the song that celebrated Trump's victory in the last presidential election.
The final comment on the World Cup draw
During the live broadcast, Rai sports journalists offered a wide-ranging commentary on both the political implications of the World Cup and the technical specifics of the national teams. Antinelli called the draw "very, very American." For our part, the Rai broadcast recounted the event, starting with Italy's uncertain but hoped-for World Cup qualification. The situation of the Italian national team is indeed complex. Italy participated in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but failed to qualify for the following two editions (Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022).
This year, it risks missing out for the third consecutive year because it will have to play a play-off in March 2026. The narrative and vision of the Italian study therefore reflect a veiled melancholy , a certain amount of criticism, and the fear of a further defeat that would see football, the most participated and most followed Italian sport, fall into a deep depression. Journalists' judgmental comments on US-FIFA relations may therefore be influenced by the general context in which Italy is the great outsider.
For four-time World Cup winners Italy, being marginalized from the draw and the circle of FIFA's elite for far too long is a crucial factor in our positioning on the global sporting stage. From this marginal position, Italy can still exert influence on the sporting stage , can raise awareness of the power dynamics that exist in organizing the World Cup, and can study international sporting processes from a subordinate position, more detached from FIFA's institutional reality.
Luca Canovi
References
- P. Bourdieu, Imperialisms: International Circulation of Ideas and Struggles for Universality, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2025.
