"In Futebol Nation, Goldblatt examines in absorbing detail the special place of the sport in the country's history, from the impact made by Charles Miller, the son of a Scottish father and an Anglo-Brazilian mother, who returned from his English public school in 1894 with two footballs and a copy of the rules of the game, through the rise in the 1960s of the torcidas organizadas, the powerful supporters' groups that became a law unto themselves, to the demonstrations held in protest against lavish government expenditure on this summer's tournament in a country whose poor still live in hovels."
Richard Williams, The Guardian
"[A]n impressive cultural historian ... Goldblatt introduces us to a host of fishy schemes and schemers..."
Toby Lichtig, The Telegraph
"Goldblatt has a knack for putting football into its socio-economic context, a gift for synthesis, and frightening eloquence."
Simon Kuper, Financial Times
"[A] breezy, readable and nuanced primer to the centrality of football to Brazilian life."
Jonathan Wilson, New Statesman
"Magisterial..."
Franklin Foer, New Republic
"As David Goldblatt's engrossing Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer shows, the sport has long reflected both the best and worst of Brazil."
Economist