FIFA World Cup 2026: The Beautiful Game Faces an Identity Crisis

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1529 EAT on Thursday 9 July 2026

“They don’t care about the beautiful game. They don’t care about the elegance of football. In my time, we used to think and give a little show.”

Those were the words of legendary Brazilian footballer Pelé, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil — a tournament eventually won by Germany.

More than a decade later, his warning continues to resonate as debates grow over the direction of modern football and whether the sport has lost some of the creativity, flair and artistry that once defined it.

Pelé’s criticism reflected concerns that the game was becoming increasingly focused on results, tactics and commercial interests at the expense of individual brilliance, imagination and the joy that made football the world’s most loved sport.

That tournament marked a turning point for Brazil. It was expected to be a global showcase of the country’s footballing tradition and the individual brilliance of stars such as Neymar, Oscar and Hulk.

Instead, Brazil suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in World Cup history, losing 7-1 to a ruthless German side in the semi-finals — a result that continues to haunt the nation years later.

Germany’s triumph became a symbol of a changing era in football, demonstrating the growing dominance of highly organised, physically demanding teams built around tactical discipline and relentless work rate. It reflected a shift away from the traditional approach of relying on individual flair, improvisation and moments of spontaneous creativity to both entertain supporters and win matches.

Pelé’s Brazil team that won the 1970 World Cup in Mexico is regarded by many football historians as the last truly great side to lift the trophy while embodying the spirit of the “beautiful game”.

Four years later, at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, Brazil found themselves tactically outmanoeuvred by emerging football philosophies, most notably the Netherlands’ revolutionary approach known as “Total Football”.

The 1974 tournament marked a significant turning point in football’s history, as the sport entered an era of rapid commercialisation.

The election of João Havelange as FIFA president that same year ushered in a new chapter for the game, characterised by the expansion of global sponsorship deals, increased television revenues and the transformation of football into a major commercial enterprise.

Previous sponsorship agreements had largely been local and independent, but by the mid-to-late 1970s, global brands such as Adidas and Coca-Cola had become deeply integrated into FIFA’s commercial ecosystem through premium partnerships — relationships that continue to shape football’s business landscape today.

Broadcasting followed a similar path. The value of television rights surged as national network deals expanded, while the rise of sports cable subscriptions from around 1980 opened new revenue streams and transformed football into a global entertainment industry.

The game had entered an era of unprecedented financial growth, and with it came higher expectations and greater pressure to succeed.

As sponsorship and broadcasting revenues soared, the financial rewards for clubs, players and national teams reached levels previously unimaginable. Winning increasingly became the overriding priority, while traditional ideals of style, creativity and entertaining football were gradually pushed into the background.

However, despite football’s transformation into a global commercial powerhouse, some teams have continued to preserve the artistry and creativity associated with the “beautiful game”.

Two of the most celebrated examples from World Cup history are the Netherlands side that reached the 1974 final and Brazil’s iconic team at the 1982 tournament in Spain.

The Dutch team of 1974 may have moved away from the individual brilliance and expressive style of Pelé’s legendary Brazil sides by introducing the revolutionary concept of “Total Football”. The system, in simple terms, allowed outfield players to interchange positions freely, meaning a winger could drop into defence or a defender could move into midfield depending on the flow of the game.

Led by the extraordinary Johan Cruyff, the Netherlands produced a brand of football that was fast, fluid and relentlessly attacking. They proved that the spirit of the beautiful game was not exclusive to Brazil or South America, but could also thrive in European football.

Although their philosophy was ultimately undone in the 1974 final, where a pragmatic West Germany exposed weaknesses in their approach, the Dutch side left a lasting legacy. More than 50 years later, it is still the Netherlands team that many fans remember most vividly — despite West Germany being the champions.

A similar story unfolded with Brazil at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Featuring a generation of gifted players including Sócrates, Zico, Éder and Júnior, Brazil captivated supporters around the world with an attacking style that revived memories of the 1970 champions. Their creativity, movement and technical brilliance made them one of the most admired teams in World Cup history.

Yet, like the Netherlands eight years earlier, Brazil failed to lift the trophy. They were eliminated by eventual champions Italy in a dramatic second-round encounter.

Despite their defeat, Brazil’s 1982 team became immortalised for the beauty of their football, proving that a team’s legacy is not always defined by trophies, but also by the way it plays the game.

In England, where the modern game was born, football was once regarded as the sport of the working class — an affordable form of entertainment that offered ordinary people a sense of community and escape from everyday struggles.

Today, however, the rising cost of attending matches has left many traditional supporters struggling to afford the experience. Premier League ticket prices have climbed to levels that have increasingly pushed working-class fans away from the stadiums.

A recent survey by English supporters’ groups found that top-flight football ticket prices in England have increased by about 800 percent since 1990, highlighting the growing gap between the modern game and many of its historic fan bases.

The commercialisation of football has been even more pronounced on the international stage, where the FIFA World Cup has become the organisation’s biggest revenue generator. Ticket prices for the 2026 tournament have ranged from about $60 to more than $10,000, contributing to FIFA’s projected revenues of nearly $9 billion.

Since the United States last hosted the World Cup in 1994, the cost of attending football’s biggest tournament has risen steadily. A Category One ticket for the 1994 World Cup final cost $475 — equivalent to approximately $1,074.45 when adjusted for inflation to 2026.

The sharpest increase came between the 2022 and 2026 tournaments. The price of a Category One World Cup final ticket rose by about 600 percent, increasing from an inflation-adjusted $1,833.91 in 2022 to a reported $10,990 for 2026.

The result is that attending live World Cup matches in 2026 has increasingly become a privilege reserved for a smaller, wealthier section of global football supporters, raising questions about whether the sport is drifting away from the ordinary fans who helped build its legacy.

-Aljazeera

Invest or Donate towards HICGI New Agency Global Media Establishment – Watch video here