Previously on The Good Football
Spotted: The Good Football at the World Cup — Vol II
Spotted: The Good Football at the World Cup — Vol I
Summer is officially over for those of us who celebrated it in the past months and, for the first time I can remember, I’m okay with that. It could be because of this year’s especially brutal combo of Barcelona heat + humidity, or the desire to leave behind the crappy feeling that stayed after the World Cup, or just the readiness for new things, temperatures, outfits, and club football matches. It’s probably all of them together, but not without the nostalgic fondness for all the good things, fun, memories, and beach days that also populated my summer.
On the list of great things that happened in the past few months are:
Ferran’s Goal
For it saved us from even darker days.
The solar eclipse at Johan Cruyff Stadium
I still don’t understand why Barça scheduled a Femení friendly game at the exact hour of the eclipse, but those of us faithfulest fans were graced with a perfect view of the whole thing, while also watching Kerolin’s debut. Life is good.
Fulham Lillies’ Game Changers
I had the pleasure of talking about Cultivating the Art of The Good Football to a room filled with football-loving women (except for one — if you were there, you know; if you weren’t, all I can say is I found my first hater), and heard from great people on very interesting topics. We had a VAR workshop, and I got to complain about it directly to a specialist!!
Berlin Indie Football Festival
This event brought together a bunch of awesome people who are creating nice football things independently to talk, exchange ideas, and play a tournament. Well, not me; I don’t play football. Instead, I played team scout for the best non-winning team of the competition.
For the occasion of the festival, I had the help of my good friend Toninho to bring a very fun idea to life: The Good Football Almanaque. I put together a mini summer activity book, with an exclusive article and games that help train one’s brain while learning about brands, people and organisations promoting the good football in different ways.
This was such an exciting project to work on, because it turned out to be such a good manifestation of what The Good Football is, and what I want it to represent and become. The format nods to my childhood, where many elements of this platform point to as well. Print media has this grounding quality that feels increasingly needed, and something I’ve been leaning towards more and more. As we’re dominated by fast, overwhelming, and endless feeds, creating something physical was a deliberate choice for a slower, offline experience.
I want The Good Football to feel like that: something more evergreen than immediate, meant to invite you to stay in it a bit longer rather than quickly scrolled past (hence my struggle to create more ~content~ lately). Oh, and the word almanaque carries alma—soul—in it. Need I say more?
Even though the worst of the World Cup got the best of me and I couldn’t follow through with my plan to look for the good football during that month, I am stubborn enough to think that my point was still proven. Ahem. I believe that, between Infantino, ticket prices, and bad individual and collective postures, the ugly side of football spoke so loudly that it exposed how much people actually care. Suddenly, many of the person-holding-a-tiny-microphone-with-yellow-text-over-it videos were reacting to the lack of values, ethics, and sportsmanship in the game —even those outside the football bubble. In many ways, it was a search for comfort in what did feel right and close to what we like about the game, whether that meant rallying around teams and players displaying an admirable posture, or looking forward to the Women’s World Cup.
Despite how broken the modern game can feel, the instinct to protect its good nature is very much alive. Plus, if these voices weren’t loud and relevant, we would not have seen that pathetic face-saving carousel on Infantino’s Instagram account. In my opinion, we are still to see the impact of all of that, with more brands, clubs, and organisations creating positive cultural change and impact, and building value through those. I already see this growing among athletes — and starting to write something about it.
Anyhow, here’s the little article found on the first The Good Football Almanaque —enjoy!
Magic Is Stubborn
(Written in July 2026)
What do we do when our favourite football event becomes so tainted with the worst side of the sport that we barely recognise it? When the ghosts of World Cups past come to remind us of the magic that once existed around it, and leave us wondering where is the spirit of the World Cup this time around? Was it actually better back then or is it just that we were kids, who tend to have a better eye and heart for finding and believing in magic? Is there any magic left out there for the kids these days?
FIFA was never the orchestrator of the extraordinary of the World Cup. While they exist to set some sort of order to the machinery of football, they are not the parents trading cookies and carrots for Christmas gifts and Easter eggs in the middle of the night so we’d wake up to magic. It’s not theirs the idea to decorate the streets of Brazil every four years and bring people together to celebrate a team that carries (or used to carry) pieces of dreams and hopes and a sense of identity of a diverse and passionate nation. They did not set specific trading points in the city where we can go and negotiate stickers to complete our album. They never had any commitment to our joy or masterminded the little things that make us the happiest of beings every four years.
Or ever, for that matter. The World Cup just makes it more obvious. What we find there, we find at every matchday, in every major tournament: a game that seems to have forgotten who it belongs to. No wonder so many of us are turning to the places that seem less corrupted by this evil — women’s football, grassroots football, local clubs. Spaces where we can still feel like we get to participate, and not just watch. Where there’s a bigger sense of community, of collective goals, shared passion and struggle. Where things are more level and equal, and where there is room for everyone.
We don’t want to leave football, we want to keep looking for it. We’re creating it, and this festival is proof of that. Look around and take heart in knowing that everyone here is stubborn enough to keep finding ways to keep football alive.
Most likely there was also old time dirt with the old time magic, and what we are doing now is what our grandmothers and grandfathers, and mothers and fathers did before us: finding the magic in spite of the mess, so that someone else could experience the extraordinary in what’s always been ordinary.
And if you ask me where I’ve been finding it lately: in the small. When you get together with your fellow immigrant friends to watch your country play and feel a bit closer to home. When you see the same fans at every match and make stadium friends. When you buy a jersey to support a club rather than to fit in a crowd. When you get a bunch of people creating football things independently together, and somehow it feels more right and magical than the World Cup itself.
THE GOOD-EST LINK
I had to create a special category for this one, because I’ve thought about this video every day since I first watched it. Could it be because it’s about my team or the best team ever, and our beloved manager Papito? Yes. But it’s also such a good depiction of the good football, in my opinion.
It speaks to things I’ve been thinking about a lot lately as I reflect on the present and future of this platform, and it’s the fact that, especially in today’s world, the good football materialises way beyond what we understand as social impact. A video announcement of a manager’s contract renewal inspired by an album cover, alluding to characteristics that nod at his bond with the fanbase, with a carefully chosen and meaningful soundtrack? In the age of AI and short-lived content and fast feeds? It’s rebellious, it’s clever, creative, it’s art, and it’s culture-shaping in its own way. This is the good football. SO.👏🏽 GOOD.👏🏽
Turn the auto-translated subtitles on and enjoy it:
THE GOOD LINKS
😮💨 This drop, and the visuals. I want it all.
🪶 EC Bahia’s new kit and its campaign: flawless.
🎨 No but why is the second photo a Renaissance painting?
🧞 If a genie granted me three wishes, one of them would be this chandelier with the balls from Athletico Paranaense’s title-winning goals.
😎 These Alexia Putellas’ news.
📷 This photoshoot!
🤌 A great football club brand identity project.
👔 If I wore ties… these would be them.
🥰 Them.
💅 This Brasileirão Feminino ad. Standard hater comments paired with a classic, fun, ironic song that asks for protection against envy, anger, and poison. Chef’s kiss.
COMPLETELY OFFSIDE
Links that are not football-related but still worth sharing.
💌 My friend’s new Substack. She’s a talented photographer, videographer, and designer, and her newsletter is such a great testament to her good eye and good taste. It’s nice to read it and see the world through Thais’s eyes.
I missed coming here and writing and handpicking these links for you. Glad to be back! Also, we’re currently at 899 subscribers, and it’s kinda killing me. Will you help me get to the pretty and even number? Thanks!
