FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS, THE GOETHE-INSTITUT PHOTO EXHIBITION ‘WELTSPRACHE FUßBALL – PLANET FOOTBALL’ HAS VISITED MORE THAN 100 CITIES IN ANTICIPATION OF THIS MONTH’S WORLD CUP. THE IMAGES REVEAL THE BEAUTIFUL GAME’S ABILITY TO UNITE CULTURES AND OVERCOME SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS ISSUES Let the games commence! Adidas, sponsors of the FIFA World Cup, introduce the world to thefirst synthetic football at the 1986 event held in Mexico. It was the tournament where football legend Diego Maradona scored with the ‘hand of God’ in the quarterfinal against England. Left: The French, known for their ‘joie de vivre’, take their love of football, siestas and sunbathing to the next logical level

photography: magnum photos

The stuff of legend: keeping her eye on the ball, Marilyn Monroe strikes out in the name of football and opens the USA-Israel Football International at Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1959. The stadium was torn down in 1960, but the memory lives on thanks to photographs such as these from thefilm star’s visit; (facing page, clockwise from top) as the sun sets in the Atacama desert, a child decides football is no fun played alone; but on the beaches of Martinique the smooth surface and occasional wave obstacles are perfect; Cameroon, an enthusiastic footballing nation where everyone plays the game, including all the children at this Catholic mission who, as they run through the bush, don’t care whether they wear shoes or not

 

‘THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF FOOTBALL IS UNDERSTOOD AS MUCH IN THE SLUMS AS IT IS IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST CITIES’

‘MAN IS ONLY FULLY HUMAN WHEN AT PLAY’ FRIEDRICH SCHILLER, AUTHOR

A typical English summer day in 1982; the ball breaks for freedom at Carandiru Prison in Brazil in 1997; at Maynooth seminary in Kildare, Ireland, in 1962, priests remove their robes to reveal football kit; young girls play football in their high school courtyard in Tehran, Iran; rain doesn’t stop play in Portugal – children simply grab their umbrellas and finish the game