Football never stops now.
The World Cup is about to show us where the game is going. Mapping Football’s Future explains how we got here and what comes next.
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Mapping Football’s Future is a thought-provoking nonfiction book for serious football fans who want to understand where the game is heading - on the pitch, in the boardroom, in the stands, and across the world.
From tactics and technology to money, governance, culture, and fandom, the book explores the forces reshaping football beyond the weekly results.
The Team Behind The Book
Robin Smith
Author
Dr Viet Hai Phung
Editor
Ready to see where football is heading?
Countdown to the World Cup final
The tournament will show us where football is going. Mapping Football's Future explains how we got here.
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Seven big questions about where the game goes next
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A short, thoughtful briefing for fans, writers, coaches, journalists, academics, and curious supporters who believe football is more than a game — it’s one of the clearest mirrors of where sport, money, technology, culture, and society are heading.
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For readers who think beyond the scoreline
Football has always been more than ninety minutes.
It is identity, business, politics, technology, community, ritual, entertainment, and power, often all at once.
Mapping Football’s Future asks what happens next.
How might technology change the way the game is played, watched, owned, and governed?
What happens when clubs become global brands, data companies, cultural institutions, and political actors?
How will fans respond as football becomes more connected, commercial, and contested?
This book is for people who love the game enough to question where it is going.
What the book explores
Mapping Football’s Future looks across the forces that could shape the next era of football, including:
the future of tactics, coaching, and player development
the role of data, AI, cyber risk, and emerging technology
money, ownership, governance, and power
fan culture, identity, loyalty, and protest
the globalisation of the game
football’s place in wider society
No predictions for prediction’s sake. No transfer gossip.
A broader map of the futures football may be moving toward — and why they matter.
Keep Reading Beyond the Scoreline
Get the free Football's Future Briefing — seven big questions about where the game goes next.