This curation of The Conversation UK’s arts and culture coverage was first published in our fortnightly newsletter, Something Good.

The first round of the World Cup is over and despite this usually being the most sedate bit of the tournament, there have been some surprisingly gripping matches.

I have been told that New Zealand and Iran’s 2-2 draw was unexpectedly thrilling.

There has also been a lot of lovely talk in my various group chats about Vozinha, the 40-year-old Cape Verdean goalkeeper who was going to retire but thankfully didn’t. The African nation unexpectedly tied with European champions Spain, a historic win and debut for Cape Verde, which wouldn’t have happened without Vozinha’s career-topping performance.

And, of course, on Wednesday night, England started their 2026 World Cup campaign with a stonking 4-2 win over Croatia. And, Scotland (whose fans are winning hearts with their antics in Boston) also won their opening match, beating Haiti 1-0.

This is the first tournament to happen across three nations with Mexico, the US and Canada hosting games. Football… sorry, soccer, is the most popular sport in the world; however, it has taken a while for America to join the rest of us. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to John Sloop, a professor of........

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