Seattle, where I live and work, is hosting the World Cup. Tens of thousands are gathering, paying thousands to watch matches like Belgium vs. Egypt or the USA vs. Australia. As players like Christian Pulisic weave through defenders, millions like me will find our eyes drawn to the live exhibition of a designed masterpiece: the human foot.

The human foot is beautiful and versatile. Dance shows off its beauty, and football, aka soccer, its multifunctionality. The most famous plays in the sport’s history would not be possible without the amazing ability of the foot to reconfigure, stiffen, become flexible, tilt inwards and outwards, and pivot right or left.

In 1986, Diego Maradona, an Argentine soccer prodigy, scored what is considered the greatest World Cup goal ever. How? Through rapid ankle movements. Maradona had perfected ankle control that enabled constant, subtle changes in his foot angle. This allowed him to keep the ball within inches of his foot while accelerating during the famous 11-second run, evading five defenders and the goalkeeper.

Biomechanically, Maradona relied on repeated plantarflexion—the powerful push-off motion practiced in calf raises—for explosive acceleration. He coupled this with rapid ankle inversion (tilting of the foot inward), which is anatomically allowed by four........

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