Published in December 2025, Issue Fifty Nine and its five sections contains 19 articles including how a female football coach in Syria became an icon of resistance; the story of Paul Grüninger, the former Swiss winger who saved the lives of hundreds of Jews; football and state control of public discourse in Hungary; how playing the Libyan league in Milan made it possible, but not palatable.
AFRICA
Crescendo – Jonathan Wilson
For a long time this was the least eventful Cup of Nations in history. Then it wasn’t
Broken Dreams and Empty Seats – James Corbett
Ghana continues to produce great players, so why can it national team never win?
The Many Lives of George Weah – James Bennett
He never quite got his country to a World Cup, but Liberia owes a lot to George Weah
MOULD BREAKERS
Island of Lost Souls – Dave Hannigan
As Ireland prepared for the World Cup, Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy clashed on Saipan
Fit and Proper Person – Roger DomeneghettiThe safecracker George Reynolds bought Darlington in crisis and left them in crisis
Becoming Kylian Mbappé – Philippe Auclair
The Real Madrid striker was forged in the streets and schools of the Paris suburbs
US ORIGINS
The Age of the Mortar Slingers – Charles Carlson
How the plight of the Chicago Bricklayers embodies the problem of soccer in the USA
The Question of Mentalities – Dan Billingham
Nacional’s 1927 tour of the USA began with optimism but ended in acrimony
The Real Turn – Roger Peverelli
Johan Cruyff’s time in the North American Soccer League was spectacular and controversial
GLORY
Black and White – Nicholas Cooke
The impact Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup win had on the success-starved city
The Weekend of Dreams – Jake Farrell
On the vast strangeness and intensity of play-off final weekend
One-Take Legend? – John Smith
How many goes did it take Pelé to get his overhead equaliser right in Escape to Victory?
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