10 controversial World Cup moments

Five unforgettable World Cup moments

Great things happen on the biggest sporting stage the world has to offer. Check out five of the most amazing moments from the last twenty years of World Cup soccer.

Revisit 10 iconic moments from the Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup was inaugurated over 60 years after the men's, but it has kept pace with its production of iconic moments. Revisit the player revolts, sports bras, shocking referee decisions, and more that comprise the top moments in Women’s...

How the soccer World Cup works

The World Cup is the biggest game in the world. Watch this video to learn how it works and how it came to be such a massive world event.

The 20th-century rise of fascism affected the World Cup

Spain, in the midst of a civil war, did not participate, and Japan, after invading China, pulled out of the competition. An additional six Central and North American teams scratched by the time that year's World Cup began.

The World Cup ball has had 23 different designs

Adidas has supplied the official ball for the last 15 iterations. The first World Cup final featured two different balls: one provided by Argentina and one supplied by Uruguay. Argentina was winning 2-1 before the balls were switched. Uruguay went on to win the match 4-2.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the game that led to the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Brazil is one of the World Cup's most legendary teams

After a 12-year pause for World War II, the World Cup returned in 1950 in Brazil. Brazil dominated the era, claiming titles in 1958, '62, and '70 behind teen sensation Pelé, who went from poverty to a soccer legend before turning 17.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Over time, the World Cup became a commercial powerhouse

The 1954 World Cup featured the first live black-and-white televised broadcast of the event, and, in 1970, FIFA introduced color broadcasts in primetime. Increasing revenues pushed private networks to aggressively bid for broadcast rights. Today, the event is a commercial powerhouse, with the 2026 World Cup projected to generate around $4B in TV rights revenue.

The biggest controversies of the NFL

Some of the biggest controversies in NFL history didn’t just spark debate—they changed the game. From Spygate and Deflategate to concussion research and the league's ambivalent stance on it, these moments led to new rules, safety measures, and major policy shifts. Explore how each scandal shaped the league and its future.

Young Brazilians protested their country's hosting of the 2014 World Cup

In 2013, the Confederations Cup in Brazil was marked with widespread protests in a period dubbed "Generation June." Many were angry about the looming 2014 World Cup, which they believed was an affront to the country's many pressing issues.

England's sole World Cup win featured a 'ghost goal'

The 1966 match is known for Geoff Hurst's controversial third goal—called a "ghost goal." Watch the original footage, including the legendary call from announcer Kenneth Wolstenholme, and decide for yourself if the ball went in.

The tournament in 2026 will have 48 teams

After 24 years of having a 32-team tournament, the FIFA World Cup will get an upgrade in 2026, expanding the field to make it the largest World Cup ever.

A history of Eurovision controversies

The annual song contest spectacle is no stranger to controversy. This list breaks down some of the most scandalous, including claims that 2021 winners Maneskin were snorting cocaine, Georgia's 2009 rejection for submitting a protest song, and Jordan's refusal to recognize Israel in 1978.

Watch ten surprising moments from the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft often delivers as much drama off the field as on it. Watch this countdown of the top 10 wow moments in Draft history, featuring infamous prospect slides, a missed pick, and surprising trades and selections.

The Council on Foreign Relations maps conflicts to watch in 2026

This interactive map highlights conflicts to watch in 2026, rating each by likelihood and potential impact and allowing users to explore detailed background on every potential hotspot.

Fourteen ways to make baseball cool again

Baseball, while commonly known as America's pastime, gets a bit of a bad rap for being long, slow, and boring. Here are fourteen fun ideas to make the sport more interesting to combat dwindling attendance.

Ten of the most horrifying moments in film

Many films in the genre lean into gratuitous horror, putting off the average viewer. This list of ten moments highlights particularly terrifying scenes from films that otherwise met with mainstream acclaim, from "Mulholland Drive" to "The Lord of the Rings."

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

The all-time list of every modern Olympic sport

Curious about which sports were played at the 1894 Olympics? Want to learn the rules of Breaking? This list gives a comprehensive overview of every Olympic sport ever played, sortable by game type and specific Olympic year. Click into a sport to see a brief overview, a list of rules, and an explainer video.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Prediction markets help people bet on almost anything—which can be controversial

Critics point to incidents such as traders placing bets on the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture and the two people in Israel who were charged on suspicion of using classified information to place bets about military actions.

How the Arab Spring engulfed the Middle East – and changed the world

The Arab Spring engulfed the Middle East, unleashing consequences that still shape the world today. In 2011, the Arab Spring began with protests in a small Tunisian city. Those protests led to an era of uprisings and civil war in the Arab world,...

10 books that get the theatre world right

The theatre world is filled with drama—both on and offstage—thanks to big egos, imagined slights, and tense interpersonal dynamics. Despite that reality, it's not easy to portray what goes on behind the scenes on the page. This list breaks down some of the exceptions, featuring 10 novels that accurately capture the insular world and fascinating personalities who populate it.

The surprising world of coal seam fires

Hundreds of coal seam fires are actively smoldering around the world at any given time, including some that have stayed lit for centuries. These fires have occurred naturally for millions of years, lit atop deposits of coal in the earth. Dive into...

A 2025 study explored the common words to describe body odor across 17 countries

The work identified the 25 most frequent words used to describe body odors across languages, ranked by frequency, and found that "sweaty" topped the list, followed by "sour" and "stinky."

The hidden effects of March Madness

March Madness isn’t just a major sporting event—it’s also peak season for vasectomies. Urologists report a 50% increase during the tournament, as patients use recovery time as an excuse to watch nonstop basketball. Meanwhile, workplace distractions from bracket pools and game streaming are estimated to cost US businesses $17 billion.

The world's 10 best places to live

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index ranked 173 cities based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. The report shows an overall increase in livability scores compared to previous...

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.