Football is the world's game and the best books about it explain not just how it is played but what it means. These six soccer books cover the full range, from the definitive history of tactics to a fan's painfully funny memoir of obsession, to the data and economics behind who really wins. Essential reading before, or instead of, the next match.
Quick picks:
- Best on tactics: Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson. View on Amazon
- Best memoir: Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. View on Amazon
- Best on the numbers: Soccernomics by Simon Kuper. View on Amazon
Tactics and culture
Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson is a leading football writer. The definitive history of football tactics, tracing how formations evolved over a century. The tactics bible.
Best for: Football tactics history.
→ View on AmazonBrilliant Orange by David Winner
David Winner is a journalist and cultural writer. A fascinating study of Dutch football's Total Football and the culture that produced it. Original and thought-provoking.
Best for: Dutch football culture.
→ View on AmazonHow Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer
Franklin Foer is a journalist and editor. A witty exploration of globalization through soccer, from hooligans to oligarchs. Ideas and football entwined.
Best for: Soccer and the world.
→ View on AmazonFans, data and rivalries
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is a bestselling author and lifelong fan. The funny, painfully honest memoir of Arsenal obsession that defined modern fan writing. Beloved far beyond football.
Best for: The classic fan memoir.
→ View on AmazonSoccernomics by Simon Kuper, Stefan Szymanski
Simon Kuper is a journalist and a sports economist. A data-driven, myth-busting look at why teams and nations win, the Moneyball of soccer. Smart and provocative.
Best for: Soccer by the numbers.
→ View on AmazonMessi vs. Ronaldo by Jonathan Clegg, Joshua Robinson
Jonathan Clegg is two Wall Street Journal journalists. A well-reported account of the rivalry that defined an era of football, on and off the pitch. Fast and engaging.
Best for: The rivalry of an era.
→ View on AmazonHow we chose these
We looked for the sports books that last: player memoirs with something real to say, credentialed sports scientists and psychologists and the acclaimed journalists and historians who turn a game into a story. A few iconic novels earn a place too and we label them as fiction. We describe and compare these books to help you choose your next read.
