The FIFA World Cup 101: How It Works and Why It Matters

Starting in September 2025, please join us each month for a new 12-part speaker series centered around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Each program will explore a unique angle of the tournament, from planning and infrastructure to fan culture, diplomacy, language learning, and careers. 48 Teams. 104 Matches. 12 Expert Speakers. Please join the American Center in Moscow for monthly events as part of its FIFA World Cup 2026 Speaker Series. These speaker events are organized around three overarching themes: 1) Behind the Tournament: Planning, Cities, and Innovation; 2) People, Passion, and Culture; and 3) Media, Language, and Careers. Monday, September 22, 19:00 MSK: The FIFA World Cup 101: How It Works and Why It Matters The World Cup is the biggest and most-watched sporting event in the world, uniting nations through a shared love of football. This talk breaks down how the tournament works—from qualifiers to the final—and explores why it holds such powerful cultural, political, and economic significance globally. About the speaker: Clemente Lisi is a veteran journalist with over two decades of experience, specializing in both news and sports. He has worked for major outlets such as the New York Post, New York Daily News, and , and served as an Associate Professor of Journalism at The King’s College in New York from 2017 to 2023. A lifelong soccer enthusiast, he has authored several books on the sport, including “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event.“ He has covered multiple World Cups on the ground, including in South Africa, Brazil, Russia, and Qatar and writes about the game on his Substack newsletter Planet Soccer. Currently, he is the Executive Editor at Religion Unplugged and continues to write extensively on soccer and global affairs for various publications.