In this episode of Beyond The Pitch, Juan is joined by Stephen J . Galletti Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology. He is the co-author of the worldwide best seller Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Spain, Germany, and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia—and Even Iraq—Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World’s Most Popular Sport. Both he and Simon Kuper have updated their successful book, due to come out on April 24th, to speak about the game from a 2018 perspective.

In this interview Szymanski talks about somethings that changed from the time the original edition was published. He talks about what they got right and wrong as well as what was totally unexpected that emerged.

Szymanski also talks about how FIFAGate changed the landscape of football and how the United 2026 bid seems to be in trouble for two very unfortunate reasons and he delves into that. He talks about the impact of social media in the past few years and how the business of sport has evolved although it is still not a business that is earning a great deal of money at a multinational level.

Loyalty, emotional investment, England, Argentina, Brazil and many other topics of interest are touched in this episode of Beyond The Pitch.

You can follow Stefan on Twitter @Sszy and you can also check out his website