Why did Franco's Spain refuse to play against the USSR? Which matches have gone beyond the sporting stakes to become a geopolitical war? Which confrontations are impossible between certain countries, like the one between Russia and Ukraine? Or conversely, how can soccer be a tool for emancipation? In a pleasant and clear style, the author tells us 22 unusual stories to understand the world. In a few years, many people will say that they started to be interested in geopolitics through Kévin Veyssière's soccer stories, after having realized that geopolitics is not boring and uninteresting, nor is it reserved for seasoned diplomats and staff officers.