The World Cup: War, Peace and Racism in the Biggest Sporting Event on the Planet

Four weeks. Thirty-two countries. Sixty-four matches. One billion viewers. The World Cup. It's the most-watched sporting event on the planet. Once every four years, the world comes to a standstill to watch countries compete in what is known as "The Beautiful Game" - football, or soccer as it is called it in the United States.

Nearly every nation in the world competes to play in the World Cup. Only thirty-two qualify. Just the honor of making it to the tournament is tremendous. It can even help to stop war. That's right, in the Ivory Coast this year, warring sides called a temporary truce to a bloody four-year civil conflict when the national team qualified for their first ever World Cup.

In Argentina, with so many kids staying home to watch the tournament, teachers showed the games at school and made the World Cup part of the curriculum tackling geography and other issues.

This year's World Cup is being held in Germany. And the competition is well underway. Only twelve countries remain in the running. The United States is not one of them. They were eliminated in the first round by Ghana, who are competing in their first ever World Cup.

* David Zirin, is joining us now in the studio. He writes the weekly column "Edge of Sports." He is a regular contributor to the Nation and author of the book, "What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States."

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