New Delhi, June 6 -- I'm not a football fan-or a particular fan of any sport-but I've realised that every World Cup sends me down a rabbit hole. In 2022, I found myself in north Kerala trying to understand fandom during the World Cup-probably one of the best places to be if you're not in the host country itself-where country flags lined bridges, buntings in team colours crisscrossed roads to declare each town's loyalties, and billboards and life-size cut-outs, like the one on our cover, dispelled any doubts about the state's favourite game.

This year, I watched far too many videos of frustrated gamers smashing their controllers after reading Akhil Sood's story on the fandom for the once-wildly popular FIFA game, and then got diverted int...