{"text":[[{"start":5.05,"text":"I’m writing this, exhausted, in Miami, but a sustaining joy of this World Cup has been watching the best footballers play their best. A handful of players — Leo Messi, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal — have explored the limits of human capacity. It’s been beautiful to see. Everyone “knows” that Einstein was a genius, but hardly anyone understands why, whereas when Messi curls the ball into the top corner, we all feel it. "}],[{"start":36.449999999999996,"text":"I’ve never seen a World Cup so dominated by stars. That’s an uncomfortable truth for people who like to think of football as a team game in which egos are submerged into the collective. But in fact football has its version of Hollywood’s star system. The team and the star make a deal: they serve him, but he must deliver. "}],[{"start":54.949999999999996,"text":"England, Argentina and Norway in particular have thrived on quite primitive tactics: just get the star (or stars) in front of goal. Bellingham, Messi and Mbappé have been placed in central attacking positions that they didn’t play at previous World Cups. England’s manager Thomas Tuchel admits: “The attacking formula is pretty simple. Put Harry [Kane] and Jude [Bellingham] together and they will do the rest.” "}],[{"start":79.64999999999999,"text":"The duo had scored 12 of England’s 13 goals by the end of the quarter-final round. Haaland scored seven of Norway’s 13. Before the semi-finals, Mbappé and Messi already had eight each — equalling the individual record for an entire World Cup since 1974."}],[{"start":99.04999999999998,"text":"The star has special status in the team. Mbappé and Messi don’t have to defend like everyone else. Kane, a star with the ethic of an obedient British soldier, does defend. In the humidity of Miami, he chased Norwegians, his tongue hanging out. But he didn’t create a chance all game. He wasted his special gift. Being selfish would have served his team better. "}],[{"start":119.44999999999999,"text":"Bellingham is more selfish. He knew exactly how he wanted to play here, argued with Tuchel about that before the tournament, and after the manager criticised England’s play against Norway, Bellingham slapped him down. “Yeah, well, whatever,” he said, adding some patronising words. Some see this as insubordination. But Bellingham understands that the star is irreplaceable, whereas the coach isn’t, and that the star serves his team by making sure it serves him. "}],[{"start":146.04999999999998,"text":"There was similar criticism in France of Mbappé’s supposed arrogance. His nickname, even within the team, is “Mobutu”, after the Congolese dictator. But in fact, few footballers expect their team to be an egalitarian democracy. They accept that there’s a hierarchy based on talent. When Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong was playing with Messi in a brilliant Barcelona team, he told me: “He is really much better than the other players.” The team’s job is to enable the star to win the game."}],[{"start":178.09999999999997,"text":"That doesn’t mean stars are narcissists. I don’t think Messi believes he’s a special person. He just believes he’s a special footballer."}],[{"start":185.54999999999995,"text":"France’s star in the 1990s and 2000s was Zinedine Zidane. A French teammate described Zidane in the changing room before a match, quietly pulling on his kit, knowing he was going to walk on to the field with 21 world-class footballers and decide the game. It was his duty."}],[{"start":201.64999999999995,"text":"“They love the responsibility,” says Tuchel of Kane and Bellingham. “They show up in decisive moments.” Supposed stars who don’t deliver — like 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who had excellent Portuguese teammates at his service — experience global humiliation."}],[{"start":217.24999999999994,"text":"The star’s duty weighs heaviest at World Cups. This is where the nation expects, and where the star’s place in history is determined. Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta makes another point: “Almost all the super-players leave their countries so early that the connection with the country many times continues through the national team. That’s where you speak your language, where you have your food, and this touches one side of you.”"}],[{"start":242.69999999999993,"text":"Pimenta watched Haaland’s facial expressions during the tournament. Before Norway’s first game against lowly Iraq, she said, “He was focused as if he was going to a final. He’s a bit smiley after the Brazil game, and the last game you see tears in his eyes . . . I would dare say this has been the adventure of his life.”"}],[{"start":262.8499999999999,"text":"Haaland ended the World Cup with 66 million Instagram followers, more than any English football club. Tacky as that sounds, it’s the modern measure of global fascination with an individual. Watching genius in action has even made me feel better about our species. "}],[{"start":279.8499999999999,"text":"Find out about our latest stories first — follow FT Weekend Magazine on X and FT Weekend on Instagram"}],[{"start":293.94999999999993,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784290546_8452.mp3"}