“What are the best books about Soccer (Fiction & Nonfiction)?” We looked at 156 of the top Soccer books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 16 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Soccer” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 125+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Lists It Appears On:
Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, the biography of Robert Enke, the international footballer with the world at his feet who took his own life Here, award-winning writer Ronald Reng pieces together the puzzle of his lost friend’s life. On November 10, 2009, the German national goalkeeper, Robert Enke, stepped in front of a passing train. He was 32 years old. Viewed from the outside, Enke had it all. He was a professional goalkeeper who had played for a string of Europe’s top clubs, including Jose Mourinho’s Benfica and Louis Van Gaal’s Barcelona, and was destined to be his country’s first choice for years to come. But beneath the bright veneer of success lay a darker story. Reng brings into sharp relief the specific demands and fears faced by those who play top-level sport. Heartfelt, but never sentimental, he tells the universal tragedy of a talented man’s struggles against his own demons.
Lists It Appears On:
Italia ’90 – Gazza cried and football changed forever. Once you could ignore football, avoid the back pages, turn the telly over, leave the pub. Now that’s not possible because on 4 July 1990 in Turin’s Stadium of the Alps gazza cried, England lost and football changed forever. Pete Davies witnessed all of this first hand. The players, the hooligans, the agents, the journalists, the fans – the full cast of football’s rowdy circus. For nine month he had access to the England squad and their manager, Bobby Robson, talking to them freely about their hopes, their fears, their methods and their lives. So this is the real story, the unedited verdion. All Played Out – the first and last book to give the inside story of the greatest show on Earth.
Lists It Appears On:
The Netherlands has one of the World’s most distinctive and sophisticated football cultures. From the birth of Total Football in the sixties, through two decades of World Cup near misses to the exiles who remade clubs like AC Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea in their own image, the Dutch have often been dazzlingly original and influential. The elements of their style (exquisite skills, adventurous attacking tactics, a unique blend of individual creativity and teamwork, weird patterns of self-destruction) reflect and embody the country’s culture and history.
Lists It Appears On:
Soccer is much more than just the most popular game in the world. It is a matter of life and death for millions around the world, an international lingua franca. Simon Kuper traveled to twenty-two countries to discover the sometimes bizarre effect soccer can have on politics and culture. At the same time he tried to discover what makes different countries play a simple game so differently. Kuper meets a remarkable variety of fans along the way, from the East Berliner persecuted by the Stasi for supporting his local team, to the Argentine general with his own views on tactics. He also illuminates the frightening intersection between soccer and politics, particularly in the wake of the attacks of 9-11, where soccer is obsessed over by the likes of Osama bin Laden. The result is one of the world’s most acclaimed books on the game, and an astonishing study of soccer and its place in the world.
Lists It Appears On:
English writer Phil Ball has put the history of Spanish football into the context of the epomymous Morbo. Hard to pin down in translation (though the author manfully spends a chapter trying to explain the term in its fullest sense), “morbo” encapsulates the fierce rivalry across a club scene fragmented by history, language and politics. The bitter feeling between Barcelona and Real Madrid has, of course, been well-documented elsewhere. Here that famous rivalry is only one component of a landscape of antagonism. In particular, the Basque country in the north-west and Seville in the south both provide breeding grounds for a healthy portion of “morbo”, and receive Ball’s attention accordingly. The narrative captures the essence of that feeling perfectly, without failing to inform on a historical basis. A splendid chapter traces the ancestry of football in Spain back to the labourers in the English-owned copper mines in Huelva, Andalucia. While Spanish club football has always had its stars, from Di Stefano to Cruyff and Butragueno through to Raul and Luis Figo today, Ball shows that there is a greater force running in its lifeblood. Yet still there remains a paradox; he analyses the historical under-achievement of the Spanish national side in major international tournaments. The new millennium has seen excellent books focusing on football culture in Holland and France–namely Brilliant Orange and Le Foot.
Lists It Appears On:
In Asia, Europe, and World Cups, journalist Hill risked death to interview murderous mobsters and manipulative middlemen who lavish gifts, women, and envelopes of cash “shopping and coffee money” on players, referees, and staff. As Oxford academic, he found fixed games statistics show more red cards (barely), early goals, and “nap”s. He suggests “more women and professional referees, better pensions and education benefits for players, an integrity unit in each soccer association made up of ex-policemen”, and more.
Lists It Appears On:
They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin’ Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England’s soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities. Now Bill Buford, editor of the prestigious journal Granta, enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure with the social imagination of a George Orwell and the raw personal engagement of a Hunter Thompson.
Lists It Appears On:
The Damned Utd tells the story of the legendary Clough’s tumultuous forty-four days trying to turn around a corrupt institution without being corrupted himself—the players who wouldn’t play, the management that looked the other way, the wife and friends who stood by him as he fought to do the right thing.
Lists It Appears On:
Soccer. Football. The beautiful game. The world’s most popular sport goes by many names, but for decades, fans have agreed on one thing: the greatest player of all time was Pelé. Now the legendary star, ambassador, and humanitarian shares a global vision for what soccer can accomplish. Now he shares his story, his experience, and his insights on the game for the very first time. Before Messi, before Ronaldo, before Beckham, there was Edson Arantes do Nascimento—known simply as Pelé. A national treasure, he created pure magic with his accomplishments on the field: an unprecedented three World Cup championships and the all-time scoring record, with 1,283 goals in his twenty year career. Now, with the World Cup returning after more than sixty years to Brazil—the country often credited with perfecting the sport—soccer has a unique opportunity to encourage change on a global level. And as the tournament’s official ambassador, Pelé is ready to be the face of progress. For the first time ever Pelé explores the recent history of the game and provides new insights into soccer’s role connecting and galvanizing players around the world. He has traveled the world as the global ambassador for soccer and in support of charitable organizations such as Unicef, promoting the positive influences soccer can have to transform young men and women, struggling communities, even entire nations. In groundbreaking detail and with unparalleled openness, he shares his most inspiring experiences, heartwarming stories and hard-won wisdom, and he puts the game in perspective. This is Pelé’s legacy, his way of passing on everything he’s learned and inspiring a new generation. In Why Soccer Matters, Pelé details his ambitious goals for the future of the sport and, by extension, the world.
Lists It Appears On:
Soccer is much more than a game, or even a way of life. It is a perfect window into the cross-currents of today’s world, with all its joys and its sorrows. In this remarkably insightful, wide-ranging work of reportage, Franklin Foer takes us on a surprising tour through the world of soccer, shining a spotlight on the clash of civilizations, the international economy, and just about everything in between. How Soccer Explains the World is an utterly original book that makes sense of our troubled times.
Lists It Appears On:
Master storyteller Joe McGinniss travels to Italy to cover the unlikely success of a ragtag minor league soccer team–and delivers a brilliant and utterly unforgettable story of life in an off-the-beaten-track Italian village. When Joe McGinniss sets out for the remote Italian village of Castel di Sangro one summer, he merely intends to spend a season with the village’s soccer team, which only weeks before had, miraculously, reached the second-highest-ranking professional league in the land. But soon he finds himself embroiled with an absurd yet irresistible cast of characters, including the team’s owner, described by the New York Times as “straight out of a Mario Puzo novel,” and coach Osvaldo Jaconi, whose only English word is the one he uses to describe himself: “bulldozer.” As the riotous, edge-of-your-seat season unfolds, McGinniss develops a deepening bond with the team, their village and its people, and their country.
Lists It Appears On:
Soccer fans love to argue about the tactics a manager puts into play, and this fascinating study traces the world history of tactics, from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, where chaos reigned. Along the way, author Jonathan Wilson, an erudite and detailed writer who never loses a sense of the grand narrative sweep, takes a look at the lives of the great players and thinkers who shaped the game, and discovers why the English in particular have proved themselves so “unwilling to grapple with the abstract.” This is a modern classic of soccer writing that followers of the game will dip into again and again.
Lists It Appears On:
Why do England lose? Why does Scotland suck? Why doesn’t America dominate the sport internationally… and why do the Germans play with such an efficient but robotic style? These are questions every soccer aficionado has asked. Soccernomics answers them. Using insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology, and business to cast a new and entertaining light on how the game works, Soccernomics reveals the often surprisingly counter-intuitive truths about soccer.
Lists It Appears On:
The definitive book about soccer. With a new foreword for the American edition. There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final. In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of soccer’s rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world’s most popular sport-now poised to fully establish itself in the USA. Already celebrated internationally, The Ball Is Round illuminates soccer’s role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game itself.
Lists It Appears On:
In America, it is soccer. But in Great Britain, it is the real football. No pads, no prayers, no prisoners. And that’s before the players even take the field. Nick Hornby has been a football fan since the moment he was conceived. Call it predestiny. Or call it preschool. Fever Pitch is his tribute to a lifelong obsession. Part autobiography, part comedy, part incisive analysis of insanity, Hornby’s award-winning memoir captures the fever pitch of fandom — its agony and ecstasy, its community, its defining role in thousands of young mens’ coming-of-age stories. Fever Pitch is one for the home team. But above all, it is one for everyone who knows what it really means to have a losing season.
Lists It Appears On:
Eduardo Galeano’s riveting commentary on the history and politics of soccer includes newly written material on the 2002 World Cup, which one quarter of humanity watched. Discussing everything from the leveling of the Twin Towers to the death of the sole survivor of that extraordinary match between British and German soldiers in 1915, one of South America’s greatest commentators issues forth on robotic soccer in Japan, the mass-production of the game as a sign of the decline of civilization, the amazing success of Senegal and Turkey, and how Nike beat Adidas.
# | Books | Authors | Lists |
17 | Beyond Lucky | Sarah Aronson | Book Riot |
– | – | – | Softonic |
18 | Booked | Kwame Alexander | Book Riot |
– | – | – | Washington Post |
19 | Breakaway: Beyond the Goal | Alex Morgan | Book Riot |
– | – | – | Soccer Pursuits |
20 | Captain Awesome, Soccer Star | Stan Kirby | Softonic |
– | – | – | We Are Teachers |
21 | Das Reboot: How German Soccer Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Washington Post |
22 | Fear and Loathing in La Liga | Sid Lowe | BuzzFeed |
– | – | – | The Daily Beast |
23 | Football Clichés: Decoding the Oddball Phrases, Colorful Gestures, and Unwritten Rules of Soccer across the Pond | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
24 | Forward: A Memoir | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
25 | Futebol- The Brazillian Way of Life | Alex Bellos | Football History |
– | – | – | The False 9 |
26 | God Is Round | Juan Villoro | Book List Reader |
– | – | – | Remezcla |
27 | How to Watch Soccer | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
28 | I Am Zlatan | Zlatan Ibramhimovic | BuzzFeed |
– | – | – | Football History |
29 | Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First-Century Game | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
30 | Men in Blazers Present Encyclopedia Blazertannica | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
31 | My Father and Other Working Class Heroes | Gary Imlach | BuzzFeed |
– | – | – | Football History |
32 | Now Is the Time for Running | Michael Williams | Book Riot |
– | – | – | Softonic |
33 | Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town | Warren St. John | Book Riot |
– | – | – | Read Brightly |
34 | Pelé, King of Soccer | Monica Brown | Read Brightly |
– | – | – | We Are Teachers |
35 | Seeing Red | The False 9 | |
– | – | – | World Soccer Talk |
36 | Soccer Hero | Matt Christopher | Softonic |
– | – | – | We Are Teachers |
37 | Soccer In A Football World | David Wangerin | BuzzFeed |
– | – | – | World Soccer Talk |
38 | The Beckham Experiment | Grant Wahl | MLS Soccer |
– | – | – | World Soccer Talk |
39 | The Nowhere Men | Michael Calvin | Book List Reader |
– | – | – | BuzzFeed |
40 | The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong | Chris Anderson and David Sully | Football History |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
41 | Touched By God: How We Won the Mexico ‘86 World Cup | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
42 | Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty Kick | Book List Reader | |
– | – | – | Signature Reads |
43 | 43557 | David Thomson | The Daily Beast |
44 | 61 Minutes in Munich, the autobiography of Liverpool FC’s first black footballer | Howard Gayle | Football History |
45 | A NATURAL | NY Times | |
46 | A Season With Verona | World Soccer Talk | |
47 | Africa United | Rabona 57 | |
48 | American Huckster | Washington Post | |
49 | Behind the Curtain | Jonathan Wilson | BuzzFeed |
50 | Betty Bunny Wants a Goal | Read Brightly | |
51 | Big Kicks | Read Brightly | |
52 | Bloody Confused | World Soccer Talk | |
53 | Boy in the Dress | Softonic | |
54 | Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy | Dave Zirin. | The Daily Beast |
55 | Bring the Noise: The Jürgen Klopp Story, | Book List Reader | |
56 | Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football | Tom Bower | Football History |
57 | Club Soccer 101: The Essential Guide to the Stars, Stats, and Stories of 101 of the Greatest Teams in the World | Luke Dempsey | Football History |
58 | Coming Out to Play | Signature Reads | |
59 | Diego Maradona | Mark Weinstein | Remezcla |
60 | Dino-Soccer | Lisa Wheeler | We Are Teachers |
61 | Eight World Cups | George Vescey | Mens Journal |
62 | El Diego: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Footballer | Diego Maradona | Football History |
63 | Everything Your Coach Never Told You Because You’re a Girl: and other truths about winning | Soccer Pursuits | |
64 | Fearless: The Amazing Underdog Story of Leicester City, the Greatest Miracle in Sports History, | Book List Reader | |
65 | Football Manager Stole My Life | Iain McIntosh, Kenny Miller, and Neil White | BuzzFeed |
66 | For the Love of Soccer! | Pelé, Frank Morrison | Book Riot |
67 | Fowler: My Autobiography | Robbie Fowler | BuzzFeed |
68 | Froggy Plays Soccer | Read Brightly | |
69 | Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer | David Goldblatt. | The Daily Beast |
70 | Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil’s Forgotten Footballing Hero | Ruy Castro | Remezcla |
71 | Goalkeepers Are Different | Brian Glanville | Five Books |
72 | Golazo!: The Beautiful Game from the Aztecs to the World Cup: The Complete History of How Soccer Shaped Latin America | Andreas Campomar. | The Daily Beast |
73 | Goodfella: My Autobiography | Softonic | |
74 | Happy Like Soccer | Maribeth Boelts | We Are Teachers |
75 | Here Goes Nothing | Lincoln Peirce | Book Riot |
76 | Home and Away: Writing the Beautiful Game, | Book List Reader | |
77 | How to Score: Science and the Beautiful Game | Ken Bra | Football History |
78 | Hunter & Stripe and the Soccer Showdown | Read Brightly | |
79 | I Am the Secret Footballer | The Secret Footballer | BuzzFeed |
80 | I Believe That We Will Win: The Path to a U.S. Men’s World Cup Victory, | Book List Reader | |
81 | I Think Therefore I Play | Rabona 57 | |
82 | Idols and Underdogs | Washington Post | |
83 | Immortal: The Biography of George Best | Duncan Hamilton | Football History |
84 | It’s Hard to Dribble with Your Feet | Val Priebe | We Are Teachers |
85 | It’s Not the Glory | Washington Post | |
86 | Kickers #1: The Ball Hogs | Rich Wallace | We Are Teachers |
87 | King Power | Washington Post | |
88 | Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of United: An Englishman’s Quest to Remain Connected to “His” Team from the Other Side of the Pond, | Book List Reader | |
89 | Lola Levine Is Not Mean! (Lola Levine #1) | Monica Brown, Angela Dominguez | Book Riot |
90 | Madlenka Soccer Star | Softonic | |
91 | Maisy Plays Soccer | Read Brightly | |
92 | Money and Soccer: A Soccernomics Guide, | Book List Reader | |
93 | MVP #2: The Soccer Surprise | David A. Kelly | We Are Teachers |
94 | My Favourite Year | World Soccer Talk | |
95 | My Turn: A Life of Total Football, | Book List Reader | |
96 | Olivia Plays Soccer | Read Brightly | |
97 | On the Ball | Brian Pinkney | We Are Teachers |
98 | One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together, | Book List Reader | |
99 | Pep Confidential | Martí Perarnau | BuzzFeed |
100 | Pinkalicious: Soccer Star | Read Brightly | |
101 | Play like a Girl: How a Soccer School in Kenya’s Slums Started a Revolution, | Book List Reader | |
102 | Provided You Don’t Kiss Me: 20 Years With Brian Clough | Duncan Hamilton | Football History |
103 | Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World’s Biggest Sports Scandal, | Book List Reader | |
104 | Richer Than God: Manchester City, Modern Football and Growing Up | David Conn | Football History |
105 | Rock ‘n’ Roll Soccer: The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League, | Book List Reader | |
106 | Salvajes y Sentimentales | Javier Marías | Remezcla |
107 | Saving the Team (The Kicks #1) | Alex Morgan, Paula Franco | Book Riot |
108 | Soccer | Read Brightly | |
109 | Soccer Against the Enemy | Rabona 57 | |
110 | Soccer Chick Rules | Softonic | |
111 | Soccer iQ – Vol. 2: More of What Smart Players Do | Soccer Pursuits | |
112 | Soccer IQ: Things That Smart Players Do Vol. 1 | Soccer Pursuits | |
113 | Soccer on a Sunday | Read Brightly | |
114 | Soccer Tough: Simple Football Psychology Techniques to Improve Your Game | Soccer Pursuits | |
115 | Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance during the Holocaust, | Book List Reader | |
116 | Soccer Without Borders | Washington Post | |
117 | Soccerland | Softonic | |
118 | Solo: A Memoir of Hope, | Book List Reader | |
119 | Spotlight Soccer | Ricardo Sanchez | We Are Teachers |
120 | Stacey the Soccer Fairy | Daisy Meadows | We Are Teachers |
121 | Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants | World Soccer Talk | |
122 | Tangerine | Softonic | |
123 | The Arsenal Yankee | Washington Post | |
124 | The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer’s Next Superstars, | Book List Reader | |
125 | The Boy in the Dress | David Walliams, Quentin Blake | Book Riot |
126 | The Country of Football: Soccer and the Making of Modern Brazil | Roger Kittleson. | The Daily Beast |
127 | The Fall of the House of FIFA: The Multimillion-Dollar Corruption at the Heart of Global Soccer, | Book List Reader | |
128 | The Flea: The Amazing Story of Leo Messi | Read Brightly | |
129 | The Football Business | Rabona 57 | |
130 | The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football | David Goldblatt | Football History |
131 | The Goalkeeper Goof | Cari Meister | We Are Teachers |
132 | The Italian Job | World Soccer Talk | |
133 | The Kicks Series | Read Brightly | |
134 | The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer, | Book List Reader | |
135 | The Million Dollar Kick | Read Brightly | |
136 | The Second Most Important Job in the Country | Niall Edworthy | Football History |
137 | The Simplest Game | Paul Gardner | Mens Journal |
138 | The Soccer Fence: A Story of Friendship, Hope, and Apartheid in South Africa | Read Brightly | |
139 | The Soccer War | Ryszard Kapuscinski. | Star Tribune |
140 | The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer | Washington Post | |
141 | The United States of Soccer: MLS and the Rise of American Soccer Fandom, | Book List Reader | |
142 | The Wild Soccer Bunch Series | Read Brightly | |
143 | The World is a Ball: The Joy, Madness, and the Meaning of Soccer | World Soccer Talk | |
144 | This book certainly is a must have for every football tactics fan. | The False 9 | |
145 | This Love Is Not for Cowards | Robert Andrew Powell. | Star Tribune |
146 | Tor!- The Story of German Football | The False 9 | |
147 | What Is the World Cup? (What was…) | Bonnie Bader | Book Riot |
148 | What We Think About When We Think About Soccer | Signature Reads | |
149 | What’s Wrong with US? A Coach’s Blunt Take on the State of American Soccer after a Lifetime on the Touchline, | Book List Reader | |
150 | When Friday Comes | James Montague | BuzzFeed |
151 | When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World, | Book List Reader | |
152 | Who Invented the Bicycle Kick? Soccer’s Greatest Legends and Lore, | Book List Reader | |
153 | Who Is Pele? (Who Was?) | James Buckley Jr., Andrew Thomson | Book Riot |
154 | Why Soccer Matters In Latin America | Joshua H. Nadel | Remezcla |
155 | Winning At All Costs | Rabona 57 | |
156 | World Cup Fever: A Fanatic’s Guide to the Stars, Teams, Stories, Controversy, and Excitement of Sports’ Greatest Event, | Book List Reader |
Source | Article |
Book List Reader | World Cup Reading: 32 Soccer Books : The Booklist Reader |
Book Riot | 13 Fantastic Soccer Books for Kids – Book Riot |
BuzzFeed | 23 Books All Soccer Fans Should Read |
Five Books | Football (Soccer) | Five Books Expert Recommendations |
Football History | Books about football (soccer) – history, biographic, tactics, stats and more |
Mens Journal | 10 Soccer Books for Anyone with World Cup Fever – Men’s Journal |
MLS Soccer | Top 5: The best soccer books, from Fever Pitch to Franklin Foer |
NY Times | During the World Cup, Read These 3 Books About Soccer |
Paste Magazine | These 10 Soccer Books Are About Much More Than Just Soccer |
Rabona 57 | 9 Best Soccer Books You Should Be Reading |
Read Brightly | The Best Soccer Books for Kids of All Ages |
Remezcla | 6 Books About Soccer That Should Be On Your Summer Reading List |
Signature Reads | Kick Off Your Appreciation for Soccer With These 14 Great Books |
Soccer Pursuits | Best 5 Soccer Books For Teenagers |
Softonic | 10 Best books about soccer for middle-grade kids 2018 |
Star Tribune | Missing World Cup? 5 great books about ‘beautiful game’ of soccer |
The Daily Beast | The Literature of Futbol: 11 Great Books About Soccer |
The False 9 | 10 Best Football Books Every Fan Must Read |
Washington Post | 10 soccer books to consider adding to your summer reading list |
We Are Teachers | Best Soccer Books for Kids, As Chosen by Educators |
World Soccer Talk | The Ultimate Guide To the Best Soccer Books – World Soccer Talk |
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