"Toni (Kroos to his friends) has shown me that I didn't know everything about the World Cups. An essential work for continuing to love the football of old."
—Paco González, Cadena COPE

"Toni Cruz proves that the history of the World Cup is a treasure of inexhaustible richness."
—Miguel Gutiérrez, La Libreta de Van Gaal

"It seems impossible to tell more about the sporting event that has been most talked and written about, but Toni Cruz manages to captivate you with little-known stories and new facts about the most famous ones. Essential reading for this pre-World Cup spring."
—Edu Casado, 20 Minutos

"A concise World Cup encyclopedia on a global journey that I hope does not go unnoticed by readers who enjoy football, but above all by those looking for a pleasant time alongside entertaining and well-told chronicles and stories."
—Miguel Pardeza

"Writing about the World Cups the way Toni Cruz does is writing about beauty and life. It is awakening forgotten memories. It is bringing back to life those heroes who were born never to be forgotten."
—Martí Perarnau

"A fascinating journey in which you find heroes and 'monsters' from your life, your dreams, your tears. From your World Cups—the ones you watched and what you learned. A delight."
—Miguel Ángel Lara, MARCA

TONI CRUZ (Córdoba, 1978). Holds a degree in Law from San Pablo CEU University and a Master's in Journalism from the newspaper El Mundo. He began his journalistic career in Madrid, at the newspaper Marca. In 2006, he joined the digital newspaper Cordobadeporte before moving to El Día de Córdoba. He was also a columnist for the newspaper ABC, the digital newspaper Cordópolis, and CTXT. From 2011 to February 2013, he was part of the communications department of Córdoba C.F. as press officer. Since the start of the 2014–2015 season, he has been in charge of, among other things, covering the matches of Córdoba C.F. on Cadena COPE Córdoba, where he serves as head of sports. He maintains a blog with football stories, with the motto: "Football, as an excuse."

Welcome to the other side of the World Cup.

Did you know that Maradona had rehearsed at Wembley the goal he scored against England in Mexico 86? Or that the first match in World Cup history was watched by barely 300 people? Did you know that one of the tournament's most famous referees demanded a boat in case he had to flee the country after officiating a final? Can you imagine a goalkeeper turning down a World Cup quarter-final to commentate a match on the radio? Or that Di Stéfano, one of football's greatest legends, never played a single game in a World Cup? Have you ever wondered what role politics played in Argentina's 1978 victory? Or what drove "the Jackal" to try to kidnap the star of the Israeli national team at Mexico 70, shortly after Honduras and El Salvador declared war on each other following a qualifier for that very World Cup?

World Cups are not played solely on the pitch. They are also contested in offices, in politics, in the press, in the streets, and in collective memory. They are stages for feats, controversies, conspiracies, and gestures that have transcended sport to become part of the cultural history of the 20th and 21st centuries. With a curious and rigorous eye, Toni Cruz guides us through the lesser-known episodes of the World Cups: legendary stadiums, epic matches, unforgettable characters, and surprises that will help us understand why this tournament is so much more than football. Because every four years, the world stops… and another story begins.