PHNOM PENH: Acting head of state and Senate president Hun Sen has suggested that the current 2026 FIFA World Cup reflects a changing global sporting order, noting the growing success of smaller and developing nations demonstrates what he described as a new era of “football geopolitics” that stands in sharp contrast to the traditional international political landscape.
In a July 2 social media post, the former prime minister said he had previously discussed the “round ball” after earlier World Cup matches, but believed it was now time to talk about “football geopolitics” – a term he used to describe how the global game increasingly allows smaller and less affluent countries to compete on equal footing with traditional football powers.
“Football geopolitics is completely different from political geopolitics,” Hun Sen wrote.
He said that, unlike international politics, where global order remains unsettled, football has maintained universal standards that do not discriminate between rich and poor countries or between nations with large and small populations.
“Looking at the 2026 World Cup, I have observed that football geopolitics is changing dramatically through the growing presence of teams from countries with small populations and developing economies,” he added.
According to Hun Sen, the increased competitiveness of these nations illustrates that success in football is determined by performance rather than economic strength or demographic size.
“The growing presence of poor countries and countries with small populations shows that football does not discriminate between rich and poor nations or between countries with large or small populations,” he said.
Hun Sen contrasted this with what he described as the current state of international political geopolitics, arguing that the world has become increasingly turbulent and has lost its sense of order.
He pointed to several World Cup upsets in which teams from developing nations had eliminated or seriously challenged football’s traditional heavyweights.
“Teams from poor countries have sent teams from rich countries home, from the group stage through to the round of 32,” he said.
“Even when they do not win, they make wealthy countries anxious whenever they score,” he added.
The Senate president predicted that the changing balance in international football would eventually culminate in a developing nation lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy.
“Based on these changes in football geopolitics, one day a poor country with a small population will undoubtedly win the World Cup,” he wrote.
Hun Sen also acknowledged that he was unsure whether the phrase “football geopolitics” had previously been used elsewhere, but said he believed the evolving landscape of international football represented an opportunity for developing countries.
“I do not know whether anyone in the world has ever used the term ‘football geopolitics’ before,” he said.
“But for me, the opportunity has arrived and continues to grow for all developing countries,” he added.
While his remarks focused on football, Hun Sen repeatedly contrasted the sport with international politics, presenting football as a more merit-based arena in which nations compete under common rules regardless of their economic or geopolitical standing.
His comments come as the expanded 48-team 2026 FIFA World Cup has produced a series of surprise performances from emerging football nations, reinforcing perceptions that the gap between traditional powers and developing teams is narrowing. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
