10 Best Soccer Books for Every Fan

This celebrated history of soccer tactics, which pops up prominently in Ted Lasso, is regularly cited by sports writers and coaches. The book takes readers on an epic tour of the people, places, and ideas that have been crucial in shaping the beautiful game that we know and love.

According to The Economist, this memoir “heralded a new era of football writing.” At its essence, Fever Pitch is a book about fandom. It's about our relationship with a game that we know will bring us as much pain and disappointment, as satisfaction and euphoria.

Before Messi and Ronaldo, before Maradona and Cruyff, there was no question who the greatest soccer player, and perhaps athlete, of all time was: Pelé. Named 'Athlete of the Century' and the only player to win 3 World Cup titles, this is his guide to the game he ruled.

An unorthodox history of the game told in small, lyrical doses. Andrew Thomas called it “a cavalcade of diversions and tangents and idle thoughts and musings and eulogies and excoriations and laments” which “all amounts up to something unique, righteous and quite beautiful.”

Two-time World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe reflects on the key moments in her career and life in this moving memoir from one of the most vocal and compelling athletes and cultural figures of her generation.

This is the story of how the top division of the oldest soccer league in the world reinvented itself over a few decades to become the most watched sports competition in the world, while also becoming a major battleground over money, ambition and geopolitical power.

This book from Michael Cox, one of the brightest voices in soccer journalism, traces the frenetic evolution of the dominant styles of play in European soccer in recent history. Covering everything from Dutch 'Total Football' to Barca's 'Tiki Taka' to Germany's 'Gegenpressing.'

The perfect book for the soccer fan with an economist's mindset. Now in its 3rd edition, this perennial bestseller covers the nitty gritty financial side of the beautiful game, which has snowballed in popularity since the book's 2009 debut.

In this classic book, Foer argues that soccer's position as a global cultural unifier provides us with a unique lens to understand the triumphs and failures of globalization. Anyone interested in the overlap between politics, culture and sport should check this one out.

Authors Clegg and Robinson followed up their hugely popular book about the Premier League, The Club, with last year's Messi Vs. Ronaldo, a book about the intertwined legacies of arguably the two greatest players in recent history.