Paris, Madrid, London and Buenos Aires: football in the major capitals of the World Cup

The only certainty regarding the upcoming matches in the Football World Cup is that the team that emerges victorious from the semi-finals and final will be welcomed with full honours in the capital. When it comes to football, its history and its place in the collective consciousness, however, the role of the capital varies greatly across the four countries.

Starting with France, which many regard as the favourite ahead of its match against Spain, Paris is currently home to the strongest team on the continent, having won the Champions League twice in a row. In the capital, however, the beautiful game has relatively recent roots – and probably not particularly deep ones. Whereas elsewhere in France, and of course abroad, the dominant teams have a centuries-old history in which the characteristics of the ‘genius loci’ have gradually taken root, Paris Saint-Germain, founded in 1970, developed from 1991 onwards thanks to the commitment of Canal+, the broadcaster that revolutionised pay-TV in Europe. Until 1986, when PSG won the first of its 14 league titles (12 since 2013), only Racing Club de Paris had broken the dominance of the provincial clubs. A result which, at the very least in what has been described as the most important of all trivial matters, dispels the notion that France is a model of absolute centralisation.

Spain, too, has a long history of centralisation of political power, with roots stretching even further back in time, and football has, to some extent, followed a similar path. The Madrid clubs have won 47 league titles, leaving those from the economic capital (Barcelona with 29) and the Basque Country, where British influence is strongest (10), trailing far behind. Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid have different natures and characteristics. The former, as its name suggests, is the team of the royal establishment (and of the Franco regime, serving as a tool for propaganda and soft power in the 1950s and 1960s) and plays at the legendary Santiago Bernabéu, the stadium on the Paseo de la Castellana in the exclusive Chamartín neighbourhood. The Colchoneros’ home, on the other hand, was traditionally in the working-class district of Arganzuela, before the Vicente Calderón was demolished and Atlético moved to the Metropolitano. In any case, the fans’ chant has not changed: set to the tune of the Merengues’ anthem but with clearly altered lyrics: ‘Hala Madrid, hala Madrid, the government’s team, the country’s disgrace.’

If Madrid has to make do with just one derby a year, and Paris had to wait 36 years before PSG faced, on 4 January 2026, a local rival, even the most ardent London and Buenos Aires supporters can be forgiven for forgetting the odd city derby. Last season, in fact, six London clubs competed in the Premier League (and eight in the Football League), whilst in Buenos Aires eight took part in the Primera División, along with four from the suburbs. The historical dominance of the Capital Federal is indisputable – 121 titles, in addition to the 34 won by teams from Avellaneda – whereas in England, proximity to Buckingham Palace does not guarantee success on the pitch (only 22 league titles since 1871).

Naturally, so many teams mean so many rivalries. On the banks of the Thames, the most high-profile derby pits Arsenal against Chelsea, who have faced each other over 200 times since 1907. This competitive rivalry has been particularly intense since both clubs came under foreign ownership, pitting fan bases with similar social backgrounds against one another. Even more heated is the rivalry between the ‘Gooners’ and the ‘Yids’ – the nicknames for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur supporters, respectively – which also has motivations and dynamics extending beyond sport. Such rivalries have always been notoriously present on the banks of the Río de la Plata in what – alongside Flamengo v Fluminense and Inter v Milan – can be considered the derby of all derbies, between Boca Juniors and River Plate.