Victory or Death! is the book that reminds you why you fell in love with the World Cup in the first place.

With wit, passion and a sharp eye for the absurd, Thomas Aune and Aleksander Schau dive into ninety-five years of football’s greatest theatre – from the glorious to the ridiculous. This is not a book about tactics and formations, but about everything that makes the World Cup larger than sport itself: mafia threats and dictators, vanishing trophies and divine heroes.

From Pelé and Maradona to the forgotten anti-heroes of the game, Victory or Death! captures the madness, mythology and magic that have defined the world’s biggest sporting event. Told with humour, knowledge and infectious enthusiasm, it’s a love letter to football and to all its beautiful flaws.