The Guide #246: Does World Cup fever leave you in a cold sweat? Here’s how to escape the footie

In this week’s newsletter: Are you indifferent to office sweepstakes and bored by endless stats? Fear not – there’s a bounty of film, TV and music being released this summer to take your mind off the on-pitch action

Have you, like me, got an incurable case of World Cup fever? Have you spent hours staring intently at the wallchart, attempting to memorise the kick-off times of all 104 games, even – no, especially – Uzbekistan v DR Congo? Have you signed up for the office sweepstake, played Bracketology, listened to approximately 831 preview podcasts (including the Guardian’s Football Weekly, of course), and quietly left your moral reservations about the Trump of it all at the front door? I’m all in.

For people with no interest in football, however, this must be the most hellish of periods, where every last billboard, newspaper front page (and website) and cola can is devoted to the sport. And that’s before you even switch on your TV, where the tournament has laid waste to regular scheduled programming.
Continue reading...