The World’s Game: Football and WWI

The National WWI Museum and Memorial’s 2026 Digital Summit is a free online symposium tracing football's development as a global game.

Tuesday 9 June 2026, 4.00pm–8.00pm BST (10.00am–2.00pm Central, USA)

Sessions cover the period before, during and after the Great War, timed to coincide with the opening of the FIFA World Cup in North America.

The summit is held in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition The Beautiful Game, which examines football’s place in wartime life.

Dr Spencer Jones, Honorary President of the WFA, will be in attendance to to share a short message about the Association’s ongoing work and mission.

Free with registration. Hosted online.

Speakers

Dr. Alex Alexandrou, Co-Founder and Chair, Football and War Network
Steve Bolton, Independent Historian
James Brown, Vice President, Society for American Soccer History (SASH)
Dr. Brian Bunk, Senior Lecturer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Alex Churchill, Co-Founder, The Great War Group
Clive Harris, Co-Owner and Guide, Battle Honours
Dr. Alex Jackson, Curator, National Football Museum
Dr. Chris Juergens, Senior Curator, National WWI Museum and Memorial
Dr. Lucas Maubert, Historian, University of Tarapacá
Dr. Kevin Tallec Marston, Senior Research Fellow and Academic Project Manager, Centre International d’Etude du Sport (CIES)
Dr. Tom McCabe, Founder and Chief Storyteller, Soccertown Media
Dr. Laura Patrick, Project Director, UNTOLD: The Museum Ltd
Kurt Rausch, Independent Historian
Dr. Marko Vukičević, Research Associate, Croatian Institute of History
Dr. Christopher Warren, Chief Curator and Vice President of Collections, National WWI Museum and Memorial