FIFA World Cup Host Nations in Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1608.16Keywords:
CDA, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, World CupAbstract
With the announcement of the winning nations to host the upcoming World Cups in 2026, 2030, and 2034, global media started reporting on this pivotal event to international readers. Such media narratives play a crucial role in shaping readers’ perceptions of the host countries’ cultural identities, offering insights into their social, historical, and cultural contexts. However, these discourses may carry bias or prejudice, reinforcing or contesting dominant global narratives. The present study examines the discursive construction of the host nations in global media from a critical discourse analysis perspective. The dataset comprises a corpus of news stories and reports from various international news outlets. The underlying themes that dominate the discourses on the host nations were identified using a corpus analysis tool, and a qualitative analysis of their discursive strategies. The results emphasize the economic benefits of the World Cup and the opportunity to promote the host nation’s culture and legacy. However, media discourse implies bias in favor of developed nations (the United States, Canada, Europe) compared to other host nations (Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia). A range of subtle discursive strategies was employed to influence public perception about the host nations’ sociocultural identities.
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