Feature

Here Are All Those World Cup Human Rights Graphics In One Place, In Case You Want That

By Benjamin Lowrie, Digital Producer 17 Jul 2018
Institutions

You won’t need to be told that this edition of the tournament was, er, slightly questionable on rights.

Human Rights Watch called it the ‘World Cup of Shame‘, while The New York Times referred to a group containing Russia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as ‘The Group of Death. And Torture. And Incarceration‘. Thousands called for a boycott in the lead-up to the tournament.

Shining a Light On The Best and Worst

football world cup in russia

The World Cup in Russia. Credit: Unsplash

They’re all correct, but we decided to take a slightly different approach. The World Cup is a festival of culture and aesthetic, so we wanted to open a conversation right in the middle of the fans and the boycotters. So, we’ve been making graphics for every match (well, almost – we slightly forgot Peru v Denmark was happening).

It’s time to take the discussion out of the endlessly negative, and towards shining a light on the best and worst.

The World Cup is massive, and it’s too fun to shun. We think it’s time to take the rights discussion out of the endlessly negative, and shine a light on the best and worst around the world. Did you know that Uruguay is one of the world’s most LGBT-friendly places, but has almost double the world average prison population rate? Or that Iceland has the world’s smallest gender pay gap, but has been criticised by Amnesty International for a growing sexual harassment problem?

Did you know Brazil has a lower poverty rate than France, Belgium and the UK?

It isn’t about working out which country is the best for human rights, or which deserves the most criticism – it’s about recognising the positive effects human rights are having on important everyday aspects of life around the world.

So, if you’re feeling a bit lost now that the whole thing’s over, here’s our recap of all the human rights action, game by game.

World Cup of Human Rights – Russia v Saudi Arabia

Egypt v Uruguay

Morocco v Iran

Serbia v Costa Rica

Germany v Mexico

Brazil v Switzerland

Sweden v South Korea

Belgium v Panama

England v Tunisia

Saudi Arabia v Uruguay

Brazil v Costa Rica

Argentina v Croatia

France v Peru

Denmark v Australia

Spain v Iran

Uruguay v Saudi Arabia

Russia v Egypt

Colombia v Japan

Senegal v Poland

Serbia v Switzerland

Belgium v Tunisia

South Korea v Mexico

Germany v Sweden

Colombia v Poland

Japan v Senegal

England v Panama

Portugal v Iran

Uruguay v Russia

Saudi Arabia v Egypt

Iceland v Croatia

France v Argentina

Brazil v Mexico

Japan v Belgium

Switzerland v Sweden

England v Colombia

Uruguay v France

Brazil v Belgium

England v Sweden

France v Belgium

England v Croatia

France v Croatia

Words by Benjamin Lowrie. Template Design by Rhys Norman. Graphic Editing and Research by Jem Collins and Benjamin Lowrie.