Once again the broadcaster for the World Cup in the United States, FOX will be looking to make this its best tournament yet.
Zac Kenworthy called it “the biggest production that FOX has ever put on,” but even that felt like an understatement. By the time that FOX Sports’ FIFA World Cup 2026 Media Day wrapped up on May 21, there was no doubt whatsoever that this upcoming tournament will be the biggest sporting event in history and a potential inflection point for soccer’s trajectory in the United States.
Kenworthy, an Emmy-winning executive and the lead studio producer of the FIFA World Cup on FOX Sports, was one of the various FOX dignitaries who was in attendance for the event. He was joined by a number of FOX mainstays such as Alexi Lalas, Stu Holden, Rob Stone, and Carli Lloyd, as well as a few new fresh faces like Rebecca Lowe and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández.
As rainfall pelted every inch of New York City, guests found shelter in Lavan 541 Chelsea, a Manhattan building that features 5,000 square feet of open space with 20 foot ceilings.
The panel was interrupted only once, as Zlatan Ibrahimović joined via video call, his face being plastered on all three walls. One of the new additions from a shopping spree that is starting to rival Nottingham Forest’s 2022 summer transfer window, Zlatan chided his colleagues for not being more confident about the United States men’s national team chances and warned, “People have been judging me all my career, so now it’s time for me to judge others.”
FOX has spent the past few years revving their engines for this once-in-a-lifetime event, but now, it’s time to put this thing into drive. Urban Pitch spoke to FOX’s talent, including Kenworthy, Stone, Lloyd, and Chicharito, discussing the upcoming plans to broadcast the world’s biggest sporting event.
Zac Kenworthy
Urban Pitch: Talk to me a little bit about FOX’s talent recruitment process. You’ve acquired a lot of big names like Thierry Henry, Rebecca Lowe, and John Obi Mikel. What was your strategy when crafting this lineup?
Zac Kenworthy: I think it’s a few things: we knew that we needed to expand our roster for this tournament. You want to find that right balance between having seasoned broadcasters, people like Rebecca Lowe and Thierry Henry who are comfortable doing television and know what they’re doing, who you know you’re going to be in safe hands with. But you also want to take some big swings, and for us, Zlatan is that white whale character. We know that every broadcaster in the world has chased him at one point.
He’s previously been reticent to do media, but he recognized what we’re trying to create in this seminal moment in U.S. history. Going out for a guy like that, you take a big swing, and you saw it today when he zoomed in. He’s got an incredible personality, he’s unabashedly himself. I think for someone like that and the rest of this crew, because they are so iconic and recognizable, when they speak, people will listen, whether they’re a purist or someone who just checks in every four years to the World Cup.
Last summer, you couldn’t find the FIFA Club World Cup on linear TV, you had to download the DAZN app. How important is it that most Americans will be able to watch this event on their TVs, how important was it to make this tournament accessible?
Kenworthy: It’s very important. I think this was something that FOX set out when we first won the World Cup rights. Our first World Cup in 2015, we put more matches that had ever been broadcasted for a Women’s World Cup, and we repeated that for the men’s World Cup in 2018.
That trend has continued every major tournament we’ve had, whether that’s the men’s EUROs, the Women’s EUROs, or the Copa América. Servicing the viewer and making sure that this game is available to them and that they can watch is a huge part of our responsibility. We’re really proud of the fact that we have 70 matches this summer on free-to-air network television.
Chicharito
Can you talk to us a little bit about these past few months, leaving your football career –
Chicharito: I haven’t retired yet.
Thank you for clarifying. So, you still consider yourself a player, not a pundit?
Chicharito: I’m a current player, I’m going to be playing next year.
Urban Pitch: Do you know where you’ll be playing?
Chicharito: Yes.
We’re all dying to find out where you’ll be playing next year, but let’s talk a little bit about your beloved Mexico. They’ve been the powerhouse of CONCACAF for a while, but it seems that the U.S. and Canada have caught up to them recently. Do you think that will result in less pressure for them, and what are your expectations for El Tri this summer?
Chicharito: The outside noise and pressure is going to be there forever, it’s inevitable. It’s what you do with that, you can use it as fuel for your path to reach your goals, or it can also be a heavy weight on your shoulders. It’s up to you. My expectation for El Tri, hopefully we can see the best Mexico that we’ve ever seen, and hopefully they can be a very strong side that can win a lot of games and make history in this World Cup.
Obviously, you’re not done with playing just yet, but what has been the biggest challenge with going from playing to punditry?
Chicharito: People won’t believe me, but it’s the same. I’m still Javier, I keep training every morning, and now I’m just going to be talking a little bit more. Nothing needs to completely change. This dramatization that humans sometimes do, “You were a full-time player, and now you’re a pundit,” it’s the same. I wake up at the same time, I train at the same time. Now I’m a free agent, but I’m going to be talking like you guys.
I’ve been doing these events as a current player, so it’s not something that’s not new for me. The only new thing is that there are going to be games where they’re going to be asking me what I think, and those games are going to develop. It’s a different experience, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not as far away from something I’ve been doing my whole life.
What’s your dark horse candidate, what’s one player who people aren’t talking about that you think will have a massive tournament?
Chicharito: The situation is I don’t see news, so I don’t know what the people are talking about. Of course, I know the people that always talk about like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé, and Harry Kane. But I’m going to say that Armando González will be my dark horse, a Mexican fellow who could be very good this World Cup.
Rob Stone
If the USMNT goes out early, do you think that’s going to affect the impact of this World Cup? Or do you think it could still grow the sport a lot even if they flame out of the group?
Rob Stone: If the U.S. flames out of the group, there’s going to be a lot of negative talk, and understandably so…burn it down at that point, throw the stars out, you have to start over because that is absolutely unacceptable. They’re going to get to the Round of 32, and I feel comfortable about them getting to the Round of 16 as well.
This is a growth opportunity, and I think there can be this groundswell of momentum that always happens in American sporting culture. Look at the World Baseball Classic that just took place, and the people who jumped on board who maybe aren’t baseball fans, all of a sudden, in a very short amount of time and in a few locations, people are all on board and the ratings are there. The World Cup has that power, and it’s got so much muscle behind it as well to make substantial changes.
I don’t know what you’ll be able to say 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the line in terms of, “This World Cup made a difference.” Is it the fact that younger international players are coming to MLS in their 20s instead of 30s? Is MLS becoming a destination league? Are we going to create our own Messis, which we desperately need? We’ve had it on the women’s side, but can we get that on the men’s side? I think the overarching theme is that it’s this wonderful opportunity for American sporting culture, particularly American soccer, to catch up to everyone else.
What’s one outlandish prediction that probably won’t happen but you think might take place in the World Cup?
Stone: I think there’s going to be a wild upset, I think one nation is going to get to the Round of 16 that nobody’s talking about, and I would love it if it’s a newbie like Uzbekistan. Hey Uzbekistan, we’d love to have you on the stage, come around and let’s keep playing. I would love it if it was one of those tiny countries that nobody’s talking about and giving a chance, like Cape Verde or Curaçao. I want them to have that opportunity to go head to head with the big boys. I would love it for a little minnow to make a muscle move into the Round of 16.
Carli Lloyd
You’re a USWNT legend, but you do have some crossover with the USMNT. Do you sense any insecurity from the USMNT knowing that you have dominated the game for so long, and they have never come close?
Lloyd: A lot of people are always like, “The women win, the men don’t,” and what I try to explain to them is that the first true Women’s World Cup was in 1991, and we were so far ahead of other countries because we had the support from the federation. We were funded, we played games, it was professional, and now you’re seeing a lot more women’s teams that are being supported financially and being marketed. It’s now visible.
The men’s World Cup has been around since 1930, so there’s a longer history there. Every boy that grows up here in America has the opportunity to play other sports, whereas overseas, in different countries, there’s pretty much a soccer ball or a football at their feet. It’s just different, and I don’t think there’s an insecurity on their end. I think they know that we know that it’s hard to win a World Cup.
Our U.S. women may never win another World Cup again. I hope they do, but that’s the reality of it. The stronger the competition gets, the harder it becomes. I think these U.S. men understand the magnitude of this World Cup, the opportunity, and I hope they can leverage that and get the momentum, but also enjoy the moment as well.
Congratulations on your pregnancy. What has it been like doing this entire event while carrying another human in your stomach?
Carli Lloyd: It certainly is a little more challenging. Two years ago, covering the Copa América, I was also pregnant, so this is my second run. I kind of know what to expect. Not to get too detailed, but last summer, I was nursing. I had my daughter while working the women’s EUROs with FOX, I was pumping. I have such a newfound respect for moms, what they do, and the balancing act. We just figure out a way. You keep moving, you keep adapting. We’re incredibly happy for our second to be on the way soon, and it’s going to be fun covering the World Cup.
