Fox Fumbled Their World Cup Coverage. Can they fix it ahead of 2026?
I don’t speak a lick of Spanish (bar a few curse words) but I watched almost the entire World Cup in Spanish and I don’t regret a second of it. Perhaps I am spoiled with NBC & CBS and their amazing coverage of the spectacle that is European Football, but I just could not get myself to listen to Fox. Whether it was the surface level analysis or the awful commentators, it was just a bad experience in itself. With other broadcasters already crafting up winning formulas in regards to bringing the beautiful game to an American audience, Fox turned a blind eye and cooked up coverage that was nothing short of..cringeworthy.
Stories Wrote Themselves
This World Cup was arguably the best ever. From the storylines going into the tournament, to the football that was played, this World Cup will never be forgotten.
In essence, it was the “Last Dance” for so many all-time greats. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Luis Suarez, & Thiago Silva, just to name a few. Some storylines included:
Could Kylian Mbappe lead France to back to back World Cups and be deemed a two time world champion by the age of 23?
Is Portugal better without Ronaldo?
Can Messi deliver a World Cup to Argentina in what is most likely his last World Cup?
And of course there were the stories that came about after the tournament kicked off such as:
Morcco’s amazing run to the semi-final being the first African nation to do so.
Japan’s incredible showing as they finished top of their group after beating both Spain & Germany and then taking Croatia to penalties in the round of 16.
Modric & Croatia’s all-time international midfield knocking out the favorites, Brazil with their last masterclass on the world’s biggest stage.
Wherever you turned this World Cup had it all. Plus, the USMNT had its most talented side in its history so hopes were high. Could the US make a deep run and cement the seed of excitement and promise before hosting the tournament on their home soil? Despite this World Cup being chock full of drama and entertainment, Fox somehow fumbled it all.
Instead of a deep dive into any of the stories above, all we heard from Fox was cringeworthy soundbites. “It’s Called Soccer” and random pump up speeches from Alexis Lalas before USMNT matches. No gripping promos, no nod to what this meant for soccer fans around the country, not an in depth look at the leaps and bounds the USMNT has taken in terms of quality on the pitch over eight years. But hey, at least we got to sit in on a piece highlighting how much Harry Kane loves Tom Brady. Give me a break.
Outside of the cringe soundbites, the analysis wasn’t particularly bad, it just wasn’t captivating or in-depth. There was little to no attention given to tactics although I did read that former USMNT player, Maurice Adu, was great in this aspect but whenever I was watching he wasn’t on air or had very little air-time.
Clint Dempsey, who is great on CBS as a Champions League analyst, was reduced to mere syllables as Lalas and Rob Stone seemed to be talking in circles.
I never watched the midnight recap show but I honestly couldn’t care less about what Chad Ochocinco had to say about the World cup. Why Fox had him represent the “Fan Experience” or whatever the hell they called it highlights the disconnect Fox has with its audience here in the states.
American Football promos and American Football Stars talking “soccer” isn’t what people want. People want to watch the World Cup and hear analysts give their professional opinion on it. If you’re going to have someone represent the ‘fan experience', why not have someone like Roger Bennett and Michael Davies of Men in Blazers lead a segment like that? They’ve done so much in regards to helping grow soccer in the states. Or perhaps you give someone from the American Outlaws the keys to that as they too are passionate about soccer and want nothing more than it to grow in popularity.
NBC & CBS Showed You How to Do It
As for commentary, the formula crafted by NBC and then CBS was completely thrown out the window. NBC has done an incredible job in their coverage of the Premier League. Interesting analysts, incredible commentators (a nod to the amazing Peter Drury) and at the same time, they’re not trying to “American-ise” the sport. Instead, NBC has gift-wrapped the sport and delivered it to their American audience. No Tom Brady x Harry Kane promos, no Giants and Cowboys Thanksgiving promo 20 times during the same match, no “it’s called soccer” bullshit, no random American Sports figures having their own segments, just the sport from abroad presented in its true form with seriously good commentators (Arlo White, Lee Dixon, Drury) paired with great analysts (Tim Howard, Robbie Earle, and Robbie Mustoe are great).
In its true form, soccer is amazing. How many people it captivates, what it means to those people, how it brings people together, and the simplicity of it. The history of the game goes back centuries and that’s what NBC delivered. You don’t need to feel that it’s closely tied to American Sports to be invested and NBC understood that and CBS later down the line.
CBS copied NBC’s model but added their own twist. Once again they rolled out an excellent commentary crew paired with good analysis but their analyst panel is quite funny (purposefully) and truly entertaining. Diving into both great analysis from former greats like Thiery Henry and Jamie Carragher paired with funny but insightful bits from Micha Richards and Clint Dempsey. The whole crew has great chemistry and it’s truly a joy to watch.
The groundwork had already been laid out by NBC and CBS on how to successfully deliver European Football to an American audience. Why Fox thought they could half-ass it with their commentary for the biggest tournament in the entire sport is beyond me.
Seemingly out of nowhere, two American announcers, John Strong & Stu Holden found themselves at the forefront of US Soccer nationwide. The pair seemed to get each day's biggest match and the coverage was lackluster.
Something ESPN is notorious for is pulling commentators from say college football, and throwing them into the commentary of an entirely different sport where they’re out of their depth and that’s what this felt like.
I completely understand why FOX would want an American duo commentating on the biggest World Cup matches but for such a prestigious tournament you have to go with the best of the best and John Strong and Stu Holden weren’t great.
During one of France’s group stage matches I remember an American commentator saying that Aurélien Tchouameni was “lucky to be on the pitch” given the fact that the midfield duo of N’golo Kanté and Paul Pogba were both missing the tournament through injury despite the fact that Tchouameni joined Real Madrid for 80 million euros and exploded onto the scene as one of the best, young holding midfielders in world football. Holden also gave Germany’s Niclas Füllkrug the same treatment despite the German striker whose 12 goal contributions in 14 matches being instrumental to a newly promoted Werder Bremen fighting for European football after playing almost his entire career in the second tier of German Football. That is nothing short of an incredible achievement that he’s scoring important goals for Germany at the World Cup.
Such comments were condescending and abrasive. It seemed evident that Strong & Holden had little knowledge on the sport outside of the MLS and the USMNT. Why they were given the biggest matches when there were commentators on the crew like Ian Darke and Derek Rae who are tried and tested commentators with a lot of experience not to mention Darke has one of the most famous calls in USMNT history as his “Go Go USA” will go down in history when Landon Donovan scored late a stoppage winner against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup. Now Donovan is Darke's co-commentator and he just might be the worst commentator in all of sports.
It’s clear that Fox thought they could throw together a handful of analysts and commentators that nobody cared to listen to and thought it would work because well… it's the World Cup. Of course people are going to watch, especially if they don’t speak Spanish (in some cases). At least we didn’t have to listen to Taylor Twellman commentate but 2022 will always be a missed opportunity for Fox.
Looking ahead to 2026, please move on from the desperate attempts to compare soccer to American football, hire analysts and commentators that people would actually enjoy listening to and that they can learn from, and hire some content creators to put together some solid promos that can really dive into the best storylines surrounding the tournament to drum up hype and tug at peoples heartstrings while also drumming up excitement.
I don’t write this as a stuck up fan who thinks they know everything about the sport. I write it as someone who wants to learn more. I want to listen to Maurice Adu talk tactics, I want a commentator like Drury, Darke, or Arlo White who are incredible at what they do. I want to learn more!
Considering how Fox handled this World Cup I’m not holding my breath. Perhaps they will improve their coverage before the World Cup in 2026 and I hope they do but if not, I do hope CBS or NBC pounces and that ESPN like FOX, when it’s time to see who gets the broadcasting rights for the future stay far away.
Also, a special shoutout to Andres Cantor whose emotional call as Argentina won the World Cup over on the Spanish Broadcast had me tearing up on the train as I watched on. It was probably the best call I’ve ever heard and I barely understood any of it.
