The FIFA World Cup is back on American soil for the first time in 32 years, and FOX Sports has six weeks to either cement its legacy or fumble the biggest sporting event on the planet. Here's how it plays out.
Alexi Lalas will remind everyone why he matters
The tournament expands to 48 teams this cycle, meaning 12 hours of daily football and an enormous amount of airtime to fill. FOX Sports has the names to fill it — but the analyst who'll cut through the noise is Alexi Lalas.
He's the rare studio pundit who actually has a take. Bold, direct, willing to say the thing no one else will. The World Cup only comes around every four years, so casual viewers forget what Lalas brings between cycles. They'll remember fast.
If the USMNT crashes out early, watch how quickly Lalas becomes either the voice of accountability or the lightning rod for fan frustration. If they go on a run, he becomes the face of the moment. Either scenario creates content that outlives the tournament itself. That's not a small thing for a network staking its reputation on these six weeks.
Technology will produce one genuinely game-changing moment — and a few embarrassments
This World Cup arrives loaded with tech ambitions: sensor chips in match balls, AI-generated 3D player avatars, automated offside systems, robot security dogs, and a stabilized referee cam mounted directly on the lead official's head.
Some of it will look visionary by the final whistle. Some of it will look like a budget was spent badly. That's always how these things go.
The referee cam is the one to watch. If FOX Sports has genuine access to that footage — and actually uses it — the broadcast potential is significant. Every contested call, every injury that looked theatrical, every heated exchange between a captain and an official: all of it suddenly has a new perspective. If networks aren't copying the format within two years, something went wrong with the execution.
FOX One subscribers also get 4K coverage, multi-view options, AI-personalized content, and an "AskFOX" feature for in-match context. Whether viewers actually use that last one or ignore it entirely is a genuine open question.
The viewership numbers will be records — and will still spark the wrong debate
The 2022 Qatar World Cup averaged 4.7 million viewers per match in the United States. The final pulled 25.8 million. Those numbers will be beaten in 2026 — the combination of home-country hosting, a 48-team format, and Nielsen's updated Big Data + Panel measurement system makes that close to a certainty.
A Seton Hall survey found that World Cup popularity among 18-to-34-year-olds in the US trails only the NFL and NBA. MLS viewership is up 62% year over year through the first three months of 2025. The NWSL keeps expanding. Youth participation has been growing for three decades.
The sport doesn't need to convince anyone anymore. That argument is over. What actually matters now — for broadcasters, advertisers, and anyone pricing USMNT-related markets — is how deep the American side goes. A USMNT run into the knockout rounds doesn't just move the needle on national pride. It shifts the entire viewership trajectory of the tournament's final weeks and keeps casual audiences locked in longer.
The World Cup didn't come back to the United States to grow the game here. It came back because the game already grew.
