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Host
This is in conversation from Apple News.
David Green
I'm David Green in for Shamita Basu.
Host
Today getting ready for the World cup with Ted Lasso's Brendan Hunt. The 2026 FIFA World cup is officially underway. It is the largest World cup in soccer history with four 48 teams and 104 matches. It's almost certainly going to be the most viewed sports event ever watched by billions of fans across the world. This will also be the first time the event is co hosted by three nations. Mexico, Canada and the United States. The last time the U.S. hosted the World cup was 32 years ago in 1994. So this year is yet another chance for the U.S. to grow its footprint as a soccer country, Even if the U.S. men's National Team doesn't make it to the final. To get us excited about what is to come, I wanted to talk to Brendan Hunt. He's one of the creators, writers and stars of Apple TV's Ted Lasso. He's also a massive soccer fan and one of the hosts of the Apple News original podcast. After the whistle. On that show, he'll be breaking down all the World cup action with Rebecca Lowe, who has been covering the Premier League for NBC Sports for over a decade and who will also be covering the World cup this year for Fox Sports. In our conversation, Brendan and I talked about how he became such a die hard fan, his hopes and dreams for the US Men's national team, and his secret plan to get Americans to love soccer. And a quick warning, there is some
David Green
adult language in this episode. You grew up in Chicago at a time when, I mean, I wouldn't say soccer was exactly like hot in the Windy City when you were growing up.
Brendan Hunt
It was not.
David Green
Did soccer play any role in your life?
Brendan Hunt
Basically zero. Like, I don't even think I had soccer as a PE unit. Soccer back then was something I was vaguely aware of that was happening in Hispanic neighborhoods and in the suburbs. Little did I know Brian McBride was one of those people out there who was going to, you know, loom large in my fandom decades later. But yeah, I was basically never exposed to it.
David Green
Well, so then how do you become known for soccer? I mean, one of the stars of Ted Lasso and also hosting a popular podcast that's gonna be a guide to the World cup for many of us.
Brendan Hunt
Yeah, I mean, it's a fair question. What is exactly this kind of legitimacy?
David Green
What are you doing here?
Brendan Hunt
All that really happened is I just got enthusiastic about it before most of us really, and not till I was an adult. I Moved to Amsterdam in 1999 and started to do comedy there at the infamous, notorious, wonderful Boom Chicago. And, you know, in 99, there's no streaming, there's no broadband. There's no way for me to keep up with my beloved Chicago sports anymore. So I was like, soccer, I'll give you a shot. And once I sort of caught the bug, I became, frankly, ravenous for knowledge. And I like, you know, these magazines that they had at the time, 442 Magazine and World Soccer magazine and the now defunct Total Football magazine. They would have these, like, history chapters. So that's how I'm learning about, like, Ajax in 72 and Claudio Gentile and all these sort of random facts and,
David Green
like, you were nerding out. I mean, you were kind of getting stats. Completely nerdy, huh?
Brendan Hunt
And, like, it's not like I'm the first American who became a soccer fan by any means, but I was, as was true for so many American soccer fans around that time especially, I was like, the soccer fan in the friend group.
David Green
Yeah, you were on it before. It was cool, like, for Americans.
Brendan Hunt
Yeah. And in particular, when friends of mine would come visit in Amsterdam, I, like, got into translating soccer for them. And Jason Sudeikis was one of those friends, and he bought FIFA for our PlayStation in the green room of our theater. And when we would play, I would say, like, oh, yeah, okay, 72ix. They're like the Showtime Lakers. And he's like, okay, got it. And that exact same dynamic then became the basis for one of the bits in the original TED Lasso commercials.
Jason Sudeikis
We came up with a flashcard system in order for me to make American comparisons to English teams. All I had do is link what I don't know to what I do know.
Brendan Hunt
Manchester United, super rich. Everybody either loves them or hates them.
Jason Sudeikis
Dallas Cowboys, Liverpool.
Brendan Hunt
Used to be great. Haven't won a title in a really long time. Also, Dallas Cowboys, Cardiff City, Dragons on the crest.
Jason Sudeikis
What's that hot girl's name from Game of Thrones?
Brendan Hunt
Khaleesi. Khaleesi. Manchester City.
Jason Sudeikis
Jennifer Lawrence.
Brendan Hunt
West Ham United, Pickup trucks. So, yeah, I've just been doing some version of this for a while. But, you know, the other, you know, key element of it is, like, the enthusiasm is real. The willingness to have my heart just naively destroyed every four years is 100% authentic. And why I want to bring more people along on this pain train, I don't know. I don't know. Oh, I do know, because in the long run, I want us to win the world cup in my lifetime. And for that to happen, someone's got
David Green
to be banging the drum, us being the United States. You're saying that that's the every four years pain that we go through and likely to suffer through it again this year unless there's some astonishing course of action that happens. But the U.S. not exactly. Not exactly favored to win.
Brendan Hunt
No, no, by no means. But, you know, that's why they play the games.
David Green
That's why they play the games. Yeah. Well, you know, I. I went back and I listened to the episode of your podcast with Rebecca Lowe after the whistle from four years ago. And it was after that incredible Argentina
Brendan Hunt
win, they do it on penalty kicks after the most dramatic World cup final.
David Green
Like, and I had no dog in this fight, even though I wanted, you know, Messi to maybe have his moment. But, like, I can still feel my body, like, tighten up thinking of how stressful that was. That probably the most amazing final or one of in World cup history.
Brendan Hunt
Oh, I think arguably the most amazing single soccer game of all time, given the stakes and the performances and the caliber of legends who were already involved. You know, Messi trying to stake his final claim, not really necessarily to being the best player ever and, you know, Mbappe chasing him along and the two of them going at it in the way that they did. That was a absolutely phenomenal game. And, like, sure, there was like a 65 minute period in the middle there, where. Where there were no goals. Right, Fine.
David Green
But for those who are getting into soccer, you need to accept that that might often happen.
Brendan Hunt
Exactly.
David Green
And it doesn't mean the game is not exciting for the record.
Brendan Hunt
And if you're going to have goals, you might as well have them toward the beginning and toward the end. And Mbappe scoring, basically back to back in that way, only the second ever hat trick in a World cup final, in a men's World cup final. Anyway, like, that game, like, even while you're watching it, you're just aware, like, this is historical. This is the literal height of this sport. And we should be lucky, consider ourselves lucky, to ever find a game that even compares.
David Green
Yeah, well, so how we're four years on now, this World cup is gonna be the biggest ever because they've increased the number of teams. It's on US Soil for the first time in a few decades. Like, what words are you using to describe how you're feeling heading into this thing?
Brendan Hunt
Well, you know, unavoidably, one of the words is conflicted because one of the things a World cup is supposed to be is Welcoming. And I say that as someone who's visited other countries a couple times to go to World Cups and you know, was able to enjoy the atmosphere and the festivity regardless of where one was from. So conflicted. But also our national team is, they've been putting in the work for, for so long trying to make this happen, you know, getting us back into the World cup in 2022 and now trying to make a dent in this one. And yeah, they remain underdogs, but there's an opportunity for national unity here in a way we do not get over anything else. Like we don't get it during the Olympics because it's too diffused, too many events. But this, if they can make a run here and you get into that rhythm of every, you know, four days, the whole country is watching the same thing for two hours. Like there's nothing else that does that, particularly in our streaming broadbandy times. Like it's a unique chance for us all to be looking at the same thing at the same time and having the same feelings, you know, a narrow sliver of what was the best thing about a monoculture. But that'll take the team, you know, stepping up and making it something that draws people in. So hopefully they do that.
David Green
That's what I was gonna say. I mean, I just listened to you talking about this and I think it's even more pressure on this team than even is usual. And you know, I heard like one of the, one of the American stars, Christian Pulisic, like, was asked yet again how much pressure's on your shoulders? And he was like, I don't even want to talk about that anymore.
Christian Pulisic
No, I feel like I've been asked this question so many times, so I'm not going to get into it anymore. I mean it's, there's pressure. It's a World Cup. I understand that's what people have to, what people have to do. They have to find ways to put pressure on, on, on the players. And I get it. I, I'm, I'm really grateful to be in this position.
David Green
But you're saying like the hopes for this to be a unifying moment in a time of such divisive politics is kind of riding on these guys shoulders and if they actually make a run like that could help us as kind of a society a lot.
Brendan Hunt
I mean, yeah, I mean, I don't want to overstate it and all because it's just a game, but like this is the power of a World Cup. This is the power of a nation getting behind its national team in a way that we have never done in these, you know, quadrennial events. Even though, you know, the women's team is so much more successful, we still are not, like nationally behind them. I mean, there's definitely a lot of passion behind them, but it's just not quite the same. But the magnitude of this event is something that we've basically run parallel to, and now we can be riding shotgun. And I've been telling people for years, one of the best cultural experiences you can have is to be not just in a country that is hosting the World cup, but in a country that cares about the World Cup. During the World cup, watching the streets shut down, watching every bar not only crowded, but also making room. It's just something that we don't get here. And I'm, I'm still just naive enough to hope that this summer we will.
David Green
So just some of the basics for people who don't necessarily obsess about the World Cup, I mean, it all starts with group stage. And for teams that don't make it through group stage, that is not the best performance at the World cup and feels like the US at least has to get there and move on to kind of start engendering the kinds of feelings that you're.
Brendan Hunt
It is incredibly rare for a host country to not make it to the knockout rounds, and it's even harder this time because you play three games, three points for a win, one point for a draw, and the top two teams advance automatically. But in this World cup, there's a slightly more convoluted thing that was also there in 1994, but hasn't been there since. 94 being last time we hosted where most third place teams will make it. So 32 of the 48 teams will make it to the knockout rounds, which arguably takes out some of the jeopardy, frankly. But yeah, to not get out of the group stage, which is not impossible. You know, the US doesn't have any, any mugs in their group. There's no tomato cans. Like, there's no all star teams either. But it's a low ceiling but a high floor. So it could be tough. But I'd be pretty surprised if they didn't make it out.
David Green
Let's talk about the US Coach, Mauricio Pochettino. I mean, he was brought in about what, like two years ago, and so much is riding on kind of whatever chemistry and team he's put together. Like, what can you tell people about him and how he's built the team
Brendan Hunt
we're about to See, he is arguably, not arguably, I think fairly definitively the most accomplished coach we've ever brought in. There's always controversy around bringing in a quote, unquote, foreign coach, but we've done that before, so we don't really have that as much. He likes to play a very pressing and aggressive style, and he really, more than anything else, what he's been stressing over the course of the last couple years since he's been hired, and as is revealed in that HBO documentary, us against the World. But I think it's fantastic, by the way, and I highly recommend, as a primer for this World cup. But Pochettino preaches passion, if you'll pardon the alliteration.
David Green
I like it.
Brendan Hunt
He just wants them to. Not just. He also wants his tactical things and particularly the pressing and getting the ball out, but he over and over again harps on, you have to play like your life depends on it. You have to play. You are feeling the weight of your country, and you are trying to serve your country with nothing but 100% passion in every single moment that you play. And for a coach so accomplished and, you know, so tactically wise, to be harping on this thing, which should be a given, really, is, I think, pretty interesting. And, you know, they're definitely starting to show it. You know, they played Senegal the other day and they. And they won and they. They looked good. They lost against Germany, and these friendlies don't really matter, but, like, those are two good opponents.
David Green
I mean, those are. Those are not slouches.
Brendan Hunt
Yeah, not at all. And like, yeah, they were losing, but they were very unhappy about it. In a way.
David Green
That's what you want to.
Brendan Hunt
Exactly.
David Green
Yeah. I just think about, like, each one of these players just has a story behind them, you know, where they grew up, how they got here. Christian Pulisic, you know, he's from Hershey. As a Pennsylvania, I mean, I grew up in Lancaster, like, you know, a half hour away. Hershey actually made a custom chocolate bar with his face and signature on it, like, to commemorate this moment. Obviously, I'm following him. I mean, any players who you're particularly fond of and following as this unfolds?
Brendan Hunt
Yeah, two players who are in the spine of. Who are both immensely important and also a little bit injury prone, which is the central midfielder, Tyler Adams and the central defender, Chris Richards. Chris Richards is currently hurt. He's supposed to be back in time for the World cup, but we just don't know right now. Those two guys are just phenomenally, phenomenally important. Chris Richards is our best defender by far. And Tyler Adams is an actual dynamo. I got to see him play live for the first time when he was playing for Leeds. There was a game at Liverpool, Mighty, mighty Liverpool, who were huge favorites. And Tyler Adams covered every blade of grass in that stadium. He was absolutely everywhere. It felt like the difference in hearing an artist's records and seeing them in concert like he was, he was in more than 3D. He's a phenomenal player. And he's not as celebrated as Pulisic, you know, nor is Chris Richards, of course, but absolutely essential to what the team can do. And if they lose Chris Richards and if they lose Tyler Adams, God forbid, then hopes diminish significantly for progress.
David Green
Well, Chris Richards, I mean, in particular, I mean it isn't the one big vulnerability defense for this US team. Like if they go up against an amazing attack from another club, I mean they could be down like 3, 4 nil really early. If their defense collapses and makes some mistakes.
Brendan Hunt
That is the fear that's far. We have a far more accomplished attack than we do defense. But if Chris Richards is back there, then you feel a little bit better about it.
David Green
I mean, there's just something so special. I'm sure for these guys. This is a bigger stage than I think almost any other in, in sports globally.
Brendan Hunt
Oh, 100%. It's the biggest sporting event there is. It's, you know, it has been called by a man who's otherwise very stupid. It's a Super bowl every day. I mean, it's. By the time we're.
David Green
Who are we talking about saying that?
Brendan Hunt
That'd be Johnny Infantino, who is the head of the openly corrupt organization known as FIFA. And here's the thing too, about this World cup, like for those who don't know when the US plays home games, typically like a World cup qualifier or in the regional competition known as the Gold cup or the Nations League, they do not have a home crowd. Almost never they know they'll be playing in Cincinnati or Denver or whatever and it'll be, you know, 40,000 people, 50,000 people, and 5 to 15,000 of those people are actually rooting for the US and the other, you know, 75% are rooting for the visiting team, be it Mexico or Guatemala or Costa Rica or what have you. So for the first time in 32 years, this US comes into a situation where they will actually have full stadiums cheering full throatedly for them. The 60 or 70,000 at Sofi, same amount in Seattle and then we'll see what happens after that, but they've already commented on it. After the Senegal game. Serginho Dest, who is a Dutch born, but like a very important player for this team, he literally came out and said, I was surprised by the support. This game was in Charlotte, they had about 50,000 people. And he's like, we've never had that before in my time here. And he's been with the team since before 2022. And if we can have that all summer, it helps a lot. And it does. And that's why home teams tend to do well in World Cups. Like, can that passion in the stands, you know, help ignite the passion on the pitch and affect results in some way. But yeah, the World cup is bigger than the Olympics. A regular game between a group stage game between, you know, Bosnia and Canada can be as big as the Super Bowl. It's just constant massiveness and constant passion. And yeah, the stadium should be full here as long as FIFA hasn't priced out everyone in the world. Which is entirely possible.
David Green
Which is entirely possible. Yeah. I mean there has been controversy over expanding the number of teams. Like some people saying it's a good thing, some people saying this is just like a total money grab by FIFA. Do you come down on one side of that or the other?
Brendan Hunt
Oh, basically everything FIFA does is motivated by money. So I don't think more matches necessarily is going to make this better. It could dilute and diffuse the product. But yeah, people said that about March Madness when It went to 64 teams as well. So maybe they have a vision that this is not very clear right now, but it's going to take the jeopardy out of a lot of the group stage games. For one thing, it's going to make a champion have to win eight games instead of seven.
David Green
Right.
Brendan Hunt
Which makes it even harder for any of the smaller or mid range teams even to happen, for any like first time winner to happen. So it doesn't feel like it's for the greater good. Overall, the only good I can see in it now is that there will be some exciting knockout matches earlier. But yeah, more in this case definitely does not necessarily mean better.
David Green
So who's your favorite and who's your dark horse? Cinderella story? Which countries are you watching?
Brendan Hunt
I think the champion will come from France or Spain or England. And in terms of teams that are sort of off the board a little bit, that could make a run. Columbia, which is sort of middle of the pack of where favorites are. I just have a notion about them and who I think actually could, could do way better than People expect. And I can't exactly articulate why I think this, so please don't ask, but Ecuador.
David Green
Okay.
Brendan Hunt
Every time I'm making a bracket, I keep picking Ecuador, you know, in certain situations. And yeah, Colombia or Ecuador are my off the board choices, but Spain, France or England are the smart money.
David Green
I think my friend is from Morocco and he's dying for Morocco to make some noise like they did last time and thinks they.
Brendan Hunt
And that was incredible. Yeah, Morocco making semis last time around was absolutely phenomenal. But when teams make an incredible run like that, like they'd never made it before, unexpected teams, you know, like South Korea in 2002, like Croatia in 18, they rarely equal the feat in their next tournament. And I saw that Mondami has picked Morocco to win the entire World Cup. Picked them to win over France.
David Green
There's the jinx. There's the jinx.
Brendan Hunt
Which would be thrilling.
David Green
Yeah. But probably jinxed. Yeah.
Brendan Hunt
But I would be surprised if they were able to repeat what they did before, just cause it's. Yeah. Almost never done.
David Green
I want to come back to you. Where are you going to be? I mean, you know, you have this podcast with Rebecca Lowe. You're kind of covering this as a podcaster, soccer journalist in a way. You obviously are a celebrity who gets recognized from Ted Lasso. What is your identity in your relationship with this World cup and where are you going to be?
Brendan Hunt
So I'll be rooting my head off at all the US Games. I'm going to definitely try to get to a Holland game or two because again, I learned to love football in the Netherlands and I still have great affection for their team. I got a soft spot for England. I've spent a little bit of time in England the last six years or so. That gets in your blood a little bit. Though. I will not be cheering for them as lustily as I will the US and the Netherlands. So I'll probably go to almost all the games that are in LA. I think there are seven games happening totally at SoFi. But I. Yeah, I have tickets to Holland, Japan and to England, Croatia and yeah, hopefully, you know, I can get to more as a knockout rounds. Like, then you got to keep my powder dry and wait and see how the knockout rounds shake out before start getting, you know, Google flights out and then figuring out what's happening next.
David Green
I mean, do you think I feel like just stepping back? Like since 94 people have been talking about where we've become a soccer country in the U.S. like, have we. Like I was Roger Bennett the Men in blazers, guy, like I was talking to him not so long ago and he was like, you know, back in 94, soccer was behind tractor pulling in popularity in sports in the US and you know, now it's up to like number three. By some surveys, I don't totally believe that. But is there soccer fever now in the United States?
Brendan Hunt
I don't know that it's a full on fever, but you know, it's been a very slow creeping up. I mean, for a while now we've been the best country to watch football in because we're able to turn on, you know, our TV or a computer in this situation and basically watch any big game that is happening anywhere in the world. Whereas even in England, they can't watch all the games in England. So we've been able to offer the smorgasbord and then people are sampling it here and there. What it does mean is the sport in America is in a far better position to exploit this World cup to become an even bigger sport in this country than it was in 94. Like at 94, you know, this World Cup I've known about, you know, for six years. I've been looking for it since the moment they announced it. I've been so excited. The World cup in 94. I literally found out about it a half hour before it was starting. And I was in Chicago where they were having the first game less than two miles from where I was. I'm just flipping through channels and oh, that's Soldier Field. Oh, are they getting ready for a soccer game? What is happening? So somewhere in the difference between a half an hour and six years is, is the, is the math of what, you know, this could mean for soccer in this country. And there's the age old question of like, oh, what if our best athletes played soccer instead of all these other sports? And like, it's a bit of a tired question, but also like, yeah, well, what if they did? Athleticism alone does not do it. But if we can, you know, start getting people to care more about it from the ages of 5 and learn the subtleties and the technique more than the brute force, I mean, we really could be onto something here. And like, yeah, we've just got a lot of people and so many people who like doing so many things that surely we'll get good at this at some point.
David Green
I have the same memory of 94. Like I traveled to Orlando, which I think was hosting was one of the host cities, and I was like, why are all these people from other countries here? I literally had no idea. And I feel like now it's just this buildup that's been coming for six years. And you're right, it's like a. It's totally different.
Brendan Hunt
Why are these people from other countries here and so stridently showing their other country from this.
David Green
Yeah. And so patriotic and cheering and yelling and very drunk. Going back to, like, you and Jason Sudeikis and, like, your early days in comedy, but also soccer. Like, do you remember at a very basic human level, like, what was drawing you to this sport over other ones?
Brendan Hunt
I mean, there are little things and there are big things. One of the little things is no commercials. That's not nothing. Another one of the little is two hours. You're in, you're out, you're done. But also just, you know, it can be very, you know, a very immersive experience if you find yourself in a proper soccer bar. Like, when I moved to Amsterdam, one of my first sort of big game experiences was watching a Champions League semifinal second leg between Manchester United. This is the Manchester United of that David Beckham fellow that so many of you heard of that guy.
David Green
Yeah.
Brendan Hunt
And Juventus. And it was at Juventus in Turin. Juventus went up to nothing very early. And then Man U had this incredible comeback. And I was in a bar of mostly Man U fans and a few Juventus fans. And, like, just the thundering and, like, the rollercoaster of these emotions and these people, it was like, this is not quite like anything I've ever been a part of. Just the bar part of it. And I've watched the Bears in bars, I've watched the Bulls in bars, but this is different. And the kind of athleticism involved for soccer is just a little bit different than the athleticism we need or that we see in other sports. Like, there's only so many ways you can cross the line of an end zone with a ball in your hand, but there are an infinite number of ways to score goals. And because the field is so damn big, an infinite number of spots from which to do it, an infinite number of ways to interlink as a team in the buildup to that goal. I find myself drawn more to moments of technical excellence in soccer than I am in other sports. Sometimes you see this little moment of magic and you're like, how did they do that? And partially that's because as someone who'd never played the sport, everyone who is good at it seems like, pardon my French, a fucking magician to me.
David Green
Total magician artist. Like the whole. Yeah, yeah.
Brendan Hunt
Like someone who's incredible at basketball Like, I know the mechanics of what they're doing, and, like, I can't do that either, but I at least, you know,
David Green
have an understanding of it.
Brendan Hunt
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But soccer just absolutely blows me away over and over again.
David Green
Yeah, that's amazing. When you guys created Ted Lasso, were you wondering if, like, American television viewers were going to get into it? Like, what was the feeling was the expectation.
Brendan Hunt
It was certainly an element of my personal master plan for the show, with the caveat that we didn't know if anyone was gonna watch it at all because we were gonna be on a streaming service that didn't exist. But I have long felt that, you know, as Americans complain about soccer, if you can get yourself caring about just one team and you just want, before you know it, you want that team to have good things happen to it so bad that you see past all those other problems, it doesn't eliminate those problems. Those problems, no sport is perfect, and those are the imperfections there. But just tricking people into caring about a team and like, a World cup should do that, you know, you should care about your national team, but for whatever reason, people might not. And you can certainly say in advance, like, I'm just not going to watch soccer, fine. But our little TV show has a little Trojan horse in it of making you care about the characters and you care about the characters and you care about this team, and now you care about this team on this show. Well, now you. Ha ha. I tricked you.
David Green
You got it.
Brendan Hunt
Now you care about soccer. And so, yeah, you know, people have anecdotally certainly credited us with a little bit of helping soccer become more popular. I don't know how true that is.
David Green
That must mean a lot, though, when
Brendan Hunt
you hear that, particularly, hey, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. I definitely have been trying to make this happen for going on 27 years. But, yeah, if we can have done our part, then I'm happy about that. But again, it's just, you gotta start to care just a little bit about one team and see where that takes you.
David Green
Well, can't wait to listen to your show with Rebecca Lowe and hope this US Team makes it run. What fun it will be. For all the reasons that we talked about. It would just be great. Brendan, thank you. That was really fun.
Brendan Hunt
Thank you, David. Pleasure.
Host
We'll include a link to after the Whistle with Brendan Hunt and Rebecca Lowe on our show notes page. And every weekend, you can find new episodes of Apple News in conversation in the Apple News app. Just tap on the audio tab the little headphones at the bottom to find it.
Apple News Today — Podcast Summary
Episode: TV’s most beloved assistant coach says the World Cup is about to change America. Here’s how.
Date: June 13, 2026
Host: David Green (in for Shumita Basu)
Guest: Brendan Hunt (Co-creator/star of Ted Lasso, host of "After the Whistle" podcast)
This episode spotlights the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada—the largest in soccer history. David Green sits down with Brendan Hunt, a driving force behind "Ted Lasso" and a passionate soccer fan, to discuss the tournament’s potential to reshape America’s relationship with soccer. They journey through Hunt’s unconventional path to fandom, his hopes for the U.S. Men's National Team, the cultural stakes of the World Cup, and the enduring power of passion—on the pitch and beyond.
A Unifying, Historic Event
The “Pressure” on American Players
New Format
US Coach: Mauricio Pochettino
Key Players
Home Advantage
On American soccer culture:
[03:20] Brendan Hunt: “I was, as was true for so many American soccer fans around that time especially, I was like, the soccer fan in the friend group.”
On national unity during the World Cup:
[07:01] Brendan Hunt: “There’s an opportunity for national unity here in a way we do not get over anything else…”
On group stage pressure:
[10:15] Brendan Hunt: “To not get out of the group stage... could be tough. But I'd be pretty surprised if they didn't make it out.”
On Pochettino’s philosophy:
[11:50] Brendan Hunt: “You have to play like your life depends on it… with nothing but 100% passion…”
On Spain/France/England as favorites:
[17:43] Brendan Hunt: "I think the champion will come from France or Spain or England.”
On World Cup’s expansion:
[16:52] Brendan Hunt: “Basically everything FIFA does is motivated by money… more in this case definitely does not necessarily mean better.”
On what drew him to soccer:
[24:29] Brendan Hunt: “There are an infinite number of ways to score goals… Everyone who is good at it seems like… a fucking magician to me.”
On Ted Lasso’s hidden purpose:
[25:46] Brendan Hunt: “Our little TV show has a little Trojan horse in it of making you care about the characters… Now you care about soccer.”
Brendan Hunt’s infectious enthusiasm, deep knowledge, and humor illuminate why this World Cup could be a turning point for American soccer—if fans, players, and culture at large are willing to embrace the “pain train” and passion. Through his storytelling and the Trojan horse of Ted Lasso, he hopes America will not just host the party, but truly join it.