The Fox Sports broadcast team ended Monday’s FIFA World Cup coverage with a message to America: Please don’t turn off that TV.
The U.S. Men’s National Team was clobbered by Belgium 4-1 in the round of 16 matchup, eliminating them from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and dashing America’s dream of advancing deep into the tournament on home turf.
Fox’s announcer team of John Strong and Stu Holden, aware that many viewers will be turning off of soccer until 2030, used the final moments of the match to implore American viewers to, well, not do that, please.
“If you’ve enjoyed what you’re seeing, well, support your local team,” Fox play-by-play announcer John Strong told viewers. “This doesn’t have to be the last soccer you watch for the next four years. It’s a beautiful sport.”
“The future of American soccer is very bright,” added analyst Stu Holden, reiterating a message familiar to U.S. soccer fans going back more than a decade.
The repercussions for the U.S. loss will be felt by Fox, which is sure to see its TV ratings fall significantly. That said, top-tier soccer from teams like France, Spain, Norway and Argentina combined with favorable time zones in the U.S. should result in huge numbers for games even without the U.S. in the tournament any longer.
Still, there’s no sugarcoating it: If the U.S. advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond, TV executives were salivating at potential viewership that rivaled NFL playoff games. The dream of the 50 million viewer soccer game seems dead in the U.S., for now.
Strong and Holden, of course, were not merely advocating for viewers to keep watching the World Cup, but soccer in general, be it top European clubs or Major League Soccer, which is hoping to ride a wave of its own after this World Cup.
But the U.S. clobbering by Belgium won’t help the cause. Nor will the political optics, with President Trump confirming that he lobbied FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review a red card issued to U.S. star Folarin Balogun in the last game that would have kept him on the sidelines Monday. Of course, it didn’t matter, with Balogun a non-factor in the game.