The United States enter a charged World Cup asking: what is enough?

Unlike most other countries, the US are playing the 2026 World Cup not just for themselves, but for the future of their voice in the sport World Cup newsletter | Daily podcast | Download the app Mauricio Pochettino paused. The microphone signal flickered. He tried, for a second time, to say a few things to the 5,500 fans who had gathered in the sun Monday at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California – the United States’ World Cup home base – for an open training session. Nothing. Then something. More choppy audio. By the time things came back online, he had developed a quip. “We are in the greatest country in the world,” he said in his Rioplatense-accented English. “But the technology does not work.” Continue reading...

Alexander Abnos in Irvine, California · Thu, Jun 11, 2026, 9:01 AM
US news | The Guardian

The United States enter a charged World Cup asking: what is enough?

Unlike most other countries, the US are playing the 2026 World Cup not just for themselves, but for the future of their voice in the sport

World Cup newsletter | Daily podcast | Download the app

Mauricio Pochettino paused. The microphone signal flickered. He tried, for a second time, to say a few things to the 5,500 fans who had gathered in the sun Monday at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California – the United States’ World Cup home base – for an open training session. Nothing. Then something. More choppy audio. By the time things came back online, he had developed a quip.

“We are in the greatest country in the world,” he said in his Rioplatense-accented English. “But the technology does not work.”

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