There’s long been a shared belief that despite the mistakes and wrongdoings of players, organizers, or world leaders, the game of soccer remains pure – untouched by our sins. In this episode we ask: how can that still be the case today? And we look into one of the countries that exemplifies the political turmoil and contradictions that have come to define this World Cup: Iran.

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Andrés Cantor has been a sports announcer for almost 40 years. He’s received eight Emmy Awards for his broadcasting and a place in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. You know his voice. His “Gooooooooool” has been featured everywhere from Late Night to the Simpsons. We get into the nitty gritty of calling a game, why he’s not afraid to cry, and the beauty of the World Cup.

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It’s here! This World Cup will be unlike many others – with more teams playing than ever before, challenging logistics, and volatile geopolitics – so we brought together two soccer experts to help give us the lay of the land for this tournament. We talk about impressions from the fans, FIFA’s prohibitively expensive ticket prices, the players to watch like Lamine Yamal, and so much more.

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Every sport has an underdog story. There are teams and players who go through such insurmountable odds that you can’t help but root for them. This World Cup, that team is Haiti.

In this episode, we look at how a country and a soccer team written off by the world managed to shock everyone. And we go beyond this epic qualification, as Haitian fans at home and abroad navigate through a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment and hostile policies coming from the main World Cup host: the United States.

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There has been mounting anticipation for the 2026 Men’s World Cup, but it’s impossible to make a series about soccer culture in the U.S. without bringing up the women’s national team. Because for decades, that team has dominated the sport in the United States and abroad. We're talking a global powerhouse, with four Women’s World Cup titles under its belt. We talk about the making of the U.S. Women’s National Team, how the players fought so hard off the pitch for equal pay, and what’s in store for women’s soccer.

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Why isn't soccer more popular in the U.S.? Turns out the answer to that question goes way back to the 1800s – and one of the biggest Ivy League universities in the country is to blame. Though, as we find out, soccer is more rooted in U.S. history than we think. Some historians go as far as saying it’s “an American game.”

Featuring soccer historian Tom McCabe and screenwriter Kirk Rudell, hosts of the excellent podcast AN AMERICAN GAME.

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When Tab Ramos immigrated from Uruguay as a child, he had no idea he’d play a role in the rebirth of U.S. soccer. “I remember telling my father at the time: dad, out of all the countries in the world that we could move to, why do we have to move to the one that doesn't have soccer?” Tab said. But Tab would grow to become one of the best U.S. soccer players of the 1990s. We hear about his devastating losses, his hard-fought wins, and a cracked skull that nearly ended his career and his life.

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The Men’s World Cup is coming to our continent – and to this country. So we’re using this huge event to dive deep into what soccer means in the United States. We hear from immigrants all across the country for whom soccer is a touchstone, but who’ve also woven the sport into American culture and life. And we go back to the 90’s, to the very first time the World Cup came to the United States. There was Oprah, there was O.J., and it changed soccer in the U.S. forever.

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