'Moved the sport forward' - Taft on the World Cup's impact

Jenny Taft GFX

Mic'd Up: Fox's Jenny Taft praised the camaraderie of the USMNT and insisted that the World Cup can be a launching pad for future soccer fans.

The book has nearly closed on the 2026 World Cup. Yes, the tournament ended over a week ago, but it's still sort of lingering. This is what World Cups do: hover in the memory, take a little bit of time to fully digest. This is especially true for a 48-team edition, where the storylines take some time to settle.

Of course, the big one from this World Cup was the Americanness of it all. Whether it be logistics, tickets or even politics, there were plenty of questions as to whether a USA-based tournament would actually work. And Jenny Taft, who covered it all in great depth for FOX, asserts it was nothing but a success.

"I've covered six World Cups, which is wild and an honor in every way. It was different in America. And while Russia had some highlights and Qatar had highlights, a place that I really didn't know what to expect, having it here in America was unbelievable and better than I could have even imagined," she tells GOAL.

Taft was there in a way few others were. The American reporter covered the USMNT in great depth during their run - and was a constant voice chronicling the team through their ups and downs.

"I thought the team was such a tight group. The hardest part about any World Cup is it could end for everyone but Spain. And so when [the USMNT] lost and it abruptly ended, it did feel so sad because of the special journey that this group had been on. It does end so abruptly. The staff was so close. They had a culture," Taft adds.

And when they were bounced by Belgium, she focused elsewhere. Taft covered the French National Team and was also there offering insight during the final itself.

"I have a little bit of a relationship with them from 2018. So that was cool to see them again and feel like they actually also trusted me as a reporter to be around their team," she says about covering France.

For Taft, then, it was a wonderful summer: both as a journalist and a soccer nerd. And she talked all of it in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL taps into the perspective of analysts, announcers, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad. 

NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

usmnt

ON THE USMNT'S SUMMER

GOAL: Now that the dust has settled, where do you stand on the USMNT's summer? Was it a success? Was it maybe a little bit of an underperformance? Like, how would you articulate it now?

TAFT: I've thought a lot about it, and I think almost two things can be true.

We can look at that team as a whole and the way they got a country behind them and excited. My mom and friends and everyone I know was texting me about U.S. Soccer in new ways that never happened before, so that can be a success. There's sporting progress, singing "Country Roads" together, and the fans that showed up at the stadium. I feel like U.S. Soccer had been waiting for those moments and that support, and it felt incredible. It truly did...I could not turn off how cool it was to sit and listen to "Country Roads," and they're chanting Mauricio Pochettino's name, and he's almost emotional. You can't turn off the emotion of a World Cup and what that means.

I thought the team was such a tight group...Sometimes it's oversaid from reporters that "the vibes are good." I almost felt like I was saying it too often, but they were that good. Like the team really, really liked each other. They revolved around each other. They believed in each other. It was a really special thing. So while that was very positive, we can be extremely disappointed in the way they lost, and they know that.

It was an embarrassing loss that I don't think those players will be over for a long time. But do I still think it moved the sport forward here in America in every way? I just walked into the town here. I saw so many jerseys on kids, and not just U.S. jerseys. Like, that's incredible. I'm aware of it maybe more than I have been in the past. That's just pretty crazy that we're gonna say we were a part of the summer of 2026.

Christian Pulisic USMNT 2026 World Cup Paraguay

ON WHAT IT MEANT FOR SOCCER IN THE U.S.

GOAL: How important do you think it was to have the support of the country, especially for the U.S. right now, which maybe needed a bit of a unifying force?

TAFT: It was, and I think that we can all just be so proud that these fans from around the world came to America and just fell in love with it. That was so refreshing. It was so refreshing to have my friends in Boston say "have you heard about the Scots?" And I'm like, "yes!"

I loved every meme. I loved my friends who have never watched soccer texting me pictures of Erling Haaland. I loved all of it. Seeing all the fans from around the world come to America, fall in love with America, bring the ranch dressing home - we've all seen every one of those memes -but that is like a beautiful thing.

GOAL: Did you expect that energy and unity from fans?

TAFT: I did expect it. I felt like once it was gonna start, I felt like all the way up till the first day, we were like, when is this? When is this train moving? I'd seen the Argentinian fans take over Qatar. I think that we all knew [the energy] was going to come. It did pick up steam in such an amazing way, and like the records that were set on viewership, I just loved it. It made me so excited to see that people were excited about soccer in the best way.

I'm also just like proud of what Fox Sports put on. I think about it a lot, at a World Cup, like in front of the camera, yes, but behind the scenes, I have so many amazing colleagues that also were away from their families for six weeks, and working insane hours. And like the 104 matches is a wild thing. Fox loves a big event, but 104 matches is pretty hard to even comprehend when you say it, and the amount of traveling sets, and so there were just a lot of people that made it happen. I love to think of how proud we can all be of the final product that we hopefully gave an audience really everything they wanted in experiencing this World Cup.

Cape Verde fans

ON THE EXPANDED FORMAT

GOAL: Do you think a 48-team World Cup worked? How do you view it now?

TAFT: I think it worked. I mean, like Cape Verde is like the perfect example of it working. I remember meeting the head coach at the World Cup draw in D.C., and he was just happy to be there. I think the press officer was like his friend, and he was like, "Look at us!" and they're this amazing story at this tournament, and we're all gonna remember like Cape Verde from the FIFA World Cup 2026.

There are things that you can never predict, too. There's always going to be crazy things in a World Cup and stories and players that you know have this incredible coming-out party. I love the fact that we didn't know what we were going to get and we got so, so much more.

GOAL: Did you have a favorite storyline? Or a bit you enjoyed covering the most?

TAFT: It is hard for me not to think of Cape Verde. I thought Curacao with all of their faith and Christian singing. I did love seeing the prayer from Mark McKenzie and the U.S., too.

We're gonna have this example, and we're gonna hear it with so many athletes in the future, and they're gonna go "Well, I remember watching that summer." So that's cool to me. I loved being around the French team because I have a little bit of a relationship with them from 2018. So that was cool to see them again and feel like they actually also trusted me as a reporter to be around their team. That meant a lot to me to be able to continue those relationships with the French team, and I was bummed they lost. But considering how good Spain looked in the end, I think it made a lot of sense.

ON WORLD CUP LEGACY

GOAL: And to round this off, what do you think the legacy of this World Cup will be, when we look back in 10, 20, maybe 50 years?

TAFT: I don't know if we even know how big the legacy is yet. I think that it's going to be a summer we remember changing and just setting the scene for so many amazing athletes in the future. I don't honestly know yet. I know that I'm proud of what we did with Fox TV. I think the legacy is just hard to even describe yet. I'm so proud that we were all part of it in some little way.