John Strong is the most important announcer you barely know

He’s calling the biggest sporting event in the world this summer, but you might not even know his name.

I’m talking about John Strong, the 40-year-old Fox Sports soccer commentator who is set to call his fifth World Cup final (three men’s, two women’s) in July. Typically, being the voice of five consecutive World Cups would make you a household name. But Strong, through no fault of his own, has remained relatively anonymous despite reaching what would be the pinnacle of nearly every broadcaster’s career.

Rarely is Strong mentioned in the same vein as Nantz, Tirico, Buck, or Breen. But his resume is as rock-solid as any modern play-by-play voice. The only problem? He calls soccer in the United States.

“I don’t see him enough talked about in the upper circles of elite broadcasters,” Fox Sports broadcast partner, Stu Holden, told Awful Announcing at a recent World Cup press event. “And I think that’s just purely because people talk about NFL, and that’s viewed as the pinnacle. Why can’t, you know, calling a World Cup final, or your third straight, be viewed in the same way?”

It’s a fair question, and one that got me thinking. The World Cup is such a unique event. Its quadrennial cadence keeps it just out of mind for most American sports fans until the weeks leading up to the event. Even the Olympics, which would be on the first line of the resume for legendary broadcasters like Bob Costas or Mike Tirico, happens twice as often; every two years. When one ends, the next one is right around the corner, whether you realize it or not. Could it simply be that the World Cup comes around so sparingly that its broadcasters are not afforded the same reverence as those in the Super Bowl rotation, or courtside at the Final Four, or in the 18th tower at Augusta?

That’s certainly a part of it. But what keeps Strong under the radar might be the simple fact that he’s a specialist.

Unlike other top-crust broadcasters, most of whom are reluctant to pass up assignments no matter the sport, Strong has stuck to soccer. While Strong started his career calling a little of everything, when he got his big break and became the voice of the Portland Timbers in 2010, he didn’t look back. Ever since, Strong has, by and large, only called soccer.

For a large swath of American fans, that has made Strong a once-every-four-years fixture. But Holden, who will approach 500 games called alongside Strong during this summer’s World Cup, knows his partner has put in every bit of work and preparation necessary to be recognized as one of the best broadcasters doing it.

“Nobody prepares more than him. I think he lives up to the big moments. I think he’s got the chops, the voice, the bravado,” he says.

Still, even if those around Strong know how capable he is as a lead broadcaster, that respect hasn’t translated to rank-and-file viewers. The infrequency with which he appears on our television screens is certainly one reason, but Holden thinks another could be a lingering bias among viewers who still aren’t accustomed to hearing Americans call the sport of soccer at the highest levels.

“People grew up in this country [listening to broadcasters] with English accents. …I remember 30 years ago, if you heard an English accent, it instantly meant you knew more about soccer. But we have a soccer culture here. We have people that have played at the highest level and the biggest leagues and the biggest moments. And so I think it’s time to feature those voices,” Holden argues.

It’s hard to believe with both Strong and Holden the same age, 40, but the duo is the longest-tenured English-language soccer broadcast team in the history of the United States, and the first to call three consecutive men’s World Cups together.

It wasn’t necessarily meant to be this way. Holden’s playing career was derailed by an ACL tear while playing for the U.S. Men’s National Team during the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Panama. While rehabbing the injury, he called a game alongside Strong for NBC. Unbeknownst to both men, it’d mark the start of a long and fruitful personal and professional relationship. But it was Strong’s guidance that day that set Holden up for long-term success as a broadcaster.

“We went out to a lunch that day. He sat me down like a dad, and I didn’t know how old he was. I thought he was like 10-12 years older than me; he carries himself like that, you know, he’s very mature,” Holden recalls. “He’s wanted to be a broadcaster since he was a kid, and he told me, ‘Look, if you want to do this, my only ask of you is that you treat this with the same respect that we do, because this is my livelihood, this is my job, this is what I wanted to do with my life.’ And it sat with me in that moment. I came to learn a year later, he’s my same age. We have grown to become best friends, and the biggest compliment we can get is that people say we sound like we’re best friends, and we are.”

13 years later, the duo is preparing to call a World Cup of generational importance for the United States. In doing so, Holden acknowledges that he and Strong could become the voices for a generation of soccer fans in the United States. Two Americans, calling a home World Cup, with an American team looking to prove it can hang with the sport’s global Goliaths, and a broadcast duo hoping to prove you don’t need to have a British accent to earn the respect of soccer fans this side of the Atlantic.

“Look, we have a huge responsibility this summer, and I don’t take that lightly,” Holden admits, “but I view it as an honor and a privilege.”

As for Strong, perhaps 2026 will be the breakout moment he’s worked for his entire career. “He never does it for talks about the recognition,” Holden says of his partner. But anyone in this business would admit that a positive reception is always welcome.

Even as a relative unknown, at least among casuals, Strong does have one thing going for him from a recognition standpoint. A tagline.

45 minutes down. 45 to go!

Strong’s halftime ritual of informing fans that a soccer game is, indeed, 90 minutes long is pretty silly. But it’s memorable. And every commentator worth a damn has a catchphrase. If it helps viewers identify who he is, what’s the harm in that?

His partner, though, would like a modification. “I tell him we’ve got 450 games down, 450 more to go. I hope to work with him for the rest of my career.”