Credit: Fox Sports
By Sean Keeley on

For what could be Fox Sports’ last FIFA Men’s World Cup, they’ve assembled an All-Star studio show to go all out this year.

Fox has seemingly spared no expense, bringing in a slew of talent not only from their rivals but from around the globe, including NBC Premier League host Rebecca Lowe, CBS Champions League analyst Thierry Henry, and legendary soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Alexi Lalas is here, too.

In previewing Fox’s coverage of the 2026 World Cup, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand said the network would be wise to showcase Ibrahimović, who has Charles Barkley-like potential for being able to say what he wants. It’s also an opportunity to move the network’s soccer coverage beyond Lalas, who has, to put it mildly, divided the audience.

“For too long, Fox’s studio has run through Lalas,” wrote Marchand. “Lalas was a very good U.S. player, but not an all-timer. As an analyst, he often tries to come across as another Barkley, but he really sounds like the Skip Bayless of soccer.”

On Friday, the new-look studio show had its moments amid the awkwardness of getting used to one another, but it was Lalas who initially pulled focus, picking the USMNT to win the World Cup and referring to James Corden as a “full-kit wanker,” presumably unaware that’s not something you can say on national TV in some places.

However, there were other moments when keen viewers seemed to note a certain subtext in the way Henry and Ibrahimović reacted to Lalas.

Following Lalas’s bold USMNT pick, the outspoken Zlatan made sure to zing his fellow analyst about putting too much pressure on the squad, and seemed to take issue with the way Lalas presented his argument, not letting it go even when Lowe attempted to get them back on track.

Henry’s face at the end of the segment was a chef’s kiss.

It probably didn’t help that Lalas went out of his way to say that if Norwegian star Erling Haaland had a great tournament performance, he would take him over Ibrahimović. Not only did that not sit well with Zlatan, but Henry seemed shocked as well.

“I’m not sure about that,” responded Ibrahimović matter-of-factly.

At another point, Lowe asked what the panelists thought of the opportunity ahead of the American players in the World Cup, and Zlatan responded, “Everybody is getting a little bit nervous except for me and Thierry Henry, we’re used to the big stage.”

Awkward.

The pièce de résistance might have come later in the day, following popstar Lisa’s performance of “Goals.” Lowe threw it to Ibrahimović for a reaction, to which he said, “It was a great performance. I enjoyed the music, and I hope the U.S. team can perform at the same level. We’re at the future on the pitch, we’re at the present here…”

And without missing a beat, a stone-faced Henry pointed to his American counterpart and said, “And Alexi is part of the past.”

A friendly jab, but also, maybe not so friendly?

Certainly, many viewers throughout the day were either seeing the subtext or reading into everyone else’s reactions about how they felt about working with Lalas.

The wildest part? It’s only Day Two. If everyone’s already annoyed by Lalas, god knows what kind of subterfuge awaits him in a few weeks.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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