Fox Sports is adding the most recognizable name in Mexican soccer history to its World Cup broadcast team.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández will serve as a studio analyst for Fox Sports’ FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage, the network announced Thursday. Hernández, Mexico’s all-time leading scorer with 52 goals in 109 international appearances between 2009-19, played in three World Cups, scoring in each of the 2010, 2014, and 2018 tournaments. He retired in 2025 after a career that took him from Chivas de Guadalajara to Manchester United to Real Madrid to Bayer Leverkusen to West Ham to the LA Galaxy, where he scored 38 goals in 74 regular season appearances over five seasons in MLS.
This will be his television debut as an analyst.
“Chicharito is synonymous with El Tri and with Mexico playing a major role in the tournament, we wanted to make sure we found voices who bring instant international credibility to our coverage,” Fox Sports’ Brad Zager said in prepared statement. “We’re thrilled to have him going from striker to studio analyst in his television commentator debut with Fox Sports.”
Hernández joins a Fox broadcast team that has been taking shape since late last year. Thierry Henry was announced as a studio analyst in December, Zlatan Ibrahimović followed in March — a signing Zager described at the time as one he put on the board as a longshot and pursued anyway — and Rebecca Lowe was brought in to host alongside Rob Stone. The Athletic reported Fox also went after David Beckham and Jürgen Klopp for roles, though neither has committed.
Fox is carrying all 104 matches across 16 host cities in three countries — 70 on broadcast and 34 on FS1 — from June 11 through the final on July 19.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.