The 2026 World Cup doesn’t kick off until June 11, but the media buildup is already well underway.
Fox has been assembling what amounts to an all-star studio team — Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Rebecca Lowe, and Ian Darke back in the booth for his ninth World Cup — and the network is calling it the biggest production in its 32-year history, with 104 games spread across Fox, FS1, and Tubi. But that’s not the only World Cup content coming this summer, though.
Playmaker HQ announced Wednesday the launch of Man On, a video podcast hosted by the unlikely duo of Jozy Altidore and Joakim Noah, debuting in the near future and running through the final whistle of the championship game at MetLife Stadium on July 19. The show will live on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, with episodes recorded out of studios in New York and Miami.
Altidore spent 15 years grinding through the Premier League, La Liga, and MLS before finishing his career as one of the most decorated players in USMNT history with 115 caps, 42 goals — good enough for third on the all-time scoring list — and two World Cup appearances. He knows what it feels like to walk into a stadium carrying an entire country’s expectations.
“The World Cup is the biggest stage in sports, and I’ve experienced what it feels like to represent your country under that kind of pressure,” Altidore said in a statement. “Whether you’ve followed soccer your whole life or you’re a new USMNT fan, we want this show to make you feel closer to the game.”
As for Noah, the two-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year, he grew up in a family where elite athleticism was just the baseline. The former Chicago Bulls center’s grandfather, Zacharie, played professionally in France and won the Coupe de France in 1961; his father, Yannick, won the 1983 French Open and reached No. 3 in the world; and his paternal grandmother played for the Cameroon women’s basketball team.
“I’ve always loved the global energy of the World Cup as a fan, where culture, pride, and identity all come together,” said Noah. “Man On is about tapping into that feeling. Coming from basketball, I’ve always been drawn to that global passion and how deep the culture runs. Man On is soccer through a wider lens, and we’re bringing everybody into the conversation.”
That wider lens is exactly what the American market needs heading into a summer that Fox Sports president Eric Shanks has said he doesn’t think the country fully understands yet. The tournament arrives in June with 48 teams, 16 host cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and a final at MetLife Stadium on July 19, which will amount to the biggest global sporting event this country has hosted since the 1994 World Cup.
Thirty-two years later, the infrastructure is bigger, the rosters are deeper, and a USMNT side built around Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, and a generation of players who grew up in European academies has a genuine chance to get past the round of 16 for the first time since 2002. The wait is almost over. Starting soon, Altidore and Noah will be there every step of the way until it is.
Playmaker HQ, part of Better Collective and which generated more than 1.6 billion social media views in 2025, will distribute the show across its own channels, alongside the show’s dedicated Instagram at @TheManOnShow.
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.