Fox Sports has assembled a motley crew for its coverage of the North American-hosted 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup this summer, with a top panel consisting of Alexi Lalas, Thierry Henry, and Zlatan Ibrahimović, and anchored by Rebecca Lowe.
Despite what has appeared to be clear disdain from Henry and Ibrahimović toward Lalas, Lowe has insisted that there is “a lot of respect” between the panelists. However, those insistences have done little to curb others from declaring open season on Lalas and his hot takes and half-baked analysis; from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand penning a column wishing Lalas had never learned English to The Guardian’s Aaron Timms claiming that Lalas specialized in “trollish, hyperventilating garbage.”
Now, one of Lalas’s most heralded teammates on the USMNT, Eric Wynalda, has thrown his hat in the ring.
“I think it’s been unwatchable at times,” Wynalda told John Shrader during an appearance on The Soccer Media Podcast. “Yeah, I think, I mean, I think a lot of people feel that way. I mean, Alexi is, kind of true to the Fox brand, has been told: this is what we need you to do, start a fight, say some things, insult some people, say something outlandish that no one will believe, and we’ll see how many people will click into that. I think the American public has grown up now. I think our community, our soccer community is way too knowledgeable to fall for that anymore.”
Lots of media critics taking shots at the Fox Sports coverage of the @FIFAWorldCup. Much of it is frankly right on the money.
Here’s what Eric Wynalda thinks. @SoccerMediaPod @SiriusXMFC @socceramerica @FrontRowSoccer https://t.co/bat6EgDAFl pic.twitter.com/XqII2TKjin— John Shrader (@Shrader_Media) June 22, 2026
Eric Wynalda has covered the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup for Fox, so if anyone has an inside track on what the network wants from its soccer analysts, it’d be him.
For his part, Alexi Lalas has already admitted that his grating persona is a costume, and that it’s not going anywhere. The former center-back is no stranger to public backlash, and regardless of whether it’s a former teammate calling him unwatchable or his colleagues celebrating his absence from the studio, it’s not going to faze him.
“I don’t care if you like me or you don’t. I am as human as I possibly can be with the recognition that, on television, things have to be bigger and bolder,” he said back in 2024.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.