2026-06-12
26 分钟This is In Conversation from Apple News.
I'm David Green in for Shumitabasu.
Today, getting ready for the World Cup with Ted Lasso's Brendan Hunter.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway.
It is the largest World Cup in soccer history with 48 teams and 104 matches.
It's almost certainly going to be the most viewed sports event ever watched by billions of fans across the world.
This will also be the first time the event is co-hosted by three nations, Mexico, Canada and the United States.
The last time the U.S.
Hosted the World Cup was 32 years ago in 1994, so this year is yet another chance for the U.S.
To grow its footprint as a soccer country, even if the U.S.
Men's national team doesn't make it to the final.
To get us excited about what is to come, I wanted to talk to Brendan Hunt.
He's one of the creators, writers and stars of Apple TV's Ted Lasso.
He's also a massive soccer fan and one of the hosts of the Apple News original podcast After the Whistle.
On that show, he'll be breaking down all the World Cup action with Rebecca Lowe,
who has been covering the Premier League for NBC Sports for over a decade
and who will also be covering the World Cup this year for Fox Sports.
In our conversation, Brendan and I talked about how he became such a die-hard fan, his hopes and dreams for the U.S.
Men's national team, and his secret plan to get Americans to love soccer.
And a quick warning, there is some adult language in this episode.