FOX Sports has set its broadcast teams for the first week of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage, locking in who will call the tournament’s opening matches before a ball is kicked. Nine commentary teams will travel across North America to handle all 104 games from every one of the 16 host cities.
The assignments matter now because the first week includes the World Cup opener, the U.S. men’s opener and the early matches that will set the tone for a monthlong event. FOX Sports said it will be America’s English-language home for the tournament, and the opening slate gives viewers a first look at which voices will frame the biggest games on FOX and Fs1.
John Strong and Stu Holden will call the U.S. Men’s National Team’s opener against Paraguay on Friday, June 12, from Los Angeles, with Jenny Taft reporting from the sideline. FOX will also carry a three-hour pregame show for the first USMNT FIFA World Cup match on home soil in more than 30 years, beginning at 6:00 PM ET. That game is the one many U.S. fans will have circled first, both because of the opponent and because it marks the team’s return to a home World Cup stage that has been absent for decades.
Elsewhere in the opening days, Ian Darke and Landon Donovan will call the World Cup opener from Mexico City with Alex Aljoe pitch side as Mexico faces South Africa on Thursday, June 11, with live coverage beginning at 1:00 PM ET on FOX. Jacqui Oatley and Warren Barton will handle Korea Republic against Czechia that same day on Fs1. Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves will call Canada’s opening match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday, June 12, from Toronto on FOX, while Derek Rae and Rob Green will be on Saturday’s Qatar-Switzerland match. Later that day, Ian Crocker and Danny Higginbotham will call Haiti against Scotland on Fs1.
The rollout is not the final word on the booth assignments. FOX Sports is naming announcers for the tournament’s opening week before the event begins, but match teams will continue to be announced weekly once the World Cup starts, leaving the rest of the 104-match schedule to be filled in as the tournament unfolds. Dr. Joe Machnik and Mark Clattenburg will serve as the network’s dedicated rules analysts throughout the competition, giving FOX a fixed officiating voice even as the rest of the broadcast map keeps changing.
For viewers planning ahead, the assignments also offer a guide to where each match will land, including the June 14 games on Fs1 with JP Dellacamera and Lori Lindsey on Côte d'Ivoire against Ecuador and Tyler Terens and Maurice Edu on Sweden against Tunisia. Fans looking for the streaming route can also use the Fox One World Cup streaming guide, which says the $20 option carries every FOX and Fs1 match. For now, FOX has shown its hand on the opening week; the rest of the tournament’s broadcast picture will be drawn game by game.
