Fox started the World Cup from an empty stadium in Los Angeles. Not Mexico City, where 80,000 people were buzzing around the Estadio Azteca ahead of the tournament opener. Not anywhere near a football atmosphere. SoFi Stadium, silent and cavernous, greeting viewers two hours before kickoff.
It set a tone — just not the one Fox intended.
The atmosphere problem
The network's previous World Cup studio setups had a sense of occasion: the Sydney Opera House for the 2023 Women's World Cup, the Corniche in Doha in 2022. Both felt like the tournament mattered. Opening from an empty NFL stadium in California felt like a corporate obligation rather than a celebration of football.
When Fox eventually cut to Mexico City, where Jules Breach, Javier Hernandez, and Peter Schmeichel were broadcasting on-site, the coverage improved. But the damage to the early energy was done. And the "U.S. Soccer House" setup at Venice Beach — home to Rob Stone, Clint Dempsey, and Stu Holden — didn't help. Aerial shots of the cramped, half-empty event space made it look like nobody showed up. For a tournament that spans six host nations and dozens of venues, that visual is a problem.
Fox also cut away from Shakira's live Opening Ceremony performance to keep rotating between its three-panel studio setup. Choosing a talking-head segment over a live global spectacle is a hard decision to defend.
Missing actual football to run ads
The sharpest criticism came during the Mexico vs South Africa broadcast itself. FIFA sanctioned hydration breaks this tournament — a first for a World Cup — and Fox opted to fill the three-minute stoppages with full-screen advertising. Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo declined to run any ads during the breaks. Fox went the other way.
The real issue wasn't the ads themselves. It was the execution. FIFA's own guidelines require broadcasters to return to live coverage at least 30 seconds before play resumes. Fox missed that window during the first-half break. During the second half, they came back after the ball was already in play.
Missing live action in a World Cup match because a commercial ran long is not a small thing. It's the exact scenario critics warned about when mid-game advertising was first announced, and Fox handed them the evidence on day one.
On commentary, Ian Darke and Landon Donovan are a familiar pairing, with Darke doing most of the work — that's been the dynamic for years and it hasn't changed. In the studio, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thierry Henry, and Alexi Lalas haven't found a rhythm yet. Chicharito and Schmeichel showed flashes, but building genuine chemistry takes time and repetition.
There are 102 games left. Fox has time to course-correct. But the first impression was poor, and in a tournament this high-profile, you don't get those back.
