Although it's not quite the six-year gap between Seasons 8 and 9 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the four years of waiting for another FIFA World Cup has been substantial.
A pause this long makes remembering specifics challenging: Who even was that surprising dark horse semifinalist in Qatar? (Morocco!) Which team stunned both Germany and Spain? (Japan!) Why did the FIFA president make that speech where he said that he knows what it's like to be gay in a country where homosexuality is banned because he was once bullied for having a lot of freckles?
Anyway, the bottom line is this: Many people who don't regularly follow soccer are excited about the 2026 World Cup. But many of those same people are also feeling a bit uncertain because the last episode of international soccer they watched was either the one where the United States men's national team got humbled by the Netherlands or maybe the one where Lionel Messi ended up wearing a traditional black Arab cloak. If this is you, no problem. Let's get up to speed.
Messi? Check. Ronaldo? Check.
Messi (Argentina) is 38 and has been playing for Inter Miami CF in MLS. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) is 41 and has been playing for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. By soccer standards, both are very, very old GOATs.
They are each set to play in their sixth World Cup, which -- just for context -- means they literally brought flip phones to their first one of these. Messi finally won one in Qatar and is still Argentina's featured player. Ronaldo has never won one, and some believe Portugal might actually be better off without him this summer. This is definitely, probably, possibly their last major tournament. Right? Right?
The U.S. coach is ...
OK, so, America. (Deep breath.) Gregg Berhalter was the coach in Qatar. His contract expired, then he was rehired, then fired again, all in the space of about 18 months, which included a high-profile crash-out in the Copa América.
There was also an extended plotline revolving around Berhalter, midfielder Giovanni Reyna and Reyna's family that involved private conversations being made public, professional backstabbing, cringey threats and a decades-old domestic violence incident. It was ... not great for anyone.
Mauricio Pochettino, an Argentine with club experience at Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, among others, replaced Berhalter in 2024. He is a certified "big-name coach." The team's results under him so far have been mixed, but there is still plenty of optimism.
According to ESPN sources, Pochettino has also been talking with AC Milan about taking over their team once the World Cup is done. Depending on your feelings about relative desirability versus unshakable focus, this is either amazing or awful news.
The U.S. leading man is ...
Since Qatar, Christian Pulisic left Chelsea and moved to Milan. Last season, he was the Italian juggernaut's top scorer. This season, he hadn't scored once the calendar turned to 2026 until Sunday -- not ideal -- but he nonetheless remains the U.S. team's heartbeat, as well as its biggest name.
How big? Well, last year Pulisic made the requisite athlete documentary about his own life, which features nine episodes and includes many, many references to how little he enjoys sharing things about himself publicly. If you're into forced spontaneity and brutally awkward exposition, consider putting it in your queue. (Spoiler: He likes golf!)
The demise of the MMA
Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah and Tyler Adams were hyped as the U.S. midfield of the future in 2022. Of course, show business is brutal, and so despite the trio's catchy moniker, Musah's performance fell off and he isn't even on the team this time around. Maybe he can play himself in the reboot in 2030.
In other casting developments: Goalkeeper Matt Turner, formerly of Arsenal and the U.S. starter in Qatar, now plays for the New England Revolution and will be fighting for time with Matthew Freese, the New York City FC No. 1 who hopes to be only the second Harvard graduate in history to play for the U.S. in a World Cup. Elsewhere, baguette-aficionado Sergiño Dest is back, as is aspiring musician Tim Weah. Ditto for Antonee Robinson, who goes by "Jedi" because, well, that's what he wanted to be when he grew up. Play defense, he will.
Farewell to the waistcoat
You might recall that England manager Gareth Southgate's waistcoat was a main character in Qatar. Alas, he asked to be written off the show in 2024. Thomas Tuchel, a German who won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea and has also lifted trophies with Bayern Munich, PSG and Borussia Dortmund, took over.
Noted soccer expert and Kate Middleton's husband, Prince William, posted that these are "exciting times for England." Harry Kane, who loves American football and has a dog named after Tom Brady, returns for another run as their top offensive threat. Coincidentally, the "It's Coming Home" song returns for another run as the most annoying thing ever.
The return of Neymar
When last we saw Neymar in the World Cup, the spindly Brazil star was taking a break from scoring often for PSG to deliver an all-timer of a goal in the quarterfinal loss to Croatia. Since then, it's been pretty much a disaster.
After a short spell with Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, Neymar is now back playing for Santos, his hometown club, in the Brazilian league. There has been a litany of controversies around him, including an incident in which he slapped a teenage teammate in the face.
More recently, Neymar is nursing a calf injury, and it's not clear if he'll even be available to play. Among Brazilians, emotions about this range from "sad" to "ecstatic."
The decision on Neymar's involvement will be made by Brazil's new coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the Champions League five times. A sartorial genius, Ancelotti famously hammers on chewing gum during games, frequently going through more than a dozen pieces per match. He's also renowned for having maybe the greatest eyebrows in professional sports. Truly breathtaking.
'The Next Messi' is Spanish
Despite losing to Morocco in the round of 16 in Qatar, Spain bounced back to win the Euros in 2024 and are one of the favorites this summer. Why? The emergence of Lamine Yamal, an 18-year-old forward who is so good that many in soccer believe he's the greatest teenage player in the sport's history.
He's so young that it's possible he'll still have his braces on during the World Cup. (Wear your rubber bands, Lamine!)
Since everything in Spanish soccer revolves around El Clásico, it must also be pointed out that, including Yamal, there are eight Barcelona players on Spain's 26-man roster and, for the first time in the national team's history, a total of zero from Real Madrid. Many fans around the world see this as Spain's first win of the tournament.
Mexico and Canada: We are also here
It might surprise you to learn that the U.S. is not, in fact, the only host country of this World Cup. Canada and Mexico will be home to 13 games each.
Canada, which lost all three of their matches in Qatar and then fired coach John Herdman, have risen quickly behind Alphonso Davies, who plays for Bayern Munich and is arguably the best player in Canadian history. In 2024 and 2025, Canada beat the U.S. in two straight matches for the first time in 40 years and -- get this -- are led by Jesse Marsch, an American who was a former U.S. assistant and thought he was going to get the top job in 2023 before being jilted. Drama!
Mexico are not quite thriving in the same way. After bombing out in the group stage in Qatar and with public acclaim for the national team at virtual rock bottom, the Mexican federation kicked around some exciting new ideas before announcing that its choice to lead the team at a once-in-a-generation home World Cup was ... Javier Aguirre, who is 67, has already coached Mexico at two previous World Cups and has never won a knockout round game in the tournament. Provocative.
On the positive side, if you like nicknames, you could do worse than recent breakout star Armando González, who goes by "La Hormiga" ("the ant") because he was so afraid of the bugs as a child that he thought they were poisonous.
Please come in, Iran
At the last World Cup, the U.S. team followed up an awkward incident in which it used the wrong flag for Iran on its federation website by then beating Iran 1-0 in a critical group stage match.
Since then, well ... some things have happened. And amid all that, Iran qualified for this summer's tournament. Initially, it seemed they wouldn't come. Then it seemed like they would.
Now, with two of their matches in Los Angeles and a third in Seattle, Iran say they will be based in Mexico instead of the U.S. and only travel into the country with which they are currently at war as close to kickoff as possible.