Report: Fox Sports Executives Not Happy With ESPN's World Cup Coverage

Fox Sports and ESPN appear to be at odds during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The United States kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 4-1 win over Paraguay. AS Monaco striker Folarin Balogun led the charge with two thrilling goals for Mauricio Pochettino's squad. Unsurprisingly, the U.S also received a strong performance from star midfielder Christian Pulisic.

"Yeah, it was definitely a statement, three goals in the first half opening game," Balogun said. "I felt like it was a real statement, and that's what you wanted to do. So I'm very, very delighted with the overall performance, especially the first half."

Although the United States gave their fans plenty to cheer about, ESPN didn't have much interest in covering the win.

According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, executives at Fox Sports aren't thrilled with ESPN's lack of World Cup coverage.

"In the TV game within the game, there's bad blood between FIFA World Cup 2026 broadcaster Fox Sports and rival ESPN, sources tell Front Office Sports," McCarthy wrote. "Some Fox executives are frustrated at what they perceive as ESPN's lack of coverage around the first men's World Cup held in the U.S. since 1994. They were especially ticked off by ESPN's apathetic approach to this past weekend, when the U.S. men's national team convincingly defeated Paraguay 4–1 during a banner opening weekend."

Fox Sports is going all out.

Since FOX has the media rights for the World Cup, its executives have decided to implement a full-court press with its coverage.

All the top shows on FS1 have been covering the World Cup, including "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd. There have also been extensive soccer segments on "First Things First" with Nick Wright, Kevin Wildes and Chris Broussard.

We'll see if ESPN eventually joins the party and starts covering the World Cup.

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 1:45 PM.