Mic'd Up: Fox’s Jenny Taft praised the camaraderie of the USMNT and said the World Cup can be a launchpad for future football fans.

The curtain has almost come down on the 2026 World Cup. Yes, the tournament ended more than a week ago, but it still feels like it is hanging around. That is what World Cups do: they stay in the memory and need a little time to be fully absorbed. That is even more true for a 48-team edition, where the storylines take time to settle.

Of course, the biggest talking point from this World Cup was how American it felt in every sense. From logistics and tickets to politics, there were plenty of doubts over whether a tournament staged in the USA would really work. But Jenny Taft, who covered the event in great detail for FOX, says it was nothing short of a success.

“I’ve covered six World Cups, which is wild and an honour in every way. It was different in America. And while Russia had some highlights and Qatar had highlights, a place that I really didn’t know what to expect, having it here in America was unbelievable and better than I could have even imagined,” she tells GOAL.

Taft was present in a way few others were. The American reporter followed the USMNT closely throughout their run and was a constant voice documenting the team through all its highs and lows.

“I thought the team was such a tight group. The hardest part about any World Cup is it could end for everyone but Spain. And so when [the USMNT] lost and it abruptly ended, it did feel so sad because of the special journey that this group had been on. It does end so abruptly. The staff was so close. They had a culture,” Taft adds.

When they were knocked out by Belgium, she turned her attention elsewhere. Taft covered the French National Team and was also there to offer insight during the final itself.

“I have a little bit of a relationship with them from 2018. So that was cool to see them again and feel like they actually also trusted me as a reporter to be around their team,” she says about covering France.

For Taft, then, it was a brilliant summer: both as a journalist and as a football fan. She spoke about all of it in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a regular feature in which GOAL draws on the views of analysts, commentators and other pundits on the state of football in the U.S. and beyond.

NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

ON THE USMNT'S SUMMER

GOAL: Now that the dust has settled, where do you stand on the USMNT's summer? Was it a success? Was it maybe a little bit of an underperformance? Like, how would you articulate it now?

TAFT: I’ve thought a lot about it, and I think almost two things can be true.

We can look at that team as a whole and the way they got a country behind them and excited. My mom and friends and everyone I know was texting me about U.S. Soccer in new ways that never happened before, so that can be a success. There’s sporting progress, singing “Country Roads” together, and the fans that showed up at the stadium. I feel like U.S. Soccer had been waiting for those moments and that support, and it felt incredible. It truly did...I could not switch off how cool it was to sit and listen to “Country Roads,” and they’re chanting Mauricio Pochettino’s name, and he’s almost emotional. You can’t switch off the emotion of a World Cup and what that means.

I thought the team was such a tight group...Sometimes reporters say “the vibes are good” too often. I almost felt like I was saying it too much, but they really were that good. The team genuinely, really liked each other. They revolved around each other. They believed in each other. It was a really special thing. So while that was very positive, we can be extremely disappointed in the way they lost, and they know that.

It was an embarrassing loss that I don’t think those players will get over for a long time. But do I still think it moved the sport forward here in America in every way? I just walked into the town here. I saw so many jerseys on kids, and not just U.S. jerseys. That is incredible. I am aware of it maybe more than I have been in the past. That is just pretty crazy that we’re going to say we were part of the summer of 2026.

ON WHAT IT MEANT FOR SOCCER IN THE U.S.

GOAL: How important do you think it was to have the support of the country, especially for the U.S. right now, which maybe needed a bit of a unifying force?

TAFT: It was, and I think we can all just be so proud that these fans from around the world came to America and fell in love with it. That was so refreshing. It was so refreshing to have my friends in Boston say “have you heard about the Scots?” And I’m like, “yes!”

I loved every meme. I loved my friends who have never watched football texting me pictures of Erling Haaland. I loved all of it. Seeing all the fans from around the world come to America, fall in love with America, bring the ranch dressing home - we’ve all seen every one of those memes - but that is like a beautiful thing.

GOAL: Did you expect that energy and unity from fans?

TAFT: I did expect it. I felt like once it was going to start, I felt like right up until the first day, we were like, when is this? When is this train moving? I’d seen the Argentinian fans take over Qatar. I think we all knew [the energy] was going to come. It did gather pace in such an amazing way, and the records that were set on viewership, I just loved it. It made me so excited to see that people were excited about football in the best way.

I’m also just proud of what Fox Sports put on. I think about it a lot, at a World Cup, like in front of the camera, yes, but behind the scenes, I have so many amazing colleagues who were also away from their families for six weeks, and working insane hours. And the 104 matches is a wild thing. Fox loves a big event, but 104 matches is pretty hard to even comprehend when you say it, and the amount of travelling sets, and so there were just a lot of people that made it happen. I love to think about how proud we can all be of the final product that we hopefully gave an audience, really everything they wanted in experiencing this World Cup.

ON THE EXPANDED FORMAT

GOAL: Do you think a 48-team World Cup worked? How do you view it now?

TAFT: I think it worked. I mean, Cape Verde is the perfect example of it working. I remember meeting the head coach at the World Cup draw in D.C., and he was just happy to be there. I think the press officer was like his friend, and he was like, “Look at us!” and they’re this amazing story at this tournament, and we’re all going to remember Cape Verde from the FIFA World Cup 2026.

There are things you can never predict too. There’s always going to be crazy things in a World Cup and stories and players who have this incredible coming-out party. I love the fact that we didn’t know what we were going to get and we got so, so much more.

GOAL: Did you have a favourite storyline? Or a bit you enjoyed covering the most?

TAFT: It is hard for me not to think of Cape Verde. I thought of Curacao with all of their faith and Christian singing. I did love seeing the prayer from Mark McKenzie and the U.S., too.

We’re going to have this example, and we’re going to hear it with so many athletes in the future, and they’re going to go, “Well, I remember watching that summer.” So that’s cool to me. I loved being around the French team because I have a little bit of a relationship with them from 2018. So that was cool to see them again and feel like they actually also trusted me as a reporter to be around their team. That meant a lot to me to be able to continue those relationships with the French team, and I was disappointed they lost. But considering how good Spain looked in the end, I think it made a lot of sense.

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ON WORLD CUP LEGACY

GOAL: And to round this off, what do you think the legacy of this World Cup will be, when we look back in 10, 20, maybe 50 years?

TAFT: I don’t know if we even know how big the legacy is yet. I think it’s going to be a summer we remember changing and setting the scene for so many amazing athletes in the future. I don’t honestly know yet. I know that I’m proud of what we did with Fox TV. I think the legacy is just hard to even describe yet. I’m so proud that we were all part of it in some little way.