For folks who haven't been glued to this tourney, what are the biggest storylines through the first week? You spotting any?

I think the biggest storyline right now is that the stars, the biggest names in world soccer are already having success.

So Harry Kane, the England forward scored twice in that crowd in front of that crowd in Dallas.

Lionel Messi, who I think many, many people will recognize, even if they're not soccer fans.

He already started with a hat trick, three goals in one game.

That's the first time he's ever done that at the World Cup.

That was the night before that England game.

What's the atmosphere been like in Dallas and Houston? And you think the cities are getting to show off before the rest of the world here?

Uh, anything else from, from this game you wanna highlight, John? Uh, any pre-game ceremony, uh, comments?

You know, w- I, [laughs] I don't quite understand why Fox isn't showing more of the pre-game ceremonies.

It seems like they're locked in on the coverage, which I guess is fine, but, uh, I don't know.

Um, the US I think they've showed a fair amount.

The Canada one was like, I had to go to, uh, Telemundo to find it, which then I just stayed on Telemundo and it was fine.

Good coverage over there, except for they can't figure out who actors are.

Maybe we'll get into that later.

It's gonna be incredible

What makes a World Cup trip fundamentally different from any other sporting event, John?

Well, the World Cup is special partly because when we talk about soccer, you can go to almost any country in the world and find people playing the game.

We pride ourselves as soccer fans and as a soccer community on this idea that soccer is one of the most simple games.

You don't need equipment like you do with baseball.

You don't need a 10-foot basketball hoop.

All you need is something you can kick and two sticks to kick it through.

But as you mentioned, the, the ticket prices for this tournament sort of don't reflect the idea that the game should be accessible to all, and that's caused a lot of consternation in the soccer community, especially in the US, where I think a lot of folks were hoping that they would be able to go to a game, that they would be able to go to multiple games, that people who, you know, are in soccer academies and have a young kid maybe playing and getting excited about the game, that it would be accessible to them and, and we've kind of found that maybe it isn't.

Does that say something about our growing relationship with football, and do you think it might reshape global perceptions about the sport here in the US?

How has the soccer landscape changed in the United States during that time and, and the relationship of the USA with soccer?

It's wildly different.

You know, 1994, you had a United States that didn't have, I was gonna say a men's pro league.

It didn't have a women's pro league.

It didn't have...

There was an indoor league, and that was basically what professional soccer looked like in this country.

And part of the conditions of the '94 World Cup taking place in the US and some of the planning for what its legacy would be included provisions for Major League Soccer, which through all its trials and tribulations, whether people like the product or don't or think it's well run or not, like, has succeeded in still existing as we're having this conversation, which couldn't say about some of its predecessors, and also has put professional men's soccer at a high level in dozens of markets, probably too many markets across the United States.

[laughs]

to say, and Mexico is one of the host countries.

but let's say they make it all the way to the quarterfinals.

And I'm a Mexico fan in Guadalajara.

And I say, I'm going to that game.

If you have an existing travel visa, you're fine.

A tourist visa, you can get in.

But if you don't, not only is it not going to get processed in a week, It's probably not going to get processed in months.

How long does he have to fix it?

Well, it's interesting you say [chuckles] that, like, wouldn't it be funny if they gave the prize to someone who is like Mother Teresa next time? Because, like, would FIFA really do that? Doesn't FIFA have its own history of corrupt practices that's made them quite controversial as an organization? [chuckles]

Yeah, I mean, this idea that, like, uh, you know, I, I, I guess, like, I, I maybe oversimplify saying, like, "Hey, when FIFA awarded the World Cup to Russia and Qatar, it was these different interests," like, there are accusations that are pretty credible of bribery, right? Even the idea of, like, 2010, the World Cup was in South Africa.

It was, like, this beautiful moment of, "Hey, Africa is emerging.

It deserves to be heard as a footballing, a soccer, you know, playing continent." That's true, but a lot of that was also down to commercial interests, to these other things, these...

And, you know, like, there is the long history of, you know, envelopes under the table, kickbacks, and, and, and these sorts of things.

In a lot of ways, Infantino has tried to build his power on not being that, on having cleaned things up, on not being corrupt.

And I guess you could make a case where it's like, again, "Hey, I'm cozying up to this political leader who the- you know, one of the most powerful men in the world.

I was gonna say, and Mexico's one of the host countries!