S9 Ep. 39 Nate Bukaty on World Cup 2026 and the Heart of American Soccer

MLS commentator Nate Bukaty joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about Kansas City’s influence on American soccer and how the city came to host the World Cup. Bukaty is the co-author of *Perfect Pitch: How Kansas City Became the Heart of American Soccer and Landed the World Cup* along with the writer Rustin Dodd. He discusses how immigration and local leaders like Lamar Hunt turned a Midwestern “flyover” city into an unexpected soccer powerhouse. Terrell and Bukaty reflect on their youth playing the sport in Kansas City and describe what it felt like for their hometown to become a focal point of this year’s World Cup and a destination for teams and fans from all over the world. Bukaty considers the U.S. men’s team’s loss to Belgium in the round of 16 and compares the most recent roster to the 2014 lineup. He reads from *Perfect Pitch.* To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Nate Bukaty - Perfect Pitch: How Kansas City Became the Heart of American Soccer and Landed the World Cup **Others** - Kansas City, the Smallest World Cup Host, Has the World at Its Feet The New York Times - Trump Asked FIFA to Review U.S. Player’s Suspension. Now He’s Eligible to Play. The New York Times - *Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 21,* Kingdom Quarterback: Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd on Race, Kansas City Football, and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.