The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar begins Sunday morning on FS1 and FOX. Both will have full coverage of the event from the opening kickoff until the final on December 18. The lead play-by-play announcer John Strong and studio analyst/former USA Men’s National player Alexi Lalas have been doing a lot of prep leading up to the event, but as Strong told Jason Wormser on The Wormcast: How Sports Media Happens podcast last week, not all of the prep might get used as the tournament goes on such as the following anecdote.
“Wonderful anecdote about Australia. One of their long-time center backs dropped from the team knowing he was going to be a backup in favor of some younger players. One of the things that makes that extra-surprising is the fact that he is the son-in-law of the head coach. The odds that that anecdote makes air is very, very slim.
“I have Australia-France. The odds that we are talking much in-depth about Australia’s defensive depth chart is probably slim, but you have it there just in case. As the tournament goes on, that type of prep that you have done becomes even less relevant because it is not about big-picture storytelling anymore as much as just what’s happened in the tournament so far.”
It will be a busy event for Strong and color commentator/former US Men’s National Team player Stu Holden because of how many games there are each day in the group stage, so Strong has had to prepare for a lot of teams
“Of those first 17 days of the tournament, our expectation (Stu Holden and I) is we will be calling games on 15 of those days….I’m preparing for 18 different teams that I will be calling in the group stage.”
While FOX and FS1 will have plenty of coverage of Team USA, Lalas said that there is a responsibility to talk about the other countries in the event as well.
“This is as big as it gets and this is international and we want to do it justice. Obviously, we have the US Men’s National Team back. That makes a huge difference. We will focus on that as we should, but we also have a responsibility to everybody and making sure that people come into that tent, even if it’s their first time or if they are coming in from other teams that we give them the steady diet. It’s day in and day out and we are just churning it out in the best possible way.”
Joining the World Cup crew for FOX this year as a studio analyst is former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson — formerly known as Chad Ochocinco — and Lalas said that Johnson had an extreme level of excitement when talking about being part of the coverage.
“Someone like Chad Ochocinco who is coming to join us too. When he was talking to us about the opportunity that he was getting to go to the World Cup, it was as if he had won the Super Bowl. This guy loves the game and he has immersed himself in the game.”
With the uniqueness of this World Cup, Lalas said that just as there is a good chance a star could emerge on-the-field during the World Cup, it can happen to a media personality off-the-field as well.
“I think you will see some really interesting personalities that maybe you have seen before, but see them maybe in a different light working for FOX in the way that we do things and you will see some new faces and new voices that will be introduced to you that inevitably stars are created in the World Cup on the field and stars are created in the World Cup off the field.”
