The Internet Has Already Won The World Cup
Plus, pro soccer player-turned-broadcaster supreme Melissa Ortiz speaks to OffBallFC.
Welcome back to OffBallFC. What is OffBallFC, you might be asking? It’s all the best of OffBall – curating the most fun and talked about content from around the sports culture internet – but for soccer. Each week, you’ll get a newsletter from creative lead and journalist Daniel-Yaw Miller (lifelong lover/victim of Arsenal) and unique perspectives and insight from NWSL pro soccer player Madison Hammond (Man City Girl, but don’t let that frighten you). OffBallFC is capturing the conversation around the game differently – going deep on the style, music, and brands influencing the game and exclusive interviews with our favorite creators, athletes and brand builders at the very heart of it.
It’s Dan here, back for a very special OffBallFC Friday send. WE MADE IT. The long 12-day gap between the Champions League Final and the World Cup finally ended yesterday. The world’s greatest sporting tournament and festival of joy is upon us. The Mexico vs South Africa opener had two goals and three (!!!) red cards (that’s just one less than the total number of red cards from the entire 2022 World Cup). Soccer is so back.
Let’s get into it.
Kick Off
The internet has been a goldmine of pre-World Cup banter. My favorite running joke so far is that Canada has been way too relaxed, way too demure in the build-up, so much so that everyone has forgotten that it’s one of the tournament’s three host nations.
Speaking of Canada, did you really think one of the biggest professional haters in all of sports was going to let you forget his home country was a co-host? Dillon Brooks and Nike cooked up another banger commercial to let everyone know just how unwelcome the competition will be in Canada this summer.
My other favorite piece of content from this past week is this clip of Lamine Yamal flexing his very specific knowledge of English on live stream, showing off his key phrases like: “Ref, yellow card… offside… I have pain here,” and “deep run,” which he said his coach taught him, presumably to yap with his new English teammate Marcus Rashford last season.
I recently discussed in OffBall’s OG newsletter about how many similarities and crossovers there are between the Knicks and Arsenal. Speaking about both those teams, and speaking of OGs, it was none other than the London-born OG Anunoby — a lifelong Arsenal fan — who clinched the most insane comeback for the Knicks in Game 4 on Wednesday night. Wearing Skechers no less! North London forever.
Finally, with ticket prices as they are, the reality for many of us is that we’ll be watching a lot of games… just not in the stadiums. But that’s totally fine, because seemingly every city in America has got us covered with an endless stream of official and unofficial (my personal fav) watch parties. Check out this great rundown.
It’s Day 2, And The Internet Has Already Won The World Cup
The 2026 World Cup is only a day old. But there’s no doubt that we’ve seen angles, heard stories and learned weird, wonderful things about this tournament in a way we never have before… all thanks to the good folks of the internet, social media and a newfound wider cultural interest in the sport.
We were only minutes into the Mexico vs. South Africa opener before my feed started being flooded with award-winning memes about the robot-like, head-worn cameras and microphones sported by the ref. Laugh all you want, though, there’s no POV like the ref’s POV.
We’ve also been treated to a steady stream of profiles on our most beloved ballers that go way beyond the traditional soccer media profiles, exploring athletes and their interests way beyond the pitch. Like this Highsnobiety profile on one of my favorite players, Michael Olise, who was shot by legendary fashion photographer Juergen Teller.
This is before we even get into all the weird, wonderful stories that occurred before a ball had even been kicked. Like the fact that someone who had a lot of time did the necessary research to find out that there are eight sets of siblings playing in the tournament. Or whoever put this guide together about the unique soccer phrases that Americans definitely won’t be familiar with yet… like “parking the bus” or the infamous “squeaky bum time,” for example.
On a personal level, as someone who is still in the process of discovering the joys of my first few years living in this country, I’ve loved seeing all the content of foreign fans — and players — discovering U.S. culture. Stories like Freddy the German’s discovery of U.S. culture make my European mind feel so seen.
And in a similar vein, as did this video of Lamine Yamal casually shopping in a Walmart in Georgia, with not a single person bothering him, which brings back memories of my first trips to Target and Trader Joe’s (where no one stopped me for my autograph either).
Origin Stories: Melissa Ortiz
Welcome back to Origin Stories, an interview series shining a light on OffBallFC’s favorite soccer creators and tastemakers, and their relationship with the beautiful game. Today’s guest is the incomparable Melissa Ortiz, a former pro soccer player of the Colombia national team turned broadcaster and presenting genius. Since the end of her playing career, Ortiz has morphed seamlessly into one of the most distinctive voices in the game. On the eve of her second men's World Cup with Fox Sports, she spoke with me about her love of Liverpool and Atleti, and why the USMNT might just surprise everyone this summer.
How did you first get into soccer?
It was from childhood — I have two older brothers and I would just always be playing in the yard with them, or with the other boys in the neighbourhood. It was always on TV in our house and always being played outside. My mom tried to put me into ballet and dance… but that didn’t really work. I just gravitated towards football because it was so fun, and it was a way to connect with my neighbourhood and community. Most of the time I was the only girl playing, but I quickly fell in love with it. And I became really good at a young age, which helped too.
You’re a fan of both Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. How did that come about?
First off, I’m Colombian. Both my parents were born there, I’m a dual national and I lived in Colombia on and off for a few years. Over there, soccer is a religion. The Atlético connection came through actually playing for the club, and through one of my older brothers, who is a huge Atleti fan — he’s really the one who got me aligned with the team. And when you think about it, being a Latin fan and a Liverpool fan isn’t that far apart. They’re both working-class clubs. The kind of teams where the fans really, really show up. The first time I heard [the team anthem] “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” that was it for me.
The Liverpool love also has a very specific origin story. Growing up, my brothers and I would play FIFA after dinner — whoever won had no chores, second place dried and put away, and whoever lost had to wash. The worst job. I started picking Liverpool every time, fell in love with Steven Gerrard, and the rest is history.
You had a distinguished playing career, but I’m curious — how did you pivot into broadcasting and content? Was that always the plan?
I never really saw it as a path until later in my career. When I was younger, I was actually accepted to study architecture in New York City — that was my dream. I always involved soccer in it somehow, sketching stadiums and things like that. But when you’re offered a soccer scholarship, you quickly realize you can’t balance the two, and architecture school had no financial support. So I chose soccer, both out of passion and practicality. When I got into the national team, that’s when I started opening my eyes to broadcasting as a possibility. And during one of my injury recoveries, I was watching a late-night football show — beIN Sport, back when they had La Liga on, always showing Messi and Cristiano.
They had this whole talent team that was the most well-known of that era. My dad literally watched me watch that show, and one night he said, “You could do that. You should do that.” I had no connections, no network, I hadn’t studied it — but that’s what opened my eyes. I started creating content around the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and from there the doors started opening — brands, La Liga, the International Champions Cup. One thing led to another, and finally I got my shot on TV as an analyst. I was like, wow, this is so much fun.
Speaking of broadcasting, you’re back with Fox for this World Cup. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
This is my second men’s World Cup with Fox, and I’ll be part of World Cup Now — the pre, half-time, and post-match show. It lives on digital platforms: live-streamed on YouTube, cross-posted to TikTok, Instagram, everywhere. It’s a good mix — not as buttoned-up as linear TV, but still serious analysis. Every single person on our digital roster has either played or coached at a World Cup, so the intelligence and experience in the room is really something. But there’s also a lot of fun.
During Copa América, we’d crank up the music in the studio, I’d put on Colombian music, bring out the Colombian hat, and they’d be serving shots of aguardiente — I had no idea that was coming. During Copa América the year before, we had a live goat on set the day Messi played. So yeah, expect that energy too. Personally, I’ll be on the road the whole time — bouncing between USA games, Brazil, Morocco, Argentina-Algeria, Colombia, Portugal — and then a few days back in the studio in LA. A lot of jet lag, a lot of coffee.
Ok, prediction time. Who’s winning the World Cup?
France. They’re just stacked. Mbappé has a lot to prove — he wants to avenge the last Final — and this time around they have even more players in brilliant form. Anything can happen in the knockout rounds, that’s the beauty of the World Cup. But unless something goes wrong with chemistry or they run into a crazy extra-time game, I think everything is pointing in their direction.
Who are your tournament dark horses?
This one gets debated a lot at Fox when we do our previews. People say Colombia, but I don’t classify them as a dark horse — they were Copa América finalists. Ecuador gets mentioned, and I understand that. But my dark horse is the US men’s national team. I’ve been covering them for four years straight, every game, and I have a lot of internal time with the coaching staff. I genuinely think they’re starting to peak at the right moment. The performances against Senegal and Germany were encouraging. Home soil gives you an adrenaline that’s unlike anything else. They lack quality in certain areas compared to other teams, sure — but the chemistry is there, and they’ve got a group they could top. Things could click at exactly the right time.
And finally. What’s your favourite World Cup kit?
There are so many. Curaçao is really sick. France’s turquoise one is awesome. Japan and South Korea both have beautiful kits too. But I’m going to go with bias on this one — Colombia yellow. All day.
A big thank you to Melissa for joining us today, and thanks to all of you for reading along. We’ll see you next Wednesday!