The 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially arrived, and with that comes the added excitement for American fans being able to see the beautiful game on their home soil.
But this isn’t the first time the United States has hosted a World Cup.
Fans old enough to remember both the men’s World Cup in 1994 and the women’s tournament in ’99 will recall the moments that an entire nation truly embraced the game of soccer for the first time.
One player who can speak from firsthand experience about what those moments meant is former U.S. Women’s National Team star Mia Hamm, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the eve of this year’s World Cup.
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Hamm represented the Stars and Stripes during the 1999 tournament, one in which the United States captured its first world title over China.
“Representing the U.S., wearing the colors and the badge, meant everything for us,” Hamm explained at The World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party Blue Carpet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. “[It’s] something you dream about as a kid and then to have the opportunity to do it for as long as I did, I never took it for granted.”
In today’s day and age where athletes often view wearing the American colors as divisive, it’s refreshing to hear someone like Hamm speak from a place of pride about representing her home country.
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Winning that World Cup in ’99 and doing it on her home soil is a feat that isn’t lost on Hamm, even after all this time.
“Being able to do it, play a World Cup in your home country is so special,” she said.
Hamm recalled one of the more surreal moments coming from the lead-up to the first game, citing the traffic heading into the game as well as the tailgating taking place in the parking lot of the stadium several hours before kick.
“To see people in our jerseys, tailgating, playing pickup in the parking lot two hours before the match, just said that this was different,” Hamm said.
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Finally, Hamm expressed what she wanted to see from this year’s World Cup, more than a quarter century after those seminal moments in ’99.
“Sports, and obviously soccer being the world’s game can bring us together like nothing else,” she offered. “I think so much of what’s happening in the world, we focus so much on how we are different… I think these players, when they step on the field, they represent so much more than just the country in which they play.
“I’m excited about this World Cup.”
The United States kicks things off against Paraguay on Friday, June 12, at 9 p.m. on Fox.
