Carli Lloyd’s return to Fox’s World Cup coverage comes with goals for herself and the USMNT

In 2022, Fox Networks threw Carli Lloyd into the proverbial fire — on the other side of the world.

Barely a year removed from her own retirement from professional soccer, the Delran native was announced as one of the primary studio analysts for the network’s monthlong coverage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

She handled it all in stride, finding her voice while taking cues from longtime on-air personalities Rob Stone and Alexi Lalas, but it was the first time she’d be a consistent presence, and a different look from what’s customary, with her observations of each match being critiqued and analyzed by soccer fans all over the world.

“It was a lot to learn really fast, a lot to take in,” Lloyd recalled during the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia last month. “But I was fortunate enough to learn from guys like Alexi and [Fox commentator] Stu [Holden] who helped me along the way really feel confident and like I can really do this.”

Lloyd did it well enough that she’ll be among Fox’s lead crew of studio analysts once again for the 2026 World Cup as the tournament makes six stops through Philadelphia as part of a 104-match schedule this summer.

It’s a task she says she’s “ready and excited for” after getting her feet wet in 2022, in addition to the commentary she’s been able to provide in the years since — some of which along the way stirred up a bit of controversy.

But a new year finds the tournament on home soil, with the United States hosting the bulk of scheduled matches, also spread across Canada and Mexico. It’s the perfect time for the United States to return to the biggest stage and show the world just how far it has evolved as a soccer nation, Lloyd says.

“I wouldn’t say there’s immense pressure in winning the World Cup,” Lloyd said. “But there’s the pressure to show the country that they are there to compete and they’re going to fight, and they’re going to give everything they have for our country.”

Lloyd can recall being a 12-year-old girl watching the 1994 World Cup, the last time the men’s edition was held in America. That tournament, she recalled, sparked her excitement and love for the sport.

Follow that up with the unforgettable 1999 women’s edition, also hosted in the States, and those two moments galvanized the idea that Lloyd would do all she could to pursue it as a career.

The World Cup, Lloyd says, has that effect.

“I don’t think we all know yet just how massive this is going to be, and the impact that it’s going to have on generations to come,” Lloyd said. Those 1994 and 1999 World Cups “jump-started my dream; they were life-changing for me. But I think it’s only going to be massive in the United States of America if our team shows up with that grit and that fight and that mentality.”

But it’s not just on the fans’ side. Lloyd said U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to leave a lot of the USMNT’s bigger names off the roster for the Concacaf Gold Cup, deciding to bring top American talent from Major League Soccer and elsewhere — like the Union’s Quinn Sullivan and Nathan Harriel — was an eye-opening experience for those players who might work a bit harder to remain on Pochettino’s radar.

“For me personally, I think the Gold Cup was the turning point for this team, leaving a lot of those well-known players off the roster,” Lloyd said. “I think it was the best thing that could have happened to this team going into this World Cup. It gave a lot of the non-European [American] players the confidence, the belief, and [allowed Pochettino] to instill the culture he wants to build.”

Lloyd compared all of that to the success U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes achieved in a short span, becoming the change that was needed after the Americans’ shocking exit at the 2023 women’s World Cup.

There’s no reason, she says, that Pochettino can’t find similar success — despite being off to a noticeably slower start.

“Obviously, the 2023 [women’s] World Cup didn’t end well,” Lloyd said. “The team needed change and almost needed to be blown up in order to be rebuilt again. Emma Hayes comes in. A lot of players retire. She selects different rosters, and they instantly change the culture, the mentality, the pride of wearing the jersey again, and that happened very quickly.

“But with the men’s team, I feel like it took a lot of time, and I don’t know why it took time. Maybe it was the language barrier [between] coach and the team, and the lack of games and opportunities that they had together.”

The U.S. seemed to find continuity during November’s qualifying cycle with a pair of exhibition wins, against Paraguay in Chester and a 5-1 rout of Uruguay in Tampa, Fla., to close the year.

Pochettino will call up a number of players for matches against Belgium on March 28 (3:30 p.m., TNT, Peacock) and Portugal on March 31 (7 p.m., TNT, Peacock), in what will surely be a final audition for many on that roster.

Both matches will be in Atlanta, home of U.S. Soccer’s new multimillion-dollar national training center. Lloyd noted that the investment and the caliber of nations the U.S. is bringing in show a commitment to improvement on the global stage.

» READ MORE: The USMNT’s players appreciate the team’s tough schedule leading up to the World Cup

Now, it’s up to the players to cash in, she says.

“I think we saw that fight [during this last FIFA window] in November,” Lloyd said. “You can see there’s a different tone within this group. And I’m glad that they found it when they did. There were some big wake-up calls for some players ... and I think that’s all we’ve been wanting to kind of see, these guys having the pride when you put on that jersey. And they sure showed that those last two games in November.

“It’s not a vacation when you come into the men’s national team anymore. There should be an excitement around it where you want to come in and lay your body on the line and do everything possible for the team and for your country.”