Fox wants ESPN to talk more about the World Cup, and Stephen A. Smith is just trying to give the people what they want.
With the FIFA World Cup underway, Smith and First Take have leaned on Men In Blazers founder Roger Bennett for his soccer expertise in the last week, which is great. But Smith attempted to interject his own opinion on the World Cup Wednesday morning, which wasn’t as great.
“I’m wondering what France is going to do, could this be the year that they finally get it done and they win the World Cup?” – Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/IzJXmawAI8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 17, 2026
“For me, it’s about Mbappé for France. He scores two goals yesterday, remember he scores a hat-trick in the finals loss to Argentina in 2022,” Smith said to sort of flex his soccer muscle in front of Bennett. “I’m wondering whether or not this is the year for France…I’m wondering what France is going to do. Could this be the year that they finally get it done and they win the World Cup considering Mbappé and what we saw him do yesterday, and what we know he’s capable of doing because he’s done it before.”
Mbappé has done it before, and so has France. But as Smith was talking about Mbappé and France as if they needed to get the proverbial monkey off their backs, it seemed like he didn’t realize it’s been just one World Cup since France won their last one. Yes, they lost to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup. But France won in 2018, with Mbappé on their roster, becoming the youngest French goalscorer in World Cup history.
An anonymous Fox executive reportedly complained to Front Office Sports earlier this week about ESPN’s lack of World Cup coverage. Are they happy now?
Stephen A. Smith and ESPN talking more soccer will help to grow the game in the United States. Taylor Twellman even expressed the importance of having Smith buy into soccer on the Awful Announcing Podcast a few years ago. No one is saying Smith can’t or shouldn’t talk about the World Cup on First Take; he should.
And Smith can talk soccer without being expected to be a FIFA expert. It’s not even a crime that he seemingly forgot France won the 2018 World Cup. But sometimes it’s better to just admit what you don’t know, especially when you have an actual expert on the show. Ask questions and let Bennett’s expertise dominate the segment. To Smith’s credit, that’s what he usually does with hockey. He didn’t do it here, and it backfired.
