Henry Bushnell
@HenryBushnell
Senior ⚽ writer, @TheAthletic.
Now at...
Email: hbushnell@theathletic.com
Signal: henrybushnell.03
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How much did it cost to attend the 2026 World Cup?
Seven fans shared itemized expenses from their trips!
story w/ @yuriko_a_s
Not much love for MetLife Stadium during this tournament, so here’s the whole backstory on why FIFA chose New York (and New Jersey) for final ahead of Dallas, LA and Mexico City. It’s a long story which includes a video voiced over by Robert De Niro.
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New today at @TheAthletic is a project I've wanted to do as long as I've been watching sports on television.
It's a collection of the full spectrum of raw emotion on display at the World Cup, told only through fan reactions in the stands.
Here's anxiety, via "hands on head:"
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This was my seven-year-old son’s first World Cup. And it warped his reality of what’s possible in the game he loves.
At the behest of editors, I watched the World Cup through his eyes and didn’t want to stop seeing what he did.
Unlocked at @TheAthleticFC
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Lionel Messi had made relatively little impact on the game. There were moments of skill and invention — there are always those moments — but England’s defenders had contained his threat.
And then, as against Egypt last week, Messi took control.
He didn’t score either goal, but he made them both, drawing defenders too him and picking out an unmarked Enzo Fernandez to score from distance for the equaliser and then producing a wonderful cross — with his right foot, no less — to pick out Lautaro Martinez for the winner.
People used to say of Messi that he couldn’t deliver for Argentina when the pressure was on. What a joke that sounds like now.
📝 @OliverKay
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Argentina vs. England is a rivalry built around emotions, tensions, controversies and bitter feuds.
On the pitch, it revolves around the World Cup quarter-finals in 1986 in which Diego Maradona scored perhaps the most controversial and then the most beautiful goal in the competition’s history in the space of four minutes.
But the enmity dates back to 1966 — Argentina players described as “animals” by England manager Alf Ramsey after a bad-tempered World Cup quarter-final.
There was no fewer than 56 fouls in 90 minutes.
📝 @OliverKay, @JamesHorncastle & @AdamCrafton_
🔗
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📍Jerry World
But, here’s a fun gameday story: Jerry Jones has been displaced from his personal suite at AT&T Stadium.
He always watches games from his favorite perch. But for the month of the World Cup, FIFA’s “VVIPs” get whatever they want.
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In celebration, Lionel Messi was the first to rip off his jersey, the old man turning back into a jubilant kid.
It wasn’t a night for him to be the hero. It was a night to stay alive, and boy oh boy does Argentina know all about surviving.
These Argentines are bad at being good.
At the same time, they’re great at being great.
🔗
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Erling Haaland was always a superstar striker.
The World Cup has turned him into a phenomenon.
He is in-demand by U.S TV networks, the subject of a Google Easter Egg and a social media sensation.
This is how Norway’s talisman went global.
📝 @PJBuckingham
🔗
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Lots of youth soccer discourse in the aftermath of the USMNT's World Cup exit.
So, I wrote about "pay-to-play" — what it actually is, why it's a problem, why it's different in the U.S. vs. elsewhere, and why the real issue is "pay-to-travel-and-play":
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Tough to overstate the whiplash of past week for USMNT fans.
Went from "unforgettable run, we'll talk about this forever" to "big scandal, classic American arrogance, worst WC result in two decades, generational letdown, star player scapegoated, youth system broken"
So damaging
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Spent 42 straight days on the road with the USMNT.
This, w/ @PaulTenorio and @tombogert, is the story of their World Cup.
From May 25 - July 5 or 6, it was immaculate. Culture was great. Base camp idyllic. Balo would say: "Is this real life?"
Then...
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Christian Pulisic suffered a microfracture of his tibia/fibula in USMNT's loss to Belgium, will be sidelined for several weeks, per sources.
More w/ @JamesHorncastle & @PaulTenorio:
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We have a new most-watched soccer game in U.S. history:
Mexico vs. England
21.7 million on Fox, 23.1 million on Telemundo.
More than 44 million(!) in total. Astounding.
Preliminary numbers, but for now, that tops USMNT-Belgium (perhaps because both teams showed up...)
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Spent 42 straight days on the road with the USMNT.
This, w/ @PaulTenorio and @tombogert, is the story of their World Cup.
From May 25 - July 5 or 6, it was immaculate. Culture was great. Base camp idyllic. Balo would say: "Is this real life?"
Then...
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🇺🇸 Inside the USMNT's World Cup campaign
🔴 Pre-World Cup culture shock
⚪️ "Dreamy" group stage and behind the scenes look
🔵 Balo-gate controversy, Belgium crashout
❔ The aftermath
Reporting over six weeks with @PaulTenorio @HenryBushnell
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Handwritten messages on the wall. Lemons on the table. A desire to harness the pain and punches of the past.
In November 2025, Mauricio Pochettino asked his U.S. players: “Hey, come on, guys, you are listening to me? We need to believe: Why not us?”
The belief is there now. And not just inside the locker room.
📝 @PaulTenorio
FREE TO READ 🔗
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In the weeks leading up to the World Cup, Inter Miami staged an internal "Super Liga" at trainings. Games were intense. At the end, results and stats were shown.
Messi had 80+ goals. No one else had 30.
How Messi prepped to dominate a World Cup at 38.
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Christian Pulisic is with the USMNT at the start of training for the first time since the World Cup opener.
Far side of the field in the video here.
Team spokesman declines to say if Pulisic will do a full session. No official status update
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A defiant performance.
A unifying message.
From SoFi, story on Iran, feeling "oppressed" but close to making history:
