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Time Out is a podcast focused on current issues in sport leadership, performance, and health with a wide range of experts and industry leaders. This podcast is offered by the School of Sport Sciences in West Virginia University’s College of Applied Human Sciences.
NEW MINI-Series: World Cup 2026 – Expert Perspectives on the Global Game”
In this series, Dr. Gonzalo Bravo, Director of the Global Sports and Performance Center in the WVU School of Sport Sciences, talks with leading voices from across the global game exploring the inner workings, emerging challenges, and broader impact of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Please note, these interviews were recorded two months prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Gonzalo Bravo: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the inaugural episode of the podcast of the Global Sport and Performance Center, West Virginia University. For this first edition, we're pleased to present a special episode titled World Cup 2026, Expert Perspectives on the Global Game.
Gonzalo Bravo: It is both an honor and a great pleasure to launch this podcast with a conversation on what it is widely regarded as the most impactful sporting event in the world.
Gonzalo Bravo: Soccer, often called the people's game, is undoubtedly the most global sport, and the FIFA World Cup represents its ultimate stage, bringing together the best teams and players from around the world in a celebration of excellent culture and competitions.
Gonzalo Bravo: In just a few months.
Gonzalo Bravo: The People's Games will once again return to North America for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Gonzalo Bravo: As anticipation builds, there are many expectations surrounding this tournament, not only in terms of sport performance and organizational scales, but also in relation to the broader global dynamics.
Gonzalo Bravo: More recently, some voices have raised concern regarding the potential impact of the current geopolitical climate and global sport events. At the same time, these editions of the World Cup introduced significant structural changes
Gonzalo Bravo: Including its expanded format and multi-nation hosting model.
Gonzalo Bravo: The FIFA World Cup, governed by FIFA, has existed for nearly a century. Since its first additions in 1930 in Uruguay, the tournament has been held consistently, growing in scale, visibility, and global influence.
Gonzalo Bravo: Over time, each edition has contributed to raising the standard of the events, expanding its reach and strengthening soccer's positions as the world's most popular sport. There is strong anticipation that the 2026 editions in North America will continue this trajectory.
Gonzalo Bravo: Our guest today is Rob DeLeet, Professor of Public Relations at the Hague University of Applied Science in the Netherlands.
Gonzalo Bravo: Rob previously served as press officer for the Dutch national team from 1995 to 2004, and has worked extensively as a media officer for FIFA since 2002, and UEFA since 2010.
Gonzalo Bravo: Over his career, he has covered multiple editions of both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship, bringing a unique and experienced perspective on global sport events. Good morning, Rob. Well, good afternoon to you in the Netherlands.
rob: Thank you very much, Gonzalo. Thanks very much. Good morning to you, and a pleasure and an honor to be on your show.
Gonzalo Bravo: Thank you.
Gonzalo Bravo: It is a real pleasure and honor to have you with us today as we explore your insights
Gonzalo Bravo: on the upcoming 26th World Cup. Let me start asking about the tournament structure. As we know, this will be the first time the Men's World Cup is hosted by three countries. While hosting is not entirely new, recalling the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, this addition represents
Gonzalo Bravo: a further evolution in scale and complexity. So, what are your thoughts on this three-country hosting model? What do you see as the main benefits of this approach, and what challenges might arise when coordinating across three nations instead of one?
rob: Oh, thanks very much for the question, Gonzalo. And of course, there's many aspects concerned to organizing a World Cup in three different countries. And I worked on the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, when I was only based in Japan, but
rob: That was a World Cup with, two completely different nations, two different languages, two different currencies, different cultures, not really…
rob: introduced to football at the time, so there was lots of ways that the, for instance, the phone system in the countries worked differently, so people traveling between Korea and Japan had to change phones all the time, and SIM cards, and so there was a lot of hassle. And honestly, at that time, I never expected FIFA to go for the World Cup with three different countries.
rob: But now it has happened, and what you will see is that there's, or probably have seen over the last years or so, while FIFA was preparing the tournament with the football associations of the three different countries.
rob: And all the, institutions that are involved, all the government institutions that are involved as well.
rob: Legislation is, of course, one aspect where you see that things are organized in Canada in one way, and probably in Mexico in another way. So, aligning all these institutions to make sure that
rob: the teams, sponsors, FIFA staff.
rob: Fans traveling to the tournament, are aware of
rob: what the situation is in each different country is… is one thing.
rob: Taxes are another thing I remember from previous tournaments, where whether you had to tax players for the money they earned in one country, would it be, similar in all three, or is there a different tax system in
rob: in each of the countries. Of course, you have the language, which I don't think is a real problem here, because Spanish and English and French are well spoken by most of the countries participating.
rob: Climate is another thing. I remember from 94, when I was in the US for the World Cup, that we were in Orlando, and it was hot.
rob: Playing there was really, really hot. We moved to Dallas for one game, and we moved to Washington for an earlier game, but especially the climate in Orlando was very, very hot.
rob: So, those are the things that, that you…
rob: should take into consideration, not even mentioning the distances between the various venues. So, teams traveling from A to B, but also supporters, sponsors, fans, everyone involved, so there's a lot of traveling involved as well.
rob: So there's quite a few challenges. But, on the other hand, what FIFA wants, and I think that that is an advantage.
rob: is that they want to, enable fans all around these three countries to see the stars of soccer, football, whatever you may call it, from close by. And, this is an
rob: an excellent chance for people in Canada to see Lionel Messi, or Ronaldo, or all the other stars that they know from TV only.
rob: So, bringing all these famous players, these world stars, over to three countries, and making sure that the fans can watch them from close by is a big, big, big benefit from this World Cup.
Gonzalo Bravo: Excellent. So that's a really interesting, especially thinking about how complex this setup is, okay? You talk about, you know, taxes, you talk about, you know, logistics, you talk about, you know, the weather, you know, there's multiple, you know, aspects involved. Now, let's build on that a bit, you know, and shift from the organizational size to the fan experience, which you touched at the very end of your first, you know, comments.
Gonzalo Bravo: With 3 different countries involved.
Gonzalo Bravo: So, given that the tournament will take place across neighboring countries, with distinct soccer traditions and fan bases, how do you think this diversity will shape the overall atmosphere of these events?
rob: Well, in preparation of this podcast, I was speaking to a couple of colleagues a few hours ago, while you were probably asleep and we were having lunch.
rob: But, there was a Portuguese colleague and a Greek colleague.
rob: And we were talking about fans going to the US and to Mexico and to Canada for the World Cup. And my Portuguese colleague said, I don't know anyone who can afford to travel to Duo. Maybe the travel is not the most difficult part, but to afford to be able to buy a ticket.
rob: And then…
rob: another ticket, because it wouldn't be worthwhile to travel all the way to the US for a single match. So if you want to have two tickets, and hotel, and travel costs, and a cost of living during a week or so.
rob: is very, very expensive. So, and even though Greece has not qualified, my Greek colleague said, well, I don't think that Greek fans would be able to afford a trip to the World Cup this time, because
rob: somehow, I think one of the media in Greece calculated that they would need 4 months' salaries
rob: for a Greek, average Greek fan.
rob: to be able to travel to, to the FIFA World Cup for a single week. So, it is quite expensive. It is quite expensive. So, that… I think that will certainly, put a stamp on, how…
rob: The, the tournament will live, and will be,
rob: celebrated by the fans in the US and in Canada and in Mexico, because previous tournaments had a host of fans traveling from Europe to, for instance, to Brazil or to South Africa, and this, especially with the current
rob: state of affairs in the world,
rob: to be honest, I don't know if all the fans that would previously have traveled, following that team would travel now,
rob: to see their teams from close by, rather than watching on TV, for instance.
Gonzalo Bravo: Right, right, right, right, right. Now, this is fascinating, right? This is fascinating how, you know, I mean, and at the same time, it's concerning, right? Global events as becoming, you know, super expensive, you know, for the actual fan who attend these events, right? And it's becoming pretty much the only chance for
Gonzalo Bravo: Most fans, right?
Gonzalo Bravo: is to really watch it on the TV, yeah. So now, let's switch gears a bit and talk about what happens on the field. Turning to the competition itself, what are your early predictions for the finalist teams, and what factors influence your choices?
rob: Well, first of all, I'm a very bad predictor, because otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you. I would be,
rob: living somewhere in the sunshine and enjoying myself on the basis of the money that I earned in the betting industry, but I never won a single dollar or euro, so I'm very bad at this, but if you look at the
rob: start with the host teams. I'm sure that the US and Mexico and Canada will be better than ever, because they will prepare for a tournament in their own countries.
rob: And they will do whatever they can to make sure that they get as far as they possibly can. So, there's 3 outsiders there already. Mexico certainly being a very strong, very strong team, and they have been so all the time in recent decades.
rob: If you look at the South American countries, there's always Brazil, Argentina.
rob: Uruguay, maybe, and Brazil will be looking for another World Cup, as they have in recent World Cups as well, but they've…
rob: Slightly disappointed their own fans all the time, so they might be able to surprise,
rob: the fans around the world. If you look at the European countries, is always…
rob: the familiar names, France, Germany, Spain, and I was actually going to say Italy, but it's amazing that Italy didn't make it this time, or again this time, because they missed out on the third,
rob: World Cup in a row, if I'm not mistaken, and for them, it's… it's a national disaster not to be there, and with all the other teams to play.
rob: So, there's quite a few teams, maybe Japan, because there's many, many Japanese players in European competitions, and all of them, are doing well, whether they play in
rob: in France, in England, Germany, the Netherlands, they really are a strong contender, because they beat Scotland in Scotland a couple of weeks ago, they beat England at home, so…
rob: They could be a surprising team as well.
Gonzalo Bravo: Great insights. And well, definitely come back to see how close those predictions are, okay?
Gonzalo Bravo: Beyond the games themselves, there are so many stories behind the scenes, and you have actually lived that.
Gonzalo Bravo: You previously served as a press officer for the Dash national team. Could you share a memorable story or experience from your time in that role?
rob: Yeah, well, there is an amazing story that I shared with a couple of guys just a week ago, while I was teaching. And I was Assistant Media Officer in 94 in the US for the World Cup.
rob: And, we were traveling to Dallas from our base in Orlando. The team was staying in Lake Nona in a famous golf club in Florida, and we were traveling from Orlando, the airport, to Dallas for the match against Brazil. And,
rob: On the chartered plane, we had the team, we had the team officials, we had the members of the board, we had sponsors, we had fans, and all the media that were following the Dutch team as well. So there was…
rob: a full plane, due to leave from Orlando to Dallas.
rob: the media had brought their cameras, they had brought TV cameras, so the overhead lockers were quite full. And one of the Dutch journalists was having a bag in front of him, in his lap.
rob: So Stuart has asked him, sir, could you please put it away in the overhead locker? And he said, no, no, no, no, I want to keep it with me. And then she asked it the second time, and she asked it the third time, and said, no, no, I want to keep it here because, there's a bomb inside.
rob: And at that… at that moment, that was really the start… that was really the start of a very weird adventure. And I just had a look at a picture from that time, because she went, the stewardess went to the captain. The captain called the security services in the,
rob: In the airport. So, the journalist was arrested, there was an announcement made that we all had to leave, the airplane. We could take our luggage, the hand luggage, but we were taken into a separate, large, separate room.
rob: And while we waited there, we saw that our plane was actually driven to a remote part of the airport, which took about an hour or so. And then we were loaded onto buses.
rob: And driven to another part, a secluded part of the airport. And we were there, and I saw the picture, and it came back to me, and we were there on the tarmac with
rob: 150, 200 people, just standing there and waiting. We had no clue what had happened. We had no clue what had happened.
rob: So, and we could see that our plane in the far distance was approached by the police, by the firefighters, and eventually we heard that they had to get some sniffer dogs from another part of
rob: of Florida. So, the plane was searched, all the luggage was taken off the plane, and we had to wait there. There was no
rob: catering. It was quite hot. We were there in the sunshine, it was quite hot, and at the time, there was no… we had no internet in 94, no internet, no, very few mobile phones at the time. So we were standing there. We had nothing. We had no clue what had happened.
rob: And,
rob: So after 4 or 5 hours, things were back to normal. So we were back on the plane, the luggage was back on the plane, and we could leave for Dallas, where we would play the, I think it was a quarter-final match against Brazil.
rob: But the coach, we had already had two smaller incidents involving media on the flight. So the coach, Mr. Dick Atvokart at the time, he was furious. He was furious with the journalist, and the fact that the guy was actually sacked by his newspaper on the spot when they heard about it.
rob: And the fact that we were 4 or 5 hours delayed for our training session in Dallas, which is crucial when you play a big match like that. So, it's quite an adventure, and it all came back when I was preparing for this broadcast and reading a couple of stories again and seeing the pictures. It was…
rob: An amazing time, an amazing time. But,
rob: Eventually, all, you know, all went back to normal. Those 4 or 5 hours were probably the most… the weirdest in my life.
Gonzalo Bravo: That's a great story, and you really show what's going on beyond what fans usually see, right?
rob: Looking at that.
Gonzalo Bravo: I'm curious to get your take on the bigger pictures, and with your extensive experience covering past World Cups, what would you say are the biggest challenges faced by media officers? I mean, you already kind of, like, mentioned kind of.
rob: Yeah.
Gonzalo Bravo: You know, unexpected events. And… In connection with that, how new technologies
Gonzalo Bravo: Change the nature of this work.
Gonzalo Bravo: Have they made it easier, more complex, or both?
rob: Yeah. Well, first of all, let me, just for your listeners, explain that there's actually two roles, and I, fulfilled two of them during various World Cups. One is a team media officer who is with the team, and who needs to make sure that the team members, the coaching staff.
rob: The head coach, mainly, and the players fulfill their duties towards the media, so that they do,
rob: Matchday minus one interviews, that they do, press conferences, that they do go through the mixed zone afterwards, so that these team members are available.
rob: For FIFA media officers who are based in a stadium, they need to make sure that they serve the media in a proper way, according to the FIFA requirements, with the help of those team media officers.
rob: And I remember a case where I was a team media officer in Brazil in 2014, when England were playing Uruguay in a knockout match, and
rob: the day before the match, I spoke with, the England media officers, there were two of them, and I said, okay, this is a knockout game. So, remember, if you…
rob: are knocked out by Uruguay, which can happen, then you still need to fulfill your interview responsibilities and all the, the mixed zone and all that. So, winning or losing.
rob: Yes, yes, yes, yes, they said, no, no, no, we know what we have to do, we are professional, we know what we have to do.
rob: So, next day, 24 hours later.
rob: England lost 2-1 to Uruguay. And I was in the players' tunnel, standing just before the final whistle. And when the final whistle went, I saw the England coach.
rob: Disappearing from the pitch, into the locker room, and I never saw him again until an hour and a half later.
rob: All the players went into the locker room, they never came out until an hour, an hour and a half later.
rob: So, when everything was done 2 hours after the match, I spoke to the media officer and said.
rob: remember what we talked about yesterday? And she said, yes, he said, but you know what it is like, you know, when they lose, they're disappointed, and they're… and I said, yes, I went through all of this many times before, and that's why we had this chat yesterday, because I know when you lose.
rob: Everyone doesn't want to cooperate. So, we spoke about it, you said, yes, we know we are professional, and now when you were supposed to be professional.
rob: You all disappeared.
rob: And then he was quiet, and he disappeared as well.
rob: Right. So, it's very, very difficult, you know, in the group… in the group stages, there's always a second chance you can… you can recover, you can… you lose your first match, but then you can win the other two, and you can still go through. But in the knockout game, it's quite different. So, there's a challenge for all the media officers involved.
rob: Talking about… The recent developments, innovations, all the technology that we have available.
rob: Teams can cover their own
rob: stay in the World Cup with the help of their media teams. They will have TikTok accounts, they will have Instagram accounts, so all the fans can see from within what's happening around the team, during breakfast, at lunch, when they travel, when they arrive at an airport, so the media teams will cover that. So that's very good for the exposure of the team, of the tournament itself, so FIFA will be very happy.
rob: On the other hand, the fans.
rob: and many, many other media, they also have their phones, and they also have their accounts, so they can distribute, they can launch whatever they want.
rob: And there you have AI as well that can use them to make some fake pictures, or fake movies, or fake comments, whatever they want. And there you will see that,
rob: That is very, very difficult to distinguish between what is good and what is bad. And for the fans, it will be difficult, because if you see a player, for instance.
rob: Kissing a woman in the street.
rob: You can ask yourself whether that's real, or whether that's AI-generated.
rob: And the media officer of the team might have a lot to explain, the player might have a lot to explain, whereas it's all fake, so… I'm not envious of the people working there during the World Cup, honestly.
Gonzalo Bravo: Yeah, it's super interesting how that, in some cases, you know, technology can facilitate the work, but also can make it more challenging.
rob: It is, yeah, it is.
Gonzalo Bravo: Now, given all that experience, let's talk about how you bring those insights into the classrooms, right? As an instructor in the International Sport Management Program at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, what perspectives or experiences do you bring into your students, into the classrooms, and what key skills or competences do you expect your students to develop?
rob: Yeah, well,
rob: I talk a lot, sometimes too much, about my experiences in the world of football, and sometimes I have to realize that
rob: when I talk about events such as the bomb in 94, these students were not even born, you know, they are born 2000 after 2000, Gen Z, so, they have no clue. Sometimes I have to restrict myself in, okay, what am I going to tell them?
rob: because I don't want to look like a grumpy granddad who is sharing stories from the past. But what I want them to be aware of is that, working
rob: in a, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary situation or environment is something that they need to be aware of. So,
rob: Learn your languages, learn about, other cultures, learn, to deal with, differences between people with,
rob: between individual people, but also groups of people. And the other thing is that you need to make sure that you can work with different stakeholders. So, what is the media perspective? What is a sponsor perspective? What is a player perspective? Because a World Cup
rob: from a sponsor perspective is completely different than from a coach's perspective, who only thinks about performing and making his team better. And so that is something that I constantly try to bring across to my students.
rob: And I can give you an example of…
rob: a funny situation, which I'm just thinking of in Japan. When I was there in 2002, the first match that we had to deal with was in Kobe, Russia playing Tunisia.
rob: So, and the Russians spoke very little languages other than Russian, and the Tunisians spoke only Arabic. There was one guy on the Arabic… on the Tunisian team who spoke a little English. But…
rob: It's, common, sorry, actually it's mandatory that there's always a match meeting, as they call it, on the day before the match, involving the two teams, but also involving the, security services, the firefighters,
rob: The, referee team, the medical team, so everyone that is involved in the organization of a match is
rob: represented in that meeting. And there was a Spanish, referee team.
rob: And the referee was leading the meeting, but he had a very heavy accent. So his English was, even for me, his English was very difficult to comprehend.
rob: So, once one sentence was spoken, then it had to be translated into Russian, into Arabic, into Japanese, into all the other languages that were there. So, the actual meeting lasted maybe 15 or 20 minutes, but it took about an hour and a half
rob: to make sure that everyone understood what was being said about security, about ticketing, about… I don't know what. So, and when I tell this to my students.
rob: They have no clue. They honestly have no clue. So, but if you speak English, then everyone should understand, no, in Japan, not everyone speaks English. If you go to an Arabic country, you know, it's very little English understood. So make sure that you have a sort of, comprehension of what's going on in a tournament like that. For every match.
Gonzalo Bravo: That's… that's actually super valuable, you know, especially for students preparing to enter this global industry, right? I mean, language and culture, as you mentioned, are super, super critical to understand, be aware of.
Gonzalo Bravo: Well, we have reached the end of this interview with our guest, Rob DeLiv, Instructor in the International Sport Management Program at the Hague University of Applied Science in the Netherlands.
Gonzalo Bravo: Rob also served, you know, as a press officer of the Dutch national team, and has worked extensively as a media officer for FIFA in UEFA. Thank you very much, Rob, for sharing your insights and experiences with us, and we wish you all the best going forward.
rob: Thank you very much, Gonzalo. It was a pleasure, and hopefully your listeners will have some fun listening to it, and they might, you know, pick up some useful facts as well.
Gonzalo Bravo: Thank you, Rob.
Gonzalo Bravo: And for our listeners, in our next episode, our guest is Juan Jose Cece Vidal. He's considered a pioneer in the applications of technology and FIFA World Cups, having served as Vice President for Technology during the 1994 FIFA Men's World Cup hosted in the United States.
Gonzalo Bravo: Chece is a true Renaissance man, a former NCAA and Olympic soccer player. He attended Boston University on a Division I scholarship, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineer and a master's degree in biomechanics and technology applied to sport.
Gonzalo Bravo: Today, Che-Che serves in the Council of the International Committee for Fair Play, and has written extensively on topics such as fair play and the true value of competition in a sport.
Gonzalo Bravo: We are excited to explore his unique journey at the intersections of soccer, science, and ethics.
Gonzalo Bravo: Thank you, you all, for listening to this podcast. We hope you all join us again for our next conversation.