Spain's Lamine Yamal, one of the most famous athletes on the planet, is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the tournament. There he is — walking into a Walmart. The World Cup has a way of turning ordinary American towns into improbable global stages.
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At 5:12 · chapter starts 5:02
One of Tarek Panja's favourite aspects of the expanded 48-team World Cup is where the teams end up: not in major cities, but in college towns and mid-sized cities that have never hosted anything like a global event. Spain is in Chattanooga — home to 'Lamine watching,' as locals follow the teenage superstar around a Walmart. Erling Haaland is in Greensboro. But the most heartwarming story belongs to Lawrence, Kansas, a University of Kansas college town, which prepared for Algeria's arrival by having its marching band learn the Algerian national anthem. Locals showed up in Algeria jerseys. A town that had never experienced anything remotely global suddenly found itself at the centre of the world.
The 2026 World Cup is the largest ever, featuring 48 national teams.
The University of Kansas marching band learned the Algerian national anthem to welcome Team Algeria to Lawrence, Kansas. Local fans showed up in Algeria jerseys. A college town that had never experienced anything like a global event suddenly became one.
Norwegian World Cup fans arrived in New York and New Jersey, performed their famous Viking rowing chant on a subway escalator, and then got bused by the city of Dallas to Buc-ee's — the giant American gas station that became an unlikely pilgrimage site. International fans encountering America at full volume is the essence of this World Cup.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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