The Guardian, a global authority on soccer, today announced a major expansion of its coverage of the sport in the US with new hires and ambitious plans for the 2026 men’s World Cup and beyond.
The expansion aims to bring more of the Guardian’s distinctive, witty and high-impact soccer coverage to the US to build lasting audiences and attract new revenue opportunities. It includes enhanced reporting of the US national teams and domestic leagues (both men’s and women’s), a greater focus on the billionaires and power brokers shaping the sport, and more of its popular coverage of the English Premier League and global soccer.
This expanded team of reporters will place the Guardian as the go-to place for the 2026 World Cup taking place in the US, Canada and Mexico. But it is also intended to be enduring, continuing to the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics, and far beyond.
The Guardian plans to build on its existing strengths and adapt them for American audiences, while also innovating at pace to bring soccer journalism to new audiences in new ways across all formats.
Today (Wednesday, 8 October), the Guardian has opened recruitment for seven roles:
Two soccer correspondents (based in the US)
Global sports business correspondent
Social video producer
Sports audience editor
Assistant sports editor
Sports data visuals journalist (based in the UK)
The expansion follows the success of the Guardian’s weekly newsletter for US readers, Soccer with Jonathan Wilson; the strong audience in the US for the Football Weekly podcast and our match liveblogs; and the popularity of writers such as Barney Ronay, Jonathan Liew, Suzanne Wrack and Sid Lowe. The launch of a dedicated soccer vertical in the US two years ago, now led by Alex Abnos - most recently of the Athletic - has already proved a hit with readers and with advertisers and we now aim to build on that success.
In addition, the Guardian intends to deliver its richest and most innovative World Cup coverage yet, as the men’s tournament expands to 48 teams.
World Cup plans will include daily editions of Football Weekly from the US as we make the show even more accessible for a US audience, and a Football Weekly live show in the US. We’ll also showcase bigger interactives and player guides, top columnists, enhanced video offerings and coverage of all 104 games via our unique minute-by-minute liveblogs.
Betsy Reed, US editor of the Guardian, said:
“There’s a devoted and knowledgeable base of soccer fans in the US hungry for more analysis and coverage of both European football, and international competitions like the World Cup. With the tournament headed to North America, 2026 presents a golden opportunity for the Guardian to bring its world-renowned soccer coverage to our growing US audience.”
Owen Gibson, deputy editor of the Guardian, said:
“Over the past 25 years, the Guardian has built a huge digital audience for its distinctive global soccer coverage, from our brilliant columnists to our hard-hitting news coverage and from Football Weekly to our much-copied but never bested liveblogs. As the appetite for the sport has grown in the US, we have built a dedicated following for our coverage across all formats and we now plan to energetically take it to the next level.”
Will Woodward, head of sport at the Guardian, said:
“We are delighted to be announcing this expansion of our coverage in and for the US. We know that US readers who know about us appreciate the wit and flair of our writing and the integrity of our reporting. Now we want to bring even more of it to an American audience as the center of gravity of the global game shifts westwards. We also have a duty to report out one of the biggest stories of the day as sport, geopolitics and big business converge to a greater extent than ever before.”
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About Guardian Media Group
Guardian Media Group is one of the world’s largest and most-trusted quality newsbrands, publisher of the Guardian, theguardian.com and the Guardian app.
Founded over 200 years ago, the Guardian now serves audiences through five editions: Australia, Europe, International, UK and US. With no billionaire owner, the Guardian is renowned for its fearless investigative journalism, holding power to account and amplifying the stories that need to be told. Its independent ownership structure means it is free from political or commercial influence.
Today, millions of people worldwide choose the Guardian’s journalism every day and more than two million readers across 180 countries have supported the Guardian’s work.
Audiences can listen to the Guardian’s top-rated podcasts, watch its award-winning documentaries and interact with its growing digital portfolio, from a premium live news app to the recipe app Feast.
