The Athletic has live coverage of the FIFA Men’s 2026 World Cup draw.
Rio Ferdinand, the former England and Manchester United defender, has held extensive conversations with Fox Sports with a view to joining its team of analysts for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
This week, Fox announced that Rebecca Lowe, NBC Sports’ lead Premier League presenter, would join its coverage as a host before also confirming that Thierry Henry, the ex-Arsenal and Barcelona forward, would also be a studio analyst. Henry will join Fox for its studio coverage of the World Cup draw on Friday alongside former United States Men’s National Team players Alexi Lalas and Stu Holden.
Ferdinand has worked for the BBC at previous World Cups, while he also became a leading figure on British television at BT Sport, which later became TNT Sports. He has since dedicated much of his energy to his own YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents, which has 1.46 million subscribers.
A representative for Ferdinand and a spokesperson for Fox declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.
Sources familiar with the conversations, all of whom wished to remain anonymous due to the commercial sensitivities, said that Fox is speaking to multiple potential pundits who are eager to be part of its World Cup coverage, while Ferdinand is weighing up whether to go on a major network such as Fox or pour all his focus into his own channel.
It remains to be seen as to whether Fox and Ferdinand come to a final agreement but multiple conversations have taken place over his involvement. He will not be part of the BBC’s coverage and is expected to turn down other conventional television opportunities other than Fox.
Ferdinand will be the center of attention at the World Cup draw on Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. because FIFA, which has Ferdinand on its books as one of its FIFA Legends, has tasked him with conducting the draw alongside broadcaster Samantha Johnson.
“To conduct this draw is an unbelievable honor,” said Ferdinand, in a release from FIFA. “As a player, I lived for these global stages — now I’m humbled to play a different, special role together with an incredible line-up to reveal the 12 groups of four teams that the whole world is waiting for.”
Ferdinand will be assisted by seven-time NFL Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, NHL icon and four-time Stanley Cup winner Wayne Gretzky, four-time NBA championship winner Shaquille O’Neal and seven-time MLB All-Star Aaron Judge.
