NFL quarterback Jameis Winston goes pitch-side as Fox Sports' World Cup 2026 correspondent

New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston is spending his summer on a very different kind of football assignment, serving as a correspondent for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the expanded 48-team tournament unfolds across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Winston — the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner — has been pitching up at matches and fan events throughout the group stage, bringing an NFL perspective to the world’s biggest football tournament.

His first notable stop was Dallas, where he embedded himself with the Netherlands’ famously vocal ‘Oranje Army’ supporter group ahead of their group-stage fixture. Winston rode the ‘Oranje Army Bus’ with Dutch fans and came away impressed, saying there’s “nothing bigger than the Dutch Army.”

From Dallas, Winston travelled to Los Angeles Stadium for the United States’ opening match, where he took in what he described as one of the biggest American wins at a World Cup. He also met internet personality IShowSpeed on the sidelines, a pairing that underlined the tournament’s crossover appeal with younger, digital-first audiences.

The 2026 edition is the largest World Cup in history, with 48 nations competing across three host countries for the first time. Winston’s role places him among a wave of high-profile American sports figures being used to bridge the gap between traditional NFL fanbases and a tournament that organisers hope will cement soccer’s mainstream status in North America.