World Cup viewers were left stunned after a soccer pundit used an X-rated expletive live on air ahead of the United States’ much-anticipated opener against Paraguay on Friday.

Former soccer player-turned-pundit Alexi Lalas appeared on Fox’s coverage of FIFA’s showpiece tournament, alongside Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The moment that left viewers stunned

Alexi Lalas stuns viewers with expletive on live TV. Credit: FOX Sports

Previewing the USMNT’s debut in this edition of the competition, the trio had been discussing the host’s chances in front of their home faithful while at Los Angeles Stadium.

Live on air, the panel, hosted by Rebecca Lowe, was watching preparations for the opening ceremony of the US’ share of the tournament, with the country being joint hosts with Canada and Mexico.

After airing a segment in which James Corden was seen training the USMNT squad while wearing the country’s official away kit, Lalas responded with a risque phrase.

Lalas, who made over 90 appearances for the USMNT in the 1990s, joked: "What do you guys call him, a full kit w***er, right?"

With the rest of the panel looking mortified, and Henry’s mouth visibly agape, Lalas rushed to justify his comment, "What? He’s all dressed up and ready to go?"

Still shocked by Lalas’ nonchalant use of an expletive on live TV, Henry retorted: "Did he just say that?"

Lowe then quickly interjected, stating: "Luckily, we are on American television, because the 'W' word on British TV 'uh-uh'", waving her finger.

Social media responds hilariously

Unsurprisingly, viewers were also left shocked by Lalas’ casual use of a swear word, with one X user claiming: “NOT ON LIVE TV. THIERRY HENRY COULDN’T BELIEVE IT.”

Another commented: "full kit w***er, which if you dont know, is one of the best sayings we have ever invented."

Others pointed out Henry’s hilarious reaction: "We have a new Thierry Henry meme."

However, some users highlighted the disparity between the use of the word in the UK and its meaning in the US, "Alexei Lalas said 'FULL KIT w***er'. Apart from him being spot on, funny here in the UK, but it can't have much connotation in the US surely?"

Featured Image. Credit: FOX Sports

The World Cup is in full swing at the moment, meaning that fans celebrating the tournament in Russia are busy cheering on their respective nations, drinking a bit too much beer during the games, and - apparently - harassing reporters who are trying to cover the sports event.

This weekend, one Brazilian sports correspondent named Julia Guimarães was sexually harassed by a male soccer fan as she presented a piece to camera. The incident happened shortly before the Senegal vs. Japan match on Sunday, while Guimarães was live on air, and viewers were shocked to see the man so brazenly approach the reporter as she was trying to do her job.

Thankfully, Guimarães saw the man's intentions before he could touch her, and recoiled from him as he tried to kiss her face.

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"Don't do this. Never do this again," Guimarães says during the clip. "Don't do this. I don't allow you to do this, never, OK? This is not polite. This is not right. Never do this. Never do this to a woman, OK? Respect."

But this isn't the only time she's been approached like this during her stint at the 2018 World Cup. During the opening match between Russia and Egypt in Moscow, the reporter was harassed in a similar manner.

"It's hard to find the words," the reporter wrote on Twitter. "Luckily, I have never experienced this in Brazil. Over here it has happened twice. Sad! Shameful!"

And, understandably, the inappropriate behaviour from fans is really affecting Guimarães' ability to do her job.

"It's horrible. I feel helpless and vulnerable," she told Globo Esporte. "This time I responded but it's sad people don't understand why people feel they have the right to do that."

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Other journalists and sports fans have been expressing their solidarity with Guimarães on Twitter, with one sports commentator saying, "The guy is a total jerk. An idiot with the mind of a 13 year old boy, but Júlia Guimarães was great in her reaction."

"All my solidarity with reporter Júlia Guimarães, harassed live on SportTV, while she was covering the World Cup," said another. "After dodging the kiss, Julia warned: 'I don't allow you to do that to me. Never do that to a woman. Respect!' The fight against harassment is of all of us!"

However, not everyone has been so supportive of female reporters during the sporting event. In fact, after another reporter was groped and kissed on air last week (see the clip below), some people took to social media in order to defend the harasser.

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"This poor guy is getting slated for kissing her on the cheek. Total over reaction again from the internet," wrote one person.

"Really tho? All he did was go up to her and grab her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, obviously yelling out something for the team he's rooting for. U guys need to stop making something out of nothing fr. Ridiculous," said another.

However, these people seem to be missing the point. Female reporters get interrupted and harassed by men all the time while trying to do their jobs and - even if people don't consider their actions to be "serious" - nobody should be expected to put up with strangers kissing and touching them without consent.

Hopefully, Guimarães' reaction will show more people that this sort of behavior is absolutely unacceptable - regardless of how innocent it is made out to be.

Fox’s World Cup coverage in the United States has faced backlash, with viewers branding it “embarrassing” after missing parts of Mexico’s dramatic match against South Africa.

The opening game of the 2026 World Cup in Mexico City drew global attention and was quite the enthralling affair, including two goals, three red cards, and a high-profile opening ceremony performance by Shakira.

What did Fox fail to do?

However, some fans watching in the US did not see all of the action due to broadcast interruptions.

As part of the flagship tournament, FIFA introduced three-minute hydration breaks during each half because of the intense heat across host countries, particularly in the US and Mexico.

Back in December, FIFA confirmed there would be “no weather or temperature condition in place, with the breaks being called by the referee in all games”.

Fox have been accused of breaching FIFA rules. Credit: Hector Vivas - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

While broadcasters are permitted to air adverts during these pauses, Fox has been accused of not following FIFA’s guidance.

What do the rules specify?

According to The Athletic, sources close to the governing body said networks should avoid starting commercials within 20 seconds of the referee signaling a break. They also advised that coverage should return at least 30 seconds before play resumes, a rule Fox is believed to have failed to comply with.

The issue became clear shortly after Raul Jimenez scored in the 67th minute. Commentator Ian Darke told viewers: “And that leads to the hydration break, powered to you by Powerade.” What followed was around two minutes of adverts, and when the game resumed, an Adidas commercial was still airing.

The broadcast only returned to the match several seconds after play had already restarted.

Viewers quickly voiced their frustration online. One person wrote: “Fox Sports was playing so many commercials during the hydration break that the game restarted before they were done.”

Another said: “Commercial breaks mid-match during the hydration breaks are going to ruin this World Cup for Americans. Disgusting practice from Fox,” while a third simply called the coverage “embarrassing”.

Featured Image. Credit: Hector Vivas - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

It's World Cup season right now, and that means it feels like everyone on the planet with a pulse and a working pair of eyes has got football fever ... or soccer mania for all you Americans out there. Yes, the kick-off in Moscow has got everyone placing bets and cheering on their teams, and suffice to say, here in the UK, the pubs and bars are positively packed with sports fans. I'd be surprised if my dad, a consummate football fan, has managed to unglue himself from the sofa and turn off the TV over the last fortnight.

But on the other side of the coin, for people like me who aren't into sports, and who are particularly apathetic about the beautiful game, World Cup season is an absolute nightmare. It's hard to understand the appeal of something people get so passionate about, when it feels like a party that you haven't been invited to - especially when your friends follow it avidly, and talk about little else but the last match, the upcoming fixtures, and their own personal take on player's performances. When it comes to talking about football, I'd have an easier time describing the process of nuclear fission in Mongolian than giving a mid-match commentary.

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This week, the girlfriend of a major football fan was given that unwelcome job, and her clueless summary of the game was unintentionally hilarious. Alison Finlay, a student who hails from London, was forced to step up when her footie-mad partner had to miss the game between England and Tunisia on Monday, June 18. Alison told the Press Association that her boyfriend was travelling home on the London Underground, and thus needed her to fill him in. "He had to work late and hoped he’d make it back (for the game) but didn’t, so asked me to fill him in. I kindly obliged!" she stated.

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On Twitter, Alison stated: "My boyfriend asked me to text him updates from the #ENGTUN game as he's on his way home. You can't say it's not accurate." She then offered such gems as "A Tunisian man is on the [floor]. Looks like he got hit in the hair. Referee is uninterested. The man with the injured hair is not pleased." She later added: "It was a good goal but England missed a few chances and will need to up their game if they want to go far in the tournament. They might also want to work on their hair, as they were shown up horribly by Tunisia in that regard."

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Twitter users seemed to really appreciate Alison's unorthodox style of commentary, with one stating: "This is excellent commentary. Please continue. I see know issues". Another person added: "Please please please tweet for all the games! Your comments are a million times better than every announcer in the US!" Who knows? Maybe we could see Alison on ESPN one of these days? I'd certainly tune in to watch her.

The objectification of women in sports is a tale as old as time. Whether that is scantily clad "grid girls" standing in front of cars before the Grands Prix or the Darts Corporation's "walk-on girls", there is a long history of women being treated as accoutrements in live sporting competitions. Now while the aforementioned practices have since banned the use of both "grid girls" and "walk-on girls", one game where women are still prized solely on their looks is, of course, the football.

Certainly, whenever watching televised football, the camera always seems to zoom in on one of two things: children holding amusing signs, and beautiful women.

This practice may be about to change, however. In a bid to tackle sexism, television stations have been told by FIFA to stop zooming in on attractive women within the crowds.

The head of sustainability and diversity at FIFA, Federico Addiechi, has spoken positively of the changes. "We've done it with individual broadcasters. We've done it with our host broadcast services," he stated, before explaining that FIFA is prepared to "take action against things that are wrong".

There have been an unprecedented number of reports of sexism at this year's World Cup, with female reporters allegedly being harassed, not just online, but in public too. Certainly, while pre-tournament concerns that Russia 2018 would see a barrage of homophobic and racist attacks have not materialised, accounts of sexist behaviour have been rife.
The anti-discrimination collective, Fare Network, have been working with FIFA to monitor behaviour and attitudes in and around the World Cup games, and its executive director, Piara Powar, has since stated that sexism has been the biggest issue at Russia 2018.

Speaking to journalist at a press conference about diversity issues before England's semi-final against Croatia, Powar said that he and his time have "documented more than 30 cases" of mostly Russian women being "accosted in the streets" by male football fans. He added, however, that the real number of incidents is likely to be "10 times this".

He also said that there have been several cases of female reporters being kissed or groped while on air.

When quizzed on what FIFA could do to tackle such behaviour, Addiechi explained that the federation has been working with local organisers and the Russian police to identify these fans, some of which have since lost their FAN-IDs and been ordered out of the country.
Addiechi has since clarified that halting the zooming in on "hot women" in the crowds is "one of the activities that we definitely will have in the future - it's a normal evolution."We have done it on a case-by-case basis when some cases arose and they were pretty evident."

"We've done it with individual broadcasters. We've done it as well with our host broadcast services," he continued, before adding that it is not yet part of "proactive campaign".

Every time the World Cup rolls around and I get caught up in all the goals, drama and festivities, I wonder how I ever managed to survive four years without it. As the world's most popular sport, the past three weeks or so have seen the world gripped with World Cup fever, and whether you're a disappointed German or ecstatic Russian, this has been a tournament for the ages.

I think that people will remember this World Cup for a very long time, and not just because of what happened on the pitch. The internet being the gift that keeps on giving, the World Cup has been the context for the best meme to emerge from this tournament ('Football's Coming Home' being a close second), involving ostensibly one of its best players.

With five titles to their name and a significant chance of bringing home the Jules Rimet trophy for a record sixth time, Brazil are undoubtedly the quintessential World Cup team, and in Neymar, they've got a genuinely world-class player to pin their hopes on. The striker has started slowly this time around, but if Brazil make it all the way, he'll have played a big part.

Unfortunately, his star status has seen opposition players give him some rough treatment in an attempt to knock him off his game. It's a tough part of the game, but Neymar has been mercilessly mocked for his... let's say, theatrical responses to the unwanted attention.

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That's Neymar in the World Cup Quarter Final against Mexico, responding to an errant boot by his opponent as if he'd been shot. It's one way to accentuate any illegal contact from opposition players... but it's also a great way to get mocked by billions all over the world.

Case in point, these rather delightful memes:

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Which eventually led to this absolutely hilarious video, which can be enjoyed over and over again without it ever getting old:

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Now, it's not uncommon for fast food brands to try and get in on global trends, adding their own rather interesting twists. In fact, Burger King have already had to pull an ill-advised post encouraging Russian women to procreate with global football stars, in order to breed a generation of soccer superstars (presumably with crippling Daddy issues).

But KFC South Africa's latest advert involving the World Cup is much better taste, and I'm not just talking about the food. In what was probably an inevitable twist on that last video, KFC took a very familiar sight at this World Cup, and turned it into something decidedly Finger Lickin' Good:

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He just doesn't. Stop. Rolling. We're used to KFC knocking it out of the park with their weird yet wonderful marketing ploys, but even for them, this is pretty awesome. Whatever happens in the showcase final later on this month, I for one won't be forgetting this World Cup in a hurry, and with the help of KFC and Neymar, I doubt you will either.