UCLA - University of California - Los Angeles
06/10/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2026 16:52
UCLA Experts: FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off
UCLA Experts: FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off
The FIFA World Cup takes the field this week, kicking off 39 days of soccer (football/fútbol). The tournament will take place across North America, as Canada, the United States and Mexico share hosting duties for a packed schedule of matchups, concerts and fan festivals. This summer, the eyes of the world will turn to the stadiums and to the stage - including the first half-time show at the World Cup Final, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and featuring major powerhouses like Madonna, Shakira and BTS.
UCLA experts are on hand to provide research and perspectives as the events unfold. Connect with our experts who can share insights about health, community, economics, legal questions, the music industry, traffic and more.
Where to watch the World Cup in LA
With Los Angeles welcoming fans from all over the world, numerous locations across the county are hosting watch parties to ease the FOMO for those who weren't able to score tickets to see the U.S. men's national soccer team or one of the other record 48 teams in play. Starting June 24, UCLA - alma mater to soccer legend Cobi Jones - hosts fans at the Hammer Museum to catch the 2026 World Cup live on big screens in an indoor/outdoor setting where art and sport come together.
On politics, conflict, legal issues and ticket prices
Culture, identity and fútbol
Hernández-León is a professor of sociology and the director of the Latin America Institute, which offers a LAUSD professional development workshop on the World Cup to help K-12 educators teach about migration, culture and identity across the Americas through sport. Previously the director of the UCLA Center for Mexican Studies, he is the author of "Metropolitan Migrants: The Migration of Urban Mexicans to the United States" and is an expert on immigrant labor from Mexico, as well as Mexican and Latin American politics.
An avid fútbol fan, he can comment on the game's reach and impact across North and South America, and on the politics at play around it, including the state of Mexico's infrastructure for the games. He can also discuss how high ticket prices are keeping people out of the stands. He is available to do interviews in English or Spanish.
Email: Contact the International Institute, [email protected]
Ticket prices and legal issues related to the World Cup
Bank is the Paul Hastings Professor of Business Law at UCLA School of Law, with expertise in tax law, business taxation and tax history. The author of "High Rates and Low Taxes: Tax Dodging in Mid-Century America," he also is well-versed in soccer law, including through a course on "International and Comparative Sports Law" and a seminar on "Law, Lawyering and the Beautiful Game."
He can comment on the various legal issues, including those related to immigration enforcement and protests, visa issues and security and transportation subsidies. He can also discuss ticket models and how secondary markets are impacting FIFA ticket prices.
Email: Contact UCLA Law media relations, [email protected]
He said: "Sports event organizers in the United States face the unique challenge of having a secondary market for tickets. That does not exist in many other parts of the world. Even before the World Cup, U.S. leagues and teams have tried to capture that market for themselves, including the dynamic pricing that comes with secondary market sales. In some respects, FIFA is just trying to use the state of the art in the U.S. for their ticket models, but they have done so in a way that violates many fans' notion of soccer as a game for the people. It very much fits in with changes in the game on a broader scale, such as its transformation into a big business, its globalization through TV and streaming services, and the change in ownership and investment from people with less commitment to the local communities and their fans."
The Iranian Diaspora and the World Cup
Harris is an associate professor and vice chair of sociology and an expert on modern Iran, specifically Iranian politics and society. A member of the UCLA International Institute, he is an authority on economic development in the Middle East, the history of the area and the Iranian diaspora. He is the author of "A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran."
He can comment on the demographics of Iranians in Los Angeles and the United States. Several years of his research are in the Iranian Diaspora dashboard.
Email: [email protected]
Trust and tolerance through soccer
Mousa is an assistant professor of political science and affiliated faculty with the Bedari Kindness Institute. Her research examines immigration, conflict and intergroup contact, developing strategies for social cohesion, often through field experiments conducted in partnership with civil society organizations and local governments in the Middle East and beyond. Her work looks at how soccer can build trust and tolerance, as well as increase empathy and lower hate crimes among communities and players from opposing sides of a conflict.
She can comment on how soccer, whether through parasocial contact or traditional face-to-face contact, can help change social attitudes and behaviors. She can also discuss the impact of the Iranian team playing in the US, and how that might shape US public opinion.
Email: [email protected]
Health in the heat of the game
Sports medicine: What the world's best athletes put their bodies through
Vigil is an orthopedic surgeon and division chief of primary care sports medicine at UCLA Health. He has been a physician at international competitions including the World Championships in track and field and the World Cup.
He can comment on how heat and environmental conditions can influence athletic performance and what common injuries are found in professional soccer, and new advances in injury prevention. He can also discuss the physical toll of elite competition and how athletes recover between matches through sleep, nutrition and training strategies.
Email: Contact UCLA Health media relations, [email protected]
Shade is a slam dunk
De Guzman is an expert on equitable heat mitigation, urban forestry and climate resilience at UCLA's Luskin Center for Innovation and the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She is part of the ShadeLA campaign, led by USC and UCLA, which is testing heat-policy solutions at some of the upcoming World Cup matches.
She can speak to the health risks of heat, the importance of simple solutions like shade, and the need to adapt cities and sporting events to growing heat risks.
Email: [email protected]
Infectious disease: Staying healthy during large international gatherings
Yang is an infectious disease specialist at UCLA Health. He can share tips for staying healthy while attending large sporting events and how to protect yourself from common travel-related illnesses. He can also comment on the importance of staying up to date with vaccinations and preventative care, especially when attending large gatherings.
Email: Contact UCLA Health media relations, [email protected]
Managing stress and excitement during high-stakes competition
Horwich is a cardiologist at UCLA Health and a health sciences clinical professor of medicine/cardiology at the Geffen School of Medicine. Her focus is on treating and preventing heart disease in women, cardiac rehabilitation and risk factors and novel therapies for patients with heart disease.
She can comment on how excitement and stress affect the cardiovascular system, healthy ways spectators can manage stress during high-intensity games, and how to recognize warning signs that may warrant medical attention.
Email: Contact UCLA Health media relations, [email protected]
Heat poses health harms to athletes, but also spectators and workers
Venkat is a medical anthropologist and director of the UCLA Heat Lab..He is an associate professor at the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics, with joint appointments in the departments of history and anthropology.
He is available to comment on the physical risks posed by heat to athletes and spectators, and the environmental justice implications of the health harms faced by lower-income workers.
Email: [email protected]
Protecting from heat
Turner, an expert on the effects of extreme heat, is a professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, co-author of the Luskin Center for Innovation's Heat Policy Brief Series, and associate director of the Luskin Center for Innovation heat equity group. She regularly advises local and state officials on heat policy to protect playgrounds, neighborhoods and cities.
She can comment on the risks people face from prolonged exposure to heat and solutions to help cool down.
Email: [email protected]
Beyond the soccer anthems: Music at the World Cup
What the World Cup means for FIFA and the Recording Academy
Tiffany Naiman is the director of music industry programs and an assistant teaching professor at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, as well as a lecturer in the department of musicology. She is a scholar of women, aging and disability in popular music, with expertise in other areas such as experimental film and music, electronic dance music (EDM) and popular music. She also curates and produces music documentaries, experimental films, music videos and LGBTQ+ films.
She can comment on the significance of music at the World Cup, including FIFA's partnership with the Recording Academy, and on how the performance lineup and official soundtrack reflect strategic evolutions for both associations.
Email: [email protected]
She said: "The FIFA World Cup has always had music in its DNA, but what we're seeing now is a fundamental shift in strategy. FIFA is no longer treating music as a backdrop to the tournament - it's becoming a core pillar of the World Cup's global identity.
"A halftime show is symbolically important: it signals that FIFA envisions the World Cup not only as the world's premier sporting championship, but as the world's premier entertainment event. Music has always given the tournament its emotional texture - people remember the songs almost as vividly as the matches. FIFA is now building on that deliberately and at scale.
"Some traditional football fans may view this as Americanization, and that's a fair conversation to have. But I'd frame it differently: this is globalization meeting commercial reality. The World Cup already unites billions of people across languages, cultures, and borders - music is one of the few forces that can match that reach. FIFA is simply formalizing what has always been true."
The World Cup's opening ceremony in Mexico
Loza is a professor of ethnomusicology and global jazz studies at UCLA and directs the UCLA Center for Latino Arts. His research covers Latin American music, with a special focus on Mexico, Cuba and Latinos in the United States. His publications include "Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music" and "Barrio Harmonics: Essays on Chicano / Latino Music," which explores Chicano, Mexican and Cuban musical forms and styles and their transformations in the United States. He has also edited four anthologies, including "Musical Cultures of Latin America: Global Effects, Past and Present" and "Musicología global: pensamientos clasicos y contemporaneos sobre la etnomusicología."
He can speak to the meaning of the opening ceremony at Mexico City Stadium and the power of Latin American music globally, as Mexicans headliners like Lila Downs and Alejandro Fernández join other stars like J Balvin and take the stage. He can do interviews in English or Spanish.
Email: [email protected]
Koreans and the Korean diaspora: Son Heung-min, BTS and World Cup fever
The strength and global rise of K-culture
Kim is a professor of theater and performance studies at the School of Theater, Film & Television at UCLA. Her work focuses on borderland performances, transmedia, the entertainment industry, and the historical roots of today's popular culture, with a significant portion of her work exploring the cultural history of the North and South Korea. She is the editor of "The Cambridge Companion to K-Pop" and the author of "K-Pop Live: Fans, Idols and Multimedia Performance."
She can comment on the significance of mega icons BTS performing at FIFA's first half-time show in the middle of the group's sold-out Arirang world tour, as well as the global success of K-pop and Korean content and the transformation of Korea into a brand. She can also discuss World Cup Fever in Korea and the diaspora. She is available to do interviews in English or Korean.
Email: [email protected]
The power of Korean representation
Park is a professor of anthropology and Asian American studies at UCLA and the Korea Times- Hankook-Ilbo Endowed Chair in Korean American Studies. A sociocultural anthropologist, she focuses on culture in motion and the migration of people. She is the author of eight books, including "The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City" and her most recent book, "Korean Immigrants in Latin America."
With the Los Angeles area home to the largest Korean population outside of Korea and to international superstar Son Heung-min at LAFC, World Cup fever is at a high in the city. Park can comment on the enthusiasm for the game by diasporic Koreans, especially in Los Angeles, and the importance of Korean representation at such a major world event. She is available to do interviews in English or Korean.
Email: [email protected]
The business and high stakes of soccer
Sports gambling: The World Cup and online betting
Fong, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, co-directs the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. This program is focused on examining the underlying causes and clinical characteristics of gambling disorder in order to develop effective, evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies.
He can comment on how the rise of prediction markets and sports gambling has changed the already pervasive betting at the World Cup, as well as the impacts on gambling addiction and youth gambling.
Email: Contact UCLA Health media relations, [email protected]
A global opportunity for media and investments
Johnson served for many years as the faculty director of UCLA Anderson's Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports and continues to serve on their board of advisers. A veteran of ESPN and ABC Sports, he is the founder and CEO of WON Worldwide, a global sports media and entertainment marketing and revenue strategy firm. Johnson advises both marketers and media companies on how to leverage value within the sports landscape, and he teaches MBA courses on topics such as innovations in sports media rights and the evolution of sports marketing.
Johnson can comment on the current state of global sports media and business investments in soccer.
Email: Contact UCLA Anderson School of Management, [email protected]
The sports industry and marketing the game
Moorad is an expert in sports marketing and an adjunct professor of marketing at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. A board member of the Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports, he teaches a class on the business of sports, focused on enhancing students' capacity to succeed in the sports industry's complex, global marketing environment. He was a prominent sports agent in the NFL and MLB before shifting his focus to owner and executive roles, and he is the partner and CEO of MSP Sports Capital, a global sports private equity firm.
He can comment on sports business and marketing from the viewpoints of a team owner and investor, both here in the US and in Europe.
Email: Contact UCLA Anderson School of Management, [email protected]
Getting to the World Cup: Traffic and public transportation
The traffic surrounding the World Cup
Manville is a professor and chair of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. His research focuses on the intersections of transportation, land use and housing, with particular interests in road and parking pricing and the factors that influence driving and transit use.
He can comment on traffic and some of the transportation opportunities and challenges related to mega events like the World Cup.
Email: [email protected]
The push for public transit
Wasserman is a research program manager with the Institute for Transportation Studies. His expertise focuses on public transit (ridership, finance, operations, service and mobility), as well as the intersection of transportation and other policy issues, like homelessness, labor, history/segregation, rideshare, land use and housing.
He can comment on the use of public transit, such as the Metro to SoFI Stadium and other venues, and on how cities like Los Angeles should incentivize its use.
Email: [email protected]
Tags: experts
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