On June 4, 2026, Will Leitch published an opinion column in The Washington Post titled "Will the World Cup be a disaster?" as North America prepares to host the massive soccer tournament.
On her podcast On with Kara Swisher, host Kara Swisher brought Leitch on to dissect the looming spectacle, introducing him as "A contributing editor at New York Magazine and founder of Deadspin who joins the panel."
Swisher set a high-stakes tone for the discussion, noting that the U.S. is "just days away from hosting the equivalent of seventy-eight Super Bowls in the span of a month." She described the upcoming tournament as the world's largest sporting event, but also "arguably the most controversial," pointing directly to FIFA's reputation for corruption.
As the kickoff approaches, the tension between the massive scale of the games and the ethical concerns surrounding the host organization will continue to dominate the airwaves. Whether Leitch's warnings of a logistical disaster prove true or the event succeeds in spite of the skepticism, the media's focus on the tournament's execution is only going to intensify.