Mic'd Up: The ESPN FC analyst spoke about all things Club World Cup and the state of soccer in America
Herculez Gomez is bullish on the Club World Cup.
One reason is because he played in the tournament, once upon a time – 15 years ago, he was part of a Pachuca team representing CONCACAF in Abu Dhabi against the best in the world, making Gomez one of the few American stars to ever really experience the competition in its prior format.
Much has changed. In Gomez's era, just seven teams competed. This summer, 32 teams from all over the world arrived in the United States to fight for recognition, prestige and, ultimately, a whole bunch of money. The tournament has evolved – and you can count Gomez among those who are enjoying the early phases of this new-look competition.
"You see fans on beaches in Miami, Boca fans," Gomez tells GOAL. "You see the Palmeiras fans. You see Botafogo taking over. You see all of these crazy things and it's awesome. This is what it's all about. This is what gets you excited for the World Cup in a year, too."
The former U.S. men's national team striker, who has plenty to say about the state of that program, has personal connections to this Club World Cup. Two of his former clubs, Pachuca and the Seattle Sounders, are in the field representing CONCACAF, just as Gomez did in 2010. Both lost to European competition in their opening matches, and now face big tests in the games to come.
The ESPN FC analyst will be among those watching on as the tournament continues as one hell of an appetizer ahead of a big summer of 2026.
Gomez discussed the Club World Cup, his own experience in the tournament, and his expectations for American soccer in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
Getty Images SportON MLS IN THE CLUB WORLD CUP
GOAL: We have the Club World Cup going on and, while the expectations around the MLS teams were somewhat low, all three put on decent showings in their first games. Looking big picture, what does it mean for MLS, and what are your expectations for what the league can get out of this?
GOMEZ: So Seattle, I watched that game and I thought they were unfortunate in the end! I thought that the Copa Libertadores champions were begging for the final whistle. That's how bad it was at the end for Botafogo. As far as MLS is concerned, I think they've done better than expected. LAFC played the Conference League champions, Chelsea, a team that has spent $1 billion in the last, I don't know, five years. They were respectable.
The Seattle Sounders, they could have tied that game, but it slipped away. Probably should have gotten a better result. Inter Miami, they got fortunate because they were played off the park in the first half, But they could have stolen it! Messi almost single-handedly won them that game. So I've been extremely pleased with what I've seen from the Major League Soccer teams.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportON THE CLUB WORLD CUP AS A WHOLE
GOAL: Thoughts on the tournament as a whole? There's so much to discuss with attendance, results, culture, etc. What are your general thoughts?
GOMEZ: I'm a big believer in this tournament. I played in the Club World Cup in 2010 with Pachuca when it was seven teams, when you had to be one of the elite in your region to get there. But I'm cheering for the Club World Cup. I've been extremely pleased with what I've seen so far – 80,000 (fans) in Pasadena, 60,000 at Hard Rock. These are great numbers. You're seeing the ref cam, which I'm a big believer in, and it seems the players are taking this seriously. The clubs are taking it seriously. The fans are showing up.
Granted, there have been games like the one in Atlanta with Chelsea and LAFC, but I think that's unfair because LAFC are the only MLS team playing outside of their venue. I understand that, but I've enjoyed it. You look at Boca vs Benfica and the players are fighting with each other because they want to win, so I'm on board there.
AFPON HIS CLUB WORLD CUP EXPERIENCE
GOAL: You did play in this tournament, even if it was very different at the time. What are your memories from that experience?
GOMEZ: It was great. It was Abu Dhabi in 2010 and it was big for me in the sense that I was just coming off a World Cup in that same year, and then I'm going to play in the Club World Cup. You're thinking, "Wow, this is great!" It's Inter, Jose Mourinho had just left, but it was his treble-winning Inter. Brazil's Internacional were there.
Pachuca, we felt like we were doing something big, but then you get to the stadium and we're facing an African team in the first game, Mazembe, but there were probably – I don't know the official count – but there were maybe 12,000 people there and it felt like 1,000 because of the size of the stadium. It didn't feel like this grand moment. So now, I'm looking at these games and, I know it's Messi, but they're playing Al-Ahli and there are Egyptian fans in the stadium. I'm thinking to myself, "Wow, this feels like an event."
Getty ImagesON THE RISE OF SOCCER IN AMERICA
GOAL: This is just the latest big summer for American soccer. We had the Copa America last year, Club World Cup and Gold Cup this year and, of course, the World Cup coming next year. What do you think the impact of all of this is going to be? Is this a period where things really are going to change?
GOMEZ: If the 1994 World Cup, which is still the most successful World Cup yet, is anything to go by, this will change the dynamic. That resulted in the birth of a domestic league and basically everything we have now is because of the '94 World Cup. This can take it even further. It could be the rocket fuel. That said, it would really help if the U.S. men's national team makes a run, just for the growth in this country, to inspire millions of kids to take things to that next level.
I work Monday to Friday on ESPN Deportes, and we talk about all sports – but mainly soccer. And I have a colleague who says, "The U.S. is not a soccer country." He's wrong. The U.S. is a soccer country. Not everyone will follow or support the USMNT, not everyone will follow or support MLS. But you see the massive amounts of numbers that come out to games, whether that's friendlies, ICC, Club World Cup, whatever the case may be. You see the number of people who watch the Champions League or the World Cup in the States. You see who purchases soccer content, soccer merchandise.
We are, by far, a soccer country. We may not yet be a USMNT country or an MLS country, but this is a soccer country. And this is before the explosion of the 2026 World Cup, with that expanded field. This has the potential to go down as the biggest sporting event ever to take place.
