ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has been in the headlines all month due to a very public war of words with President Donald Trump during the NBA Finals. But if anyone thought Smith would spend a little time off the air with no NFL and NBA action to pounce upon, they’d be proven dead wrong.
Smith has now pivoted to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but the way he’s going about it hasn’t won too many fans.
Stephen A. Smith Criticized For Failing To Do His FIFA World Cup Homework
During Wednesday’s segment of “First Take,” Smith analyzed (if you can call it that) France’s chances of winning the 2026 World Cup. The outspoken ESPN analyst mistakenly implied that it would be the European giant’s first World Cup triumph if they could go all the way.
“For me, it’s about Mbappe for France. He scores two goals yesterday. OK, remember, he scored a hat-trick in the finals loss to Argentina in 2022. I’m wondering whether or not this is the year for France,” Smith said. “I’m thinking about France because of Wemby and how he just went home in the NBA Finals. I’m wondering what France is going to do.
“Could this be the year that they finally get it done, and they win the World Cup? Considering Mbappe, and what we saw him do yesterday, and what we know he’s capable of doing, because he’s done it before.”
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During this week’s segment of the “Dan LeBatard Show,” analyst Mike Ryan Ruiz blasted Smith for failing to study up on France’s World Cup heritage and asked him to read up on his pre-show information.
“We saw this freight train coming for years. They have about $100 million tied up in daytime personalities that are fairly limited. Stephen A. can’t talk about more than two sports, and it’s not even the majors. The second biggest sport in this country is college football and the guy has no knowledge of it.
“They pay this guy $40 million and he’s asking Roger Bennett, ‘Hey, can France finally pull this thing off?’ It’s France. It’s Kylian Mbappe. In the World Cup. In America. Is it too much to ask your big-time talisman talent, ‘Hey, bone up on this, just a little bit?’ Here’s a little basic stat pack: France has won two World Cups. Let’s start there.”
ESPN’s World Cup coverage just has to be better pic.twitter.com/M6D42KCc8m
— The Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) June 18, 2026
France first won the World Cup in 1998 on home soil when they beat Brazil 3-0 in the final at the Stade de France. They won their second trophy in 2018 when they beat Croatia 4-2 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Coach Didier Deschamps’ team missed out on repeating as world champions in 2022 when Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to a victory on penalties in the final in Qatar.
