The 2026 FIFA World Cup may have only just got underway, but one live TV exchange has already caused a stir after Alexi Lalas left his fellow Fox panelists visibly stunned with a remark about James Corden.
Lalas appeared on the broadcast alongside Thierry Henry, Rebecca Lowe and Zlatan Ibrahimovic during coverage from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
The moment came on Friday, 12 June, as Fox continued its opening weekend coverage of the expanded 48-team tournament, which runs from 11 June to 19 July across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The tournament’s opening events have been spread across multiple host nations, and Canada’s first match on home soil took place in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Canada also had reason to celebrate after finding an equalizer in the 79th minute against Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking the nation’s first ever men’s World Cup goal on home soil. Even so, that achievement was quickly rivaled for attention by what happened in the studio.
Corden is also involved in this year’s coverage, with his late-night show, FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours with James Corden, airing nightly throughout the tournament after premiering on 11 June. The show is broadcast from the FOX Studio Lot in Los Angeles and features Corden alongside Rio Ferdinand and comedian Ian Karmel.
After a promo for the program was shown, Lowe turned to the panel and said:
“Can we talk about James Corden for a moment?”
What followed was anything but a calm discussion, as Lalas came out with a line that immediately caught everyone off guard.
“Oh, yeah, what do you guys call him?”
“A full kit w****r, right?”
The phrase is a British football insult used for someone seen as trying a bit too hard to look the part, especially by wearing a full team kit despite not being a player.
Henry’s reaction was instant, as he looked toward the camera and said:
“Woah!”
Lalas then continued:
“He’s all dressed up and ready to go,”
Still processing what had just been said, Henry responded:
“Did he just say that?”
Lowe, who was equally taken aback, added:
“Lucky we’re on American television, because the ‘w word’ on British TV…”
The awkwardness may not be over yet either, with Lowe later reminding Lalas of a possible future meeting.
“You’ve still got to visit James though, right? You’ve gotta go visit James Corden.”
Viewers on X were quick to seize on the moment, and Henry’s facial expression has already begun circulating as a meme.
One person wrote:
“The best thing about this Canada game was this new Henry meme that dropped..”
Another posted:
“NOT ON LIVE TV!
“THIERRY HENRY COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!”
A further reaction read:
“Europe is sleeping and when they wake up, the greatest meme in World Cup history has dropped.”
The clip quickly spread across social media and was also picked up by several U.S. entertainment and sports outlets in the hours after the broadcast.
So far, there has been no public response from James Corden to the comment.
Elsewhere, attention is also on the United States squad for the tournament. Mauricio Pochettino named a 26-man roster for the World Cup, with veteran defender Tim Ream confirmed as captain heading into the competition.
1 – Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
24 – Matt Freese (New York City FC)
25 – Chris Brady (Chicago Fire)
2 – Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven)
3 – Chris Richards (Crystal Palace)
5 – Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
6 – Auston Trusty (Celtic)
12 – Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati)
13 – Tim Ream (Charlotte FC) – captain
16 – Alex Freeman (Villarreal)
18 – Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew)
22 – Mark McKenzie (Toulouse)
23 – Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
4 – Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth)
7 – Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
8 – Weston McKennie (Juventus)
10 – Christian Pulisic (AC Milan)
11 – Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United)
14 – Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps)
15 – Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
17 – Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)
21 – Timothy Weah (Marseille)
26 – Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)
9 – Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven)
19 – Haji Wright (Coventry City)
20 – Folarin Balogun (Monaco)