Premiering May 20, 2026

New York, NY — Just in time for the world’s biggest sporting stage, American Futbol debuts today as a new podcast that digs into the roots, culture, and complex identity of soccer in the United States. Hosted by award-winning journalist Fernanda Echavarri, the show arrives at a pivotal moment as the country prepares to co-host the Men’s FIFA World Cup.

American Futbol weaves together short, cinematic narrative episodes and long-form interviews to tell the story of a sport that has long fought for its place in the American imagination. From immigrant communities who brought the game to U.S. soil, to the players and fans who kept it alive through decades of doubt, the podcast captures what makes futbol in this country something entirely its own.

“This isn’t a sports show. It’s a show about what it means to love the game that the rest of the world already loves,” said host Fernanda Echavarri. “American Futbol is about the stories, because turns out, soccer has always had a home in the U.S. we just haven’t always told those stories.

Through an anthology of surprising and riveting moments, American Futbol makes the case for why the sport is finally having its moment in the U.S. As the World Cup unfolds, the series will also release timely episodes capturing the current zeitgeist around futbol while grounding each development in the historical context needed to understand it.

With the Men’s World Cup on the horizon and the spotlight on US soccer brighter than ever, American Futbol offers listeners an essential and intimate portrait of the sport’s underdog origins and its unlikely rise. Part of iHeart’s My Cultura Podcast Network, new episodes are available now wherever you listen to podcasts.

ABOUT US

Futuro Media is an independent, nonprofit news organization and podcast studio founded in 2010 by Pulitzer Prize winner Maria Hinojosa. Based in Harlem, New York, Futuro Media produces the Peabody Award-winning Latino USA, the longest-running Latino news and cultural program in public radio, which celebrated 30 years on the air in 2023. Its podcast studio, Futuro Studios, is home to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Suave and acclaimed series La Brega and Anything for Selena. Futuro Investigates, its IRE and Murrow award-winning investigative journalism unit, produced After Uvalde: Guns, Grief & Texas Politics.