About The People’s Game

The People’s Game is a new media outlet that aims to make soccer more fair, accessible, and entertaining through journalism and storytelling. It also aims to deliver as many references as possible to the 1988 documentary film masterpiece Tor! Total Football.

The People’s Game is being launched during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Founder Anders Kelto is criss-crossing North America, to document how people in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are experiencing the largest and most expensive World Cup in history.

The People’s Game with Anders Kelto podcast launched just before the tournament, and will continue after it concludes. It features original reporting, stories, and interviews with the most fascinating people in soccer, at every level of the game and from all around the world.

About Me: My Soccer Life

I think it’s safe to say I would have been a professional soccer player, had it not been for a potentially life-threatening heart condition. Despite that condition, I was, in fact, a professional player of sorts, making regular guest appearances for the New England Revolution reserve team over the course of three seasons (and earning the nickname “super sub” along the way). I was also once tricked into playing for DC United’s reserve team.

Anders Kelto, Geoff Walker, and Jeff Larentowicz after a New England Revolution reserve team match in Gillette Stadium.

Some of my youth career highlights:

Captain of the U.S. Under-17 National Team
3-time NSCAA and Parade Magazine High School All-American
Named “Mr. Soccer” for the state of Michigan
Invited to play for PSV Eindhoven and SC Heerenveen of the Dutch first division
Named “Most Likely To Go Pro” in the Traverse City High School yearbook (I think I also deserved “Best Hair” — look at this feathery masterpiece):

Anders Kelto at a U.S. U-17 National Team training camp in North Carolina.

Some of my college soccer (and post-college soccer) accomplishments:

3-Time All-Ivy League selection at Brown University
All-Big Ten selection at Michigan State University
Played in four consecutive NCAA tournaments (Sweet 16 and Elite 8)
Created a blog about the Brown Men’s Soccer team that became weirdly popular
Started a series of soccer camps (“Mr. Soccer Camps”) in my hometown that featured skill development and absurdly elaborate warm-up games, which ran for nearly two decades (the camps, not the warm-up games).

My Journalism Career

When it became clear that playing professional soccer wasn’t a viable (or safe) career path for me, I coached college soccer for a little while — and then pivoted to journalism.

I have since (somehow) won a Peabody Award, two National Edward R Murrow Awards, two Podcast Academy Awards, two Gracie Awards, and a Webby Award. I’m also a proud graduate of the University of Michigan’s Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship (class of 2019).

International Reporting

My journalism career kicked off at the 2010 World Cup. I went to South Africa to cover the tournament as a freelancer, and did several radio stories for NPR — about homeless people being relocated from stadium areas, the plight of sex workers at the World Cup, and FIFA’s struggles to build legacy fields in Africa.

That trip led to more work, more reporting trips and, eventually, full-time jobs as a correspondent for PRI’s The World and NPR. Basically, I went to South Africa as an adventure-seeking soccer bum and aspiring reporter, and came back five years later as an experienced international journalist, having reported on everything from election violence in Zimbabwe, to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, to the rise of neo soul music in Kenya.

(I also once wrote a story about turkey labels that was featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, because obviously.)

Anders Kelto reporting for PRI’s The World (WGBH/BBC) from Kenya

Sports Journalism

More recently, I’ve merged my love of audio storytelling with my love of soccer and other sports, because nothing hits the heart quite like a great sports story.

I created an audio documentary series for Audible called Gamebreaker, which looked at athletes who challenge the way we think about sports and the world. ESPN Sports Center anchor Keith Olbermann was the host.

I worked with Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner to create a special series of Freakonomics Radio called The Hidden Side of Sports.

I created, hosted, and executive produced The Lead, a narrative sports podcast co-produced by The Athletic and Wondery, which ran for five years and won numerous awards, including a National Edward R. Murrow Award and a Podcast Academy Award for this episode about the Afghan Women’s Soccer Team’s Incredible Escape From Kabul.

My Mission

The Peoples’ Game feels like a homecoming of sorts to me. I’m taking the skills that I’ve developed as a reporter, host, and podcast producer and am merging them with my deep knowledge of the game to create something new and unique. The project is centered around the belief that soccer at every level should be more fair, accessible, and entertaining, and that journalism and storytelling can help in that cause.

Subscribe to The People's Game with Anders Kelto

Anders Kelto, award-winning international journalist and former captain of the U.S. Under-17 National Team, brings you stories and interviews with the most fascinating people in soccer, at every level of the sport and from all around the world.