There are just three players in history who have represented their country at six FIFA Men’s World Cups, and they will all be playing at this summer’s tournament: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa.

That’s right — arguably the two greatest soccer players of all time, and a goalie who has never played for a top European club, and who most recently played professional soccer in Cyprus.

But make no mistake, Ochoa is a living legend here in Mexico. Despite his obvious shortcomings, of which there are many (size, athleticism, skill with the ball at his feet, a tendency for dramatic errors in club team matches), he has risen to the occasion time and time again at the World Cup, including a laughably unbreakable performance in a 0-0 draw against the host nation Brazil at the 2014 World Cup — arguably his magnum opus.

It’s the kind of career that has inspired murals of Ochoa alongside living legends like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, and Mbappe.

Or, as Ricardo Beltran, a fan of El Tri from Cabo San Lucas put it, “He’s a good goalie with the national team, a bad goalie in leagues. In the World Cup he always plays very well, but in leagues he’s the most scored-on goalie.”

A few months ago, Ochoa seemed to be on the outside looking in at the 2026 World Cup. Luis Malagón, a 29-year-old goalie with Club America, was the projected starter, and a handful of up-and-comers were vying for the backup positions. But a ruptured achilles tendon took Malagón out of the running, and created an opening for Ochoa. Since then, the veteran goalkeeper has apparently endeared himself to head coach Javier Aguirre, and recent reports in the Mexican press suggest Ochoa is likely to start for El Tri in the opening World Cup match against South Africa on June 11th.

Fans in Mexico are divided on whether or not that should be the case. Beltran, who acknowledges that Ochoa is a living legend, doesn’t think he should play.

“I don’t think he deserves to start in this World Cup,” he says.

Delfino Perez, a fan of El Tri who was finishing up a workout at a local soccer field, had even stronger feelings.

“I think Memo Ochoa was a player in past times,” he says. “Football is modernizing, it’s not just for people who are old and outdated. He had his time and now he has to give the opportunity to others who are coming up.”

But there’s an argument to be made for experience and leadership, especially considering the magnitude of the stage. Mexico’s first game is in the Azteca stadium (I refuse to call it by its newest corporate name or its FIFA World Cup name), and the atmosphere will be electric. It will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people, if not billions of people, around the world.

Would you trust 26-year-old goalkeeper Raúl “Tala” Rangel, who has 14 caps and zero World Cup experience, to play in that match?

Or Carlos Acevedo, who has spent his entire club career with relative minnow Santos Laguna, which just finished dead last in Liga MX?

It’s understandable why some fans feel quite differently from Beltran and Perez.

Armando Garcia, a supporter of Club America and the Mexican national team, says he hopes Ochoa sees the field.

“In the World Cup he has been one of the best goalies,” he says. “I would like it if he played in the opening match and beyond.”

Garcia’s friend, Erik Ruín, agrees.

“He’s a great man, a great goalkeeper,” Ruín says. “I would like to see him play one last time in the World Cup.”

If you’re like me, you’ve been feeling a bit conflicted about the upcoming FIFA World Cup. I love the tournament and, most years, I watch almost every game. But this year, it feels a bit … gross. Ticket prices are out of control, and the sales process has been murky to say the least. The new 48-team format will make the tournament feel long and watered down. And our ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ winning president will no doubt try to hog the spotlight, while millions of international and domestic fans feel unwelcome, unsafe, or just plain creeped out.

At the same time, this is the World Cup – the tournament that has captivated me since I can remember, which is around the time I first starting using erudite soccer phrases because of British commentators. The entire world will come together to sing, dance, and ingest staggering amounts of beer, while marveling at the world’s best players. I want to do something that celebrates the spirit of the tournament, but also taps into the growing frustrations that many of us feel – at every level of the sport.

So this is the plan. When the World Cup kicks off, I’m criss-crossing North America, to document how people in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are experiencing the tournament. What will it be like for fans who have broken the bank to attend? For people from countries that are playing in their very first World Cup? For immigrants who are staying away because of ICE? For nonprofit leaders who build community through soccer? For kids dreaming of playing in the World Cup someday?

I’ll be sharing those and other stories here on The People’s Game.

But here’s the best part – the project won’t end when the tournament does. The People’s Game with Anders Kelto podcast, which recently launched, will continue long after the World Cup concludes. It will feature original reporting, stories, and interviews with the most fascinating people in soccer, at every level of the game and from all around the world. From investigations of powerful soccer organizations to profiles of extreme youth soccer parents; from stories about immigrant prodigies to interviews with current professionals, The People’s Game with Anders Kelto will be a breath of fresh air – and it will dig into issues that the mainstream soccer media tends to ignore.

In fact, the first episode of the podcast is already up. It’s a conversation I had with Cristian Roldan, the Seattle Sounders star and U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder, who almost fell through the cracks of the U.S.’s pay-to-play youth soccer system growing up in East Los Angeles, and who is now representing the U.S. at the 2026 World Cup. You can check out that episode here.

I hope you’ll follow my adventures during the World Cup and beyond. You can sign up for email updates. Subscribe to the podcast. Follow me on social media. Share my work with anyone you know who might be interested. And please send me your story ideas – I’d love to know what you want me to dig into, during the World Cup and beyond. No story is too big or too small.

You can also make a donation to help support The People’s Game. This is a self-funded project, inspired by the belief that journalism and storytelling can help make soccer more fair, accessible, and entertaining, at every level of the sport. Basically, I’m creating something that I wish existed, and I hope it grows over time. (Thanks to members of the ‘Founding Circle’ who helped me get it up and running, both financially and emotionally).

I hope you enjoy the World Cup, flawed as it will be. I’ve just arrived in Mexico, and will be here through the opening match on June 11th. After that, I hope to see many of you on the road – preferably at a pickup game, crowded stadium, or sticky-floored soccer bar.

-Anders