Wharton Moneyball: Breaking Down the Biggest World Cup Ever

About this episode

Ryan O'Hanlon joins the Wharton Moneyball team to discuss the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the impact of analytics on soccer and sports.

Ryan O'Hanlon, ESPN staff writer, author of Net Gains, and Syracuse University instructor, joins the Wharton Moneyball team to analyze the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup, assess the favorites and dark horses, evaluate the outlook for the U.S. Men's National Team, and explain how analytics-driven innovations such as set pieces and long throw-ins are transforming soccer, before Cade Massey, Adi Wyner, and Shane Jensen discuss the spread of analytics across sports, playoff unpredictability, tournament design, and the evolving impact of NIL on college athletics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Cade Massey, Adi Wyner, Shane Jensen

Guest: Ryan O'Hanlon

Topics covered

• 2026 FIFA World Cup
• soccer analytics
• U.S. Men's National Team
• sports analytics
• college athletics
• tournament design

Keywords

• World Cup
• soccer
• analytics
• U.S. Men's National Team
• college athletics
• NIL
• tournament design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ESPN, Syracuse University

Places: U.S.

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