First Touch '26
May 13, 2026 — Newsletter #31
First Touch is excited to continue the First Touch Writer Series with Musa Okwonga, co-founder of the Stadio podcast, and one of the game’s most distinctive voices. His essay this week reflects on World Cup legends, and on the pressure and possibility facing Christian Pulisic in 2026.
“The Narrow Margins of Glory"
By Musa Okwonga
As the captain of the United States for the upcoming World Cup, all eyes are on Christian Pulisic. For him, there is a prize on offer almost as good as claiming the trophy itself: the chance to become a national icon as the globe watches. Yet the pressure crushes far more footballers than those it catalyses to greatness. In the 1994 World Cup Final, Roberto Baggio’s penalty miss may have given Brazil their first title for years, but he is remembered by those millions who love him as the reason that Italy were competing in the first place. Baggio’s astonishing run of form - he scored five of Italy’s last six goals in the run to that final, including the winning goal in each of the second round, the quarters and the semis - was a level of performance arguably only matched by Pele in 1958, Diego Maradona in 1986, and subsequently Leo Messi in 2022. Watching each of them drag their country’s team to the edge of legendary status - or beyond - was thrilling because one person is not supposed to dominate a contest where they share a field with twenty-one peers: especially when that field is being watched by millions if not billions of eyes.
Baggio’s feat might be particularly inspiring for Pulisic. In 1994, his first goal for Italy, an equaliser against Nigeria, came when his country was only seconds from elimination. Like the other four goals he would go to score that summer, it would enter the net with only a couple of centimetres to spare, as if to make the point that the path to glory can only proceed along the narrowest of margins. Like Pulisic, who is enduring the worst form in his career, Baggio also took time to get started: he was poor in the opening games, before rousing himself when everyone needed him most. Pulisic might contend that, as captain of one of the host nations, he has it even harder than Baggio: his position is closer to that of Neymar, who was increasingly decisive for Brazil in 2014 until he broke his back against Colombia. That year Neymar, with his team a goal down to Croatia following a frustrating draw against Mexico, surged forward from midfield and struck a low drive from the edge of the area, sending millions of his compatriots into euphoria. That’s the simple task before Pulisic: to use his skill and vision to electrify a nation.
From this perspective, the best thing about this tournament is that it is entirely its own universe. It doesn’t matter how well you are playing before you turn up to take part in it. Gheorghe Hagi, Romania’s resident genius at three World Cups, had notably quiet spells at Barcelona and Real Madrid even as he came thrillingly to life every four years. On a couple of occasions Miroslav Klose came directly from indifferent seasons with his club, first Bayern Munich in 2010 and then Lazio in 2014, to excel for Germany at the World Cup, at which he is still the all-time top scorer with 16 goals. For Hagi, for Klose, for Baggio, this stage has a uniquely galvanising effect. The one thing they understood is that no-one hands you the mic: you have to snatch it. Let’s see who, be it Pulisic or otherwise, will snatch it this summer.
Episode 12 of First Touch Weekly is Out Now!
Introducing Kickback Soccer Media’s First Touch Weekly, our premium 2026 World Cup podcast, covering the biggest stories across global soccer—from players and matches to politics, culture, host cities, the fan experience, and beyond.
Hosted by Susannah Fuller and David Gass alongside a rotating cast of journalists and experts, the show delivers smart, inclusive analysis and deep dives into everything shaping the road to and through the FIFA World Cup 2026—and continues beyond the tournament as a weekly destination for what’s next in the global game.
- Listen here (Apple) or here (Spotify) or wherever you find your podcasts!
Every World Cup Nation, Previewed!
Over at our website kickbacksoccer.com, we’ve launched a first-of-its-kind team by team preview of every participating World Cup nation!
You can find both written overviews, and special video and podcast primers for every country, all right at your fingertips. The releases for Turkey and Czechia are out this week!
Check it out here and tell your friends!