Former USWNT star Mia Hamm sounds off on upcoming tournament: 'I'm excited about this World Cup'

U.S. women's soccer legend Mia Hamm talks to Fox News Digital about representing the Stars and Stripes at the World Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially arrived, and with that comes the added excitement for American fans being able to see the beautiful game on their home soil.

But this isn't the first time the United States has hosted a World Cup.

Fans old enough to remember both the men's World Cup in 1994 and the women's tournament in '99 will recall the moments that an entire nation truly embraced the game of soccer for the first time.

One player who can speak from firsthand experience about what those moments meant is former U.S. Women's National Team star Mia Hamm, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the eve of this year's World Cup.

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USA's Mia Hamm is pictured during a soccer event. (Jon Buckle/EMPICS)

Hamm represented the Stars and Stripes during the 1999 tournament, one in which the United States captured its first world title over China.

"Representing the U.S., wearing the colors and the badge, meant everything for us," Hamm explained at The World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party Blue Carpet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. "[It's] something you dream about as a kid and then to have the opportunity to do it for as long as I did, I never took it for granted."

In today's day and age where athletes often view wearing the American colors as divisive, it's refreshing to hear someone like Hamm speak from a place of pride about representing her home country.

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U.S. women's soccer players wait for a corner kick during the Women's World Cup Group E