Rand Getlin spent four years following the USMNT from Qatar to the doorstep of a home World Cup, and the result is “U.S. Against the World,” now airing Tuesday nights on HBO. The road to getting it on-screen involved every major streaming platform passing before Qatar, a decision to keep filming, anyway, and a very specific reason why HBO ended up being the right home.
The show went viral last week for a reason that had nothing to do with a highlight reel. A clip about the team’s decision on how to handle the Gio Reyna and Gregg Berhalter situation lit up social media, with fans asking why it was not covered in more depth. Getlin addressed that decision directly, explained the editorial reasoning behind it, and was willing to wear it publicly in a way that is worth hearing in full.
Before “U.S. Against the World,” Getlin was an investigative journalist who worked with Adrian Wojnarowski on the NBA Players Association nepotism story, with Dan Wetzel and Charles Robinson at Yahoo Sports on Alabama, and left NFL Network over a fundamental disagreement about how player contracts should be described. He is now working on a new investigative project he cannot discuss yet, and the through line connecting it all is something he has never tried to hide.
