Soccer Star Tim Ream Says Playing in World Cup on Home Soil Is a 'Big Responsibility' (Exclusive)
Soccer Star Tim Ream Says Playing in World Cup on Home Soil Is a 'Big Responsibility' (Exclusive)
Natasha DyeFri, June 12, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC
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Tim Ream on June 6, 2026 in ChicagoCredit: Michael Miller/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty -
Soccer star Tim Ream says playing in the World Cup on home soil is a "big responsibility" and a "big opportunity" ahead of the United States' match against Paraguay on Friday, June 12
Ream tells PEOPLE he "will not be playing professional soccer much longer" at 38
"It's not any more added pressure or expectation," Ream adds of competing in the United States
Soccer star Tim Ream is ready to represent the United States in the World Cup.
Ahead of the United States' group stage match against Paraguay on Friday, June 12, in Los Angeles, 38-year-old Ream tells PEOPLE he feels "it's a big responsibility" to compete on home soil. "This is a once-in-a-career opportunity. I'm 38, and I will not be playing professional soccer much longer," he admits.
"For the guys who are 24, they're not going to get another chance to play in a World Cup at home. That won't happen, and that is crazy to think about. So, this is our one opportunity to bring a country together to inspire generations of people from old, to parents, to young, to kids who've never touched the ball, and bringing all those together is a big responsibility and a big opportunity."
Tim Ream on May 31, 2026Credit: John Dorton/USSF/Getty
"But it's something that, I think, we have to embrace," the captain of the United States Men's National Team adds. "We have to enjoy. It's not any more added pressure or expectation. If we go out and we be ourselves, then we'll be able to do that. But like I said, it's a once-in-a-career opportunity, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, obviously, so we have to make the most of it."
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Ream is most looking forward to seeing his wife and children in the stands when he competes in this year's World Cup. "It's going to be special because I saw them sitting front row in 2022, but seeing them in stands again for a home World Cup is something that we're not sure we would have the opportunity to do. Being 38, it doesn't happen often," he says.
Beyond the field, the soccer star is using his platform to speak out. Ream partnered with Goodnites ahead of the World Cup for their To My Younger Self campaign, which aims to help inspire kids and support parents who are navigating childhood bedwetting. "It's a common part of childhood, and it's nothing that kids should feel ashamed of," says Ream, who dealt with bedwetting as a child himself.
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"I've gone through this. I mean, one in six kids ages three to 12 have experienced nighttime bedwetting. My parents were very supportive, but you always feel that little bit of like, 'Ah, I've done it again,' and then the more you think about it, the bigger it becomes, then all of a sudden it becomes this huge thing. So, yeah, it's about inspiring the kids and letting them know that they don't have to stop dreaming, that their future is not going to be affected by bedwetting."
on People
Source: “AOL Sports”
