El Paso Locomotive FC earned a moment on one of soccer's grandest stages when a player from the club — also known for his role in the hit television series Ted Lasso — participated in a World Cup coin toss ceremony, a symbolic but striking intersection of Hollywood, international soccer and the Sun City's own professional club.
Locomotive FC has spent years building credibility as one of the more serious organizations in the USL Championship, cultivating homegrown talent and a fanbase that punches well above El Paso's market size. Having a player connected to the club appear in a World Cup setting, however ceremonial, reflects how far the franchise has traveled since its 2019 founding.
The Ted Lasso connection adds an unusual layer. The Apple TV+ series — which follows an American college football coach who takes over an English soccer club — has done more to introduce mainstream American audiences to soccer culture than almost any broadcast campaign in recent memory. A cast member who also holds an active roster spot with a legitimate professional club blurs the line between sports entertainment and the sport itself in a way that would have seemed improbable even five years ago.
For El Paso, the moment carries weight beyond novelty. The Locomotive have worked methodically to establish the Sun City as a genuine soccer market, drawing consistent crowds to Southwest University Park and competing deep into USL playoff runs. Exposure at the World Cup level — even through a coin toss — plants the club's name in a conversation it otherwise wouldn't enter. In a region where soccer has deep cultural roots, particularly among the binational El Paso–Ciudad Juárez community, that visibility matters.
The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, will bring international soccer's premier event to North American soil for the first time since 1994. Texas is home to multiple host cities, and the tournament's proximity has already intensified interest across the state. El Paso sits hours from Dallas and Houston, two venues on the host city list, close enough that local supporters will have realistic access to matches for the first time in decades.
Locomotive FC has positioned itself well ahead of that moment. A roster player appearing alongside World Cup pageantry — and carrying name recognition from one of the most-watched soccer shows in streaming history — is the kind of organic marketing no front office can manufacture. El Paso didn't need a press release. The spotlight found them.
Whether the exposure translates into broader national attention for the club heading into the World Cup cycle will depend on what Locomotive does between now and 2026 — on the field, where it still counts most.