⚽ How WC nations thwart opponent spy efforts

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3dSam TigheplayLaurens: Tonda Eckert should never manage again after spying scandal (1:48)Sam BordenJun 21, 2026, 02:54 AM ETCloseSam Borden is a senior writer for ESPN.com.Multiple AuthorsEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsWhen they first found it, the U.

S. men's national team loved everything about its FIFA World Cup training base.Well, everything ...

except the giant balloon."The balloon is interesting," a federation official mused last month, "but we really have to make sure that thing isn't running while we're actually practicing."The official wasn't kidding.

The team is headquartered at Great Park in Irvine, California, and the Great Park Balloon, which resembles a massive (and probably delicious) mandarin orange, floats visitors as high as 400 feet in the air. With clear sightlines for miles around, the view from its basket is incredible.And therein lies the problem.

While spying in soccer might only sporadically pop onto the casual fan's radar -- like, say, when a top team gets caught using a drone to spy on its opponents during the Olympics, as happened with Canada in France two years ago -- the idea that someone from the other team might be watching is a far more regular concern for many at the sport's highest levels. Numerous conversations with players, coaches and backroom staff ahead of this summer's World Cup affirmed that reality.Put more simply: Soccer is full of people who are either (A) spying on someone; (B) actively worried that someone is spying on them; or (C) both.

It's already come up during this tournament: Mexican authorities "neutralized" an unidentified drone flying over South Korea's training session on June 16, and a few days later, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino made a joke about looking for unwelcome observers when he was spotted taking a video up high on a hill before training."

We're in the era of spies," he said with a smile.The list of high-profile past episodes is long and varied. As recently as a month ago, the English game was ablaze with discussion about Southampton being found guilty of spying on the training sessions of multiple opponents.

A Swedish scout was busted using a telescope to spy on South Korea's practices just ahead of their game in the 2018 World Cup. And when the soccer tournament at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris was derailed by Canada and its unwelcome drone over New Zealand's practice, there was an initial bout of hand-wringing and "Can-you-believe-it?!" followed, very quickly, by a collective shrug of the shoulders."

Listen, every team does it," U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said at the time on "The Cooligans" podcast.

"I know for a fact every team does it in some capacity."Every team? A stretch perhaps, but Adams' point is well taken.

With 48 teams at this summer's World Cup, it seems hard to imagine spying isn't on everyone's, ahem, radar.And, given that reality, it's not difficult to see why the U.S.

wouldn't necessarily love having a towering, open-to-the-public balloon ride being available right alongside its training sessions."Spying is a reality," said one manager who has worked at the highest levels of both club and international soccer. "Marcelo may be one of the few who talks about it, but almost everyone I know has their own stories.""

Marcelo," in this case, refers to Marcelo Bielsa, the legendary Argentine coach who in 2019 openly admitted that his team, Leeds United, had spied on every opponent they faced that season. Bielsa even held a news conference in which he explained his reasoning -- which included, among other gems, the oddly vulnerable revelation that not spying might make Bielsa feel like he wasn't giving his best effort at winning."We feel guilty if we don't work enough," he said, adding that spying "allows us to have less anxiety and, in my case, I am stupid enough to allow this kind of behavior."

(Leeds were fined about $250,000 after Bielsa's admission.)Drones, obviously, are a modern option for spying, but various technologies have been used as reconnaissance tools for years. When the U.

S. men's national team plays World Cup qualifying matches on the road in Concacaf, part of their prematch practice protocol is to do a sweep of the stadium for cameras or other recording devices.One former backroom staff member recalle