Comedian and podcast host Adam Friedland has launched a new soccer commentary miniseries, The Adam Friedland Show Presents: The Beautiful Pod, in partnership with The Ringer, capitalizing on a sharp rise in U.S. soccer podcast listening.
The series arrives as soccer podcast consumption in the United States has jumped nearly 400% since the summer’s major international tournament began in June, according to data from Spotify. Friedland’s flagship show, which moved to the platform last month, has regularly appeared on Spotify’s U.S. Comedy chart throughout 2026 and climbed to No. 14 this summer.
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Friedland is upfront about his credentials.
“I have absolutely no qualifications whatsoever,” he said. “I’m kind of just lying my way into jobs. It’s like when you apply for a job and then you figure it out on YouTube. Like, ‘Yeah, of course I know how to code.'”
He described the podcast as a natural extension of watching sports with friends.
“What do you do when you watch sports? You make jokes. It’s the most obvious thing in the world to me. This is kind of a facsimile of what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
Despite his comedic framing, Friedland expressed deep respect for professional sports commentators.
“I’ve always had the most respect for them, out of anyone in the media. So now that I’ve been in their ranks, I have even more. How daft could I be to think I could be Colin Cowherd? To think I could just waltz in there and be Stephen A. Smith. It’s been an utter failure and a disaster. It’s a lesson in humility, mostly.”
He believes his outsider perspective is an asset.
“For him, it’s serious. For me, it’s like I’m cosplaying, so it’s funny. … When I talk to people about themselves, their interests, et cetera, for them, they’re defining something that’s incredibly real. For me, I’m approaching things as an outsider. I think I have an inherent advantage seeing things from another perspective.”
Instant Replay, Hydration Breaks, and Messi’s Magic
Friedland defended the use of video review in soccer, urging casual fans to accept the rules.
“Americans maybe need to stop watching soccer. The rules are being applied! We’re seeing Messi have perhaps his historic best individual run, and people are trying to make it into some sort of James Bond conspiracy theory. … If someone’s offside, it shouldn’t be a goal. And obviously they should make it faster. But I’ve seen a lot of casuals expressing contempt and outrage for this, and I’m like, do you watch the NFL? It’s the same thing!”
On mid-half hydration breaks, he called them “a scam” designed to sell ads, but acknowledged they have helped underdog teams.
“You obviously need a hydration break if you’re playing in Miami in July, but it’s also given the smaller teams a little bit of an edge, especially in the earlier rounds. Instead of surviving 45 minutes in hell, you have to survive about 20 minutes, and then you can regroup.”
He added that indoor games don’t need them, but “what matters is that it’s been fun and the games have been good, and the stars have been playing really well.”
Friedland, who has watched Lionel Messi for 22 years, described the tournament as a fitting culmination.
“This is the culmination of his story, and he’s still so good. It’s awesome.”
He joked that his own career mirrors Messi’s style, “with the exception of the 15 seconds of chaos that he causes and then the ball being in the back of the net. I’ve got the strolling part down to an art, I would say.”
