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This UVA alumna helped create the atmosphere behind America’s World Cup run

Theresa Matthews will always remember the sounds.

The 2020 University of Virginia alumna was working at stadiums in Charlotte and Chicago for the United States men’s national team’s final tuneup games before this summer’s FIFA World Cup, managing from a control room and cueing fans to express their enthusiasm in a uniquely American way.

Coordinated “U-S-A” chants, “Free Bird” blasting after goals and the crackle of pyrotechnics at the end of the national anthem.

It all made for “insane” atmospheres, Matthews recalled, and served as a precursor for what was to come.

The U.S. on Monday night concluded its World Cup run with a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 before a spirited crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field in Seattle. The tournament cohosts won three games in this event for the first time, selling out venues and inspiring watch parties across the country.

This is the soccer fever Matthews was tasked with helping ignite.

Portrait of Theresa Matthews with her one foot on a soccer ball overlooking a soccer field.

Once a member of the UVA rowing team, Matthews is now committed to the sport of soccer as a professional. She’s been in fan experience roles with the Richmond Kickers and Sporting Kansas City before starting with the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2024. (Contributed photo)

“There’s pride in knowing we helped set the tone in the lead-up,” Matthews said last week. “It’s great that the fans have caught on and continued that energy throughout the tournament.”

Matthews has been an event producer for the U.S. Soccer Federation for two years. When the men’s and women’s national teams are playing U.S. Soccer-owned and -operated matches – this doesn’t include the FIFA-run World Cup – Matthews is there to provide a “home field advantage.”

“I oversee everything that happens in-venue, like on the videoboard – flyovers, pyro, fan cams, music, DJ, all of that stuff,” Matthews said. “I call and cue about everything you see.

“It’s honestly a really fun job.”

Especially in a World Cup year.

Matthews said she took a “Super Bowl approach” to her final assignments before the 48-team tournament kicked off in North America.

On May 31, when the U.S. men played Senegal in a friendly match at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, she oversaw a pregame spectacle that included a flyover from four U.S. Army Reserve helicopters and a special appearance from Carolina Panthers legend Luke Kuechly.

A week later, at Soldier Field in Chicago, for the team’s “send-off match” against Germany, Matthews directed a pregame show featuring a flyover from a pair of B-52s, an appearance from Chance the Rapper and a short ceremony introducing all 26 U.S. players.

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“And we kicked off the game with a ‘U-S-A’ chant that bled two minutes into the (television) broadcast,” Matthews said. “I think you could really start to feel the pride of the national team and people getting behind that. It was electric.

“Sometimes, when we play at home, the away fans are louder than our home fans. But in the two matches I oversaw, you could feel the shift in U.S. fans really getting excited for good tackles, hard chances and corner kicks. It was really cool.”

Matthews, a media studies and American studies double major, was a rower at UVA. It’s soccer, though – a sport she’s never played – that’s sparked her professional career. She started working for the Richmond Kickers before moving on to Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer and, finally, the national teams.

Improving fan experience has always been one of her charges.

Part of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s mission, outlined in its “In Service to Soccer” campaign, is to grow the game nationally.

The 2026 World Cup has been an ideal springboard.

Portrait of Theresa Matthews Matthews poses with Cavman.

While a student at UVA, Matthews poses with Cavman and the 2019 NCAA men’s basketball trophy. Matthews got her start in sports business while on Grounds when she interned for the Virginia Athletics marketing department. (Contributed photo)

“This team will play in the U.S. again, so what’s worked well during this World Cup that we can continue and make a tradition? That’s something we’re looking at as a game presentation team,” she said.

An easy addition to the future in-stadium playlist: “Take Me Home, Country Roads” following wins.

“That’s very iconic at this point,” Matthews said, referring to the scene in the San Francisco Bay Area after the U.S. knockout stage win over Bosnia and Herzegovina when the John Denver classic echoed throughout the broadcast. “That’s something we’ll likely continue, post-tournament.”

All in the hope of recreating the “insane” environments put forth over the last month.

“What is U.S. soccer? I think that’s always the philosophical question,” Matthews said. “Like, what can we do that’s U.S. soccer, that’s not necessarily copying another sports team? But at the same time, we’re America’s team. So, how can we continue these trends and make everybody feel like they’re a part of the team?”