Becky Sullivan
Becky Sullivan is NPR’s sports correspondent. She covers professional leagues, college athletics and youth sports, with stories about the people who play them and the intersections of sports with science, business and the law.
She has reported and produced for NPR since 2011. Before becoming the network’s sports correspondent, she traveled widely around the U.S. and the world to cover conflict, natural disasters, disease, politics and protests.
In 2020, she flew to Tehran to help cover the assassination of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani, work that helped make NPR a Pulitzer finalist that year. Her work covering the killing of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police in 2020 won an Edward R. Murrow Award for Hard News.
She has traveled repeatedly to Israel and the Palestinian territories to cover the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and she was part of NPR’s team on the ground in Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022. Sullivan has spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan on the anniversary of Sept. 11, reported from a military parade in Pyongyang for coverage of the regime of Kim Jong-Un, visited hospitals and pregnancy clinics in Colombia to cover the outbreak of Zika and traveled around Haiti to report on the aftermath of natural disasters.
Born and raised in Kansas City and a graduate of the University of Kansas, Sullivan has often brought coverage of the Midwest and Great Plains region to NPR. In the summer of 2023, she rode her bicycle more than 4,000 miles from Washington, D.C., to the Oregon coast.
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Pochettino came on in 2024 to right the ship ahead of this year's World Cup, in which he led the team to a record three wins and helped ignite enthusiasm in millions of fans before a round of 16 exit. -
The United States, Mexico, and Canada co-hosted the nearly six-week tournament. NPR's team of journalists who covered the World Cup reflects on the experience. -
In 1994, the last men's World Cup the U.S. hosted sparked soccer fever, from youth leagues to TV broadcasts to the formation of MLS. Now, can MLS harness this World Cup for a new generation of fans? -
Spain's run to the title was a defensive masterclass, with wins over four of the world's top ten teams. They are the first World Cup champion to win the title while only conceding a single goal. -
Argentina survived another heart-stopping match when it scored two late goals to topple England and extend the Three Lions' six-decade-long wait for another World Cup trophy. -
The expanded World Cup allowed FIFA to introduce a new seeding system that placed the world's top teams in opposite corners of the knockout bracket. Now, the semifinals are both heavyweight matchups. -
Argentina was taken to the brink in its first two knockout games. In Saturday's quarterfinal against Switzerland, the Albiceleste survived again to advance to the semis, where they will face England. -
The team was in the eye of a storm over a controversial phone call from President Trump to FIFA's head about a red card on a U.S. striker. But even with the U.S. at full strength, Belgium easily won. -
Ahead of this evening's World Cup match between the U.S. and Belgium, the drama about the eligibility of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun continues to swirl following his red card in the previous match.
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The U.S. striker Folarin Balogun is expected to start against Belgium in a Round of 16 match after a surprise decision by FIFA to allow him to play despite receiving a red card last week.
