Sports
Bernard Kamungo a shining example of what a kid from a refugee camp can accomplish
The global refugee population topped 16.1 million in 2015, the highest number in more than two decades and larger than the populations of 120 countries, according to the United Nations.
One of those refugees was a skinny boy named Bernard Kamungo, who, for the first 14 years of his life, knew of nothing outside the teeming camp in western Tanzania where he was born to displaced Congolese parents fleeing decades of war in their homeland.
Then a lifeline appeared. His family was approved for resettlement in the U.S. and less than a decade after escaping the camp for a home in Abilene, Texas, Kamungo hasn’t just grown into a man, he has become one of the best soccer players in his adopted country. Not only has the FC Dallas midfielder played for the U.S. national team, but he has hopes of suiting up in the Olympic Games this summer.
“That was a dream, man, I won’t lie to you,” Kamungo said of the day his family left the camp. “Being able to get out of a refugee camp and come to the U.S. is something that I wanted for so long. So when I heard of us coming to the U.S., it was unbelievable. It’s a good feeling I’ll take with me my whole life.”
But that was just the first step on a long and arduous journey. When Kamungo arrived in Abilene, a place he had not previously heard of, he spoke Swahili and French but no English. Soccer, one of the few things he brought with him from the camp, proved to be the icebreaker.
“Growing up, the only thing I had in front of me was a soccer ball,” Kamungo remembers.
In the Nyarugusu camp — with more than 150,000 people, one of the largest refugee resettlements in the world — the term soccer ball was more a concept than a reality since the ones Kamungo used were often made from wadded up bags or cloth wrapped around inflated condoms and medical gloves.
Yet that was good enough to provide a temporary break from the monotony of life there.
“There wasn’t much to do,” he said. “As soon as I started walking, I just loved the game, loved kicking a ball. At the same time, it was a way for me to get away from a lot of a lot of stuff, just kind of connect and keep my head together.
“It never crossed my mind that if I played these games, it might come and help me in the long term.”
In Nyarugusu, Kamungo and his family of eight shared a room in a shack with no electricity or plumbing. Food was always scarce, the dirt spaces between the camp’s endless rows of shacks served as a playground, and planning for the future meant thinking no further ahead than tomorrow.
“Not a lot of stuff to remember,” he said. “Every single day I’d wake up and do the same thing over and over.”
FC Dallas forward Bernard Kamungo moves the ball during a match against the Seattle Sounders in October.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
Kamungo isn’t the first soccer standout, or even the first potential Olympian, to emerge from the monotony, squalor and desperation of a refugee camp. Alphonso Davies, a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich and a World Cup starter for Canada, was born in a camp in Ghana, then emigrated to Edmonton with his family when he was 5. And distance runners Lopez Lomong, Abdihakim Abdirahman and Charles Jock are camp survivors who represented the U.S. in the Olympics or World Athletics Championships.
Their success doesn’t surprise Sara-Christine Dallain, the executive director of iACT, a Southern California-based humanitarian nonprofit that has used soccer to teach teamwork, respect, responsibility and pride to more than 43,000 children in refugee camps around the world.
“There’s so much potential,” she said. “Just because children or families have been forced to flee their homes because of war and conflict doesn’t mean that they do not have their own dreams and aspirations. In fact, these children are so motivated to dream beyond the confines of their camp and to dream [of] a life beyond war and conflict in refugee camps.
“Soccer creates an opportunity for children to work towards achieving that dream.”
Living in a camp, Dallain said, also provides a harsh sense of perspective because nothing those children will face on a playing field or a track will be tougher than what they faced as refugees.
“People who are living in a refugee camp are resilient, right? They have to every day make decisions and determine and figure out how to survive,” she said. “That strength, the mental toughness to survive and to rebuild your life is there and probably translates over to someone who’s becoming an athlete.”
Once he arrived in Abilene, Kamungo’s skills quickly earned him a spot on his middle and high school soccer teams, where he was the district’s offensive MVP and midfielder of the year. On the weekends he competed in adult pickup games.
Then he nearly tripped over the next step up the soccer ladder.
Simply trying out for an elite club team in central Texas costs as much as $500, a fortune for a refugee family struggling to build a new life in a new land. Eventually Kamungo’s brother Imani found an open tryout with the developmental team for MLS club FC Dallas. Kamungo impressed enough to be invited back for additional auditions and in March 2021, just weeks before the end of his senior year, he signed a professional contract.
FC Dallas forward Bernard Kamungo controls the ball during a match against CF Montreal in March.
(LM Otero / Associated Press)
A year later, he led North Texas SC, Dallas’ MLS Next Pro affiliate, with 16 goals, earning his MLS debut — and a new four-year contract — that summer.
Nine months later, he was back in Africa, called up to the Tanzanian national team for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier with Niger. He didn’t play, though, clearing the way for the newly minted U.S. citizen to join the U.S. U-23 team for a pair of friendlies last October. He notched assists in both games and in January he started for the senior national team against Slovenia in San Antonio, 250 miles from his parents’ home in Abilene.
“This is like, every child’s dream,” he said. “If you become a professional soccer player, you always want to represent your country. So for me to be able to do that was a big honor.”
Yet the Olympic part of that dream might be receding. Kamungo has started only twice for FC Dallas since the middle of March and was left off the roster for the Olympic team’s June training camp, the final one before the roster for Paris will be chosen.
The fact he was even in the conversation and not in a refugee camp is reason enough to celebrate.
“I’m thankful to get that chance,” Kamungo said. “I’m just happy for every second.”
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
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The ESPYS brought some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment to New York City on Wednesday night, a day that typically ranks among the slowest on the sports calendar.
But this year’s ceremony was preceded by a World Cup semifinal match in Atlanta that was already being described as an instant classic. Lionel Messi and Argentina punched their ticket to a second straight World Cup final with a win over England. The defending champions will meet Spain on Saturday in nearby New Jersey, just a short trip across the Hudson River from where comedian Marcello Hernández opened the ESPYS.
The “Saturday Night Live” star wasted little time taking a few jabs at Jake Paul, Tiger Woods and other sports figures.
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Marcello Hernández speaks onstage during the 2026 ESPY Awards at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
“Mike Tyson ripped my watch off. Welcome to the ESPYS!” Hernández joked after making a boxing-style entrance in a robe with Tyson as part of his entourage.
“I must say, it’s an honor to be here among so many great athletes, and Jake Paul,” Hernández began in his roughly 10-minute monologue.
Paul appeared to take the joke in stride, laughing and applauding as cameras cut to him in the crowd. Hernández then stayed on the YouTube star-turned-boxer, needling him over his history of fighting older opponents.
“Jake, that’s just a joke. Don’t fight me,” Hernández continued. “My dad and my stepdad are both here. They’re over 50, and I know that’s how you like them. So, fight them instead.”
Paul kept laughing as Hernández’s bit played out, eventually closing with the comedian shifting attention to his father and stepfather, who were shown in the audience.
Atmosphere at the 2026 ESPYS at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Square on July 15, 2026, in New York, New York. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Hernández later used Caleb Williams’ “Madden 27” cover as a lead into Woods.
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“I want to congratulate Caleb Williams, the quarterback for the Chicago Bears, who will be on the cover of the new Madden video game. Congratulations to Caleb,” Hernández said, before adding, “And Tiger Woods will be on the cover of Grand Theft Auto.”
Woods was arrested in Florida in March on charges of DUI after a car crash. The arrest report said a deputy found pain pills in his pocket and observed signs of impairment at the scene. Woods later announced he would take time away from golf to seek treatment.
Hernández also worked North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick into the monologue, using the 74-year-old’s relationship with Jordon Hudson as part of a joke about the New York Knicks’ title drought.
“The Knicks won their first championship since 1973. And to put into perceptive how long ago that was, in 1973 hockey players didn’t wear helmets, basketball had no three point line. And in 1973, Bill Belichick was the age his girlfriend is now.”
The Knicks later took home the ESPY for Best Team.
Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and other members of the 2025-26 Knicks championship team took the stage to accept the award, but Josh Hart was noticeably absent. Brunson drew laughs when he joked, “I want to say thank you to the ESPYS for pulling Josh Hart’s invite.”
Earlier in the night Brunson also received the “Best Championship Performance” award.
Jalen Brunson accepts the Best Championship Performance award onstage during the 2026 ESPY Awards at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City on July 15, 2026. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for W+P)
Former NBA player Jason Collins, who died in May at age 47 following a battle with Stage 4 glioblastoma, posthumously received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, while Scott Ruskan was honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
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The ESPYS are held every summer, bringing together top athletes and other stars to celebrate the best moments from the past year in sports while honoring figures recognized for courage, service and impact. In past years, the ceremony has been held in Los Angeles, but shifted to New York this year.
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ATLANTA — The jury is still out on whether Lionel Messi is the greatest soccer player ever. But there should be no doubt he’s the greatest to ever play in a World Cup.
And you don’t need the records, the wins or the goals to prove that — although he certainly has enough of those. You just need to see Messi at his most magical, as he was Wednesday, setting up a pair of game-changing goals in a seven-minute span to lift Argentina to a 2-1 win over England and into Sunday’s World Cup final with Spain.
“It’s really hard to speak right now, but I’m going to try not to cry,” Lautaro Martínez, who scored the winning goal two minutes into stoppage time, said in Spanish. “I’m already overwhelmed inside. It’s incredible. Everything we’ve achieved is just incredible.”
Like their 13-game World Cup unbeaten streak, dating to the opening game of the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Or back-to-back trips to the final, which gives them a chance to become the first repeat champion in the men’s tournament since Brazil in 1962.
Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez scores his team’s second goal in front of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (1) and fellow England players Ezri Konsa (2) and John Stones (5) during a World Cup semifinal in Atlanta on Wednesday.
(Erik S. Lesser / Associated Press)
But it hasn’t been easy. Eleven of Argentina’s 19 goals — including both scores in Wednesday’s semifinal — have come after the 75th minute. They trailed in the 80th minute or later in two of their last three knockout games, only to rally both times.
And Messi has either scored or assisted on three of the four goals that rescued Argentina.
“This group, in the face of adversity, keeps going, keeps going, and never gets tired,” Martínez said. “And we have the best in the world as our example.”
On Wednesday that meant heartache for England, which was as close to a World Cup final as it has been in six decades, leading 1-0 on Anthony Gordon’s second-half goal with just five minutes left in normal time.
But after taking the lead, England turned strangely conservative, dropping all 11 players behind the ball at times, daring Argentina to score. Eventually it did, with Enzo Fernández curling a right-footed shot from about 20 yards past England keeper Jordan Pickford and in at the left post to tie the game.
It was a pass from Messi that found Fernández in space at the top of the box, earning the Argentine captain his record 11th World Cup assist.
“The opponent doubted themselves,” Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said. “We smelt blood and went for it. We all felt it. “
The tie didn’t last for long though, with Messi threading a perfect cross from the right wing to Martínez, who found space between English defenders John Stones and Ezri Konsa at the far post. Messi’s pass just cleared the leaping Stones, then dipped to Martínez, who nodded it home.
England’s Harry Kane and England’s Jude Bellingham are dejected after losing to Argentina during a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta.
(Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)
When the ball hit the net, the sellout crowd at Atlanta’s massive Mercedes-Benz Stadium erupted.
“Once again, despite falling behind, we managed to turn the game around in stoppage time. That speaks volumes about this group, about this team that never settles, always wants more, always strives for more,” Martínez said.
It also gives Messi a chance to strive for more in Sunday’s final. He has already played in more World Cup games, scored more World Cup goals and had more World Cup assists than any man in history. With a win over Spain, he can join another elite group of men: those who have won back-to-back World Cup titles.
History will eventually decide if it was Messi’s brillance or the tactical surrender of England coach Thomas Tuchel that truly turned the game around. Tuchel, however, said he had no regrets.
“We played the matches how they were,” he said. “We overcame every obstacle. We were very, very close today. It’s not a moment now to analyze the full tournament because we lost a crucial match.”
His captain, Harry Kane, who lost in the semifinal of a World Cup for the second time in three tournament, was also not interested in second-guessing.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi sits on the shoulders of a teammate and celebrates after beating England in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta.
(Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)
“We had a lot of good moments in this tournament, a lot of good games,” he said. “We talked about knocking on the door. We’re close, we just have to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament.”
They may be closer than they think: England is the only team this century to score the first goal in a World Cup semifinal but not reach the final, according to the OptaJoe statistical service.
Argentina’s team, meanwhile, is missing nothing — except maybe a second title,
“The people of Argentina should celebrate being in a final,” Scaloni said. “This group of players is difficult to describe in words. They are so special. I’m getting emotional. They fight for everything.
“We’re going to try to win the final. But what else does this team need to do? There isn’t much else to say. I’m eternally grateful to this group of players.”
Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this report.
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After five years out of the Octagon, Conor McGregor’s return barely lasted one minute.
McGregor opened his Saturday fight against Max Holloway aggressively, attempting a running kick before throwing a head kick moments later. However, he slipped both times because it was apparent he had suffered a knee injury.
He tried to power through it, but nearly two minutes into the fight, he grabbed at his right leg again, and referee Mike Beltran called the fight after just 69 seconds.
Conor McGregor reacts after losing to Max Holloway in a welterweight fight at UFC 329 on Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
In his first post on Instagram since the bout, McGregor vowed to return from the injury.
“We’ll be back,” McGregor said after showing off his new energy drink.
Prior to that, McGregor showed off the “Mac” drink, enjoying it alongside his wife. McGregor then shared his faith.
Conor McGregor of Ireland reacts after an injury stoppage in a welterweight fight during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 11, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
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“In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. We’ll be back. Let’s go.”
McGregor made an emotional post the day after the fight, saying his “head gasket is gone.”
“Destroyed. I had no injury / injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell,” he said on X.
UFC president Dana White said he assumed McGregor suffered a “blown ACL.”
Conor McGregor kicks Max Holloway in a welterweight fight at UFC 329 on Saturday in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
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McGregor was participating in his first bout since July 2021 when he lost to Dustin Poirier due to a devastating leg injury. He’s only won one fight since 2020.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos, Chantz Martin, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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