Annie Leibovitz Attends USMNT Training Camp, But Coach Warns of Distractions

The most famous photographer in the world, Annie Leibovitz, is cooking up something with the United States men’s national soccer team (USMNT) ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to a report from Associated Press, Leibovitz was spotted photographing four players from USMNT for an hour yesterday at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground in Georgia.

It isn’t known which publication the 76-year-old photographer was shooting for, but the AP report mentions that six other players were having their photos taken for Leibovitz’s usual magazine, Vogue. So perhaps Leibovitz has been hired by somebody else for a change, or perhaps it was all part of the same shoot; it’s not clear.

What is known is that the four soccer players each received one of Leibovitz’s books, presumably her latest project, Women, that were signed by the great photographer.

Along with the Leibovitz shoot, the USMNT were also having their promotional shots taken for World Cup rights holders Fox and Telemundo. There were also interviews with TNT Sports, and photographs had to be taken of the players who weren’t present for the November training camp in their new Nike uniforms.

All of this media activity was criticized by USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who says it was all a distraction.

“We need to be fair with the players because the demand of… the media from when they arrived was really intense,” he tells AP. “Yesterday they were so tired and they cannot be seen on the training ground because they wanted to rest a little bit. … The amount of demand(s) for the World Cup make very difficult the preparation for the games.”

Pochettino’s comment on not being able to prepare was borne out as the U.S. were hammered 5-2 by Belgium on Saturday. And tonight the team faces Portugal.

“Philadelphia, Tampa, we were focusing to prepare the game, train and focus on this and this and this and this. Or before again in Austin or in Denver,” Pochettino says of the previous training camp in November, in which the USMNT achieved good results.

“We didn’t do meetings because players going to I don’t know where. Another: ‘Where I need to go where? OK, until (the) last day, we cannot talk about nothing. We were training in the middle, no, and it was tough.”