{"id":751435,"date":"2026-06-21T11:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/751435\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T11:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:18:11","slug":"meet-the-first-mother-and-son-to-play-world-cup-soccer-i-burst-into-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/751435\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the first mother and son to play World Cup soccer: \u2018I burst into tears\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In many ways, it was just a routine substitution in the 91st minute of New Zealand\u2019s first group game against Iran.<\/p>\n

Defender Tyler Bindon came on for midfielder Marko Stamenic as they tried to close out a pretty good 2-2 draw for the Kiwis. Pretty standard stuff, nothing to get too excited about.<\/p>\n

But this was actually a moment of World Cup history. Why? Because Bindon\u2019s introduction meant this was the first time that a mother and son had both played at a World Cup.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Jenny Bindon was born and raised in Illinois, but met New Zealand volleyball player Grant Bindon at Lewis University, moved there after getting married and went on to play 77 times for the New Zealand national team. Three of those appearances came at the 2007 Women\u2019s World Cup in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a funny one because (before this World Cup) I said to people, \u2018I think this is happening,\u2019\u201d Jenny tells The Athletic.<\/p>\n

She tried to figure out if anyone else had done this. \u201cI was trying to think \u2018OK, who had kids when I was playing?\u2019 But I couldn\u2019t think of anyone, so I was like\u2026this might actually be a thing. So (when we found out) it was really cool, and we\u2019re pretty stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler was born in Auckland in 2005. Unsurprisingly, because of his parents\u2019 occupations, he grew up playing pretty much every sport possible. Jenny tried to tot them all up at one point, and while she thinks the final number is 17, there\u2019s no guarantee she hasn\u2019t forgotten one or two.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jenny Bindon at the 2007 World Cup (Goh Chai Hin \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But football was always the one. When he was 12, Jenny got a job as a coach at UCLA, and he joined the LAFC youth system, where he stayed for the next six years. That\u2019s why it was so fitting that he made his World Cup debut at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. It also meant that so many of the people who played a role in his football development were able to be there \u2014 again, the exact number is slightly hazy, but Jenny thinks a total of 53 friends, family, old coaches and others were there to support him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing him on the pitch, with all those people in that beautiful stadium, you\u2019re just like\u2026\u2018What is happening?\u2019 It\u2019s a pinch-me moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler was just under three when Jenny went to that World Cup, and he went with her. He was too young to consciously remember much from that, but it was an example of how he naturally absorbed football. He would be around when she was coaching future stars of the women\u2019s game. So for him, this sort of thing is normal: in quite a literal sense, he grew up with not just football, but elite-level football.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt three months old, he was at training, and he grew up listening to John Herdman (who was New Zealand Women coach during that World Cup). He grew up playing with (Orlando Pride forward) Simone Jackson, and players like Ashley Sanchez and Hailie Mace. That was just normal for him. He just wants to play football with people that are good at playing football: he doesn\u2019t care about race or gender or anything. If you can kick a ball, he\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been quite a rise for Tyler. When work took Jenny and Grant to England in 2023, he came with them and tried to find a league club. It took about two months. By August, he had signed for Reading, at the time playing in the English third tier, initially for their under-21s team. Pretty soon after, he had graduated to their senior side.<\/p>\n

Then, in January 2025, he signed for Premier League side Nottingham Forest, initially returning to Reading on loan, before spending last season at Sheffield United in the Championship. He made his international debut in October 2023, played in their 2024 Olympics team and helped them qualify for this World Cup.<\/p>\n

Like most things in his career so far, he appears to have taken playing in the World Cup in his stride. When The Athletic met Tyler in 2025,<\/a> his even temperament was obvious, something backed up by pretty much anyone who knows him. \u201cI think it\u2019s his strength,\u201d says Jenny. \u201cHe\u2019s just one of those people that doesn\u2019t get too high or doesn\u2019t get too low, and he really self-manages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenny and Grant are trying as best they can to keep a bit of distance during this World Cup. Plenty of the New Zealand players have their families staying with them, but while the Bindons and some of the extended Tyler appreciation society have travelled to Vancouver, where their next two games are, they are staying separately.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Tyler Bindon played against Iran (Jordan Teller\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Did Jenny give him any specific advice, one World Cup player to another? \u201cI think the only advice we gave him was just \u2018Make sure you enjoy it, don\u2019t let moments pass you by.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cGrant and I watched Tyler walk out onto the pitch: yes, it\u2019s the biggest event in the world, but it\u2019s similar to parents watching their kids perform in the theatre. It\u2019s just how you let them have their moment: you\u2019re trying not to put any pressure on him; it\u2019s his life, and we just want to be a part of it and just be there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as parents sometimes we live vicariously through our children, but it\u2019s more of a case of how you have to walk next to them, and not in front, or behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what was more nerve-wracking for Jenny: playing at a World Cup herself, or watching Tyler play at one?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s so easy to answer: it\u2019s watching Tyler. I think when you\u2019re a player, you\u2019re just immersed in what\u2019s happening and you\u2019re blocking the nerves out, because it\u2019s your job to go out there and perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just trying to slow down and take it all in, but just knowing like he was getting this opportunity was just unbelievable. I think I always had this heaviness \u2014 a good heaviness, but at any moment I was about ready to burst into tears. So when he did come on\u2026 I did burst into tears.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In many ways, it was just a routine substitution in the 91st minute of New Zealand\u2019s first group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,103818,204955,5441,561,82,1418],"class_list":["post-751435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-fifa-womens-world-cup","tag-new-zealand","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-womens-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}