Jenny Bindon didn't fully clock that her son Tyler was making his World Cup debut. The 21-year-old New Zealand defender came on in injury time of their tournament opener against Iran. But with the game delicately poised at 2-2, Bindon's anxiety about the result quelled her excitement.
The enormity of the moment only hit her post-match, when she met Tyler.
"He came over and he just grabbed my hand and said, 'We did it, Mom,'" she tells ESPN.
"And that's when it kind of dawned on me. This is really cool, mother and son have both played in the World Cup. Because that just doesn't happen."
Tyler's appearance against Iran made them the first mother-son duo to have played at a World Cup. It was a record that FIFA later confirmed to Bindon.
The former goalkeeper made 77 appearances for New Zealand Women in a career that spanned a decade. She played in the 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cups, as well as the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
"I think it shows the strength and the growth of the women's game and that's what I think I'm most excited about and to get to do that with Tyler. We just didn't really think about it until later on, but it's a cool story and it's pretty epic," she says.
Bindon is currently an assistant coach of the New Zealand women's team and has previously held coaching roles at Arsenal, Reading and London City Lionesses. Tyler and her do analyse his games together, and she makes clear that it's on his terms.
"We still go through film together. It's pretty cool. I don't know if there are a lot of moms doing that," she says.
But first and foremost, Bindon tries to be a mother. She is in North America for the World Cup with her husband -- former New Zealand volleyball international Grant Bindon -- to support Tyler and the All Whites. His team commitments mean they don't get to meet as often, but Bindon speaks fondly of the moments she's able to give him a hug when they do.
The 21-year-old is on Nottingham Forest's books and spent last season on loan at Sheffield United, making 22 starts in the Championship. His World Cup bow against Iran in Los Angeles, which was followed by another cameo against Egypt, is undoubtedly the pinnacle of his career so far. It's a full-circle moment in some ways, as his story finds its origins in the United States.
Bindon, a U.S. native, met her husband Grant at Lewis University in Illinois, where they were both NCAA athletes. They got married and moved to New Zealand, where Bindon began working at Nike as a marketing coordinator. The sliding doors moment in her career came during a 7-a-side pickup game.
"I was in goal when the sporting director of New Zealand football at the time saw me playing and was like 'Wait, who are you? Do you have a passport?' and it really just snowballed from there," she said.
Bindon made her New Zealand debut in 2004 and, in January of the following year, gave birth to Tyler. In less than four months, she was back between the goalposts for the team.
"I had a Cesarean as well, so I just remember the physio taping my stomach and then wrapping it with tape. I don't know if they'd allow that these days, but I just wanted to get back playing because I knew that there were pinnacle events coming up and I wanted to be a part of them," Bindon said.
As the team began building towards the 2007 World Cup, there was an additional presence on the training pitch -- a three-month-old Tyler. Bindon would place him in a carrier behind the goal and midway through training, her husband would take him home for his bath. As he grew older, Tyler began dribbling and helping out with collecting balls.
"There are a lot of people who have helped raise Tyler. The Football Ferns ... from Kirsty Yallop doing crossbar challenges with him while growing up. Caitlin Campbell is chasing him around. People would help out, and I couldn't have done it without those people and I'm so grateful for everything that they did and to all the Football Ferns that helped out along the way," Bindon says.
She counts approximately 17 different sports Tyler played while growing up, from orienteering to basketball to triathlons. But ultimately, his upbringing meant football emerged as his chosen path.
"He went everywhere with me to train because I was like 'Well, if you want me on the team, I don't have childcare. He's coming with me,'" Bindon says.
"So he would be at the Millennium Institute in Mairangi Bay and we're training and [former golf world champion] Valerie Adams is there training and Tyler's in the gym as well and it goes through this whole circle of people that he's met along the way."
Following her retirement in 2014, Bindon took up a coaching role at UCLA that saw the family move to California. It was here that Tyler's career really began to take shape. He joined LAFC's academy and began to draw admiring glances from Manchester United scouts. He also took part in US Youth National team camps as well as playing for the under-19 sides.
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They moved to the UK before he turned 18, and Tyler underwent a successful trial at Reading before joining the club in 2023. A couple of months after joining the Royals, he made his New Zealand debut.
The defender's performances earned him a move to Nottingham Forest in January 2025 before being loaned back to Reading for the remainder of their campaign. He was voted as their Player of the Season and was also nominated for the League One Player of the Year award.
Tyler was ever-present in New Zealand's World Cup qualification campaign, and his selection for the tournament was never in question. He has played only a handful of minutes across both games so far, but Bindon says his professionalism hasn't waned. The playing ethos she and Grant instilled in him was to embrace whatever role he has and make each minute count.
"My husband said to him, 'Just make sure you enjoy it. Stop every once in a while and look around and just realise what you're doing because it's pretty special. There are quite a few people here that probably should be at the World Cup that aren't and you just have to be grateful and enjoy it because it's pretty epic,'" she said.
In the same vein, however, Bindon notes how this current New Zealand team is different to those of the past and isn't satisfied with just participating in a World Cup. Going into their final group game against Belgium, the All Whites remain in the hunt for a first-ever place in the knockout rounds.
She puts the rise in standards down to players representing clubs at high levels, and highlights striker Chris Wood's role in this.
"I don't know if New Zealand really gave him the credit he deserved for what he was doing on the world stage," she says.
"I think one day they'll realise what he did. Chris has always been one of those guys who have opened doors for other Kiwis and Tyler's probably benefited from that as well."
Off the field, a change Bindon has noticed in New Zealand football is growing recognition for the role families play in performance. She speaks of how a baby, Tyler and her husband had to stay separately from her during tournaments as they weren't allowed to be in the same hotel.
That's not the case now, and she notes that federations are doing more towards childcare. Similarly, on the women's side, she feels the support provided to mothers has grown, but there's still a long way to go.
"I think for women, if you can support them in having their children and they can perform their jobs. A lot of women want to come back stronger from pregnancies. So I think it's just embracing that and finding what each person needs to be successful and achieve because at the end of the day, we're all just trying to win a game of football to help progress football in our own countries," she says.
Bindon is a testament to this. She appeared in three separate World Cups after her pregnancy. Two of them were on the pitch, while the third came in the stands.