A former soccer player at USC, as a White House counsel Cox worked with the United States Soccer Federation on its proposal to bring the World Cup to the United States in 1994. “He was a key. Everybody in the damned government had their fingers in this,” said Eddie Mahe, who ran the U.S. Soccer Federation’s 1986 campaign to bring the event to the United States. “Without him, I don’t know that it would have survived.” According to the "Los Angeles Times", soccer's governing body was requiring waivers of federal laws and regulations from virtually every agency of the federal government, and in "record time, Cox prepared an executive order directing the agencies to fall in line. Reagan signed it." On July 5, 1988, the U.S. won the selection bid. In appreciation, the U.S. team presented Cox with the first jersey to be signed by all 22 members.