First Things First - Spain wins 2026 FIFA World Cup, Messi-Yamal torch passing, What went wrong for Argentina?

Episode Date: July 20, 2026

(0:00) Spain wins 2026 FIFA World Cup, Did Lionel Messi pass the torch to Lamine Yamal? (26:34) What went wrong for Argentina, How will Spain be remembered? (41:05) England beats France 6-4 in 3rd Place Game, Okay for Mbappé to win Golden Boot? (46:14) Messi magic runs out, Who was the biggest winner of the World Cup? (01:06:54) Was Messi robbed of the Golden Ball? (01:16:09) Will Spain repeat in 2030? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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privileged prep school students who are preyed on by the trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city. This fever dream of youth, beauty, sex, and mystery is a must see. FX's The Shards, streaming August 5th on Hulu on Disney Plus. Sign up now at Disneyplus.com. at this 2026 FIFA World Cup have led us here to New York, New Jersey Stadium in the glorious sunshine for the final of this biggest World Cup of all time. Nico Williams. Martinez, night save of the game, more than any goalkeeper in the history of the World Cup final.

And then a huge collision between Edsel Fernandez and Fernandez already on a yellow card. There's number two. His day is done. Poro chance to cross, hooks it in. like, no, I'm going to sit down. Viola's a spot. We did it, bro. We did it.

I can't believe we did it. Wow. Unbelievable. You know what? No goals. No goals, but four shots, two on goal. Drew, take that from him. Why?

I was wearing this all weekend. I wore twice. I watched it. You're not allowed to. Blue has to get this alone. Brew, not totally alone. Yes, totally alone. We did a whole thing on Friday.

six weeks. You were with them for three days. Hey. You thought they could lose to the United States. Well, hey, I love the USA. You thought they'd get blown out by France. Well, we didn't, we never got that. This is your moment. I'm covered in shame. Our moment. No, here's the deal.

This is the hierarchy. Me covered in shame. Yes. Brew, covered in glory. Yes. You. Me, more with brew. Just a tiny bit.

That's fine. You know you can't. I just had the prize. It's a huge win for us. That is a sweet jersey. It's ours. It's ours. Oh, we get to take one of these homes.

Yeah, I don't know. But if we make it part of the show, I think he can. I wore one of these to the game. If it's not part of the show, it's called stealing. If you're like, I'm doing it for social. It's content. Today, Spain wins. Brew was right all along.

I was right for a few days. Meanwhile, it's DAC. This is last day. We bid a dude, Dax McCarty. And he tells us the under the radar deciding play of the final. And finally, what do we make of Messy's performance? This was epic television at the end. Yeah, it was.

But it was a bit of a mixed bag during the game. It wasn't a mixed bag. It was bad performance. It didn't get the mixed bag. He didn't get the ball. Yeah. No, I know. I was that.

So I didn't know. Not a lot of, not only did they not score. Yeah. Not really a lot of moments of like, oh my, I think like here it comes. Not for New. Not for Spain, there was a lot. Yeah, for Spain there was a lot. Every few minutes.

There was a good. If you were rooting against Spain, there was a ton of. Oh my God. Yeah. Oh my. Me turning around to the Spanish people behind me that were rooting for Spain. Can I ask you a quick question? How did Nacho take this loss?

Terrible. Really? Terribly. Nacho had a little. Well, no. More than a little? He's a professional. He is literally a professional gambler who is from Argentina, and this is his favorite team in the world.

So there's that piece of it. Should have listened to Brew? I can imagine how much. All right. I also got the first hand, like the real soccer fan. Blame the coach rant on the ride home. He was so mad. So mad.

and all the managerial mistakes. We're starting in New York, Spain dominated the full 90, finally broke through 37 seconds into extra time. Torres finds the back of the net and delivered Spain their second World Cup victory. Here's Henri on the champions. The best team won. They're European champion for a reason.

This team, what they do off the ball is what impresses me. You cannot put almost three passes together. As soon as you start to do that, they get the ball back. And if you don't have the ball, what did I say at the beginning, you can't score. Those guys just, just, it's too much. Here's the tail of the tape, 20 shots to 2, 12 shots on target to 0. Possession was 65% and I had a different number there, brew. I had about 85.

It looked like that. Passes in opponents have a clean 300 more than Argentina and touches in the opponent's box, 30. to eight. Brew, you are right all along. Did you ever even have a tiny bit of doubt? Are you really asking? Well, that was what we agreed upon. All tournament long, I was 10.

Yep. 10 toes down. When they drew against Cape Verde in the opener, did I worry? Did I fret? I said, relax. We're fine. This is how they start tournaments.

That's true. We did say. When they, when big bad France, your boy showed up. I gave France love. Yeah. But I said, they're going down. Bring them on. They are going down.

And when yesterday, when, as Nick would put it, they went against the football gods. And the pixie dust and rose petals that fall on messy when he steps on the pitch. They went against all of that. I said, the best team. will win and Spain is the best team. I will give you this, Nick. What this reminded me of, if you'll humor me, imagine Muhammad Ali fighting against Mike Tyson.

Okay. And Ali is just outboxing him, sticking him moving, Tyson can't hit him, Ali's just jabbing him for 12 rounds. All right? And can't knock him out, but clearly dominate him. during the fight though no matter

even if it's the 12th you would be worried like oh but if Tyson catches him if tight so I did I was especially as it got late because I think it was advantage for the advantage was for Argentina once it got into extra

that's how I thought right like tied at zero like when when I at half time Spain had dominated and it was zero zero and I felt great right at the second hydration break I Spain had dominated, it was zero-zero, and I felt great. Because I said the longer the game goes in this setting, the clutch Argentina stuff.

And when it looked like it was going to go to extra time, I was fine with that. The red card changed the math on a lot of what I thought they were going to be able to do. But you and I had the same feeling, I think, which was, in your example, Muhammad Ali is Spain up 10 to 1 on the cards. But going into that 12th round, worried that Tyson can knock you out. Yeah, so that was what I thought of the game. You know what, though? It's better say it with a song.

Oh, wow. No Spain. No game. No Spain. No Spain. No game. Destiny. No Spanish team.

No game. Drew told you. Now he brought his soldiers. This year Christmas came early on. They are the world champions. Champions, champions. Espania. Espagna.

Espania. Espania. Spagna. I got it too. Oh, yeah. My soldiers. That's right. Oh, yeah.

Those guys are great. Excellent. You're great. Listen. Brew was right. Danny, who doesn't have a show today, to his credit, he was right. He was right. He did.

Josh, our soccer expert on the show, who has helped us so much over the show. Yes. last six weeks. He is, as adamant as he is, he's more measured than a lot of us, but was that he thought they were the best team they could win. And yet I also wonder if it was my fault. I mean, a little bit.

The bucket hat, when you were like, I'm running the bucket hat back. I got to be honest, when you wore that, I was like, go with like a baseball cap or something. Yeah. Just the jersey would have been fine. Exactly right. I really threw myself into this tournament. I went to four games in the,

three different stadiums. I, you know, Fox did an amazing job in this tournament, was not able to, you know, get me any tickets. So I paid for tickets to four different stadiums. I also, you guys know my long philosophy of sporting event tickets are free as long as you bet on the right team. It's really put to a test in this tournament, seeing as it's not only that the four, you're four games I went to sporting the bucket hats, one of which was not recorded on social media.

It's not only that those teams went 0 for four, I never got to celebrate a goal. My teams that I was rooting for, it was a zero zero draw in Columbia, Portugal, which I guess was okay. A two-nothing loss for Brazil against Norway, a two-nothing loss for Morocco against France, and a 1-0 loss for the highest scoring team in the tournament against Spain. And they didn't have a shot on goal the whole game. He was getting fired up for corner kick late in the game. Yes. Yes.

Oh, we got a kick. We got a corner. And so if I am going to, as part of the reason I thought Spain could win, be talking about the mysticism of the sports gods, I guess I have to admit there is a possibility. of a curse involving me in attendance in those ridiculous hats that I buy off the street corners in Harlem. But on a more serious level, Spain was the best team.

And going into the game, and I did even say this last week, I thought Spain was better than Argentina. I just didn't think it would matter. I thought that it would be very close and late Argentina would find some magic. Spain did not allow them to find the magic. And in large part, that is because Rodry did what he did in this game all tournament long, which was, she's just the most accurate passer you'll ever see. He controls possession.

And now he is on this list. Here are the people who have won a World Cup, won a Champions League, one a Ballandor, and won the Golden Ball. It's four guys. If we remove Golden Ball, you know, that list, it becomes like seven guys, but it

is, or 11 guys. It is a remarkable, remarkable career he already has had. And now for Spain, Brew, they are, I don't want to say out of nowhere, but undeniably, the

team of European football of this century. And it's not even close. If you look at what they have done in the 2000s compared to every other European nation, they now have two World Cups, France, Italy, and Germany all have one. They've won the Euros three times. No one else has won it multiple. So they have five international trophies. France and Italy are both tied this century with two, you know, one Euros, one World Cup. So they are as in 2010, they became the newest team to ever win this tournament. And now all of a sudden, they are the most decorated team this century of Europe,

which is Europe and South America, the two kind of homes of the game. And it was a remarkable. And the future is bright. Right. It was a remarkably dominant performance. Like from, I had pretty decent seats in the stadium. And it just felt like Spain never. never didn't have the ball.

And it felt like Argentina never was actually threatening. We kept waiting for Messi to get the ball in space, and they just wouldn't let them get the ball in space. Spain's first country to have both the men's and women's World Cup, and the next Men's World Cup will have part of it in Spain. So as for Messi, just 15 touches in the first half, 54 overall. Spain neutralizes the world's greatest player. Here's Carly Lloyd on his performance.

We've seen him kind of, you know, pick and choose his moments, save his energy, wait till the opponents get a little bit tired and start to drift out wide. But in the last and final game, I would have liked to have seen a bit more running from him in those even the last 10, 15 minutes. And we just didn't see that. And I think that's a little bit disappointing. It's been an interesting World Cup for Messi. He starts off by scoring all the goals for a while, six goals,

assist and he had 63 touches. Then in the knockout stage he had two goals but four assists and way more touches. And then the final no goals, no assist and only 54 touches. We took out the Jordan game where he came on as a sub they were resting. Nick, were you disappointed in Messi's and Argentina's performance? Far more disappointed in Argentina than I was in Messi. Listen, I think Messi obviously didn't play well. Nobody in the Argentina attacking third played well. I thought their goalie was unbelievable in this game. And I thought the much maligned Argentinian defense actually did pretty well in this game. But it was very surprising and disappointing to me that they seemed to have the approach of Spain so much better than us, we can't risk going after it.

And they, they did, even though they were down a man, once Spain got the lead, Argentina started creating chances. Yep. Like the, and so down a man against the best defense in the world with, in the final 10 minutes, they got all of these chances that they got in the game happened. And we can show you the tape of it like, listen, Messi had a shot that hit a guy in the face. I don't know where it would have gone. But the other two are good chances. Like this one here is, man, that's a goal if it's not an amazing play by Kabarsi. Like that is a goal.

That was, you know, and then this is the same play on a loop. But you'll see the other ones. The bouncing ball that I think of Lataro, this one, I think this one here. This is a minute later. I mean, that's another, that's an opportunity. I'm not saying that that's definitely a goal. But my point is they finally actually started to push guys forward. There's the messy one where it hits the guy in the face.

That's one of their two shots. I felt like they could have done more of this. And especially if they were doing it down a man and when they had already subbed on defenders. That was the other thing about once they got the red card, they went to defensive substitutions understandably. But it made it so when Spain scored like, Like they had no more levers to pull.

So, yeah, I mean, that it really was disappointing that they seemed to take the approach that we have seen teams take that I think Morocco took against France, that obviously Paraguay took against France, that the Netherlands took against Morocco. And that's what really upset, you know, Alexei and Slatan in that game when they did. It's like you're not, it's not a huge mismatch. Don't play so scared to where you're just trying. trying to get the penalty kicks, but it really did seem like Argentina was just trying to get to penalty kicks, and that was disappointing to me. Yeah, I think a lot of it, I will give Spain a lot of credit just for controlling the possession and Rodry and all that stuff.

So I think some of it, that was a huge part of it, is that Spain just couldn't get the ball, couldn't get the ball to messy. But to your point, Nick, it did seem, as they picked it up late, it did almost seem like, which can make sense in their minds with the way they had been coming back. let's just play this even and then late we'll get a spark and maybe they're thinking Messi will kind of come to life.

I wonder if Messi, I agree with Carly Lloyd. He could have been running more it's your last game. I wonder if he got a little bit worn down throughout the tournament because there's an extra game. I know he sat out most of the game against Jordan but still playing seven and a half games at 39

years old and he did not score a goal. I know he was great in the last game. with the two assists against England. But still, he did not score a goal in his last three games. So maybe he did get a little worn down. And he was just a non-factor. I do think he is at what else like the LeBron.

We talk about LeBron's stage of his career, where LeBron and Messi, they can't hurt their legacies. You know what I mean? They can only add to it. They can do some things you don't expect and maybe add to their legacy. But you can't, there's nothing Messi can do were you going to knock him?

Now, he just, he wasn't good. And you say, well, at 39, it's like when you're great, it's like, wow, he's still doing that at 39. But when you're bad, it's like he's 39. What's disappointing, Brew, is he did not, when we were talking about how well he was playing up until this game, it was not for a 39-year-old. It was for everyone to turn.

You know what I mean? He had been, in my opinion, we're going to talk more about this later, very definitively the best player in this tournament headed into the final. If you remove legacy, if you remove AIDS, just his overall contribution to his team

I thought was greater than everyone else's. And so to see him not be able to make an impact, you know, it was disappointing. I also, some of the factors leading into the game that maybe I should have incorporated more into my own analysis, we are now at 14 of 15 of in the men's World Cup,

women's World Cup, and the under 21 World Cup that the winner was the team with more time off between the semifinal and the final. Also going into this one, Spain had played six of their seven games

going into it indoors and in climate control arenas. I thought that that would work in Argentina's favor, that these elements, because it was scorching out there, would affect Spain more. It might have been

they had more in the tank, you know, because they hadn't been dealing with it. And it also might simply have been no one could score on them the whole tournament, and so no one was going to. Yeah, I kind of I agree. I agree with that. I don't think like they, if they had more

energy, they would just chase more. No, I'm saying. They never had Spain never trailed the entire tournament. Messy's performance reminded me of a game where you see like a great wide receiver just not getting the ball. That's a good example. And it's just like,

Oh, I bet if he got the ball he could do something with it, but there's too much pressure and you're not, it's not happening for you. I felt bad. As a recent Spain fan, I felt bad for you. I felt like you could have come over to my side. We all could have been like unified. Can I ask but Brue to you, like the, no, the, uh, at no, to Brue's point from before, and this is why maybe the answer is Argentina's strategy

that disappointed, you know, us. maybe it's actually that was the right one. Because Spain, it kept it close and without the red card, maybe they do get to PKs. They would have, they have the best keeper in the world. They, you know, they've won a World Cup penalty kicks. I know Messi's missed on this tournament. Like maybe that was the best approach. And when we have seen going into the game, we talked about how vulnerable Argentina's defense had been against inferior opponents to Spain.

Maybe had they done what I was saying, Spain would have really open. it up. So, so, I got, Leonel Scolone has won everything since he's been

there, so I'm not going to second-guess him, but just from a viewer, it was disappointing that we didn't see, I almost wish Spain had scored in the first

five minutes and what that would have done. You know what I mean? Like, if Spain scored early and Argentina's like, oh, now we just got to go,

I'm curious how differently the game plays. Nice moment after the game with Messi and Yamal, a bookend of the baby picture. Yamal had four shots in the game

was a considerable, threat for Spain. He brings home his first World Cup trophy at the age of 19. The comparison between Yomal and Messi at major tournaments. In four tournaments, Messi has three titles, one World Cup and two Copaumar. Yamal has the Euros and this World Cup. 21 wins for Messi, 14 and one draw for Yamal. Do you feel like the torch has been passed here, bro? No, no. I think Yomal played well. He certainly was a huge contributor to them winning this World Cup. But I don't think he played well enough to take the torch. Like he obviously he wasn't, you know, the best player in the tournament, Roder, he got the golden ball. He didn't even, there was a, the 19 year old

Qasari got the, Qabarsi. Kabarsi got the best young player at 19 years old, his teammate. So again, it's not, Yamal didn't play poorly. And some of it may, you know, you hear people talking about he still looks injured. I don't know if that's the case. But maybe even just not having played leading up to the World Cup may have affected him. So there's no shame in what he did. Obviously, they won. And he was a big factor, but not well enough to take the torch.

That said, I do think there was a passing of the torch. I think it was from Messi to Mbapé. I think Mbapé leaves this tournament as being viewed as, I mean, Messi's still, as long as he's there to face the side. But Mbapai is like the next guy up that everybody's expecting. He now becomes the only guy. He just won the golden boot. So the only guy ever to win two. He passed Messi and now is the all-time leader in World Cup goals with 22 in 22 games.

And he's only played in three compared to Messi six. World Cup. So I actually think the torch was passed but it was Mbapé that took it rather than Yamal. So you and I are on a very similar page on this. Like I want to say this

about Lemieux Mal. If we take every player in history their resumes before they turn 20 and stack them up against each other, he can go eye to eye with any player. You know what I mean? And so like it is, in no way is this denizens.

what he has already accomplished as a teenager and the player I think he'll be. He has been unbelievable in La Liga and his La Liga team, Barcelona, has prevented Mbapé's La Liga team Real Madrid from winning the league, that the La Liga title. While he hasn't won a Champions League, he has been unbelievable in those Champions League games so we can't, there is no idea of like, oh, in the big moments he doesn't play well. That's not it at all. But I think there is a, we want to make it as clean as if 40-year-old Jordan was still playing when 18-year-old LeBron came in the league and they played as that. But even if that were the case, if, like, there was 28-year-old Shaquille O'Neal being like, hey, I'm right here.

And so I think that if Yomal one day gets the torch, so to speak, you mentioned Mbapé, I also think two other guys who are, you know, straddling Mbaping in age, one older, one younger, might have something to say about it. They both might be younger. I think Erling Holland is like, hey, guys, I might be the best goal scorer in the world. And I think Jude Bellingham comes out and says, you know, I might end up being the greatest player in the history of England. and we'll see, you know, we'll see. Seven goals.

Right. Seven. And so I just don't, I think Yamal is on the very short list of guys who I could see being in that, you know, the Ronaldo messy conversation at the end of their careers. But I don't look at it. KW, do you disagree? Like, I don't look at it as he now becomes the preeminent number one player in the sport or face of the sport. don't look at it. Yeah, I wonder how much of it

is affected by our lack of, you know, deep knowledge about La Liga and how much that weighs in, you know, messy in Barcelona and that rich history versus sort of an inner, we're taking it from super macro. Well, I do think

the next World Cup in four years is very possible. Yamal enters that, depending on what happens in the next four years, he could enter that as the guy. There's no question. But right now, it's got to be in I think he's probably the favorite to enter. Right now, if there was betting odds on who's going to be the best player in the world in four years, he's probably a favorite.

Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, and Spain is favorite to win the World Cup again. What went wrong for Argentina? That's next with Dax McCarty. Dax's last day on the show. That's next on FS1 on the Fox Sports Radio on Sir 6M. Welcome back to the show. Argentina came into the final as one of the most electric offenses in the entire World Cup.

Then they didn't take a shot for 100. 17 minutes. That's as long as a full Big Lebowski. I looked up movies that are 117 minutes long. Also Citizen Kane. According to Opta, out of 900 World Cup

matches since 1966, only three teams attempted zero shots in regular time. Dax, what went wrong for Argentina? Well, first of all, guys, great to see you. Well, great to see you. Last day.

This is a story of Spain being so superior. in every facet of the game. And the soccer gods, brew, they decided that justice would be preserved and justice will prevail in this game because Argentina were

devoid of any soccer or footballing ideas to try to make the game competitive. And so they reverted back to some tactics we've seen from them in the past. They wanted their game plan, the way they wanted the game to look. Chippy grind, they wanted to

suffer and they wanted to bring Spain into that suffering with them. And it worked for a large majority of the game. Spain was excellent. They dominated. But by and large, my biggest concern going into this game with Spain was the fact that if they were going to play against a team like Argentina, that they were going to struggle to create, let's call them, guilt edge chances, like really great chances where you really have to test the keeper. I mean, Emmy Martinez was fantastic. But it was pretty routine saves, saves that I would expect him. to make. And when you are Argentina and when you live on the edge of physicality and aggression, and you tiptoe that line, when it doesn't go your way, then you can cross that line into

petulance, cynicism, making the game extremely ugly, which is what they did. That is where the game delved into. And it almost worked, guys. Like, I was sitting there along, like with Nick, And because I picked Argentina to win in penalties, and I was thinking, I really hope Spain wins this game. They are fully deserving to win this game. I hope soccer comes out on top and Spain wins this game. But before they scored, I was thinking if this game goes to penalty kicks, Argentina has it right where they want it. And Argentina will definitely win this game. And so Spain had to have a moment of magic.

They had to have a moment of creativity. They had to have a moment of composure in the box to get over the line. But once they scored, I'm a neutral. I picked Argentina to win, but I'm not Argentinian. And unless you were supporting Argentina, I think everyone else in the world watching that game was really happy with the final result. I thought myself watching it, I felt like Spain just dominated and kept Argentina from mounting any type of attack.

I'm suffocated. I want to ask you, though, because I've heard other commentators say, Argentina just chose not to, not that they could have. done a ton of it, but they really chose not to try to open the game up. Do you feel like they did indeed not try to, they could

have done more to attack? And secondly, to the point you just made, if Argentina had won, I know you obviously said the best thing for soccer was that Spain, which was clearly the best team won. Expound on that,

what you mean at the second point. It means that there are moments in our sport where you don't always get what you deserve. And because the margins are so thin in our game and because goals typically are so hard to come by, teams that bring the game into chaos and make it look really cynical and make it look like a mess and put a lot of pressure on the referee and they use their physicality to level out the playing field, sometimes that gets roll. awarded with the final results. Sometimes that is how you have to beat teams that are significantly better than you. I don't blame Argentina for playing the way that they did up till maybe the red card because that's the only way they could have competed with this Spanish national team. They didn't

have enough quality in midfield. Their backline was suspect for most of the tournament. And they relied far too much on Lionel Messi Magic in the final third. And it almost worked. So to your point, Brew, and to your question, I think if they would have been. more aggressive if they would have attacked more, I think Spain wins that game by multiple goals. And I don't even think it's a question. And I think it would have worked if not for that moment we just showed. The red card. Yeah. It would have worked. I agree with you 100%. That game is destined for penalty kicks if Enzo doesn't get it right. And again, and I'm not the, it is, I'm not saying that to justify the fact that I picked Argentina. It was very clear whether you were

at the game or at home watching. Spain was markedly better. Spain had a hundred more chances. I mean, your point about they didn't take a shot. They couldn't get a shot in regulation is remarkable. But I also think, and this is why we're going to talk more about him later, if it got lost in the chaos of how many yellow cards Argentina got, Enzo got his first one for yelling at the ref. He didn't get his first one for a hard foul, which makes that all the more devastating.

if you ask me, that he got a totally unnecessary first yellow, and then the second yellow ends up coming, I mean, it ends up coming because of the play that we saw there. It's just, I think Argentina was, had figured out a way to prevent Spain from getting any great chances. Now, the one, yeah, but on that is, Nico Williams edition late. He might have, you know what I mean?

Even if Argentina had the 11 men might have been different. But here's the other reason that red card to me, Dax, and I want to ask you about this as well, was so devastating. Let's say, you know, the red card doesn't happen, but Argentina still allows that goal. I think

that's when, instead of they'd used all their subs because they had to go to an extra defender because they were down a man. Latoro Martinez was one of the best strikers in the world. never played in the game. Yep. It feels to me like had they gone down and they, they sold the sub available,

they go to him. Sure. And they try to create something there. He's the guy who scored, did he score? He scored against England. The header. He scored the winner against England. And so, and that bouncing ball that gets fired over the goal feels to me like, yeah,

feels to me like, man, he might be able to score that. So I think what went wrong is they were afraid that Spain was that much better than them, so they played cautiously. But also, I think it could have just been a stole, not a stolen, but a game that the worst team won, if not for that red card. 100%. And to that point, Scaloney, five of his six substitutions were defensive-minded players. Because he had no choice.

But just quickly to the red card, they had five yellows this game and could have had more. So the- 100%. So the idea that I just pushed back a little bit on like, oh, without the red card, like, they were kind of. constantly flirting with Reds. Like that, the game plan puts you on the- They were constantly flirting with yellows. Well, this, he got two yellows.

No, I understand, but my point is his first one wasn't for some crazy tackle. His first one was for yelling at the ref. And that's what was disappointing to me. But it was a yellow card. Yes, no. Typically, like, referees, like, you can, they give you a certain amount of leeway, but once you start to clap them and be sarcastic with them and get in their face and say to certain things, like at a certain point,

a referee just has enough. And by the way, this ref, he did a great job managing the game the second half. But in the first half, he could have managed it a little better. Argentina deserved a couple of yellow cards in more, for me, way more cynical fouls. But this, no one can argue with the red card forensics. No, Galaxy Brain, if they got a few more yellows earlier, the game might have been a little bit prettier. Sure. Like the early yellow cards may have helped to Argentina.

Absolutely. Get a yellow on several tackles on you all and maybe like, all right, let's change tactics. On the winning side, here's recently retired from studio shows, Zlatan on Spain's performance. Football won today. The way they play football, the way they played in this tournament, when you watch football, this is what you want to see. Today we had Argentina that had zero shots on the goal.

Zero shots. Best defense in the tournament, Spain. And the right team won. How will you remember the Spanish team? The collective is better than individual talent. That is how I will remember this Spanish team. Rodry was their best player in the tournament. He won the golden ball.

I think you can make an argument that there were seven or eight different players for Spain that had an argument at different times for being their best player throughout the tournament. You could make an argument for any one of their backline, their fullbacks, were excellent. The gold standard of fullbacks throughout the entire tournament, their entire midfield was spectacular. Their front line, I mean, obviously with Lamein, we'll talk about him a little bit later, he didn't hit the heights that you would hope he hit. But Yars of Ball scored five goals.

I think that's tied for a Spanish record in a major tournament. So you have so many different aspects of this team that are so fun to watch. They're so impressive in every way. I think it's cultural. I think that starting with the technical proficiency that they force you to have at every single level, starting from when you are young, that's the baseline from which they have all their success. It's technical excellence, technical quality.

And then, of course, it's the defending, but the defenders and the goalkeeper can't just get the credit because it is excellent coaching at every level, and it's the collective will always beat the individual talent. And that is why this Spanish team should be remembered for one of the best World Cup teams of all time. They set the record for least goals conceded in an entire tournament with an extra game, which is one of the most, I think,

impressive statistics that you can take away from this World Cup. It was complete dominance, complete control. And I don't ever, I just, I find it hard to believe that you are going to see a team that is more dedicated collectively to defending and to possession than this Spanish national team. It was a phenomenal performance. Yeah, to me, a few things. One, they did, obviously all these guys are incredibly skilled, but they, their skills stood out.

Like they're passing, they're dribbling all. Like the way they could just dominate possession, they looked far more skilled to me than most of the teams they faced. And France, all of these teams, that's number one. Obviously, I think they go down as the best defensive team in World Cup history. You mentioned the one goal. They're the only team never get to the final and give up one goal, I believe. They never trailed. Never trailed, which is nuts.

And they did it. Obviously, when you get to the championship rounds, you are playing great competition. Their last four games, though, were against top 10 teams in the world. They clean, cheated, or shutout two of the top three teams in the world, Argentina and France, obviously, with legendary goalscores on each team. And then Portugal, which is number five in the world. So three of their shutouts came against top five teams. And then here's the last thing.

This may not have even been the best version of them. That's a good take. Because Yamal was probably, to some degree, bothered, right, by his hamstring. And then Nico Williams, who was huge in the championship game when he finally got in, played sparingly. So if he's healthy and Yamal's 100%, maybe they have a little more cushion in some of these games. And to your point, Brew, in theory, you know, to get to a World Cup final, you always have to go through great teams. but, you know, people fairly looked at, and they earned their path, and then other teams didn't take care of business.

But, like, Argentina's path to the final, they didn't have the murderers row of teams that Spain did, and Spain still dominated those teams defensively. You know, I said before the game, and I, you know, so I stand by it from after the game. I didn't think they dominated every game they played because I thought offensively they struggled a lot in some of those games. The Portugal game, most notably stands out,

where it's zero zero in the 92nd minute, and they needed a late stoppage time winner for that. But they strangled the life out of everyone they played. And now, so for me, in my, you know, relatively, you know, small sample size of World Cups I've watched in my lifetime, they are the best defensive team that I have seen. I think most real World Cup historians would say they're like in line with, I think it's the 94 Brazil team was unbelievable defensively,

plus the great, you know, historically great scores they had as one of, if not the greatest defense ever. But here's the other thing, KW. They have a chance for the international trophy three, Pete, which has only been done by two teams ever. Spain in 08, 10, and 12, euros, euros, Argentina, in 21, I guess, 24, 25, or 23, 25, whatever it was. Right.

They went Copa, or 21, 22, 24. They went Copa World Cup Copa. That's it. No other European or South American team has ever won their continental trophy along with their World Cup for three in a row. They just won the last Euros. Now they have this World Cup. To your point, Brew, there's not a lot of guys on this team that you're like, oh, yeah, but in two years, they're not going to be around. A lot of guys in their prime.

And so they are, and they are one of the hosts of the next World Cup. Spain, 14 goals to one conceded. They outshute their opponents 140 to 46. Hear that? It's your money calling. It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account. Always earn high regular interest rates that grow the more you save and invest.

Conditions apply. Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-SA to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. Third place game was a barn burner. And what Dax accurately described as a tactics free affair. England wins six four. Mbapé wins the Golden Boot is now the all-time World Cup gold leader.

After netting two goals, here's the final standings of Boppe at 10. Messi at eight, Jude jumps up to seven. Holland's at seven. He's back in Norway. Harry Keynes at six and Mbletes at six. Brew, were you okay with Mbapapé getting the golden boot in a six to four? game. Yes.

Because here's the thing. That's the history of the game. Four guys won the golden ball or golden boot in the deciding goals were in this game. 2010, Thomas Mueller from Germany, I don't have to name them all, but Croatia, 98,

guy from Italy in 1990 and then back to 1938. Fontaine. I mean, I would get, it wasn't Fontaine. Fontaine had four, but he already had He was already way ahead. Used Fontaine is really, his family should be sending his royalty checks in this tournament.

If they made a rule that this game is not going to count anymore toward the Golden Boot, I wouldn't have a problem with it because clearly it's on a whole different level than other games. But it's the history of the game and it has impacted the Golden Boot many times before. So I was fine with it. And I'll throw this in. And Messy was fantastic, obviously, for, all but the last game of the tournament.

But he did not score in the last three games as far as a goal. So he had some assists but did not score a goal in the last three games. So I'm good with Mbapé winning this. You make some excellent points, Brew. I can't stand it. Hate it. Don't like it. I think a healthy compromise because you are correct about the historical significance of it.

I think it would feel obviously ridiculous at this point in time to just be like, all right, no goals count in the third place. game. How about a compromise? How about that? How about an asteris? Right near every player who won it. Yes. How about every player who won it in the third place game? You get just like a little asterisk right by your name. And you were the best player in the exhibition game of the World Cup. Okay? How about that? Because that's what that was. That was an all-star game. That was defense optional. It was highly entertaining. It was awesome. It was amazing. A lot of Americans loved it. I'm sure you love it. That's great. That's great.

There are levels to this. But here's what I'll say. The golden ball is kind of the distinct, even though we talked more about the golden boot. Yeah. But the golden ball has all the context. You're not going to win the golden ball based on anything like this.

You know what I mean? Are you sure? I mean, I don't know, man. It's a real game in the World Cup. Isn't it, Brue? Yeah, I can't have. Have won it? You know, that's...

Maybe if you play in it, but that can't be the deciding game. No, it would have to be... The boot is just straight stats. And so... I went into this game saying it obviously shouldn't count for the golden boot. Yeah. And then I watched the game and I was really glad that it did. Why?

Because I wanted the stars to play. Oh, okay. And by the way, it turns out this is my own ignorance. I was like, they should just do bronze medals. They did get bronze medals. I didn't realize that. This was the first year, right? Oh, was it?

That's news to me. Okay. They called it the bronze game. Buzzman making changes of the World Cup again. But I, so I, I didn't like France's approach in the first half, where it just felt like they didn't care at all.

Right. And they didn't. Right. Where they didn't. And I thought it was kind of disrespectful to Didier de Chomp in his final game. I just didn't, I didn't love it. And England was, you know, going out there and trying to, you know, trying to and also maybe also trying to show

Thomas Tuchel like, hey, we can score now. Sacco didn't play. Why didn't you play it? Why didn't you play me in the game that meant me? Why didn't you play me? And so I think the fact, I think giving guys reasons to care about it where it is now, that is England's

best World Cup finish ever. They have made, you know, they've made third. I'm sorry, the best World Cup finish they have had since they wanted. Since, okay. Since in the last six years, obviously not ever. My point is they've made the semis before and then lost this game. And so like I, so I want this,

I do like that this game exists in a similar way the bronze medal game exists in hockey or in World, or in Olympic soccer. So if that's going to be the case, and if it's going to count for Mbapé's all-time World Cup career, then I think it has to count for this World Cup. You know what I mean?

Like the, so I, going into it, I didn't like it. I left it saying, I'm, because I don't know, do you, are we sure? I'm Boppe would have played. If he couldn't win the golden boot, would he have played? I don't know. Who was the number one winner from the World Cup

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to an expansive panoramic moonroof and a stunning ultra-wide 30-inch diagonal screen. Don't miss Buick's employee pricing for you event. Visit buick.ca for more details. Live from New York, it's a show that is out on bucket hats. I damaged the brand. I've got to tell you, if you're... I think they're being discontinued.

If you're a bucket hat proprietor, you madly... You can have issue with me. Honestly, a bucket hat hates to see you come. Yeah. It's really, it. I can't believe you didn't bring your bucket hats. I should have told you.

I was going to say, get a nice little bonfire. Today, did Messi deserve the golden ball? Roder wins it. Did Messi deserve it? Meanwhile, are we ready to talk about a Spain repeat in 2030? They will be one of the host countries. That's always great. We usually say it's a little early to do that topic the day after the Super Bowl.

No. But at least the next Super Bowl is one. One year or years. Four years. Four years away. Back to New York. We need to be an oracle. Shut the door and what had been a potent Argentina offense,

no shots in regulation. Late attack was shut down. Here was Argentina's manager, Skoloni, after the game. To be in the place that is the world. So yeah, this is a wonderful. It's a wonderful, it's a place

a dream that difficult to become and and I dole in the my

I'm sorry the players didn't talk like that none of these guys ever lost a game like this I mean he is obviously messy as like but they haven't lost since Scaloni's been there Under Scoloni.

Under Scoloni, Scoloni's never lost in a tournament. And so, like, plus probably Messi's last game. Sorry, go ahead, your question. Did you want to go? No, I'm going to, remember I have my little sinus that says be kind. Yeah, I'll wait until it goes around and see if my blood stops boiling. No, go ahead. Just go.

No, I want you to go first. Okay. Did you think you were going to get one more chapter of Messy Magic? Absolutely. And at no point in the game. did I not think I was going to. Like even when they were down a man, I'm like, well, this is going to make it even more special.

And then when they, when Spain scored, it almost felt like, well, that obviously, that has to happen. You know, like all of these games, it has been in response to the opposition goal that Argentina has opened it up. And then they did open it up. And then as soon as we got the messy shot off the guys, face, I was like, right at that moment, I'm like, okay, yeah, they're going, they're, they're, it's

going to happen. And honestly, like, as poorly as they played in the attack throughout the game, these next two plays you're going to see all happened after that shot that Messi took. And they were all great scoring chances. Down a man. Down a man, which is even more fast. This right here, I mean, Kabarsi saves them. That's going to be an easy goal. and you're going to penalties.

The fact that that doesn't go in as an own goal is, I'm telling you right now, Brew, I'm telling you right now you don't believe in Magic Fairy Dustin. The fact that doesn't go in, there's something there. No, that's the other thing is even Kabarsi hitting it is not necessarily good for Spain. So often you see that ends up. It's similar to how the U.S. scored its first goal of the tournament

was something, you know what I mean? Something like that. Multiple goals. Right. And then this other one that you're going to see where, again, And off a messy corner, it gets in the... Yeah. So I...

And again, that would... Would that have been Messi's magical moment? You know, I don't know. He hits the corner. He's been great with the assists. But yeah, I did. And credit to Spain for giving him so few bites at the apple. He just never had the ball in space.

There was only a couple times it seemed like he was able to get it to a dangerous area. I want to be fair with the evaluation in that I don't think he played great and he's the greatest player ever and was to me the best player in the tournament. So he deserves to be judged on that standard. But also, Spain did not give him the opportunity to be great because he was just never had the ball. And so, yeah, but yes, I did. I was sitting there. I never lost hope. And I did think because the keeper was playing so well for Argentina that if they get to penalties,

usually penalties are like a coin flip essentially. I thought they would be a significant favorite in penalties, but they couldn't get there. The only fair assessment is that Spain was so good, so dominant, so organized, so compact, that they really just didn't allow Messi to have any of those really special magical moments. And I'm telling you right now, if it wasn't for Mikhail Marino's face, I can't be sure. And I can't guarantee this, but that ball for me seemed like it was destined to be on frame. Now, whether Simone makes the save or not is anyone's guess. But that was the moment right there for Messi.

Bouncing ball at the top of the box. And he absolutely smashes it. And it's curling. It's coming down. It was easily blocked. Yeah, maybe. But I don't know. That was the-

I went, what, five yards? I'm just not viewing these. I don't know. I feel like some of this analysis is like, oh, my lottery ticket. I had 15. It says 14. I was this close. KW, that is the credit to Spain, that I'm talking about a moment that doesn't even,

it's not even shot on target, and that is the moment that I expected Messi to make the difference. And so, yes, I absolutely agree with Nick. I expected another moment of Messy Magic. I didn't care that they were horrific throughout the entire game until the last five, ten minutes. And honestly, the fact that Messi was so quiet, that's the credit to Spain. The fact that he was so quiet is also an indebted. indictment on the rest of the Argentinian national team, specifically their midfield, which didn't look great throughout the entire tournament and were consistently saved by his magic.

And I just, you go back to Spanish national team was flawless in their execution defensively and the way that they just suffocated Argentina at every single moment. And yet, you were still, I bet you were all still watching the game feeling the exact same thing. Like, there is a moment here for Argentina where they could potentially score and get back in this game, even though they don't deserve it. So, yes, I thought there was going to be another moment. Yeah, I mean, I was frightened until Spain scored. And even then, obviously, you thought maybe Messi'll tired or something.

But I got, you know, as they, I mean, Messi just wasn't even getting the ball. He wasn't really a factor. So that made me feel better. But I still was like, man, he could, you know, he could do something. He's done it throughout the long stage. And whether it was, and even the corner. I mean, he's been great at that. So I was even thinking, okay, maybe he'll get an assist on something like that.

But, yeah, I mean, I was, like I said earlier, it was like a Mike Tyson fight where you just know one. I was like, he might only get one shot at goal, but it might go. Well, Dax is saying he, I mean, he did literally only get one shot at goal. And Dax saying he thinks it's. Marino's face, I think that saved what could have been a highlight real moment. Can I, can I elaborate on your Mike Tyson analogy? Did Mike Tyson fight Jake Paul or Logan Paul? I'm sorry, I'm getting my paul.

Jake Paul. That's more of what it reminded me of. Not Muhammad Ali Tyson, which never happened, but a guy who was obviously overmatched, and not throwing punches, and not throwing punches, but maybe if you can come with just one lucky flurry, something could happen.

But it feels like this matchup is so lopsided. I don't know. I feel like we're almost giving Argentina too much. So that, so this is where. They committed the second most fouls in any World Cup game, not a World Cup final. 25 fouls is the most in a World Cup game since they did it, 26 finals against France. They had no shots on goal for 90 minutes. They had their first shot in minute 117. It wasn't close.

No, I don't think anybody's saying, is anybody saying it was close? I mean, clearly Spain was just dominant. Yeah, but this is where, right, no, it really gets back to me responding to like the man. manager crying. And you had a fight and you fought Spain after the game. So you had the most fouls, no shots and fought the most fouls since when. 2022 when they won the World Cup. Yeah. So that's how they play, bro. That's their But that's not, that's how they played against France. That's not what we saw how them playing the whole world up. I think it's part of their DNA. No, that is that 100%. If they were playing like like a ton

of foul. I didn't do the research. No, I mean, I didn't remember what our. No, I don't know what The Argentina kind of is known for is... Tiptoe in the line. Yeah, what in other sports would be called athletic, like thuggery. Like they... The dark arts. This is what we're going to call. And they had been comped very often when people are trying to do cross sports comps to OKC's approach,

which is if we foul every time the reps aren't going to stop the game. So I don't think that's rare for them. So like that's where I... It's one of the reasons some people don't like the team. And it's also why they think... think some of those guys are on there almost as like messy enforcers. You know what I mean? Like don't.

Because they are known for if they get fouled, they surround the ref, like as a team, like trying to intimidate the ref. That is who their team has been. I just, I, that's why I was saying you, I think there is, one of the things I have learned, we've all learned, you know, in the last six weeks. One of the things I've learned about what type of soccer you like is you, you, really like what we would call like a finesse team in soccer. You want it to be open, skill, you know what I mean? Like, beautiful. And it seems. I don't like the, a clear, like I would

have yellows for clear path vowels all the time. Yes, exactly right. And so, and so, and I'm just grab a, oh, got you. I'm like, I really, because you know what those are? They're cynical. Right. And I'm really, I hope this is insane. sound like I'm saying like this is a judgment. I'm soft. No, I'm not calling you personally soft. But like you, there are certain teams who what they want to do is play super physical and kind of get down in the muck. And I just think you don't, you don't respect that as much as the way some of these

other teams are playing. That's, it's not a bad thing. I just think that's, I also don't like fighting the winning team. Well, that at the end of the game is, that was a bad one. Fighting the winning team. I don't know. Why does you care about the manager crying? He was sad.

He's never. He's never lost. The messy's gone now. Go on, I think it's hard to like when you're... Not a big fan of emotions. No, I'm a huge fan of emotions. But I have a hard time balancing the saccharine nature of crying after the game with fighting the winning team and having the most fouls in the World Cup game since the previous

champion. I think it's a little bit stronger. Spain wins an electric World Cup. Simone wins the Golden Glove. Rodry with the Golden Ball. Kubar C wins FIFA Young Player Award. Spain closes the tournament after 104 thrilling games. Who was the number one winner of the whole thing?

Also, it could be a theory. Really? Yeah, it could be. So I have a lot of runners-ups. Okay, good. One of the runner-ups, Zlatan and Tiari-on-R-A-R-A. Great call. Well, but Alexi, we knew.

Like, Alexi, you know what I mean? this so I was, yeah, and Rebecca Lowe, I feel like if you watch soccer, you knew. Tieri-Hanri and Zlatan, in that role, which we weren't as familiar with, them being so great, I thought was really cool. Our guys, I thought Fletch and Hargreaves, I want to see them do non-socer sports in America. I think they might want to. I think it would be really cool. And I think they were outstanding.

And I loved that they got the third place game. I was so happy they got that game. It was so crazy. well from me. I think the U.S. stadium's reputation, all these people come from across the world, like, my God, this is not old Tradford, is it? They loved it.

Also, natural grass being used at stadiums is a huge winner because a lot of pitch. Yeah, thank you. But the real answer for me, those are all the runners up to, I think the biggest winner was soccer's cultural relevance in America. Oh, that's mine. Oh, sorry.

Similar. No, go ahead. Mine's very similar. Like, I think that you will actually see an uptick and interest in MLS, which, by the way, credit to not a blog spot. What do you call it now? Substack. A sub sub sub. Blogs. I don't know.

I'm an old man. Blagestack. Tactics free zone, which ran the numbers of players in this World Cup and the leagues they played in. And the MLS was players, minutes. any goals, any staff imaginable was the number one league outside of the big five. Yes. You know what I mean? So like there's the big five in Europe, which is France, Italy, England, Spain, Germany,

Germany, that big five. But then there's another 30 leagues. And MLS, you know, was across the board the biggest of the non-big five, which I think can I ask you a quick question just to make sure my timeline is right? MLS starts post-94 World Cup here, right? So that was a pretty big. All those other leagues have quite a long head start. So I think there will be an uptick and interest in that,

not just because of messy, but because people, I think, learn more and enjoyed it. I think there will be an uptick and interest in Champions League in the Euros tournament, which is coming up. Because we talked about, so like this guy did this in Champions League, this guy did this in the Euros. And so I think people realizing that there is such a thing is a wildly riveting one-nothing game.

Yes. Has been so important for the sport. And the personalities, whether it's Mbapé or Holland or whomever, I think that really did help soccer in America. So I think that's the biggest winner guys. Yeah, I'll be quicker. I think Kevin Wilde's massive winner, not because he chose France,

but because of his trademarked expression, defense wins championships. That absolutely is the winner. And for Spain, And just generally speaking, like, we all get excited in our sport about goals, about exciting, attacking talents, about we get enamored with France and their three amazing world class, you know, midfielders and strikers. And then Argentina being able to rescue games at the depth with amazing goals and drama. And yet, who wins the World Cup? A Spanish team that has the best defense in the entire competition, the best defense of all time.

And another winner, Spanish soccer gods and nostalgia. I hope we can pull it up. But as I watched this game, and after Ferran Torres scored, I got so many flashbacks to the 2010 World Cup final where Spain won against a Netherlands team, who by the way, was unbelievably physical. This wasn't a red card somehow.

Nigel Diyong kicking Shabby Alonzo straight in the chest, all right? And I got so many, and now that didn't result in a red card. But the Netherlands did get a red card late in that game that actually helped Spain go on and win the World Cup and score the game-winning goal with a couple minutes left in extra time. I got so many flashbacks of the Spanish triumph.

And so the Spanish soccer gods were like, you know what? We are playing in the World Cup final against two teams that want to kick us, that want to bring the game into chaos, that don't want, they don't even want to try to play soccer on the same field as us. And yet Spain triumphs yet again

to win their second World Cup. And the numbers are staggering. In this game, in the tournament, 2010 final, the Netherlands, I think they set a record for most yellow cards handed out in a World Cup final. It was absurd. It was like 13 or 14. Plus the kick to the chest. Wasn't a red card, by the way. So anyways, the similarities as I was watching this final made me think about that 2010 final and the fact that good soccer triumphed over cynical soccer. That is for me a big takeaway. I agree with Nick that, I mean, culturally, I think this was great for American soccer. Like,

I do think overall that's the big one. I think a ton of people who didn't know a lot about soccer or weren't really into it will now be looking at soccer. And even more kids, we already have a ton of kids playing, but more kids playing that never thought about playing. My 21-year-old daughter, who never played any sports or any soccer, watched every game of the ever, like her and her friends were like, you know, making their plans around watching.

Yeah. They were one of the weird people that are. calling it the FIFA. I don't know why young people were calling it the FIFA, but regardless, they were made their whole last month was about watching the FIFA. That's what young people were doing? Oh, they just called it the FIFA. That's what I was doing, too.

Go ahead, Bruce. Sorry. But I went with a player. I went with Roder. I mean, because he obviously won the golden ball, but the face of this or the image of this Spain team is their possession. Yep. Even, I mean, they

We're the great defense, but I think the possession is what we all pictures. And it's what led to the defense. They dominated. Right. And he's the face of that, you know, with his passing and all of that. And winning the World Cup and the Golden Ball, he is the only player ever to win all five of these. Now, the first four team championships and then the Ballandoor is the best player. So, and remember he had that, where you tore his ACL?

18 months ago. Yeah. Yeah. So to come back from all that. You know, he doesn't score, so people don't think of him like that. But this is great for him, you know, to win off. To add to your argument for Roder, this, I believe, catapults him into the conversation as one of the best, not just one of the best defensive midfielder of all time, but the best defensive midfielder of all time.

I'm not prepared to make that argument yet. I would like to. Arguably, this puts him firmly in the top two or three conversation. What were you going to say, KW? Mine's big. Mine's like a podcast topic. Do you want to hear it? I want to give us.

Dust, give us an extra 90 seconds for K. Third place. Vazina and Cape Verde. Great. Oh, that's good. Silver medalist. Lemini Mall's brother. No question.

Gold medalist. The world. Very Norma. The world is the goal. The world is made up of everyday people. Not necessarily. Politicians, not necessarily. huge superstars. Just everyday people

getting together, watching a game, and you see, even after this game, Argentine fans, the Spanish fans, celebrating together, fireworks going off. So just that you saw the real, this is the podcast topic, the real promise of like a World Cup actually happened. The guys in Atlanta driving and I was like, oh, United States great.

What I was reading about in newspapers, turns out everything's fantastic. and different people coming together. The soccer was great, and all of the peripheral stuff was great, too. Shout out to the world. Huge wins. We can make it, guys. We can do it.

Shout out to the world. Shout out to the world. Your dream. And also. And Roaring. And Roaring. And Rohing. Did you see they were doing in Madrid?

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Oikos Pro helps build strong muscles and support muscle recovery with high protein and contains no added sugar, because true strength isn't about being able to take the hits. It's about being able to bounce back. Oikos Pro, feed your strength. Visit oikos.ca for more details. Welcome back to the show. Rodry wins the golden ball while anchoring the Spanish squad. Messi was electric but goes home trophyless. Nick, do you think Messi deserved the golden ball?

A thousand percent. And listen, I think what Roderie did and what that Spain defense did and he's the kind of epicenter, even though he's not a defender, of what they are, because so much of their defense was simply, you don't have the ball. Right. Correct. You know what? And so it was a possession offense in the NFL.

and where the running back gets a lot of credit for the defensive stats because those you don't have a ball. And Roderie, you know, Josh talked a lot about him before the tournament. We probably under-talked him in the weeks leading up to the last few rounds. But his career with or without the golden ball, he's one of the most decorated players now ever. Dax talked about how hard it is when the Ballandor as a defensive midfielder to begin with.

He had already done it. So it's no disrespect to him. But Leo Messi carried a team to the final. and dominated this tournament statistically. Dominated it. Like here's Messi's numbers in the tournament with ranks. I mean, he's first, he would have ended up without the third place game counting. He'd be first in everything there.

See, that's so. I mean, that goes back on previous conversation. Right, about the third place game. But so, but again, it's not like Mbapapu won the Golden Bowl, you know what? Because he, because third place game. And so I just, there is a, you know, we can argue, you know, for hours about whether or not in American sports, a losing player should be able to win finals MVP. Brew is correct in that.

The history of that award says, no. The first one ever was a losing player and then 60 in a row, or however many it's been, 57 in a row, have been someone on a winning team. So they're saying you can't. This is not the finals MVP because it's not just the championship round. It's the whole tournament. The NBA doesn't have the equate. I think Bruin, I think you'd agree with me.

If the NBA gave a playoff MVP, it would not. I think you would probably always have to play in the finals. But I don't know that you'd always have to win the championship. Maybe you would, maybe not. I just thought Messi was not just the story of the tournament, but so clearly the most impactful player in the tournament and I don't look at him as a guy when you said about Roderie,

there were seven or eight guys on Spain who could have been the lead character. There was no one else on Argentina who could have been the lead character. I thought he clearly deserved it. I will admit, I found out this morning on the call he didn't win it. I just, I didn't check.

Like I went to the game, went home. I didn't stay to watch the same. I just assumed he won it. I couldn't believe it. So, yeah, I think he deserved it. Yeah, I might contradict myself here a little bit because I firmly believe that the best player in any tournament or the golden ball should come from the winning team. Like, I've always felt that way.

But because of how things have gone in the past, specifically just with regard to the golden ball in the World Cup, we know that there is a precedent there for the golden ball in the player of the tournament to not come from the winning team. Like, that is the precedent. So I absolutely think Messi deserved to win it. And I am going to lead the agenda driving for defensive midfielders getting more recognition. So I thought, Roder, if you were going to choose a player from Spain, was fully deserving. And I love that because he was on the team that won the tournament.

And he was on the team that set all the records defensively for excellence in passing and possession. So I think it's fully deserved. But if you're going to talk about the total picture and the comprehensive nature. and the comprehensive nature of what 39-year-old Leonel Messi just did in this World Cup when 10 months ago he said, I don't even know if I'm going to play in this tournament is jaw-dropping. And I absolutely think he deserved to win the golden ball, probably more so than he did whenever he won it back.

I think it was 2018. No, it was 2014. 2014 when they lost 1-0 in the final. And so his performance in this World Cup is more comprehensive than that. But again, I think Messi was the best player in this tournament without question. I think Rodry is absolutely deserving of winning the golden ball and it should come from the winning team. So there you go.

I think in 2014 when he won it, I think he scored one goal of that tournament. He led the tournament and assists and was clearly like the driving force behindards and trying to get into the final. But he won the golden ball scoring. Josh, you can check me on this, but one goal in that whole World Cup. I said last week going into this game, I thought he would, I thought he had it wrapped up. So did the betting marks. And I thought he should have won it.

but I've changed my mind. I think Rodry deserved it because I think there were two main things we'll think about when we think about. I mean, there's a lot. France was great in Bobby, all that. But it was messy

and Argentina's offense and Spain's defense. And Roderie was the face of that with the possession. Like he, that's the story. They were the best defense ever in World Cup history, statistically,

whether you want to argue to 94 Brazil, whatever, they statistically are the best with an extra game and he was kind of the driving force of that. And then when they met,

Messi wasn't even a factor. And Roderie dominated the game. And I just, I do think, I don't know how much this played into it, but Messi being such a non-factor in the championship game. Like just not even get,

I heard a comment commentators say in the first half, at least, I don't know what it was for the game. In the first half, 21 of the 22 players on the field have more touches than messy. Oh, yeah. So he was just not a factor. Yeah. And so I just think that would not have been the greatest look. I'm not saying I would have raised Kane or anything, but, you know, that wouldn't have been the greatest look.

Getting the award right there, it's super weird. Yeah, well, you just were like non-existent in this game. So I'm fine with Roger. But it's a tournament award, though. Yeah, can I... No, right, I do get that, yeah. And he was, he was fantastic. It just felt, it felt to me like he had such a lead going into it

that it should have taken a Belgium against the U.S. style, embarrassing route to cost him the award. Like not having a shot on goal? No, but I don't... So I disagree. KW. You and I just view it differently. Like, I think that can...

You can dislike that being... the game plan, but I think that there have been World Cups won by a team saying, we are going to strangle the life out of this game and have one chance, and if not, we're going to try to beat Jim penalties. It's a viable, legitimate strategy. But how do you want them to show their dominance? How would you want Roderie to show his dominance in the final? Well, so, no, that's my point.

My point is, I think Messi had such a huge lead in this, that, it would have taken a game that he was never going to be able to have. But don't you think we weren't considering Roder because of the position he plays and all that, you know what I mean? But I also wasn't considering. But maybe the judges were. I wasn't really considering anybody else because it was it was Leo Messi that led a team was down to nothing in the 78th minute. He scored the goal to tie it on an insane goal. A game after he had scored one of the most insane goals I've ever seen were is a 50-yard pass.

stops it on a dime and his foot and just tips it in. Then the next game, once his team was down one nothing, he just played the most perfect 40 minutes you'll ever see a guy play, basically out of position, created two more goals. I just thought it was such a massive lead that what was a, admittedly, very uninvolved, you know, first 98 minutes of this game shouldn't have cost him the award. Messi had so many different moments where it was like the jaw-dropping, spectacular wow moments.

For people who don't maybe tune into the World Cup or soccer every now and then, you're like, he is so clearly the best player of all time and the best player on the field that how can anyone compete with this? While Rodry is just the key cog in the machine that just keeps going time after time after time. And so it takes a more, I think, nuanced eye to see the brilliance that is Rodry. Messy, by the way, in 2014, it was zero goals in the knockout stage when he won the Golden Ball. He had four in the group stage, but zero in the knockout stage. And he only had two in the knockout stage this turn.

Can Spain go back to back? That is next on first things first. And our goodbye montage to Dax. Oh, man. Man, I'm going to get sad about that. I'm going to look like the Lionel Scalone. You got a little. Saturday Night Baseball.

On Fox. Otani is back. Taking on Juan So in the Mets. No, shutting him down temporarily. I'm sorry. Might be permanent. He might go in a tear from the play. That would be good.

Saturday, I don't like knee injuries for him, though. Saturday 7 only on Fox. Him all thinking about going back to back already. Spain is touchdown in Madrid and the parade is on. They've opened as favorites to win the 2030 World Cup, which will be in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. The faves are Spain, France, England, Portugal, three-way tie, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. Nick, are you buying stock in a Spanish repeat?

Obviously they can. I understand why they're the favorites. Right now, I think my money would be on Portugal. Really? I thought you were going to say Brazil. I thought you were. I was about to have a kitchen. Wow, a ban on Brazil.

I'm the Brazil guy. I'm the Brazil guy. If you let allow, the reason I said right now, four years from now, I have a feeling, La Carnaena will get me once again. But so there is, to me, a potential symbolism of them winning post-Rinaldo that would be very, very interesting.

They're, you know, their mid-feel, they've got three of their best players, you could argue, there are three best players, Vitina, Nevis and Mendes, all play together on P.S. They're also, we talking about this Spain team guys being young. Bruno Fernandez and Bernardo Silva are, you know, guys that are old enough that you don't know if they'll be around for the next World Cup.

Obviously, we're called it won't be. Everyone else on that team is, you know, either in their prime or entering their prime. And they, you know, like you said, they're one of the host nations. Now, the World Cup in four years, there's also a game in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. So the three South American nations that have won it are getting to host a game because it's the 100-year anniversary. And then three Morocco, Portugal, and Spain are the main host. But I think Portugal could have won this one had they done a little different managerially along with Ronaldo. And so I think Portugal is a real, real threat, very far out.

I'm buying as much Spain stock as I can possibly to repeat. They were absolutely brilliant, dominant in this tournament. they did this without Laminia Mall even close to his best, and he is only going to get better. And that brings me to the final point of, other than Rodry, who is an incredibly important part of this team, every single one of their most important players will be in their prime or not even entering into their prime at the 2030 World Cup.

Kubarsi, Laminia Mall will be 23 years old. Pedri is going to be 27, Gavi, 25, all of these wonderful players. That's in four years is wild. They've also got built-in replacements for Amarik Laporte, who will be 36, probably won't be a centerback. Dean Husson, who is part of Real Madrid's backline, will be 25 at the time, highly rated centerback. Mark Bernal, it will be 23. He's really highly rated defensive midfielder to possibly come in and spell Rodry at times. This team, especially with the way that they're coached, the cultural significance of how they're developing players right now, and just the DNA of winning, they should absolutely be the,

heavy favorite to repeat. Well, Bru, what's it hard to do? It's hard to repeat. Hard to go back to back in this tournament. It's hard. We've seen it. That's why, like, I agree with you. And I wrote down that same ages of these guys, you know, and Nico Williams would be 28.

The goalkeeper just won the golden glove. He'll be 33, which, you know. That's, that's young. That's right. Yeah. So there you go. But it being so, I wonder where in Boppe will be 31, because I, I think France is probably gone, again, it's four years from now, but they're going to come out with a vengeance.

You know what I mean? And all those front line guys will still should still be there. I would imagine Embapy will still be great at 31. And so France, just because of the tough to repeat, I kind of lean France right now. But Spain, yeah, they should be, they could be even better than this. The pipeline is interesting. France had, I think, a hundred players were born in France who, played for, you know, dual nationalities. So France has a ton of people they can pull from, obviously. And then Spanish coach was, I think he was the U-17 coach, and then he was U-19 coach, is now the coach. So like the pipeline of Barcelona, and obviously, Messi was in,

well, Messi was aren't trying, but that pipeline of talent, what Yomal got there when he was seven, I think. So he was in the tub very early. All right, we're saying goodbye to the World Cup and to Dax. Both have ended and both have had some great, moments. Here's a look back at some of the best moments of the World Cup. Duet, able to find Mboppe through Traffat, Kelly, and Aboland. He wants another one. He's got another one. How about that? Extraordinary. Just phenomenal. Takes on Guyano and crossers, three-head of

one now. Brew. I'm from everybody. Brew really love that. Well, you did great. Excellent work, man. We're going to miss you for real. No, you guys made it easy. It was quite Honestly, I've been doing this for 18 months now since I retired in 2024. And honestly, I love my crew I work with at Apple TV and MLS. They're amazing. It feels like a family. You guys welcome me in. You made me feel comfortable.

Everyone behind the scenes, fantastic. And I really appreciate you guys. So I actually, if you don't mind, I got some awards here. Wow. Golden Boot for Wild. So I was given from Danny, Parkins, by the way. Thank you, Danny. The best analyst, soccer analyst on first things first.

I'm changing that. and I am passing that on to brew as the foremost first things first soccer expert. You did. You did call Spain the whole entire time. Danny picked Spain as well. So this is your trophy. Thank you, my man. I don't know if I'm going to be able to put this up here.

Excellent time. Yes. I know KW does a lot of heavy lifting here. So he has the biggest trophy. KW is the foremost first things first high school soccer career. That is true. That is true. I think we're a sub 500, but this is.

That's for you. But your career, your individual career. And then last but certainly not least. How big is mine going? My favorite trophy that was broken and had to be super glued back together. Oh. This little guy right here. It is Nick Wright, the foremost first thing's first bucket hat jinks.

That's nice. That's that's Nick Drew. I will keep this with honor in my office. I won't break it. It's super glued right there. And I know we're short on time, but if I may say something sincere, on behalf of the show. We have been doing the show a long time,

and it's the three of us plus coach Mangeanie and Greg Jennings, you know, Danny, obviously, with the overtime, but those are the people that have been, like, really part of the family, and that's the extent of it as far as, like, long time guys. Having anyone new come in as hard, you really became an immediate part of the family and made our World Cup coverage what it was. And so I, you know, I do hope when we do stuff like this in the future that we can hit you up and you've been great, man.

We really appreciate it. You fit in perfectly with the vibe and everything. You're still, and you're still. You're still. Wait, hold on. Hey, you're still taking me to Monica. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right. I forgot about that.

I didn't. Yeah, I didn't. Well done. I would say one word. Quality! Hey, do me a bit squeaky bum time. No, that's going to go. 2030, I promise.

Okay. 2030. Foxy, Foxx, I have the World Cup. We got to get working on that. Yeah. 2030. It'll be here sooner than you think. It's going to be costly.

It's going to be costly.