Football Daily - Rick & Lloyd's Guide To The World Cup

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

Meet your Football Daily World Cup team. Rick Edwards and comedian Lloyd Griffith will be with you every day throughout the tournament from their base in Los Angeles, taking you along for the journey and bringing you closer to the biggest stories from this year's World Cup.Before they head off, the pair are joined by commentator Ian Dennis to find out what tournament life is really like. How do you live and work together for six weeks? How do you cope with the heat, time zones and changing routines? And what do they need to know about each other before they board the plane?With advice from a man who's covered major tournaments around the world, plus some revealing voice notes from their partners, Rick and Lloyd get ready for six weeks in the US together.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Step inside the Ranger Rover Sport and experience refinement in every detail. With features like cabin air purification and active noise cancellation, every drive feels composed and considered. Explore more atrangerover.ca. This is the Football Daily podcast on the BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to Rick and Lloyd's Guide to the World Cup, which I'll be honest, is less of a guide to the World Cup,

and more of us trying to figure out what we're going to be doing every day while we're out in America for the World Cup. It's slowly beginning to crystallise for me. I don't know about you, Lloyd, but I thought I would go back to our first interaction about this. So I just checked my texts. And you're currently in Australia, by the way.

How are you? Hello, yeah, I am currently in Australia. I'm the way that you confirmed I am currently in Australia. But you're going to be back, aren't you? I'm going to be back in England for first. Four days, do my washing, say hello to the girlfriend, and then jump in a plane with you to LA. Very nice.

So what happened on the 5th of February, I'd had a conversation with people at the BBC about the Football Daily at the World Cup, and they said to me, we need to find someone for you to do it with. And my criteria were someone I'm going to enjoy spending a lot of time with, someone who is a football fan,

someone ideally who is funny and someone who has got a lovely singing voice and I thought that is Lloyd Griffith. It's tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. That was my old hinge profile back in the day. Well, I know, I've just quoted it directly. And I did say, that is lovely,

is this a wind-up and how many people have you asked before me? Because apart from the singing thing, I mean, there's surely better people than me. I think you're right, but I couldn't think of any. So I've got the text here. I said, big man, what are you doing for the World Cup? Do you fancy spending it in L.A. with me?

and doing the Football Daily podcast, hope it was well, this would be a paid gig. You said, are you asking me to go to LA for the World Cup? Is this a scam? I said, oh, sorry, meant to send this to Rob Beckett.

Ah. And then you called me a... Well, you insulted me, and then you said you preferred Steve Jones all along. And that was the start of it. And we were off. And then suddenly, it's happening. I can't quite believe it.

I mean, look, the banter has started flowing from the off and we're going to L.A. We're going to spend a lot of time at Muscle Beach. I cannot. wait, Rick. I think we should go to Muscle Beach.

I don't know how well we're going to be received there. Do we know where we're hosting the podcast and can it be at Muscle Beach? By and large, we're going to be at this pub, well, I guess they would call it a bar, in Santa Monica where they're showing all of the games. But I think that with a podcast, we can probably roam a little bit.

So I don't see there's any reason why we can't go to a couple of workouts and do it from now while sweating profusely. For me, that would be the podcast. the dream. I mean, to do the podcast live while sweating at Muscle Beach with ideally a bit of an audience. And I think that probably the dream of all the listeners as well. And I say that all the listeners quite hopefully. I was trying to work out when the last time I saw you was. And I don't know if this was the last time, but the Euros in Germany in 2024, where you were there making

some hashtag content for a sticker, sticker manufacturer. Is that right? Yeah, something like that. Yeah, it was. And you managed to... I don't think we can mention it, but it's not the one that you're thinking of. No, it's not actually. No, but they are also available. And then you managed to get me a ticket to... Was it England, the Netherlands?

The quarterfinal? I think it was... Yeah, it was the quarterfinal. I said, there you go. And you went, no. And I said, do you want a ticket? And you said, yes. Which is why I think you got me on this, which is lovely.

Do you know what I mean? It's a way of paying you back. Because if you hadn't had got me that ticket, I wouldn't have been in the same row as Tommy Fury, who was also there, I think, as a guest of the sticker people. And I don't know if you remember what happened with Tommy Fury, but it became apparent quite early on that Tommy Fury doesn't care about football. It was really grumpy about being there.

It was really making me laugh. It became quite apparent early on that Tommy Fury wasn't watching the football and was recording a documentary, which I was like, I wonder where this will go. And it turns out it was on the TV. And so many people are like, mate, why are you in the back of Tommy Fury's shot whilst he's at, like, in Germany, watching the football?

And there was me and Reese James as well there, not the footballer, the comedian. And we were just in the back of Tommy Fury's shot. I didn't have to sign any disclaimers. It felt a bit weird. It is fair to say that you are a, well, very big Grimsby fan, first of all, but also a big, big England fan. Yeah, I think, I mean, I've been a Grimsby town fan pretty much my whole entire life. I had a little love affair with Manchester, 192, when I was an eight-year-old child.

And then I've followed England, got taken to a few England games by my teacher, at school, we had a few trips there. And it wasn't until I started working that you can, you know, afford to go to games and go to away games and stuff. So, but I do like to go to as many England games as possible. Been to a number of tournaments. I did Russia, did Germany. I think most famously, Rob Beckett and I did get quite loose at the Euros.

I'm going to say you got carried away. Yeah, a little bit. I think I leaked 7,000 men in one night and got COVID-4. times that evening. We got captured on the TV. My phone melted. And then Rob Beckett was eating chicken by a bin. And I dropped my phone down a toilet at Wembley. So that was, I think, if people think of me going to England games, I think that is what they kind of like do think of, the bucket hats, England, just coming out of lockdown, big in Germany. But yeah, but we're going to be doing it very differently this year. Well, I think we're going to have to, aren't we? So we're going to be

doing the podcast every day. Well, I guess it'll drop at like 7am UK time during the World Cup, so we'll record it sometime in the previous... I mean, the time zone is sort of confusing me slightly. We'll have recorded it after all of the games have finished the night before, which will also be in the morning.

But you get the idea. I do get the idea. Yeah, I mean, hopefully, like a week in, we'll definitely get the idea. And also, we should also stipulate to the listeners that there is a producer that is making sure that we know exactly what's going on. It is not just you and I with two mobile phones.

No, I think that would be catastrophic. It is lucky in some sense, although the other thing is that the producer Lizzie is also having to live with us for six weeks, which is a big ask. We'll kind of talk about all the biggest stories of the tournament. Also, I guess we'll just try and give you a sort of, just an idea of what it is like in the States for the tournament.

have guests alongside us in every episode from all over the USA, from Mexico and from Canada, and people joining us in LA when they're dropping in, and all of your Football Daily favourites, including The Mighty Ian Dennis, who joins us now, Denno, how are you? I'm very well, Rick. How are you? Yeah, I'm pretty good. I'm excited. Hello, I'm excited. But sort of a bit, it's just a long time. I know you've done loads of this, Dana, but this is a lot. long time to be away, isn't it?

It is, yeah, it is. I'm only here, by the way, because John Murray couldn't make it, so Lloyd don't feel bad that your second choice for Rick. You know, John Murray's first game is in Mexico at the Azteca? Yeah. You must be fuming about that, don't I? Well, I've got to say that when the World Cup draw was made,

I don't think we were alone in all sort of like making our various pitches to go to Mexico City for that. But then it was quite apparent that John was going to do it because England obviously are one of the later games in the schedule. So it was able to get to Mexico City and then obviously get back for that opening game against Croatia in Dallas.

But the good news from that point of view is that it's meant that I've had a few days in Florida, warming up and acclimatizing to this World Cup. Yeah, and it's really important. Get the voice acclimatized, get yourself ready. You will also be very familiar with what it is like when you're spending six weeks or whatever it is in close quarters

and how relationships can develop, I imagine. Well, yeah, and with that, you need to have a good tourist with you. So I'm sure that Lloyd will tick the box with that, as will Lizzie, of course, your producer, because you need, when you're having a little bit of sort of like those flat moments, those down days, you need somebody to give you a little bit of a lift, a little bit of a perk me up. And as long as you don't play that corrupt bobble quiz game that he did four years ago in Qatar,

then I'm sure everyone will get on fine. Not that I'm bitter about that, Rick. No, you don't sound it. I mean, look, I can tell you that, yeah, so I'll be presenting breakfast every day as well on Five Live at some ungodly hour of the morning. And we do have a new game lined up. I don't think I can say what it is yet,

but you will be playing Deno, and I can promise to give you a fair crack at a whip. Good. I look forward to that. Have you got any tips on sharing, digs with someone for a long time. Well, I've got to be careful with this. Because in Qatar, and you came to our apartment on a couple of occasions, it was quite a sociable apartment.

I think it's fair to say with producer George, who very kindly said, you can take your pick of the rooms. So he was very noble about that. I actually gave him the biggest room. That's the first thing you've got to do. If you're sharing an apartment, who's going to get first dibs on the bed, the best bed. The second thing is, and I'm not going to name names because that would be unfair, but myself and George, we would just wander around in our sort of like our boxer shorts.

We were shy in that respect. But I do know that two of the engineers who were sharing an apartment in Qatar at the last World Cup, one of them had a no-pants rule that they weren't allowed to walk around in their pants. Now, bearing in mind, hang on. Hang on. Does that mean no pants as in naked? No, no, you weren't allowed to walk around in your boxer shorts or your pants. Okay, okay. But bearing in mind that I, when I was at Radio Leeds, many, many years ago, I used a room with Peter Lorimer and Norman Hunter. Norman bites your legs?

Yeah. And me and Norman would basically just walk around in our room in all of our morning glory. Oh. So I don't have any problem, you know. I've got a very old school approach to sort of like sharing. Now obviously with, if Lizzie's, that changes the dynamic and the equation altogether. I certainly hope so. If it's just, if she's just bellowed yes in my head.

But if it's just the two of you, then I think you need to set some ground rules as well about what's acceptable and what's not. Because I'm quite relaxed. I'm quite liberal. Okay. So come on then, Lloyd. Let's get into it. I think it's probably pants on, isn't it? I think he's definitely pants on. Yeah. And I am, you know, even in, my house back home with my other half i am uh pants on i think you know it's quite ridiculous just walk out also i live in a flat in london on the fourth floor so everyone can you know can see have a peer in um i have a little mooch in you do i mean i am very much a kind of grimsby town 2002 2003 like shorts kind of guy yeah um also as i keep saying we're going to be at muscle

beach probably once or twice a day um so as the physique gets better and i I become more like, you know, a triangle. You're going to expose more and more of it. Exactly. The shorts will get tighter and I just let the people see what they want to see. So I guess play it by ear, Rick, is what I'm saying. Yeah, that seems. What would your preference be, Rick?

Yeah, I think pants on and other than that, I'm fairly relaxed. I think the only thing that is a complete no-no is a T-shirt, no, no pants, which is the worst look that a man can. have, I think. Don't know if you'd agree with that. When have you seen that before? I've seen that more times than I feel like I should have done, but you just see a little bit of dangle at the bottom, and it's really unacceptable.

That's out. Yep, well, I mean, it literally is, yeah. I can reveal that Norman Hunter never used to do that. You'd be buying more than your legs. I want to ask, this is not really a sort of a ground rule, exactly. But given that you have a delightful, delightful singing voice, Lloyd, would it be possible? And I think I'll probably get up after you, because I'll finish later because of the breakfast

show. Is it possible that my alarm call every morning is you singing me a different song? Well, I mean, it can be arranged. How many days have you out there for probably what? 42 is it? It's something like that, yeah. So it's quite a, you're getting through, you know, three or four albums worth. Yeah, I think, look, I'm more than happy for you to put a playlist together. I'll learn those songs and I can just wake you up every morning. You know, King Charles gets woken up by the bagpipes apparently. Rick Edwards gets woken up by Little Fat Quiet Boy, Lloyd Griffith. I'm more than happy.

I'm not going to be doing anything at that time of morning, am I? I think that would be brilliant. I genuinely do think we should do that and maybe record little bits of it and treat the audience. Now, this is, I'm certainly apprehensive about this, But two people that know me and you very well, Lloyd, are my wife, Emma, your partner, Phoebe. And they have sent in some voice notes, which we have not heard, about the things that they think we should know about each other before we head out. So with a degree of trepidation, here is what Ema said. Hey, Lloyd, it's Ema, Rick's wife here.

There's a few things that I thought you might want to know before you live with Rick. First of all, he obsessively clips his toenails and fingernails on daily. Sometimes he'll just get up and run off to the bathroom like it's an emergency because he hasn't clipped his toenails and fingernails recently, as in the last few hours. And then he'll spend a really long time in the bathroom doing it. So make sure you get to the bathroom before he starts his clipping habit.

Oh, God. I guess it beats having really long, creepy talons. Oh, exactly. I just honestly don't know how he has anything left to clip. Secondly, he is a brilliant but very slow cook. What? You should ask him to make an omelette for you because it will be perfect,

but it will take the best part of an hour, which completely defeats the point of an omelette. And thirdly, you should know that he has zero sense of smell. He actually has great hygiene and never smells bad, but it's just nice to know that you have licence to absolutely see. stink because he will never know. And I think you should really go for it. Test it.

Well, you could have been worse, couldn't it? Look, I think I completely refute the idea that I obsessively clip my fingernails and toenails. I'd just like to keep them trim. It's that simple. How quickly do they grow? How quick do your fingernails and toenails? Well, it's like, you know, a couple of millimeters a day,

maybe nothing out of the ordinary. So, yeah, no, I do. I take good care of my cuticles and fingernails and fingernails, and I'm not going to be apologising for that. The cooking thing, that's upset me a little bit, because I'm the only one who cooks in our house, so I do

it all, and I don't want to be told I'm too slow. That's how old. That has slightly upset me, and I will have a little word with humour about that, but I am very, genuinely very happy to do the cooking. I don't know how you are on it, but I'm I like it. I've actually,

I've spent three, three and a half months in Australia filming, and I have not cooked once since the end of February. So I am looking forward to going to potentially whole foods. Other foods are available and cooking a very expensive omelet when we get to... Oh, you're great. Deno, I can't imagine you're a cook, are you? Well, actually, I am.

No. Yeah. When it comes to the Sunday roast, I do the whole works. I am the cook when we do the Sunday dinner. But only on Sundays, though? No, no. No, I can... Okay.

Yeah, I am a domestic. man, I can hoover. I do the ironing, do my own ironing, do my own washing, do my own cooking. So, no, I think you've underestimated me there. You're full of surprises, do they? Yeah. Do you do the chimney? I can do if I had one, but I just don't walk around with just a t-shirt on. No, no, no, to be clear, neither do I. I'm just saying, that's a no-no. What was the, what was the third thing? Oh, yeah, yeah, it is true. I have a very, very poor sense of smell. So any, any hygiene issues that you may have will be, completely unobserved and uncomplained about by me. So enjoy yourself.

Do you know what? I'll wait until Phoebe said what her three things are. Then I'll add on to the sense of smell. Okay. Well, should we have a look. We'll listen to Phoebe then. Hi, Rick. Phoebe here.

I thought I'd let you know a few things about Lloyd before you live with him. First of all, this man absolutely loves any new fad. Collagen sachets, real oil capsules. Those funny, spiky mats that you lie on, anything, you name it. He's probably already ordered it, to be honest. And secondly, he has got an encyclopedic knowledge of fire engines. If one of them drives past, he'll make you stop and he'll tell you all about it.

And he's already found this fire engine museum out there that he really wants to go to. So if you could take him, that really saves me a job. So thanks in advance. Lastly, I think probably most importantly, if you think that Lloyd has an off switch, you are roll. He's like this all the time. Good luck, have fun, see in six weeks. Well, I mean, that was a real roller coach of that, wasn't it?

Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, your assessment, please. Now I'll offer out of mine. I mean, I do love a fad. Like, you know, even when I was a kid, I remember buying an ab roller. Because I saw it in the Little Woods magazine. I was like, oh, that looks quite cool. and then essentially we just used as a clothes horse for five years.

I bought one of those. Do you remember the sort of electric pad stick-on thing for your abs? Yeah. Yeah, I thought I was going to get a six-pack from them. Yeah, that didn't work. Did not happen. What I'm at the moment is sunflower oil tablets, because someone told me they're really good for your hair.

So I'm basically on them. She's absolutely right. I love a fad. The fire engines, yeah, but that's not weird, is it? Do you mean? It's not weird. a grown man has five fire helmets at home and will buy paraphernalia whilst them out there.

That's not weird. I actually will enjoy a trip to the fire engine museum with you. Yeah, great. Honestly, I actually love fire engines. It's from childhood trauma. So do you mean, it's absolutely fine. And then the off switch... Do we want to talk about the trauma,

or should we save that for when we're out there? Oh, I think maybe episode 10. Yeah, okay. And then the off switch, she is right. John Kearns kind of said to her, He was actually at that party. He was like, just let you know, he's not got on off switch. He has not got on off switch.

He's said, oh, I've realised that. So I am a bit of a performer, a bit of a clown, bit of a jester. So I will be there. I'm essentially the fourth choice goalkeeper. You know, like the English goalkeeper, that they just get along. Do I mean, that they're good from, do I mean, the league rounds. They're good from... Your Tom Heaton is what you're saying.

I am Tom Heaton. I'm there on a technicality, but I offer, you know, little bit of fun assistance when needed. Honestly, I think this all sounds perfect. Do you know what? I genuinely thought she was going to say, on the sense of smell, I love my perfumes. I have, I think, 40 perfumes at home in England. I think I brought eight out with me to Australia.

I'll probably bring about eight to ten perfumes out with me in LA. And it's quite nice knowing that you're not going to use them because you can't smell them. No, I won't. I mean, this might be a technicality. Do men definitely call it perfume? I do. I don't know. Have you on that?

Do you wear perfumes? You can get, I'd say, fragrance. Yeah. I think men wear fragrances, Lloyd. Yeah, or aftershave. I've got a unisex fragrance now. It's a high-end aftershave that I... Go on.

What is it? Well, it's Governor's Island from Bond No, 9. What? I was wanting a Southampton... You just made that up? No, no, I was wanting a Southampton Indian. Yeah. And they had this fragrance that was attached to the sink with a gold chain.

And I thought, I'll have a little spray of that. And I went in, and everyone must have thought I had a weak bladder because I just kept going back to the toilet to have another spray of this. And I didn't wash my jumper for about, well, you'd have been fine with it, Rick, because you can't smell. But two or three weeks later, I thought, I wouldn't have to wash it now. But I wanted to cling on to this fragrance. So I actually messaged my mate who lives in Southampton,

and I said, next time you're in that restaurant, take a photo of the aftershave or the fragrance. He did, and on one occasion, I'd add a little bit to drink too much, and forked out quite a lot of money for this bottle of aftershave. And I've since bought another bottle. I'm looking at how much this perfume bottle is, and it's... I love a perfume. It's quite expensive, mate.

It is. How much are we talking there? It's probably in excess of 300 quid. What? Yeah, but... To smell like an Indian restaurant in Southampton? I'm not you mad? But when you wear it, right?

When you wear it, it's a head turner. Yeah, because people are like, is that a booner? Yeah. Also, it feels wildly out of character for you, don't I? Well, listen, I'm a man of depths. I'm a man of surprises. I've taken you in the way. That much is clear, yeah.

On two or three occasions now already. Yeah. Wow. The only thing, though, Lloyd, is that, and I'm not trying to diss the American transit system when you take your luggage away, but because I've got about 12 flights coming up over the course of the next few weeks, I haven't brought it with me.

I've left it out because I could not have at the risk of losing my luggage and then having to fork out another bottle. Could you have got a little, a tiny little vial that you just kept around your neck, like an emergency supply? I could have done, but knowing me and my clumsy hands, I'd have spilt it down the sink. Step inside the Range Rover Sport and experience refinement in every single. detail. With features like cabin air purification and active noise cancellation, every drive

feels composed and considered. Explore more at range rover.ca. There's this song. When he gets to a bit, the whole place goes. So good, so good. You gotta do the arm bit too. So funny. I love that bit. We know that feeling. The World Cup 2026. on 5 live on BBC Sounds. This is the Football Daily podcast from Five Live Sports. Let's talk about tournament preparation then. Lloyd, as mentioned, been to a bunch of tournaments as a fan.

I've worked at a few. It's going to be quite a different experience for you, I think, Lloyd, having watched England just purely socially as a fan, sometimes too socially, and now working. Are you kind of ready for that as a bit? being a bit of a shock. Yeah, I think it would be nice to watch the games

and I guess, you know, be able to remember them first and foremost. Yeah. And also, they're at relatively, like, watchable times, aren't they? You know, afternoon games and stuff. So I am looking forward to just go in, partaking as a fan, almost, you know, as I'm working there. So I am absolutely, you know, I'm definitely looking forward to going at it from a different angle and, as you say, less sociable.

Yes. Yeah, although still reasonably sociable, hopefully. We'll be going on. Denner, have you watched much international football as a fan? I figure you've just been working on it for so long. Maybe not. Yeah, I have. I've been doing this job since the mid-1990s.

So I have been as a fan. I once went to, I think it was a Euro qualifier, England, Switzerland at Wembley, probably 2007, somewhere around there. It was a 2-2-2 draw. Shakiri scored two free kicks, I think. Of course he did. The Power Cube. Yeah, for Switzerland.

But no, the nearest I've ever probably got to, and I don't know where the Lloyd was actually, did you go to the World Cup in Brazil? No, I did not go to the World Cup in Brazil. Oh, right. The only reason I asked that is that I was the Touchline Reporter for Five Lives. So I was behind the goal,

and invariably I was actually positioned in front of the banks of England supporters who would then be behind me. And I remember shivering in Sao Paulo in Brazil when they lost to Uruguay, but then equally baking in Bello Horizonte when they played that dead rupa against Costa Rica and Ben Foster.

There was a great picture of Ben Foster making an athletic, acrobatic, twisting save high up away to his right. And there I was, like a bronzed Adonis, sat in a blue shirt, and this rather fetching brown, chocolate brown, FIFA bib. And I'd been in position for about two hours before kickoff. And I was just literally just getting a suntan.

And yeah, so there I am watching, admiringly, as Ben Foster makes this twisting save. So that's the closest I've ever been to England fans during a World Cup. What about the bit that Pat and Evan filmed of you in Russia, Denno? Ah, yeah. Well, that was... So in Russia, we travelled around as a team, and I was with Pat. And we'd got to a restaurant in St. Petersburg, so England had played Columbia. It was that epic penalty shootout, converted by Eric Dyer to send England through. And Pat is quite mischievous in his own rather unique way.

He's an imp. Yes, he is. He's a dastardly imp. And unbeknown to me, he's a... I was getting a little bit excited and a little bit vocal because it was, you know, it was on the line there, wasn't it?

And unbeknown to me, he was videoing me and asking me questions and I was getting more and more exasperated as I thought England could crash out of the World Cup. But he filmed the whole lot on his phone. And you'd maybe, you'd had a few looseners, I think.

Well, as the night was wearing on, I felt I needed something to sort of like help soothe the nerves. And so therefore, there had been one or two liquid refreshments that have passed my lips. Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. What about the, I mean, less of an issue for us, Lloyd, but for you, time zones moving around loads, how do you manage it? Well, we had that to contend with in Russia with the time zones.

And I seem to fare okay there. I'm not really venturing too much away from the east coast. So maybe you're all right then. Yeah, I think the furthest west I'll go later in the tournament will be Dallas. But that's where my producer comes into it because he'll just tell me what to do, when to leave. So I will rely heavily on my producer. Because I went to Istanbul at the end of the season for the Europa League final.

And I was on air with Chappas at the time. And it's a two-hour time difference between the UK and Turkey. And I don't know about you, Rick, But it threw me. Even though it was two hours, it really threw me. So you're working to English time in terms of the commitments and the hits for the radio. But obviously two hours, you're working in real time when you're in Istanbul. So I didn't cope very well with a two-hour time difference just a few weeks ago.

So hopefully I will have accustomed to the time difference in the US. Yeah, like you say, you've got a little bit of time to acclimatize. I feel I can't quite work out whether me and Lloyd are going to be talking in UK time or in local American time, or if we're sort of going to be doing a mix, which will be very confused. But I guess we'll sort of figure that kind of thing while we're out there.

I think we'll get used to it. I mean, I've just spent the whole, say, like, three months in Australia, so I've been getting up at between two and four in the morning to watch Grimsby Town Games. So it's just to be nice at the time difference isn't going to be as dramatic. How are you in the heat, Lloyd? Not too bad.

I mean, I will sweat due to my, you know, size. I've got a feeling some of it is just going to be unbearable standing, let alone playing in it. And I don't think I'm going to get the caller, but it's like, I mean, it'd be fantastic for the pod if you did, content-wise, but no, I think we'd probably rule it out.

If I get called up, Jason Steele's going to be absolutely few. I feel like, the guy from Soccer AM. You're both bucket hat guys, of course, so you'll be your nose, I imagine. Yeah, I made a mistake in Germany, 2000. with Jimmy Armfield, that I was, again, because you have to be in position for so long before kickoff, and Jimmy went loud, he says, you're going to get sunstroke. Where's your cap? I said, I haven't brought one, Jim. Anyway, so what he did, and obviously Blackpool Legend, if you can imagine back in the day beyond Blackpool Beach, he brought out his handkerchief, tied it into four corners, and in the second half, I commented with Jimmy's handkerchief on my head to stop me from getting sunstroke. And I learned a valuable lesson that, to take a hat with me wherever I go. Yeah.

And I now have got two bucket hats in my, in my rucksack with me. See, if I think of a handkerchief knotted and being worn as some protection, the commentator I'd immediately go to isn't you. I sort of imagine John Murray. I love that. He would carry that off beautifully. Stringy vest as well? Yeah, why not?

String vest. And then, like, you know, I mean, this is very old school. I don't think actually anyone does it anymore. But so the handkerchief, string vest. and then weirdly like smart shoes. He's a sandals man. It's quite a big look. Now, Lifestyle wise, Lloyd,

I feel like, because you're a fad guy, you will probably love it in LA. Yeah, I mean, I'm already inquiring about Reforma Pilates. Well, you know, I've recently got on to Reforma Pilates, so we are definitely going to go to Pilates together. Have you actually? Yeah.

Oh, this is the macho podcast that everyone's been waiting for. I think it is. It's two men with their handkerchief, perhaps. soft to reform a palates in LA. I'm there to embrace the culture, whatever that culture might be. One of the cultural elements of America is the food and the fact that it's very hard to get a normal portion size. I don't have a great deal of restraint,

and that is something I'm genuinely worried about and I would need to keep an eye on. Yeah, no, I'm in the same boat in that I... If we could sort of police each other, maybe. Yeah, I just have to look at a burger, and I put a couple of stone on. The issue is, I mean, I don't... eat four burgers. But I, yeah, I think we're going to have to help each other out, get to the gym as often as we can do.

But the way to combat that, though, and this is where producer Lizzie really comes into her own, is that there needs to be, and we're all about social media these days as well. There needs to be a daily challenge, if not a daily challenge, certainly a weekly challenge, at Muscle Beach for the two of you, you know, I mean, by then you'll have gathered a little bit of an entourage, there'll be a bit of a crowd gathering. You know, I wanted to see the specimens, that you are. Yeah.

So therefore, that needs to be a weekly challenge at Muscle Beach in L.A. Apparently, there are conversations ongoing with Dion Dublin and Dion Dublin's people

about him joining us for a session on Muscle Beach. There's a slight element of partridge to it, of course, Muscle Beach with Dion Dublin, but I'm still looking forward to it. You'd have told me

10 years ago, Lloyd, you could be on Muscle Beach with Dionne Dublin, in LA for the World Cup there have been so many questions the last Euro's in Berlin I spent a lot of time with Dion early doors

and we were in the gym most mornings together were you just spotting him listen I did well I've got dodgy knees so I couldn't run so I'd often go on the bike but I'd do a good half an hour on the bike and really sweat it out

yeah fair enough but my point being Rick is that if you've got Dion anything is possible it really is and actually Dion I feel like would blend into Muscle Beach a lot better than we will. I would like to quickly, before I let you both go,

talk about England. You, Denoward, traveling, by the time this goes out, you would have travelled over and you'll be covering the friendlies. How much are the friendly's going to tell us? Do you think we'll get a sense of starting 11? No, no, only because the Arsenal and Crystal Palace players will arrive late.

Ah. So basically, what I think is, he's done with his squad. He's got a very balanced squad. He's got two players for every position because whilst they don't start to late in the tournament, it gives them an opportunity to acclimatized to the heat, which is going to be a significant factor throughout this tournament. So that's the reason why they've gone to Florida for 11 days. But then once England do start to play, then the games come thick and fast. It's something like the turnaround is going to be once every three, four days they're going to be playing a game.

And I think that's why he's gone with a squad that is gone. So he's very much, he's based it a lot on team spirit, the camarader within the group, the collective, but also I think it's a balanced squad that will be able to combat the intensity of the schedule that England will have to deal with. What did you make of the squad announcement, Lloyd? Yeah, do you know, I thought there was a few names

that I was surprised were omitted. Yeah. Again, also, like, I'm maybe just because I'm getting a little bit older, I just think he's in a better position to understand what he needs for the tournament. But there's reasons why he's chosen those players. Obviously, it's either, as you say, Denna, do you mean, for a number of reasons, data-led most probably. But you've just got to trust him and go, look, there's a reason why every single player has been picked.

Deno, apart from Harry Kane, who do you think, are there four or five people that just get straight into that squad? Yes. Saka. Pickford. Pickford. Rice. Stones, if it,

rice. I mean, you've got Bellingham or Rogers. I mean, you could take your pick of the two. I think the two of them there, that'll be a key duel to who plays in the 10. But I think there's...

Who do you think starts the first game as the 10? I know we've been talking about this for months now. Well, for the BBC Sport website, I opted for Rogers. Because I do think there is a... There's something in Tuchel's thinking that he thinks that Bellingham

can make an impact off the bench for the last half an hour. Now, whether Bellingham buys into that, time will tell. But I do think that whoever comes off the bench within that last 30 minutes of a game, whether it be Rogers, Bellingham, whether it be Gordon or Rashford. You know, this is very much about the squad and not just the starting 11. But there is going to be the opportunity to be the England, potentially the England hero. And just briefly on Scotland, I've spoken to a load of Tartan Army members. in the last few weeks,

it would be brilliant if they got out of the group. It's a tough old group, obviously. We're finishing with Brazil in Miami, which will be a hell of an occasion. But if they can get that win against Haiti Deno, it's there for them, isn't it? Well, bearing in mind that it's an inflated World Cup and eight of the 12 groups,

the third place best finishes are going to get through to the knockout stages. I would think that Steve Clark would be hoping that they could meet reach the knockout stages. I think that has got to be the aim. And by the time that they come round to that Brazil match, Scotland will know

whether it's a possibility, whether they still need a point or whatever. But they'll know the state of play in the group by then anyway. So yeah, I think that's what they've got to aim for, certainly. I've got to go because I've just realised that one of my thumbnails is looking a bit raggedy. I need to go and clip it. But thanks very much.

Dona, have a safe flight out there and we'll catch up stateside. Yes, look forward to that. Have a good one. Good look, Lloyd. Well, look. The next time you hear from both of us, Lloyd will have returned from Australia, done his washing, got on a plane, arrived in LA. We will both be there. I mean, you'll hear from me if you would like this week on, well, on 5-law breakfast, but also on the Remember When episodes. Check those out on BBC Sounds. Our first podcast from LA will be on the 12th of June after that opening game in Mexico.

Subscribe to the Football Daily feed and turn your notifications on. so you don't miss an episode. Bye, Life Sports. Hi, I'm Jen Bic. My favourite World Cup moment. It has to be Franz 98. Watching Scotland score are a World Cup. I think that's why I fell in love with football.

Here comes to football. What makes the World Cup so special is purely because it's a global tournament. It brings the whole world together. No surprises that it's known as the beautiful game. It's the best community in the world. The People World Cup 2026. Coming soon.

Listen on BBC Sounds.