Football Daily - World Cup: Scotland's Biggest Test Yet

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

Scotland face their biggest test of the World Cup so far as they prepare to take on Morocco.Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith are joined by former Scotland international Charlie Adam to preview a huge match for Steve Clarke's side.German football journalist Raphael Honigstein joins Rick & Lloyd in Santa Monica to look back on the opening round of group games and separate the genuine contenders from the early overreactions. Are Spain already out of the running after their draw with Cape Verde? Should Portugal be worried? And will Cristiano Ronaldo ever score a World Cup goal?Raph also praises Thomas Tuchel's man management and reflects on the unique challenge of covering a tournament spread across three countries, before Rick and Lloyd discover that shopping in Beverly Hills can be a humbling experience.

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Fed up with losing out to hidden fees when you send money abroad with your everyday bank. choose the smart way wise you can count on the exchange rate you'd usually find on google no one welcome surprises plus ditch that where's my money feeling most transfers arrive in under 20 seconds join millions saving billions on hidden fees be smart get wise download the wise app today tease and sees apply the football daily podcasts at the People World Cup 2026 with Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith. Hello, you're listening to the Football Daily with me, Rick Edwards and Lloyd.

Griffin. Yes, absolutely right. We're into the second round of the group games. Just feels like there's been so many games. Coming up, we're going to be speaking to Charlie Adam ahead of Scotland's massive game tonight against Morocco. Raffa Honigstein is going to join us to do a bit of an overview of the first round of the group games,

what we've learned. And also a quick look at today's games as well. Those scores from overnight are Mexico, the first country through to the next round after beating South Korea 1-0. Canada, Thrash, Qatar, 6-0. Switzerland beat Bosnia, Herzegovina 4-1. Chechia drew one all with South Africa. If you want to catch up, all of the scores and highlights are available on the BBC Sport website and app. Now, between games today, we had our most, I would say, Hollywood Day.

Yeah. So we went into Beverly Hills because, and I don't. want to talk about it, we had a meeting with an American agent. No big deal. And when we were in Beverly Hills, I wanted to go to a shop. And so we went to a shop, and it's quite a, well, put this way, it's a shop where you have to queue outside behind a rope. And then when two people, it's like going into a club.

Is that going into a club? Yeah. So we eventually got two into out. Two in, exactly. That's not actually the phrase, but whatever. So we went in and we were just having a browse. The stuff's too expensive, basically. And it's not really for fat fellas like me.

No. What was fantastic. I was cutting a bit fine to get to my meeting with. Did I mention I was meeting a US agent? And so I had to get to this. Lloyd tried on a very nice but very expensive jacket. I would say there was no danger whatsoever of you buy. Is that fair?

Well, I mean, I would... No. You weren't. You weren't going to buy it. That's right. So he pops it on and look great. It's a nice jacket. As I said, well, I've got a...

go now, Lloyd realized that he somehow had just got stuck in the jacket. Because he couldn't get the zip. Couldn't get the zip. And so as I left the shop, I was thinking maybe Lloyd is literally going to have to buy that jacket. It was glorious stuff. We won't mention the jacket brand, but there's a badge on the, you know, get the badge. And they have some quite eclectic stuff.

There was a couple of tips to the bottom, which I'll never enjoy. I mean, why do you need two tips? Just one for me, please. Green, kind of like nice metallic. I cannot blame the jacket for this. Stop describing this jacket. It doesn't matter. The inside was like tinfoil.

It was like tinfoil. And then I couldn't get out of it. Like you just finished the marathon. Unlike. Unbelievable. Well, it basically looked like you just ordered me from Spud Bros. And then couldn't get the tinfoil off. Can I get a Grimsby Special place?

I know it's there. And this jacket, because it was like tinfoil inside. I then start sweating. I love it when you start sweating. This shop is so hot and they're quite judgmental. Already there's a little fat man getting a jacket that he shouldn't be getting into anyway. The tinfoil's making me sweat. You're literally going, I've got to go.

I've got to go and meet this American agent. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it. And I'm there going, Rick, you can't leave me. And at one point he went, I'm going to have to go. At which point I kind of looked at the shop assistant, he kind of looked at me at me a little bit like, oh, mate, don't let me come over there and get you out of this jacket. And then managed to like with my little sweaty mitts, get out of this jacket. There was a point where I thought the shop assistant was going to cut you out.

And then I just had to pay $1,800 for a jacket that I don't really want. I don't look. Where would I wear it as well? What's a choir? I don't know. Anyway, it was, yeah, I mean, and I think that's just why Beverly Hills is not for me. Not for you. I'm at home at Freshly Place in Grimsby, do you know what I mean?

Another one, in fact, was when we got on a hog, one of the electric bikes, and one of the, it's one of the two-person ones. And I was, I was riding, unusually. Normally, normally I'm hugging you. And I was at the front, but also had my rucksack sack on. And then you were saying, well, maybe I should go at the front of you like, no, no, no, no, no, no, go to the bank. That's not what I sound like. A little bit. You're sort of hugging me from behind, but also hugging around a rucksack.

So it's a bit precarious. And actually, as we came out, I didn't have massive control over the heart. It was wobbling all over the show. And it was really wobbly and sort of weaving and wobbling as we went across, well, four lanes of a highway. And you, you, and I'm sorry to say this, there was a car coming. There was. We were going to be fine. We were going to be fine. But you were squealing like a little piggy. I was squealing. I'd just have like a hog if I were you.

I was like, Rick, there's a big truck coming our way. But you didn't even, do you know what you actually said? You named the truck. The type of truck. There's a Tacoma coming. It felt like an optician's appointment where the letters were getting bigger and bigger. I was like, I could definitely read that. Oh, honestly. Charlie Adam joins us now. Charlie, last time we spoke to you, it was 4 a.m. after the Scotland game,

and you were very tired, bless you. You're joining us now again. It's 4 am. becoming a bit of a habit. Did you fall asleep during this commentary? No, well, after first half performance, yeah, we were nearly there, but regrouped at halftime. We had a word to ourselves and thought, right, let's get the energy in the second half. And to be fair, to the Mexicans, they come out and they got the goal.

It was a poor goal to lose for South Korea. Oh, yeah. And, you know, the goalkeeper makes an error. But, yeah, it was a good finish from the... the midfielder and yeah it was a good win for Mexico to get him to qualify for the last 32 now it was a good opportunity for you to use your catchphrase as well like that oh you got to keep hold of it and actually in that case he really did have to in that in that case he had a good goalkeeper but he had a bit of a stinker today and then that double save at the end double save at the end

for the Mexico keeper that's lovely I think he's got to do better the striker I don't think he gets strong enough header on it I think he might actually go back to us to goal but it's a lovely ball in and the goalkeeper there's a brilliant save and it's a double save to to keep the them in the game to win it. And yeah, he didn't really have much to do the Mexican goalkeeper. And, yeah, it was a big save for them. What I will say is when he went down, he did a double save and then he went down. And it looked like he was quite injured.

And I was like, oh, no, but then in the back of America going, oh, we're going to get, we're going to get to see Mamoichola. Oh, for his 154. At the age of 48. He's only 40. Is he? Okay, fair enough. But he doesn't have 14 million followers.

Mexico now through to the last 32. and looking at the path, it feels like England might be on a collision course with Mexico in the last 16. And that would be in Mexico City at altitude in front of 90,000 Mexican fans in the Azteca. And that's going to be a big ask, I think, Charlie. Yeah, there is a big ask. But if I'm watching that tonight, England will blow Mexico away.

Really? With a team that England have got. The performers I thought other night was a lot. excellent. I don't see anything of Mexico that would scare England. I think England would blow them away and then yeah the attitude would be tough but if you look at the teams

England, I've got a far better team but it was just a good atmosphere for you know as a home nation to be able to quality we want the sort of home nations to get as deep as we can to keep the energy within the games and yeah it was a good win for Mexico and let's be interesting to see how the coach

does it in the next game does he rest a couple or does they try and go for to win every. It was a good one. every game and look to try and get that sort of draw in the last 32. Let's move on to Scotland then. They play Morocco later today. It's a massive, massive game. But it was interesting what Steve Clark was saying in his press conference,

which is basically with the Scottish psyche, sometimes it helps. They're more comfortable being the underdogs. Does that ring true? Yeah, no, absolutely. And that's where I said the Haiti game was more of a difficult game for us because we had a little bit. We thought we were going to have more of the ball.

but we didn't actually Haiti had more possession we need to be better with the ball and if we do that then then we'll give ourselves a better chance I didn't think we thought we were poor with the ball the other night against Haiti but Morocco were a different side

they're seventh in the world, FIFA ranking so we've got good players that can hurt you and this game will shoot Scotland we'll be able to counteract that quickly and not has much possession but hopefully be able to hurt them in different areas. Charlie we've been asking a number of people, players, pundits, fans

kind of which team has surprised them the most, and the one answer that comes back is Morocco. It's going to take a lot to try and beat them. What do you think Scotland will have to do in order to just get any result out of them? Well, I think we'll have to defend really well. It's a clean sheet in the first game, and they've got good players.

Hakeemiy and Diaz, just to name a few, a couple of players that can hurt you on their day. You know, Hakemi's coming off the back of winning back-to-back Champions League for PSG. So they've got quality players around their squad, and we have to be in our top level game. We have to be defending well. We have to attack well.

We'll need eight or nine players playing well to really impact this game. And if we do that, it'll give us our chance. We feel like we only need the point, but I don't think you always think about going into a game with a point. Steve will have a game plan. Might be a little bit of a tweak in terms of formation, maybe go with one up front.

Was that nice delivery of food coming? Yeah, yeah. Did you see the little gesture as well? Just like, hold on. I've just all we were. I've talked to a former Scotland international here, actually. Calm down, Josh. He's got Charlie Adam here at 10-quart, perhaps, 4 in the morning.

He doesn't want to see our Caesar salads. Yeah, also, did you notice that there were two salads there? We're athletes, basically. Yeah, no, absolutely. You've got to look after yourself. Thank you. Yes, yes. But anyway, going back to Scotland,

yeah, I think we've got to play. We've got to defend well. We need to attack well. And we need eight or nine top performances to get anything out of this game. It'll be a difficult match, but, um, We feel like we're in a good place. There's good atmosphere around the stadiums. The Scotland fans are enjoying it.

And the boys seem to be buoyant with that result. And again, that's sort of that monkey off the back. First win at a World Cup for a long time. And on that thing of sitting back, absorbing pressure and then being quick on transition, Ben Gannon Doak will be absolutely vital in that, won't he? Yeah, he had a tough hamstring injury, long-term injury in terms of

for three or four months against after Denmark game, got back near the end of the season for Beaumath and he's played a couple of friendlies now. His performance the other night was good but yeah we're going to need him on that counter-attack. We're going to need his pace, his power. So again I think we might look to

try and play maybe an extra midfielder in there and only play one up front. Maybe he goes with Shee Adams because he gives you that sort of legs to run in behind as well, maybe a little bit different to Shank and maybe he goes with Adam's seat. I thought Adams did well.

They learned out right. He did really well for the goal. Runs in behind. Lovely touch. Setback for Gannon Dock. And then he gets John McGinn to the edge of the box. And it was a scruffy goal, but it was a goal that we'll take. And Scotland, I mean, obviously, this sort of applies to every team,

but they need their big senior players to step up. So I'm thinking about, obviously, John McGinn, Andy Robertson, Scott McTominee, they have to be absolutely on it, don't they have to set the standard? Yeah, absolutely, and again, you need your spine your team's key. The goalkeeper needs to play well, two centre backs, Robertson, obviously got brilliant, massive experience at club level, and at national level now as well, so McTominy McGinn's, they need to be to play well for us to really have an impact on the game. The Moroccan coach was saying he felt his biggest problem was probably going to be,

the physical presence of Scotland, so winning those second balls and headers. And you do think that's somewhere that Scotland might be able to dominate. Oh, absolutely. That's something that we have to use, set plays. You know, we have to use that and being physical to make a difference to the opponent.

But Morocco coming in here in good form, let's say before, won the African Nations Cup, drew one-one with Brazil and played really well against Brazil for that sort of first period. till the hydration breaking in. Carlo Ancelotti changed it a little bit

and then Brazil got a little bit of momentum. But, you know, there's just a lot of array of talent within this Morocco team. And Scotland will know it's going to be a tough game. But also, again, like you say, the coaches, has made that point that it's going to be physical. And Scotland has to try and use that because he's saying that because that's something that they're worried about.

When as a player you go into a game and you know exactly what? you're saying. So you play a team and they're technically much, much worse than you. They're lower down in the rankings or you know that they're much better than you much higher up in the rankings. Does that make an imperceptible change to the way that you approach the game, even if you obviously try not to? Yeah, absolutely. You know, I'm just used my own experience of, you know, playing for Stoke against Mancity, that you know that you're playing against a better team and you've got better players. What you're hoping is that you can make an end. You know, you're playing

an impact on their performance. And you're hoping that they don't have eight or nine players playing at the peak at the top level because if they do that, you know they're going to win the game. So you have to try and find ways what's the weaknesses, how can we affect the game? So that might be making sure that we don't go and press it at the wrong times and we just get picked off. We're in a good shape. We're organised and we go together and we can.

Making the distances small because then it becomes difficult for them to find the spaces. So it's just different things. You've got to find a way of affecting your opponent. And Scotland will be the same. You know, they'll look at that Morocco squad and think, yeah, there's very good players. But, you know, the Scotland players are good as well. There's good players in our Scotland squad that can hurt you on their day. And we're just hoping that we can turn up.

And let's say we can get eight or nine top performances that will give us a chance of getting a result in the game. I think every team as well will have watched the way that Cape Verde played against Spain. Absolutely. and thought, oh, well, it's possible. Yeah, absolutely possible. No, absolutely. By the way, we're not playing against Spain. We're not playing against, you know, a Portugal or an England who, you know, I've got the top five nations in the world.

We're playing against Morocco who are, yeah, very good side with good players. But on the day, anything can happen. And, you know, we're going into this game with a lot more confidence than we did in the first game in the euros against Germany. and that win and that buoyant atmosphere around the stadium and in the stadium will be electric. It will be electric to see Scotland fans again there and the players need to feed from that. When the tank's empty, we need to go again.

We need to be able to drive ourselves as a group of players. Substitution will be key. Steve's got to make the right substitution at the right times. Sometimes supporters are at this point when he makes a sub-but he needs to make the right times and hopefully that makes an impact as well. The Scotland fans are going to be in terrific voice. We know that. They're having the time of their lives out in Boston.

I'm sure you've seen all of the stuff. They've effectively taken over the city with the city's blessing. The Bostonians are absolutely loving it. Every statue's got a traffic cone on it. They took over Fenway Park. I hope you've seen the governor signing a declaration making haggis legal in Massachusetts, which is fantastic. They had a big gathering where it was like the most number of Americans drinking iron brewers.

single time organised by this YouTube. It's unofficial apparently. Unofficial. But you suspect it probably is. If we're making Hagas League, anything's possible. Anything possible in America. They love the Scots.

Listen, the Scotland fans will travel all over the world to support the team. But what they will do well than others have a good time. And the locals will have enjoyed Scotland fans being there. And you want to make a lasting impression on people.

And the most important thing for us now is we make a lasting impression on the pitch and we qualify for that last 32. Does it feel like you're working nights at the moment? Do you know what I mean? Like my mates who go work at Grimsby Docks, you know what, they're working nights at the moment, especially so they can watch the games when they get home.

Does it feel like you've got a proper job when you work in nights? Yeah, absolutely, Lloyd. This is not in my way of working. I'm not a morning person. I do not see the middle of the night. The only time I ever see the middle of the night is getting up for a wee. Well, like you're right, Charlie. That's going to happen more and more, I'm afraid.

Yeah, exactly that. But no, this is not what I planned, but it's just nice to be involved in the World Cup. Absolutely. It's a brilliant opportunity, and, yeah, thankful for that, but, yeah, my sleep is struggling. And I, I can speak to these lads. Cheers, Charlie.

Nice one. We've got to get our salads down us now. So, yeah, let's get to sleep, Charlie. Step inside the Range 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 at range rover.ca. Support comes from wise, the smart way to manage the currencies you need around the globe. Fet up with losing out to hidden fees when you send money abroad with your everyday bank. Choose the smart way. Wise. You can count on

the exchange rate you'd usually find on Google. No one welcome surprises. Plus, ditch that where's my money feeling? Most transfers arrive in under 20 seconds. Join millions, saving billions on hidden fees. Be smart. Get Wise. Download the Wise app today. T's and C's Apply. Five Lights Sports. So here's the first ball of this series.

All the cricket you laugh. Check around. Live on BBC sounds. Smash straight back down the ground. This girl. Here ball by ball coverage of the biggest competitions on the domestic and international circuits. It's a fourth cricket and it's the huge one.

Yeah, you know. T's, wash. Tis. Cricket on five-life sport. Oh, I've lived in every ball of this. Listen on BBC Sounds. The Football Day at the People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds.

We're joined now by German football journalist Raffa Honnickstein, and we've just been having an argument about whether cricket's any good. There is no argument, is there? Yeah, there is. You're talking to two cricket fans. I don't get it. You haven't watched enough? 33 years in England and nothing.

thing. Short form. What about short form? But they're just talking it the whole time? No. Have you been to like a nice little test game? I have not been to a cricket game. Come on. We'll take you. The friends of mine who've told me how brilliant it is, they usually talk about all the things that have nothing to do with the sport. They say, oh, you can take a sandwich, you can listen to the radio.

I can do all these things in my garden. Why do you need to go to a cricket game? It's such a lovely social day. My dad's favorite thing to do is just go on his own to a county cricket match. and he just sits there, he reads the paper. He has a lovely time. I don't know. If the game was so interesting. Well, it is interesting.

Why would you say, go there and read a paper? The great thing that you don't need to be focusing intently on the game. I just don't. It's so good. And also, you can just have a little nap as well if you need to. Without going into too much detail, I just want to say, it doesn't get my juices flowing the way football does. Why does football get your juices flowing?

Because... But it gets mine flowing as well. I'm not like... Because I think... I think there's something happening there with two teams battling to put a round thing into a goal. And it just resonates more, I think, than somebody whacking a ball. It just, there is no real connection to any meaningful thing. I think the deeper message in football is quite sexy.

I do. And, yeah, that's, yeah, that's it. Yeah, thanks very much to join us. That's the kind of insight we need. you wait till we take you to Chester the street for a nice little day test and you'll be like

you know what lads my juices are flowing now I've got as said the raging horn I mean we might as well talk about the football way here yeah let's go if we must so this is a quick pit stop for you in Santa Monica have you been all around no I've been to San Francisco so far and LA and I'm flying off to Dallas

to see Argentina Austria and then Kansas and then who knows it's all up in the air so have you been with Ralph Rania is that what you've been doing Yes, I work with the Austrian national team apart from doing a bit of journalism on the side these days and I follow them and I go to their games

and of course I keep an eye on Germany and all these other big sides and it's been really good. How's Ralph feeling about things? He's very happy. The first game against Jordan was very pressurized because with Algeria and Argentina to come it was a sort of game where

if you win you're in a fantastic position if you draw you're in a really terrible position So it almost felt a little bit like a final. And you could feel the tension. Also for a team that haven't had any workup experience for 28 years, that is a long time to just turn up and play as if it wasn't a very kind of special game. You could feel it a little bit in the first half. But yeah, it's looking good at the moment.

So we've seen the first round of the group games. So 24 matches. A lot of matches. It is a lot. I mean, we knew this going in, but my God, it's quite hard to know, like, that is literally what we're here to do, and we're watching them all.

But it is hard to keep up. I don't have such a problem with keeping up with the matches because I don't think there are more matches than we used to at this stage of the tournament. I think it's usually four games, or has been four games a day for quite a while now. The problem is the amount of teams.

I cannot remember what team played who, and what is the story. And it's a bit like following three different TV series at the same time. It kind of blurs into each other and you're thinking, hold on this episode, was that in this series?

Is this guy? There's a lot of pausing. It's a lot of pausing going, who's that? Why is there an annoying teenage girl in it? Oh, no, every TV series has no annoying teenage girls. It's a kind of trope. But anyway, and I say that as a five or three teenage girls, so I'll pick up on these things.

But it's really hard, I think, to engage, deeply with sort of the narratives around teams unless you're already familiar with them. Because you know, I mean tonight you're thinking, okay, I really want to know a bit more with this Mexico team but no, no, there's another game coming up and I need to think about these other four or six or seven or 18 teams and it's hard. It's hard to dive into it the way that you usually can, I think when there's just slightly less frenzied amount of teams involved. Yeah, I felt like it was quite good in LA this Mexico South Korea game because because there's a big Mexican contingent in LA

and you've got Korea Towns so there's a big Korean contingent. So it felt like there was a kind of fizz about the place. And I think that's something that perhaps we all underestimated a little bit, just how local this work comes. I don't think a lot of people in Europe felt very excited because it's hard to get to

is very expensive. There's all the immigration issues. The political situation is very divisive. But people who are here, like even at that Jordan-Austria game, There were thousands and thousands of Jordan Americans who traveled from all over the US to be there with their team and it felt very, very special.

So the world already is here to a certain extent, even if the fans from their home country stay away, maybe. And it's nice because you're kind of being educated as to where the pockets of the world are in America, which is something that I absolutely didn't know. I didn't know that outside of Iran, Los Angeles has got the largest way of population. Yeah, I mean, Lloyd has to be like, an ignorant man, but, you know,

He's good for him. I absolutely am. But I went to a perfumery shop today. And there was an Iranian man that was serving me. And he was like, oh, yeah, no, we are absolutely like the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran. And we love it. And we're now so happy that people realize that. Because I think especially with geopolitically what's been going on, I think people just thought, oh, it's very insular.

There's no Iranians in America. When in fact, that's absolutely not the case. There's tons of them. Can I just ask really geekily, how do you, as a journalist, keep up with all this? Do you have a notebook? Do you have a wall chart? Like to keep up with all the games. We've got a wall chart.

We've got a world chart, basically. I mean, you can keep up with the results and try as many to see as much as you can. But really to do it justice, you have to concentrate even on certain teams. Or what my colleagues are doing this time is they're just staying in certain cities. So for them it's like almost, you know, today I'm on the South Korea expert. But tomorrow I have to be the Belgian expert. And it's a very different way of working to the way I've covered tournaments in the past where you really follow your team around because it's quite easy to do,

whether that's in Qatar or even in Russia, it's fairly easy to because you kind of know where your teams are now. It's very, very hard to really stick with one team because the amount of travel and cost involved just doesn't really allow it. So you have to focus more geographically. And then again, it adds another layer of complication, I think, to the way that you cover the game. maybe makes it slightly less in depth and more superficial.

At least at this stage of the tournament. Although still kind of fascinating though. Yeah, for sure. Because of the local elements. Yeah. There's a really good article actually on the BBC Sport website that Chris Collinson has done that rounds up all of the numbers so far. So, you know, best goals, best dribblers, all that kind of stuff.

All the stats basically from the first round of groups. For you who have been the standouts, first of all, standout teams and then standout players. Well, I mean, the standard team is an easy answer because I think we knew from way before the workup started at France are going to be really hard to beat. And the amazing thing with them is as a team they can play fairly ordinary and still win absolutely at a canter and you think they're absolutely untouchable. I mean, nothing in the game itself or you told you that this France team are particularly exciting. But then you have two or three guys just doing stuff. And if the two or three guys are not doing stuff, there's another two or three guys that can come on, do the same stuff.

Bring in the next ones are unbelievable. And you just cannot touch them. They're on a different level completely. So, yeah, standout team for me, definitely France. England, I was really impressed with against Croatia. You know, England again have a history of being really dull and functional at the group stage in recent seasons. Very competent, unlike the Germans.

I think there was an argument that they sort of became the new Germans in a way being very efficient and you know just doing enough to go through but then perhaps not quite getting over the line this England team looked very exciting especially the second half really expensive and a joy

to watch so those two sides as we knew I think before the tournament among the top contenders I'm really conflicted about England because traditionally I used to enjoy them not doing very well yeah we understand now I don't know because Harry Kane

place for Bayern Munich which is a team that's fairly close to my heart so I want him to do well Thomas Tuchel is there I don't know how I feel about that it's a bit strange for me singing England manager who is German and who talks about singing the anthem of all things very very odd yeah but they're a likable team I feel there's no you don't have the same kind of there I say arrogance or entitlement that used to be a a mark of previous England sides. They're just a nice, nice team who just want to play good football

and how can you begrudge them that? So I really, yeah, reluctantly, I must say I enjoy watching them. You can kind of see the pain on your face when you're saying it as well. And I'm loving it. It's a strange sensation for me. A couple of real standout results. The Cape Verde one,

which is just an extraordinary rearguard action from Cape Verde and rightly got a lot of applauded. And then actually, D.R. Congo, getting that draw against Portugal. Portugal, one of the favorites and just came up shore.

Probably the most disappointing side. I think Spain weren't actually that bad. They just couldn't score the goal and they looked a little bit sort of uninspired. But I think they're still among the best sides and they don't have too much trouble

going through the group stage. But with Portugal, you feel, wow, I mean, there is so much their potential that is being almost sort of willfully wasted. Yeah. By a very disbalanced setup

which kind of doesn't bring out the best of the players. They spent a lot of time with huge distances I feel that they're not playing very well together and of course Homeland there in front of in front there at Christiane Ronaldo so it's not great.

I was not great speaking to a Portuguese journalist yesterday and he was saying the thing is there's no way Roberto Martinez is going to drop Ronaldo. He was like he will start every game. Yeah, he already said. He was asked why... Yeah, why is that, man? Well, I think he's made up his mind that he's going to just not do it.

He said, I was asked, why didn't you substitute him? Because he clearly wasn't quite having the best of games. He said, I will not bring off the best goal score on history of Portugal. You can look at it that way. And you can still score a couple of goals, I think. But we knew that was going to be one of the... the big talking points of this tournament before because it already was a big talking points four years ago

and I'm always kind of almost sort of rubbing my eyes and disbelief thinking that four years down the line we still have the same issue with Portugal. And it's a shame because it's such an amazing team that really has maybe unlike any Portugal

side in living memory at least in modern times has a fantastic opportunity winning the tournament but not like that. It seems to me you know like when people say oh you know your parents look after you and then they get to a point where you look after your parents. It seems very much like Cristiano has carried that team and now the team seems to be carrying Christiana. I'm struggling to carry him. Yeah, but I think the difference is, I mean, with

children and their parents, the children sort of, most children, I would say, love to help their parents out and they understand that roles have now reversed, but in professional football, it's not like that. I mean, you have a guy who'll say, you know, I could be playing a lot better here. And I don't get the sense, you know, that unlike with Argentina and Messi that the whole team is playing for Messi, you don't get it with Portugal, whether that is a tactical thing or sort of the mindset. I just don't have the same, you know, we're all trying to help Ronaldo because he will

help us win this World Cup. You just don't get it at the moment. It's nice when the hosts are doing well. So we've seen Mexico progress through. The USA were really good in their first game against Paraguay. Canada got that big win today against Qatar, which I'll talk about in a bit more detail. And I just always, when the hosts are doing well, it gives the tournament a lift. Yes.

And again, that is, I think, something that is, makes a huge difference because obviously Mexico, huge football city, US slightly less. So Canada, yes, but doesn't perhaps have the, you know, the success, history of success at these competitions. I think it was Canada's first World Cup win, if I'm not mistaken. So that is, I think, really the icing on the cake in terms of the atmosphere. You need that, you want that. It wasn't really like that in Qatar. It was a little bit like that in Russia, but not to the same extent

because it's not really a football country the way we like to think of it. So you have to go back to 2014 in Brazil to come to a kind of a similar engaged local population. I mean, just walking down the street today, you couldn't. you know, help bump into people with jerseys and every single bar had three or four televisions out. And that just makes, that is what the workup is and that's what the workup should be. So the vibe is there. The vibe is there.

And the more the US, you know, perform and Canada as well, who I didn't have high hopes for, must admit. And Mexico, of course, now have won the group and they're on a collision course with England and the last 16 in Mexico City. so yeah I think it's great there's been some massive overreactions as there always are at World Cups and I wonder which your favourite one Spain and Eusis is not going to win the World Cup Portugal are going out

Ronaldo will never score again Aliso's the best player in the world I did say that yesterday I mean Olisa might be the best player oh thank you I know fun fact here one of the Premier League sides

you can probably guess which one they start with a B who are very good in data. Yeah. They assist them, their model, has Elisei Down as the best player in the world, just ahead of Mbapé.

Can I just say something that's really surprised me? Yeah. Is the amount of babies in the stadiums? It's quite family, isn't it? It's almost a sort of fashion accessory. There was, to hold up a baby in diapers. Yes.

When the goal is scored. So unhappy as well. Like, someone was celebrating a goal. A dad with the baby. The baby was screaming, crying. The dad didn't notice. That's like it is. And this is something genuine new.

I don't think I've seen that at a workup before. No, you're right. I was with some English fans in the pub the other day from Bradford, from Leeds, from Aston Villa. They've come out to watch a few games. And there was a similar situation. Watching a game, a lady picked up a baby, and the lads were a little bit disgruntled because they haven't been able to get tickets. It just went, I hope he's paid for a ticket.

I mean, this is the sort of question that keeps me up in that. Have they paid for this extra ticket? Or have they sort of had a baby? No, I think you've probably got the papoose on. Yeah, and then you say, I pay already so much money, you might as well get another human being in. I guess it's the same as like an airline, isn't it? I mean, it gets to a certain age, you go, well, you've got to pay for him.

The kids over two. If they can eat nachos, they're paying. Nagelsman changing at half time, as in changing his outfit. I have not seen a coach do that. He's like Madonna. I think he had three different T-shirts on on the same day. He does like fashion, you didn't know. But if you remember from his Champions League days with Leipzig,

The first one didn't work for him, I think. He had the stripes. He got a call or a text from his wife and said, you know, please wear something else. I can smell a brand deal. I mean, he's definitely been given some outfits by a certain high-end company. And he's got to cycle through them. And they've got, hey, if you could wear this, because this is spring, summer. And then we'll sort of get a different outfit for the next game.

You can only wear the official sponsor from the team, though, because anything else is forbidden by FIFA. Is that right? Yeah, did you see the story that Jamal Musiala had headphones on and had a little sticker over the branding because it's not a sponsor from FIFA? Wow, that is ridiculous. On Thomas Tucko, and you feeling conflicted about him managing England, his sort of man-management style,

what can you tell us about that? Because he clearly did something at half-time that had a big effect. on the England team? Well, first of all, I feel conflicted because I'm worried that he will win stuff for England because I don't think England have had a sort of technically and tactically proficient manager of his quality probably since Glenn Hoddle. So that's a long time ago.

And my big question mark was, can he find the same kind of relationship with the players that Gareth clearly had, who made it sort of a club, who made it, took all the toxicity out of it and all the pressure that used to be an issue. And I thought some of the choices he made going into the tournament and the way he communicated him were quite gutsy, stroke brave, stroke maybe foolish, depending on the result. I mean, you could see the narrative being written if things don't go well. He's left all the good players behind.

He's created a problem with Bellingham, but there wasn't a problem. But I think he's kind of, at least on the evidence of the first game, managed to push their buttons in, addition to all the tactical stuff that he is so brilliant. He's a fantastic manager. He will give very detailed instructions and explanations. You would have seen certain things that didn't quite work in the first half, and it would have, together with the analyst, shown him two or three scenes,

and in maximum three minutes he would have really effectively communicated what they need to change, combined with the kind of rousing, motivational powers that you need at this level. So he can be the complete package. It's just that England, I think, are a special case and can a foreign manager and can somebody like, Tuchel, who in the past has struggled with man management, hardly enough? Yeah. Can he connect with them the way his predecessor did, but it looks like he does? Declan Rice came out yesterday.

There's a few quotes during the rounds, and he said, he didn't say what Thomas Tuchel had said, but at half time, he said, Thomas Tuchel said stuff to us. And we were like, oh, God, yeah. And then Declan Rice said, what a manager. Like to get that from deck and rise, just from information at halftime, you're kind of thinking, they really want to play for them. They really, really want to play for it. And that's the thing maybe I underestimated or overestimated when I'm worried about the man-management thing. I think the highest motivation that you can get from players is their belief in you helping them to win games.

So as long as Tochel can do these things at halftime saying, look, position yourself a little bit more to the left, or the spaces are here, do this and we're going to score. and then you do it and you think as a player, wow, that's all I want from the manager. And then you will love and follow that manager, even if he's perhaps a grumpy and strange in other ways. I mean, think of Pep Guadiola. He is not a person that you can sometimes think

that he's the most easily relatable person in the world. He's very intense, very obsessive, in his own world a little bit. But players love him because he helps them win games and he makes them better players. Tuchel, I think, is on his way to doing that with England. So we've touched on Mexico, South Korea. I want to quickly talk about Canada's result against Qatar. 6-0, as you said, first ever win at a World Cup.

Absolute hammering for Qatar. Two-sent off a really horrible leg break for Kone, after which the stadium, understandably, like everyone, just sort of, it was just hideous, really, to the extent that you're not even seeing replays. Well, they didn't even show it on the highlights. No, no. And, you know, 6-0,

and then the managers were arguing at the end. I'm not quite sure what that was. Yeah, it was about the, I think, Jesse Marsh didn't go into details, but he explained that he didn't like the reaction of the Qatar bench, who I think tried to downplay the severity of the foul and trying to make out that Canada overreacting to it

in order to get the player sent off. Right. That's, I think, the argument. Okay. And then Switzerland for Bosnia and Herzegovina won. For me, like, it was quite a dull game for the first, like, 70 minutes. Yeah. And then it exploded.

And then it all exploded. The only thing I really want to say is when Manzambi is 20 years old, he's 20 years old, he scored two goals, both of them, very nice goals. When you get a penalty in basically the last minute of the game and your three one up, so the game is one. give it to the lad to get his hat-trick at the World Cup. No, sorry, I disagree. I have to be a sports point here. I have to be very German here. I have to be very German here.

And I'll tell you why. You think because Shaka's the designated penalty taker. First of all, yes, Shaka is the designated penalty taker. But more importantly, this one goal can make the difference between qualifying or not qualifying. It's not like a league game where it's like it doesn't matter. 3-1, 4-1. But 4-1 of 3-1 is a huge difference when it comes to maybe qualifying as the third best team and so on. So you have to give it to the guy who takes the penalties.

You can't just go for the hat-trick thing. Manzambi is a shooting star. You might recall or not because the game was too one-sided, but he was Freiburg's best player in the final. Against Ville. Yeah. And a real story of the Bundesliga season. And now he's come to the big stage.

And already I read somewhere in a Swiss paper saying that he's probably going to be the most expensive Swiss player ever after this World Cup. because Fyber will be able to hold on for him too much money. Then he would have been out another 10 million. Cheshire, South Africa, won all. I think the New York Times called it the worst game of the World Cup so far. South Africa got a late penalty, which I guess keeps their qualification hopes align.

Two points. Yeah, yeah. Raffa, absolute pleasure, as always. Thank you so much for chatting to us. All right, commentary is coming up later today. day. That huge game, Scotland, Morocco from 11pm with Alastel LeMont and Pat Nevin. Before that, USA, Australia from 8, the other game in Scotland's group, Brazil, Haiti at 1.30 a.m. Then Turkey, Paraguay, at 4 a.m. And the next episode of the Football Daily will react to all of those games. So make sure you subscribe

on BBC Sounds so you do not miss an episode. This is the story of the greatest rivalry in the history of sport, a rivalry that split football into two fates for a generation. There could be no, oh, Messi and Ronaldo are both great players. There had to be one that was better. They 100 million percent pushed each other to the next level. You know, we were the lucky ones who got to see it. I'm Steve Crossman.

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