Football Daily - World Cup: The Commentators' View Special

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

John Murray, Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball get together to chat for the first time at the FIFA World Cup. They reflect on their experiences covering matches at the tournament so far, from John's sausage bun in Boston to Ian going viral for his review of MetLife Stadium. Ali also discusses commentating on Lionel Messi’s record-breaking goal, which saw him become the highest goalscorer in World Cup history. Messages, questions and voicenotes welcome throughout the tournament on WhatsApp to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail]1’52 - marks out of ten for the World Cup so far 2’20 - Ian being in New Jersey for the Knicks winning the Championship 4’04 - John’s experience at the Azteca 9’00 - Difficulty picking out the players in the big stadiums 10’03 - When Denno missed a substitution in the Atlanta stadium & going viral in America 13’00 - the atmosphere in the stadiums 15’24 - John’s sausage bun in Boston 19’20 - Commentating in stormy conditions 23’07 - Thoughts on England so far at the World Cup 26’38 - Who will start against Panama? 29’40 - Ian’s hack on getting to the Metlife stadium & Americanisms 34’25 - The best teams they’ve seen so far & keeping up to date 37’24 - Ali commentating on Messi’s record breaking World Cup goal 40’57 - Listeners correspondence 45’30 - Unintended pub names

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That's good bad billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. The Commentators View at the People World Cup 2026 on the Football Daily podcast. Hello, it's the Football Daily. I'm Alastair Bruce Ball, and this is the commentators view where we five live commentators talk about the football, the words we use in football commentary and the places it takes us on our travels, which is particularly pertinent with this episode, a very special episode today. we join you from the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, although strictly speaking, us three. John Murray, Ian Dennis, both here with me, are all in the good old US of A at the moment.

John and Ian actually sitting in a room together, although I believe it's the first time you've seen each other since arriving out here to cover the tournament. And I am speaking to you from the ninth floor of the Hilton Fort Worth. So my next game is in Dallas. The next comment show I'm going to be doing is in. Dallas. I'm in Fort Worth, which is not too far from Dallas, blue skies, bright sunshine. U-chaps, though, you chaps are in New York, John.

We are, we're in New Jersey, actually, to be precise. And I've just sat down next to Ian Dennis, and this is the first time I've seen him at this World Cup. Honestly, it's about two minutes ago. And this is the first time I've clocked eyes on you at this World Cup. We've not seen each other since May. No. And here we are.

And we're recording this. So local time for me, I think I'm an hour behind you. So it's quarter to five here. So we're 15 minutes away from Brazil, Scotland. So I've got that on in TV in the background here. So that's going on live while we record. So just going to keep a little eye on that. But how's it been?

I mean, you know, we'll get into all of it, the games and the travels and the experiences and chat about England and Scotland, of course, in particular. But in terms of a sort of overall experience so far, Marks out of 10 for the World Cup 2026? Probably 7. 7 out of 10. I don't know about John.

My first... I've been in America for over three weeks because I was in Orlando and Tampa and West Palm Beach for the best part of a week and a half with England during the two warm-up games. But for the start of the World Cup, I came to New Jersey and I had a few days here.

But it was at the same time where the New York Knicks were about to win their first basketball, NBA title in 53 years. And it didn't really feel as if the World Cup had started because it was being overshadowed a lot by, you know, you walk into a bar and they're not showing the football. It was just the basketball.

And it was only when I went to Atlanta, did I really start to get a bit of that usual feel of a World Cup experience when you're traveling around and you get to see all the different supporters from the different nations. So the very start of the World Cup was a little bit strange. But it was the opposite for me. because I started off in Mexico City

for the opening match and it absolutely slapped me in the face right from the start that I was in the city that was going to host Mexico playing in their capital city in the first match of this World Cup and you know the atmosphere there was amazing and the one thing I would counter that with was

it wasn't like the mix that we experienced in Moscow for example before the start of the World Cup when it felt like the whole world was there for Mexico City it felt like this was Mexico City's big event and the country of Mexico and the number of replica shirts there and also the

what it was like on the day of the opening match and what it was like on the evening after the opening match when Mexico had beaten South Africa was a real lifetime memory and what about being in the Azteca and that as well absolutely that

yeah the whole experience of of being in that stadium, Ali. Yeah, I've been trying to listen to as much as I can via the BBC Sounds app over here to sort of try and sample those other atmospheres that you're experiencing. In fact, we can play some of that right now, John, so this is you in the Azteca at that opening game.

What a noise inside the Azteca. Onscore. We've got to fly past. Ports have just flown over the Azteca, green as well. It's not mistaken where we are, Chris. Oh, it's in some atmosphere. occasion. Oh, helicopters have appeared. Helicopters carrying the flag of Mexico. Two helicopters merely clapping away held by a cord from the lead helicopter. This is all about this the World Cup.

Incredible sounds and you brought that to live John so so brilliantly and I saw Chris Sutton's social media video of the duck wearing the Mexican shirt waddling around. Chris with a sombrero on as well. He's probably brought into headgear over here, Chris Sutton. He has. And the thing about that was that what they did for the opening match was they left, you know, how many things we've seen left on seats for football fans. But I've never seen this before. It was like a sort of thin cardboard circle,

which when you put it on your head, made it look like you were wearing a sombrero. And the brilliant thing about that was when they scored the opening goal, which was in the first 10 minutes, the Mexicans in the crowd all just threw their sombreros into the air. And it really made me think back to, you know, watching Argentina 78 with the ticker tape coming down. And it was just, it felt like it was an iconic experience to see that. And the funny thing was, in the Azteca, I actually left it until we recorded.

Did you see the video I recorded when I went into the Azteca for the first time? That was my, that was a genuine, that was not showbiz. That was my genuine first experience of walking inside the stadium. And as I said at the time, my eyes were instantly drawn to the points on the pitch where Maradonna started his run. And also, you know, where the Hand of God goal happened, which was at the same end where Carlos Alberto scored. Because we've been talking about it so much in the buildup to this tournament.

Those famous, famous World Cup moments. And just to see it, and the funny thing about it was that there was a strange light in the stadium, which made the pitch look very like it did when we were watching the TV pictures from 86 all those years ago, which I've sort of felt, well, that's probably the effect of TV. But with the naked eye, it actually had that sort of translucent effect on the grass in the Azteca. But I remember Chris Waddle telling me that the actual grass in the Azteca is, is longer than the normal. And maybe that little extra length gives it that different,

I don't know, feel or look. Yeah. Entirely possible. Yeah. And it was a magical moment when Mexico scored early. And the buildup that morning, honestly, because it was a one o'clock kickoff, wasn't it, local time, we left for the stadium 6.30 in the morning.

And I've not left for too many football grounds at 6.30 in the morning. and because there was all sorts of there were protests going on the teachers were protesting to draw attention to their cause and a whole range of other protests were taking place the other unions joined in

so that was why we had to get there quite so early that morning and we just didn't know Chris Sutton was with us Chris was quite skeptical about leaving at that time but it was absolutely the right thing to do to leave so early because people were flooding to the stay. We got there

before half seven in the morning, so it took us less than an hour, and the scenes outside the ground, I mean, there are thousands and thousands of people in the Brevardclick shirts were queuing. I sent you a little video, I took signoritas, so, you know, signeritas and the sort of equivalent, the male equivalent.

We're all dressed up, walk along the streets and in the early, you know, at breakfast time, before breakfast time, it really reminded me of going to the stadium in South Paulo, actually for the first match in Brazil, which was really evocative. And that was equally so.

The thing as well, John, listening to your commentary that struck me and made me think, uh-oh, we might have a challenge on our hands at this World Cup, the size of the stadiums and how steep they are. And I know I'm obviously not doing any games in Mexico, but the Azteca is quite something. But Ian, you'll have experienced this as well. We are a long, long way from the pitch. And we have experienced this in the big stadiums in Europe, but pretty much every stadium here, you're a long way. and then you and I were just discussing off air. I was getting ready

and I always think the hour before a commentary is really quite important that when you're not doing the buildup and talking, I like to be looking through the binoculars and trying to identify players and particularly teams and players that you've not seen that much. And the Democratic Republic of Congo

came racing out to warm up for their game against Portugal and we're in training kit, but normally you'd have a training top on and then shorts with their numbers on so you can start to identify. No numbers anywhere. No chance.

absolutely no chance. I noticed the same with Saudi Arabia and also Iraq. And it's a real problem because, as you say, you get the binoculars out and you're looking for the colour of the boots, you know, the distinguishing features either facially or whether they're wearing a wristband or, I don't know, a cast on one of their hands. And you didn't know who they were. So when they do come out, I mean, and luckily I was with Paul Robinson, who as you know does a lot for the Saudi Pro League, he was saying to me, well, that's so-and-so.

You know, that's, you know, I was able then to get a little bit more of a handle, but it is, it is an issue. And also, I don't know where you've been in the stadium is that you've been to alley, Dallas and Houston, in Atlanta. And I had the opposite effect to what you did, because I got told this Atlanta stadium is special. Couldn't even see the near touchline from the commentary position. I missed a substitution at half time because, A, it happened so quick, but I thought, where did that player come from? And you couldn't see, you could normally, you'd see that the actual change taking place.

But, and also at Philadelphia, couldn't see the touchline because the position is so far back and the banks and the rows of the TV monitors and whatever else. So you had to really crane your neck to see them in Philadelphia.

But Atlanta, because I'd also, when I'd gone to New Jersey, the MetLife Stadium, I walked in, and you're walking so high, and this cavernous stadium just opens up in front of you.

We're at about floor seven. And I went, wow, this takes your breath away. Put that on social media. My brother who lives in the States in L.A. sent me a message saying you're going viral in America because of this thing on social media because it had over 5 million views. And the response was really negative.

But what was the issue? That I said, this is a stadium that takes your breath away. They said, dude, it's a, it's a, it's a, It's a concrete dump. It's the worst stadium in the States. Can you believe this guy and all this? I actually had to Google. I got called a Euro poor.

A Euro poor. A Euro poor. Poor? Poor. You would say poor. A Euro poor? A Euro poor. I would say Euro poor.

P-O-R. A Euro, all one word. I've never heard that phrase. No, I had. But so many people going, get this Euro poor. so I had to Google it and it's it's a derogatory slang term for somebody who's from Europe

and I said to Alan Shearer I said what do you? Alan went this stadium's incredible I was asking everybody it's incredible it does you know anyway I went to Atlanta they wait till you get to Atlanta and I thought and I didn't there put it on social media but I actually think Tottenham's

Tottenham Stadium is better than than the one in Atlanta yeah I do because I've not been I will go there. Yeah. I will go there. The point is that, again, you know, very much

the commentator's view discussion point. The commercial positions are all very high, aren't they? It's a little bit of a mixture because all of the positions are quite close to the pitch because the stadiums that I've been in are quite steeply banked. But you are very high.

And I remember in the Azteca, I got my binoculars out before the match and I was looking down at the player. and I was thinking, I think they're out of range of my binoculars. What's Dallas like, Ellie? Yeah, what is the stadium? So the thing is being a big NFL fan. So my feeling about the atmospheres inside these stadiums so far,

and Argentina was a little bit different. So I commentated on Argentina against Austria, 40 years to the day, funnily enough, that Diego Maradonna scored the two goals against England in the Azteca, and then on a day that Leol-Messie took the record for most World Cup goals. So it was a pretty special footballing day. But that, to me, felt like it had a proper footballing atmosphere about it.

Every time you cover Argentina at a major national tournament, they are incredibly well supported. Some of the other atmospheres I've been in have felt a little bit artificial. So lots of noise before the game, music, Rasmataz. And I think the pre-match stuff looks fantastic. The giant flag stretched across each half and all of that, I think looks absolutely brilliant. But Netherlands, Sweden, which to the eye looked amazing, bright orange, bright. yellow. Chris Sutton went with oranges and lemons, say the bells of da-da-da-da-da, which I

thought was a very good line. But once the game got underway, it struck me that a lot of people wearing those replica shirts, and particularly the bright orange of the Netherlands, were not Dutch football fans. They were probably locals or Americans who traveled a state or two wherever to come and see the game and bought themselves a shirt, because the atmosphere just wasn't quite as you'd expected to be. And I get that. It's an incredibly long way to travel for the fans of these nations and the tickets. I mean, the fellow I bumped into in the lift ahead of the Portugal what game did I do yesterday?

It's amazing how quickly they go out of you. Portugal is Bekistan. Yeah. He said he'd gone online. He was an English businessman and he was on business in Houston had a look at trying to get a ticket, just a late ticket,

to go and watch Portugal as Beckystan. Cheapest he could find was $1,700. That's a lot. Yeah. I think also, talking of that, the owner of Atlanta, whose name escapes me now, he actually has made all the prices in the stadium

fan-friendly. So it's that you'll, when you go to Atlanta, you're not, there's no high price hikes in terms of a bottle of water. It would still cost you $3, but it's not as expensive as other venues. It's, that's like Augusta when we go for the masters, isn't it, John, that the concession stands, as they call them,

that the prices are kept low there. The tickets are obviously expensive and very difficult to get hold of, but the prices are sort of kept low once you're in. Although I bought a sausage bun in Boston last night at one of the outlets in the stadium. Is that what they call a hot dog? Actually, no. Actually no.

You could have had a hot dog or you could have a sausage bun. And she said to me, do you want a hot dog or do you want a sausage? What's the difference? There were different kinds of sausage. They would be like Frankfurters. in a hot dog bun, but the one that I had was actually genuine sausage. It was delicious, but the point I was going to make was that it was run by a volunteer group, and you paid for it, but they got a cut of the takings, which I thought was,

I wasn't expecting that. I was not expecting that, so I thought it was worth a mention, which I did during the commentary. Delighted to say we're going to have more correspondence from our listeners, the commentator's view, which we absolutely love. TCV at BBC.co. UK, hopefully we'll get to record another one before we all disappear and head home. So do send us your messages.

Listen to Paul's got in touch and sent us some Dallas recommendations. He says everything is bigger in Texas, but especially portion sizes. Yeah, I'm well aware of that. And cars, everybody drives a truck. He says he once paid $4 for a single banana. And I'll tell you, John,

it's the one shame of the World Cup for me so far. and we are here to work and cover the football, and that is what we're here to do. But I don't know about you two. In between the games, it's always nice to try and get out and sort of experience the country that you're in and, you know, sample the local culture

and, you know, visit places of historic interest. I've just not had time to do that. I've been shuttling five-hour drives between Houston and Dallas sort of every three days. Been out for some lovely food and met some lovely people, but in terms of sort of doing the Dallas history, which I know you've done, have not been able to do that

and that's a shame because there's some great stuff isn't there to do here. We did the day after the England match at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium we were not flying till the day after the day after as it were and so we did go to the school book

depository to the museum there which I really enjoyed seeing and as you say Ali because we'd stayed have you been to Fort Worthy in? No. Do you go? Yes.

Yeah. You will enjoy that. Yeah. And the hotel there, as Ali says, I mean, JFK is all over the place. And then we went to the school book depository. And I know people had said to me beforehand on its Elm Street, isn't it, where the assassination happened,

which you can obviously see from the windows. It's the sixth floor museum. And you look down. And people had said to me, you go there. You see the grassy knoll. It's all very. underwhelming. I didn't find it that at all and they've got a couple of

crosses on the road where the president was hit. So you can see that you can see that from upstairs and being down there so having had the tour around the museum and drinking it all in and having been in Fort Worth as well that whole thing about feeling

like JFK was here the morning of the assassination and you know we're there and the little monument there outside the hotel is quite something as well and some of the photos around so therefore then to go to Dallas and see where it happened and then to stand down there i thought crikey this is this is such a such an historic sport that it really did um i was pleased we were able to do that and

have the time to go and see it yeah just back to the stadiums quickly so far in the tournament i have done one two three four five commentaries inside stadiums i've not watched an outdoor game of football yet. Both stadiums I've commentated in, which again, that changes an atmosphere to a football match, yeah. It does change the atmosphere. So I've obviously done a couple of matches at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

It's outside in the Azteca. We've definitely been outside Ian, haven't we? Yeah. I mean, they don't like a roof on their stadiums, do they? Tell us about the... You've had the...

...thus far with the delay. Yeah, and I was listening, Ian, this was on one of our drives. So we turned you on on one of our drives, five-hour drive, between Dallas back to Fort Worth, and we listened to you all the way. It was two hours, ten minutes, wasn't it, a delay in the end? Well, fully enough, I didn't,

I should have made a note of the time when the halftime whistle sounded. And we knew that there was a storm coming. So we were led to believe that there was a storm, and I'd seen the local, I think it was the NBC app, had said there was a potential for an isolated tornado threat. which I was thinking, but also bearing in mind what happened in Orlando with England for the second warm-up game

where there was a tropical storm, which I actually think was more of a violent storm than this one. And the pitch was, there was a deluge of rain, and I'm thinking they're not going to play this. And all the locals are saying, the pitch will drain quickly. And it drained whilst it was still raining. Obviously, the heat and the humidity is well down in Florida.

So I'm aware of how quickly these storms can come in. said we're expecting it at half time. Anyway, it's going to be a delay and I know all the protocols and what have you and I'm thinking, well, I'll just stay here. And then a guy from FIFA just says, no, we need to you to evacuate. So we had to go into the media room, which thankfully was just a floor down because the media room at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is down seven floors and across a car park and there's no way you'd get there. You'd just have to stay on the concourse if it happened at the MetLife. So there we were

And then all of a sudden George our producer Gets up the equipment And we just talked for an hour With Stephen Warnock, Jules And obviously Pat With Steve Crosman And it went really quickly And then all of a sudden

We said that we had to get back into position But the problem we had then Is it was still raining So we climbed up the steps Because the lifts were just too busy We then started to get wet Made the way into our position and obviously the rain was still falling

but everybody was still on the concourse having their sausage buns slash hot dogs but it was a really really long day and then all of a sudden you've got to get back into game mode because you've had the best part of two hours doing

doing nothing so yeah it was an interesting experience the only good thing about it though is that there was no hydration break in the second half which they said so much for so much for the interests of consistency. Yeah, well, exactly.

So that was the best bit because in Atlanta in particular, they've been roundly booed. The loudest booing I heard was in Boston for the England match of the hydrogen. Yeah, well, John, as you say that, this is how it sounded on Five Live. England have realised that they need to get the ball

circulated. The ball moves faster than players and if you're going to try and pull players out of positions is your favourite bit, John. Listen to this. That's the lotus booing I've heard for a hydration break so far at this World Cup. Yeah. Yeah, we, that's becoming more and more prevalent, Argentina, Austria. It was roundly booed both of the drinks.

Why don't we have a little chat actually about England so far, John? So as we're recording this, Scotland and Brazil are just underway in their final group game in Miami. That's about five minutes in. England so far, of course, a beaten Croatia first game, scored for. four goals in that one and then Drew against Ghana. You're probably John Sick to the Back team. You'll have done lots of post-match analysis already. Ian, I'll love it.

Are you actually? Have you been able to watch the England games, Ian, somewhere? Have you found a spot to watch them? Have you had an eye on them? Yes, I have. So I watched both. And I felt, I thought the first one against Croatia, I thought, brilliant, very, very impressive.

And in particular, the changes that he made second half, where he could have, he just went for it even more, very, very bold decisions and obviously paid off. And then the second game, and I haven't had a chance to hear what you've been saying, John, but I felt that they missed John Stones in the game against Garner. Because when I was watching it, and I was speaking to, he's an expat, he's been out here since, I think 1989, he said,

a guy called Julian. And I was just saying, need Stones here to come on, to take the ball forward, England were dominating, but they just couldn't break them down. And then that would have enabled Rice and Anderson maybe to go a little bit further forward. It just needed something to unlock the Garner defence. Credit to Garner, actually, I thought they defended extremely well. Agreed.

And as we were saying during the commentary, you know, that is entirely valid for Garner to play like that. You know, I know people will say, well, you know, they showed no ambition. But they'd won their opening match against Panama. You know, four points, as we speak now, it's not confirmed, but four points will be enough to get you through, either in second or in third. And therefore, you know, Thomas Tuchel knew he told us the day before that's what the match was going to be like.

And it was exactly like that. And England just didn't have that break of the ball or that spark to be able to find the moment that they needed. And when they did get the moment, when O'Reilly's head had hit the bar and it fell to Harry Kane, He said to me last night, he was almost in disbelief that he didn't score. Yeah. Yeah, the hyperbole, though, around it on American television.

I didn't know the commentator. I don't know his name. But he was going to England now facing Jeopardy. Jeopardy. And I'm thinking, no, they're not. And he also said England are one of the favourites. No, they're not. And they're also saying, this is the greatest World Cup ever.

No, it's not. I was just thinking it went into overdrive. It was driving me mad. Carlos Quiroz was quite funny alley after the match last night. Oh, yeah. Because he came in to the press conference. And the man from FIFA was sitting there. And Carlos Keiro said to him, was VAR not working today?

Because he felt that this Consor Challenge should have been a penalty. He then said, later on he said, yeah, of course, VAR was on holiday today. And then later he said, of course, VAR was having a coffee break today. So he did the whole thing. But he also said, when they asked him about the way that they played against England, he said, I can't play Samba football against England's rock and roll, which I thought was quite a good line from him. But he was very pleased with the point that they hit against England.

They did their job and played really well. Do you think, John, there'll be many changes to the team? I mean, it's a different game altogether anyway, in terms of opposition against Panama, final group game. Do you think he'll tinker much? Do you think Nicola O'Reilly might come back in? Yes, I do. I think O'Reilly come back in. I think I'm like Ian.

I think what you're seeing, Ian, is a really good point out about John Stones. There must be a chance that he would come back in, although that would be interesting, wouldn't it, to change your central defenders for all three matches? Yeah. Unusual. Yeah. We certainly didn't say that under Garrel Southgate,

who liked that stability, didn't he? Yeah. Well, I'm doing all France group games, and as part of my notes, Saliba and Upper Macano played every minute of the Euros in 2024 and

you do like sometimes that understanding that stability to build relationships I guess but I can only think for John Stones it's a question of they're still trying to manage his minutes aren't they maybe because the lack of game time he's played and also if they do progress

he will become I think is it five games in 17 days in the knockout stages that England So therefore, to give him a rest now means that they can play as many of those games where there's very little recovery time in the turnaround.

I thought it was interesting, Ali, in terms of the reaction to the two performances. Yeah. The win against Croix, I mean, totally different kind of matches because different kind of opposition, but the way that England played in that opening 20, 25 minutes of the second half,

you know, there was that feeling, well, here we go, here we go. This is what England weren't able to do under Garret Southgate, people forgetting some of the entertaining tournament wins that England produced under Garret Southgate. And then the next match is a match that actually was very reminiscent of some of the struggling matches under Garrette Southgate.

Did you watch it, Ali? Yeah, I did. We managed to get, so both those England games have come straight off the back of Portugal games, which we've done in Houston. And actually getting two and away from that Houston Stadium is pretty good. It's not too hard to do.

So by the time we got back to the hotel, it was 10 minutes in. So we stayed at the hotel, watched the first half, then walked down to our favorite restaurant where they've got a lovely bar and they did some great appetizers and the tellies are right there and it's pretty quiet and there's nice people in there and watch the second half in there. And my feeling is, you know, Ian, you're doing about that reaction on American television. I always think, you know, exactly the point John is just making there with the England national football team. You know exactly what the reaction is going to be from so many people back home is after that first year, oh, yeah, you know, blood and thunder. we're going to win it, we're amazing. And then after the game, it's all going to be, you know,

Thomas Tugel hasn't got a clue. Why has he got the, you know, it's so extreme, isn't it, in football? The reaction is always so extreme, and there's always a line somewhere there in between. And, you know, I agree with you. I don't see. They'll come out of the group and they'll, they'll improve, won't they? They'll get better. And I think they'll be better against the better teams as well.

As I've said many times, there is, it's black and white with England. There's no, there's no grey, you know. Talking of travelling. the stadium, I must tell you that the first time we went to the MetLife, we were told it would take three hours to do something like 12 miles. And it took us two and a half hours. We hit a little bit of traffic. The second time, producer George was driving. And I'd said, we need to leave it a little bit earlier because of the traffic. We had a right result. Because we went past where the French team were staying. And they had a police escort with their, it was the equivalent of a

Luton van. It was clearly the kitmen getting a police escort and we cottoned on to this because it just pulled away from where they were staying. So we just said, follow that car. And it took us a completely different way and we did it in 45 minutes. Very good. Yeah. So just when we saw the stadium that we let the police escort go one way because they were clearly and we just and we were into our parking lot as they say. Yes. Although when you say that, Ian, I should mention that one thing we've done with our little group is, if anyone slips into American phrases in their normal life, then that's a $5 fine.

Well, I know why, and I know who you've been traveling with, but I know why they are doing it. Because when we're in Florida for the best part of 10 days, my brother Steve came over to spend some time with me and I was taking the Mickey out of him for his Americanism going you never used to say that in Yorkshire growing up and then Badger our engineer

would tap me and go there's another one so I think that's probably where the seed was planted yeah yeah I've quite enjoyed that so not the sidewalk John the pavement very much the pavement for you yeah and not blocks It's not two blocks away. It's two streets away.

Well, actually, no, I would disagree with that. Oh, come on. No, come on. If you go across into New York City or Manhattan, everything is done by avenues and streets. When I first arrive here in Manhattan, Dion is, Dion's over the other way. And he says, come and join me.

And I thought, oh, do I go? Anyway, Graham McMillan, very helpful. Another one of our producers or planning editor. Editor says, this is what to do. go on the train, catch the blue line, da-da-da-da. So I said, Deanne, I said, I'm on my way. Walking in he's with this bar owner called Tommy. Anyway, he's Irish.

And I said to him, did he used to run a bar on 3rd Avenue? You see, not 3rd Street, 3rd Avenue. And he went, I did. I said, you served me 15 years ago. And he went, what? And I went, yeah. And I told him the date. It was the 29th of October, 2011.

And he said, how do you know that? I said, because I went in very early to watch the 12 o'clock kickoff. And we were celebrating our 40th birthday because we're obviously twins. And I stayed all day to watch the football. And the 5.30 kickoff that day was West Bromwich, I'd be in Liverpool. So I was able to find the game and go, there it was. It was the 29th of October. Incredible.

You have an incredible memory for some things. For some things. Particularly if you spent all that day in the bar, I'm presuming not drinking soft drinks. So to actually remember that after all of that is some going. That's a good effort. He's widely recognised as one of the greatest footballers in history. He's won the prestigious Ballandour Award five times.

He's the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football. And according to the Bloomberg billionaires, index, he's the first active footballer in history to achieve billionaire status. Guess who we're talking about yet? That's right. Good Bad Billionaire is exploring the life and fortune of football icon Cristiano Ronaldo. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Hi, Life, Four. Hello, I'm Alastair Bruce Ball and I'll be commentating on the World Cup for the BBC this summer. It's a commentator, favourite World Cup moment. France 4, Argentina 3 in Russia, 2018. Amazing goal from Benjamin Pavard in that game on the half volley. What makes the World Cup such a special tournament? It's its exotic nature, I think particularly as a kid, it just seemed to happen in far off lands that you'd only ever dreamt about or heard about.

The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds. The commentator's view at the People World Cup 20206. on the Football Daily podcast. Listen on BBC Sounds. Just before we get on to correspondence chaps, very quickly, who's the best team you've seen so far? I mean, that's difficult, isn't it?

Because you won't have seen everyone live, but you'll watch some games on telly as well. Who's caught the eye for you at this World Cup so far? Do you know when you're asked right at the outset, your impressions of this World Cup? One of the things that struck me about this 48-team World Cup and also, obviously, we're travelling around, is it has been, as I expected,

impossible to keep across it all. It's just not been possible. And I feel like I've seen lots of bits of matches. I feel like I've seen lots of halves of matches. And you're trying to catch up on things and so many things slip through the net because there are so many matches. So I think it's very difficult to say who the best team is

unless you've actually seen all of the matches. So I know, you know, I've been impressed. by the same teams as everyone else probably when those teams have turned it on. But I would say the best match I've seen is England, Croatia. That's the best match I've seen. And I don't think there are many better spells

than England produced in that first 20 minutes of the second half. I would say that's the best game I've seen from what I've watched either in the stadium or on the TV. But France worry me from an English point of view because they're getting the results but they're still not, they haven't produced

the perfect performance yet. So I think France, who were, for me, one of the teams coming into it, you were thinking it was either between Spain

and France, I actually thought, so I would still say France are probably of the team that have caught my eye. Actually being in the stadium. Ali?

Yeah, France is firepower. Again, I've not seen them live, I think is frightening. You know, whoever they start, whoever comes on, they look absolutely lethal. Morocco,

have impressed me in Scotland's group and, you know, up against Brazil and Scotland, they were too strong for Scotland and I remember them from four years ago. They are a good team, Morocco. They will be awkward. What are they? Ranked six in the world. Yeah, well, exactly, John.

That first half hour against Brazil that Morocco played when it went through Brazil time and time again. Yeah, yeah. And Argentina, obviously, saw them be Austria. And they're quite interesting, Argentina, because in the build-up to this tournament, they have not played anyone of any note. They were meant to play Spain in March, in the finalissimo,

which got cancelled because it was going to be played in the Middle East, and obviously the world situation meant that was too difficult to do. So it was quite difficult to read them coming into the tournament, but the squad is very similar. Messi is on fire, obviously, and everyone is playing for him, and he looks like he's in the form of his life, which is a ridiculous thing to say, because he's been in brilliant form all his life.

But they are also, they are streetwise. You know, they are a good tournament team. So, yeah, I would say them. I would say them as well. Let's have a listen, Ali, to your commentary on Messi becoming the World Cup's leading goal scorer. He's currently, as we said, he has got 18 goals after scoring. This was the point where he scored the two goals to topple Miroslav Kloser's record of 16. Messi, not rattled by the early penalty miss, fires the place.

into Almada, tearing towards this Austrian defence, passes it to the left-hand side. Medina's cutback. Almada steps over. Messy! In the bottom corner, no man. Goals than that man, and he's not stopping anytime soon. That's a nice one to do, Ellie? Yeah, it was brilliant, John.

It was, and do you know what was so lovely about that goal was you could see it coming a mile off, you know, the position he took up, the way he was running. As soon as that ball came in, the Almada dummy was absolutely brilliant. And as soon as Almada stepped over that ball, you think that's... on Messi's left foot, that's hit in the back of the net, and you know what the noise is going to be when that happens. And then obviously, I mean, it was great drama John actually because obviously he missed the penalty. He missed the goal, you know, the target with the penalty early on. So I'd given that one the big buildup and then heavy, and the whole stadium was in shock after that.

And then obviously he scored the late one right at the end of the game as well. So Argentina has scored five goals and he's got all five of them. But, you know, Mbapapé, Mbapap could catch him at this tournament. He might not have that record at the end of this tournament. And that's been quite fun, I think, the Harland, Mappi, Cain, Messi, all of that going on. Yeah. But, you see, my feeling was when Kane scored two goals in the first match for England,

at that time, he was only six goals behind the closer record. I must say as well, Ali, did you get any idea about how much the commentary team from Argentina enjoyed that one? Do you know what? No, I didn't actually, John, because I'm trying to think where they were stationed around us. There's a good reason I ask that. There's a good reason I ask that because for the opening match in the Azteca, when as I say, the first thing as an Englishman that you think of when you walk in there is Diego Maradona. So my first experience of being in there, go up to our commentary position.

There we are sitting there. I look to my left. Who have they put next to us the commentary team from Argentina? And that is definitely someone with a sense of humour who did that. So we actually had, they didn't speak much English. And we had a nice little piece of interplay. And I was wondering, because the main commentator was a big guy. And I think there was a, his sort of, the guy who was working with him was a much slighter man.

But I had a feeling they might have been at that match with Messi as well. Talking of that, when we did Spain the other day, the Spanish, he was not two rows behind. He was a row behind, but he was a little bit away from us. when he started, my word, he was loud shout. I'm thinking, when you score the goal, where would he go? There's nowhere for him to go. Well, I was listening to Ali before the England match yesterday. You were commentating on Portugal, and I could hear them in the background, the Portuguese.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but Ian's right. That starts two hours before the game. And they're at, you know, they're at level 11, spinal tap quote, level 11, you know, two hours before the game. So how on earth they keep that going? I've no idea. But no, that was John. That was really special.

In terms of correspondence, Gab actually, one of our listeners has got in touch from Teesside, says, hello, Ali, John and Ian. Great work as always. That's very kind, Gav. Thank you. Your podcast has been a staple of my ultra walks this year. When you're away on these big tournaments, how well, if at all, do you get to know the commentating teams from other countries? Have you had any...

Yeah, quite well. Do you have much confidence? It's my answer to that. Because, you know, we've done it now for... such a long time that you do tend to see the same people. And so it is quite nice from that point of view. I was talking to the commentator from Belgium was staying in the same hotel. I've known him for a long time. He was off to watch the Belgians. I saw Casper from Norway who covers the Premier League, who you two probably know. And he was talking to me about the prospect of us meeting

up again should England and Norway cross paths, which is entirely possible. And so yes, is the answer, Gav. Certainly from my point of view, you do get to know those commentary teams from the other countries. I mean, I quite often will speak to commentators from the other countries to do pronunciations, actually,

to run through the teams and just sort of get a double check on that. We've had this one from Matt in Mexico City who says, hi, Ali, Ian and John. I'm loving the podcast to get to the warts and all behind the mic view of what goes on and hearing how you prepare for a football match in a tournament.

How do you get to stadiums in the huge cities you'll be commentating on at for this World Cup as compared to the ease of travelling around Qatar. Matt says, I live in Mexico and the Aztec stadium is quite a long journey from the main hotel area of the city. Traffic chaos is bad on most days and with matches coinciding with the afternoon rains in June and July during the World Cup, it's surely madness. I can't imagine with all your equipment, public transport is an option. So what do you do? Do you head to the stadium five hours before kick off to be on the safe side? in a taxi. Have you ever had the stress

of being stuck in traffic and looking at the watch anxiously? Thank you Matt. I think we've kind of covered that already, haven't we, with Mexico City, but the answer to that is very much yes and yes. And we can't often drive ourselves, don't we? Like in Boston for the match there, we drove

to the stadium because it was I mean, actually that was a little bit like yoursy and one way it took us nearly two hours on the way back. It was 40 minutes. And that does help, I must say, of transporting the equipment, being in a car where you can park outside the ground is a big help. They are super slick operations as well, these stadiums. I mean, they're so used to hosting the big

events, but driving away from Houston and Dallas, it's amazing how quickly, you know, almost on the full-time whistle with thousands of people coming out of the ground that you can get away and get moving. That's one thing. The organization here, but I think they're so used to it with all the sport that's played in those stadiums is quite impressive. Trying to find a taxi outside The Aztec Stadium was an interesting one post-opening map I bet it was As Chris Sutton might have told you that, Ali

That was an interesting one But we eventually did it And of course it was such an early kickoff We had lots of daylight And so we had plenty of time Nees one from Phil in Brighton Dear Ali Ian John Most of my World Cup following's been listening

To your brilliant radio coverage We did watch some of England Garner on BBC 1 At halftime I was very excited Watching Alan Shearer's summary from the stadium In Boston Behind him in the commentary position was a UK three-pin multi-way plug. I rewound the coverage to show my fiancé Helene

and said I'd email TCV about it. Helen patiently replied, yes, love, I think they'd like that. Is the thoroughness of BBC engineers such that they take UK multi-way plugs on overseas assignments? Thanks, Phil. P.S. Helen and I are getting married in August.

Please wish Helen luck, as you can tell from this email. She has to put up with a lot. That is a niche question. Well, Helen, the time must fly by with Phil. Good look, Helen. Yeah, good look, Alan. Hope we both have a nice day in August.

Yeah, have a great time. That is actually, that's really eagle-eyed, isn't it, of Phil to spot that. And what happens is, with all of the equipment that we bring, our engineers will bring a UK... I do as well. Adapter. Yeah. Adapter. Yeah.

No, like a... The multi-blood. The plug-back. Yeah, the plug-back. Well, it's a four-way adapter, isn't it? Yeah. That's it. Yeah.

So they bring them. And that means you can plug in UK plugs. We're going to finish with unintended pub names, which have snuck in during commentaries, of course. This is where you can get in touch. If you hear an unintended pub name during sports commentary, Wimbledon fan Derek says I'm enjoying the coverage of the World Cup. My suggestion comes from Spain against Saudi Arabia.

This was on BBC 1. Cookwell's head up for Laporte. Pied away to the backpedaling Porro. So the backpedaling Poro is suggested, which sounds a bit like a trick. cyclist act. I do enjoy it when the listeners come up with what the backpedaling poro might be like. So if anyone's got thoughts on that, send them to TCV at pbc.com.com.

And Paul Robinson, your co-com, John, for this trip, had a suggestion in the England Garner game. Still nil, nil, in the Foxborough drizzle. Bellingham turns the ball out to James. Madewa here, gain out wide, takes on the left back, Mensa, who got the tackle in, and the final touch was off. it's a throw to garland. Just wonder what type of establishment the Foxborough drizzle would be.

I think it would be a cocktail, wouldn't it? Unintended cocktails. That's a good one. That is good. That is a good one. The Foxborough drizzle. Very, very good. And actually, I must mention,

because Hare Chapman was with us in Boston. It's the first match that he's actually been to and presented from at this World Cup. So I mentioned the fact that we were going to record a World Cup special of the commentator's view.

and he seemed very excited. At least I think he was excited. Well, he'd sent me a message when we were at Philadelphia earlier in the week, and obviously we had the delay, he'd sent me a message which basically read something along the lines of, get yourself out there and don't let the weather stop you from doing your job. Words to that effect. So I just said, don't worry, now what's going to happen?

Because we were more or less dry because we were partially covered. I said, this is going to be calmer now. you're going to get soaked when you're in Boston. So I did take great delight by sending him a message saying, how is the rain? We got away with that. We got away with that so much. That could have been really difficult.

I'm not sure how we would have stayed on air if it had rained like it did the previous afternoon. I was thinking about your notes, John. Well, Rob, our engineer, put these sort of see-through tarpaulins. over the desk, but even so, it was still, it was still raining, it's a light drizzle for the whole of the match, but I could kind of keep it undercover, although I've just unpacked my bag here in New Jersey, and I've found that my world soccer,

my addition of world soccer is a bit, it's world soggy, as opposed to world soccer now. Should have bought the digital version. Of course you did. There we go. So suggestions, as always, TCV at BBC.com. You can message and voice notice on WhatsApp as well.

I forgot to mention that. 08,000, 289-369. And suggestions also welcome for the great glossary of football commentary. We're not doing one of those in this episode. There's no World Cup clash of the commentators either. You'll be delighted to hear. But before we go, Sue in Effingham wants our tips and tricks for syncing up the live radio commentary on BBC sounds with the television pictures.

So what would your advice be? Who would like to... tackle that. Well, the easy one, obviously, is if it's a BBC TV match, then you can choose the option on the red button or on the BBC eye player of watching the BBC TV pictures with the Five Live commentary on it, and that is all synced up. So that is the easiest way of doing it. But then didn't our mutual friend Mark make a suggestion that if you, when it's not on the BBC, see, do you pause it for 15 seconds? I do it all the time, Ian.

I do it all the time back home. So if it's, say, Champions League night, and I want to listen to you guys, I will get sounds up on my phone, pause the telly when the game kicks off, wait for you guys, hopefully you're going to describe kickoff. Sometimes you don't. So maybe you have to wait for a notable incident in the match

where it's very clear on your pictures and then just release pause on the telly. The two are synced up. The only thing with that is you can't then, pause and go for a wheel go and make a cup of tea because the whole thing goes out of sync. So once you're in, you're in for the game. You've got to keep it going. But you can do it effectively.

You can also do it the other way around, can't you? Because I know some people with some devices, the radio commentary will be ahead of the pictures. So you can, if you're listening on sounds, you can pause on sounds and then match it up with the pictures if the pictures are behind the sound. I actually, that's the way I do it. Yeah, that's the way I do it more often. I find it easier to pause sounds and then watch that way. Yeah, so I hope that's helped Sue in Effingham. Anyway, chaps, lovely to see you both.

That is it for this episode of the commentator's view. We will hopefully be back again before the end of the tournament. So if you've got any more questions, please send them into TCV at BBC.com. Or you can send us a message or voice note on WhatsApp to 08,289-389-369. And of course, Rick and Lloyd will bring you Football Daily every morning from Santa Monica as we take you closer to all the big talking points at World Cup 2026. Plus there is extra insight, big-name guests and interviews from inside the England and Scotland camps.

Thanks for listening. The 2023 Ballandor, France footballer is Leonéry. The winner is Christian Arna. 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. This is Sporting Giants, Messi v. Ronaldo. Listen first on BBC Sounds. He's widely recognized as one of the greatest footballers in history. He's won the prestigious

Ballandor Award five times. He's the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football. And, of course, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he's the first active footballer in history to achieve billionaire status. Guess who we're talking about yet? That's right. Good Bad Billionaire is exploring the life and fortune of football icon Cristiano Ronaldo. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service.

Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.