Football Daily - World Cup: Tony Khan On The USA's World Cup

Episode Date: June 27, 2026

What could hosting the World Cup mean for football in the United States?Rick Edwards is back from his backgammon adventures to join Lloyd Griffith as Fulham's owner, Tony Khan, shares his perspective on the tournament, discusses the legacy it could leave in the USA and gives an update on Fulham following Marco Silva's departure.Guillem Balague joins to react to one of the biggest shocks of the World Cup as Cape Verde reach the knockout stages and Uruguay crash out. Plus, France impress again, Ousmane Dembélé fires himself into the Golden Boot race with a hat-trick, and Rick and Lloyd relive their morning kickabout where Lloyd finally got on the scoresheet thanks to an assist from Rick.

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And this year's World Cup is the most technologically advanced ever. But is it making the game better or worse? Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Football Daily at the People World Cup 2026. With Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith. Live from L.A. Hello, welcome to the Football Daily. Here's a quick roundup of the scores overnight.

Cape Verde have reached the knockout stages. I'll just say that again. Cape Verdi have reached the knockout stages. And I love it. After a 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia, so three draws for them, three points. Uruguay have been knocked out after being beaten 1-0 by Spain.

I'm going to talk about that a bit later on with Guillem Balagay. But just to reiterate, Cape Verdi have reached the knockout stages. Huge. It's so good. France beat Norway 4-1, although it was sort of Norway's second team.

Senegal beat Iraq 5-0. Not great for Scotland, but then nothing's great for Scotland at the moment. And we're recording this as New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt, Iran are happening. But you can check all the scores and highlights on the BBC Sport website and app. It is nice to be back after a little day off. Hey, look, I love Betty Lover. Me too, she's great.

And she was fantastic. Of course she was. A lovely day with Mario as well. It's great to have you back. I did tell the listeners and viewers that you were playing Backgammon. That's right, yeah. In LA. Yep.

Why? Why we've been backgammon? Because I love backgammon. Well, I mean, that gammon's not going to back itself, is it? Well, exactly, right, yeah. So I did win, unfortunately. How do you win? How do you win?

How do you win? What is backgammon? You win games. Yeah, but how do you win it? I was not saying how do you win football? Well, you have to score a goal. Get all of your, get all your pieces off the board. Right, will you explain that?

Brilliant. Thank you. I met a hustler, a backgammon hustler last night. And it was really exciting. Sounds very gangster. Yeah. Well, this guy... Go on.

We... Surprised you're still here today, Rick. I've got his number. So I might not be here tomorrow. In a kind of, in a friendly way or over, I've got your number. A bit of both a thing. Oh, okay. Yeah.

I mean, we had like a blazing row. It was really... I loved it. Right. Yeah. What do you have a blazing round about? I don't think you'll be interested. No one's like you to explain it because I think there'd be a lot of people.

What is going on? Is Rick okay? How long has you been away? I'm so okay. It was a position and he thought that the correct move was one thing and I thought the correct move was another thing. And we had a 15 minute argument about it. 15 minute? 15 minute argument.

And it was quite heated. How long does a backgammon game go on for usually? Well, it varies. I mean, normally like 5, 10 minutes. Pretty quick. So 15 minutes? Yeah, it was a good chunk. And by the time we'd finished,

literally there was probably 40 people there. We were the only people left there. Oh my gosh. And then what, you swapped numbers? And then we swapped numbers and said, we'll do this again. And he did say, oh, and we'll play for money. And I was like, oh, God. It's almost like a musical.

Yeah, I'd watch it. Well, you'd sing in it. I'd audition for it. Yeah, definitely. You wouldn't get the part. But you play it? Well, you could actually play the hustler. Do you know I'd play?

I'd play the gammon. You could be the back. I still don't know what this game is. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Thank you. We play football this morning. Yeah, a game that we all know the rules. Yes.

We know that you went and bought your cleats the other week. Football boots for anyone in England. But they call them cleats here. And so I didn't have any, so I needed to go and get some. So I went to get them yesterday. I went into a shop. And I spotted the ones I wanted. And I said to the guy, oh, do you have these in a 12, please?

Clang. Clang. Is that a clang? I think so, yeah. U.S. 12, so it's in 11, really. I didn't want to go through that rigmar. So I said 12, and he said, and I don't really want to do an impression of him, but I feel like maybe I have to.

I think, yeah, you have to do. He said, what you know about 12? And I was like, you got served by Ray Winston? Yeah, what do you know about 12? And I was like, well, I don't know how to answer that? And he just carried on saying, what do you know about 12? Sorry, was he from East End of London? No, I'm not going to do the accent.

I think you should. And then he looked at my bag. I'd bought a shirt. And he said, what's in your bag? And I was like, well, why are you asking me? Who are you? Dale Newton. And I said, well, I just bought a shirt.

And he said, oh, yeah, good, good, good. And then he said, you should go and buy some cologne in Macy's. I don't think this person worked there. No, no, he did. It's like, are you saying I smell? And then, literally on his phone, he started showing me where the shop was. So go and buy Cologne. Can we just say, L.A., we're in Santa Monica.

Everyone's quite out there, aren't they? Yeah. They're quite surreal. They're all in a sitcom. Most people that are serving you are actors. We're trying to look for a Hollywood break. I think he was just kooky. Yeah, oh, he was definitely kooky.

And I think in three years time, you'll see him in a movie and goes, he's the guy that told me to buy Cologne. And I should have done. It should have done. That's Tom Hardy. It wasn't Tom Hardy. Well, it could have been with the accident. Yeah, thank you.

The football itself was very good, mainly because... I scored the winning goal. You scored the winning goal. Assisted by... If someone else on my team... He's more of a team game, isn't it? I don't really. It was Rick Edwards.

Yeah. Rick Edwards. The Football Daily came through when it counted. I also scored a very nice goal. And this is, look, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but I was a little bit upset with you. Because, when you scored your goal, assisted by me, I was pleased as punch. Yeah. Really happy.

Straight in. Double high five. Fantastic. Got a winning goal. Really happy for you. When I scored my goal, what did you say? I'm good. You scored that.

Yeah. You said, yeah, I've got it you scored that. I can't say how much I wish that had gone over. Well, the thing is, right, the ball came across to you, and we're playing in nine-side goals. Obviously, aren't full goals, they're not small goals. They're mid-sized goals. And it was an open goal.

It was pretty much written. There was a goalkeeper. He was like coming across because the ball had gone over to you. So I'd say pretty much an open goal. And you hit the crossbar. Yeah, I've hit it into the roof of the neck. It's a magnificent strike. There was no roof. It was 45 degrees.

But right into the roof of the net? Yeah, absolutely. But why would you hope that I'd missed? No, because content. Because it was being filmed by The Guardian. It would have been an absolute city that you'd missed. It's not very supportive. No, he's not very supportive.

And I'm very sorry, and I'm very happy that you assist me for the winning goal. Anyway, let's bring in Tony Kahn. Owner of Fulham FC, owner of the NFL team, Jacksonville, Jaguars, and the CEO of All Elite Wrestling. basically a greedy boy. How are you, Tony? It's good to see you. Thanks, Rick.

Thanks for coming along. Thanks, Lloyd. Thank you. So you have got, if I've got this right, six Fulham players at this World Cup. Do you get to enjoy watching them play? Do you have any contact with them or do you just let them get on with it? Well, you know, I've been letting them try to focus on the matches,

but I have been going watching. I was there last night, the USA Turkey. I stayed in contact with a lot of the players that are former Fulham players too. I had a really nice talk with Tim Ream, who's also still playing with USA, was with us for a long time. So I love following the progress of the former full-on players. And of course, we have six fallen players in the World Cup. And hopefully it looks like they're all possible to advance.

When you are the owner of a football club, are you, like, buzzing from like, lads just go off and have the best time of your lives. It makes the World Cup. Or are you like, oh, I hope they don't get injured. Well, no, I think that you're really hoping for them to do very well and hoping to see them perform very well. Obviously, in the market, that can be very good for the football club,

but as a human being, I want to see them perform well for their teams. We're a very close club. I think Fulham's a family club, and it's really good to see the players who really aspire to this all year look forward to the World Cup for their entire lives for this moment. So absolutely, I want to see them do well. And we are also hoping they stay fit, and you want to see everyone come out healthy,

knocking the wood here in California at the table right now for that. But I definitely want to see positive results and glad to see everyone doing well in the World Cup so far. Is there a fear, though, if they do too well, then you're going to lose them? It's a football business side of it too, but as people, obviously I want to see them do well and have a good World Cup. So I always look at it to the positive that that can be good for the club and the market too because there's obviously the business side of football for every team.

Talking about the business side of football, obviously you've been to a few games. see this as like a scouting opportunity? Obviously I'm sure you've been doing all the work all year round but I guess are there any players that you go oh who's that? Can we come we? I mean he's unlikely to say now I think. Yeah absolutely I do I think it is definitely a scouting opportunity and going to football matches whether it's the World Cup or you know the Gold Cup there's a lot of good opportunities to see great football players here in America but also I like to go see football matches wherever I can.

And it's great to have so many of the top world-class footballers here on this continent. This is the greatest collection of footballers. Certainly anybody's going to be able to assemble. So I'm very excited to be able to see so many great matches so quickly over such a

short period. It's great to have you here and there's all this excitement around the World Cup right now. It's very fun. So who you got a boy? You've got me on the spot. There's some great opportunities and certainly I think there are players that I've seen here at the World Cup that it potentially could be great in the market for Fulham. I can't say specifically by name who but. Do you just write them down on a bit of paper and we'll have a little go, oh.

As soon as the microphone's off, yes, I'll tell you. I, one of my, well, I've got many dreams, but one of them is. Which one are you going to go into? Well, I'm going to get the clean one. Oh, thank God. I've heard some of the others. Horrifying. I dream that I own Grimsytown Football Club one day. I'd love to be able to then just buy players as an owner. Can you do that? Or do you leave it to the recruitment team? Can you go, I really like them?

Well, you know, I do a lot of work on that recruitment side. I don't know if you know this, but I actually work very closely on the recruitment, probably more so than most people in the ownership of the clubs. And for 10 years have been the sporting director. Right. And in the summer of 2016, I came to the football club looking to hopefully make some changes in a positive direction because I had not worked in an official capacity at the club. And my father bought the club. They had been relegated from the Premier League in 2013-14.

And then in the following two seasons had finished in the championship, 17th and then 20th. And after finishing 20th in the championship, I really believed that Fulham could do much better. and I believe there was a bright future for Fulham, and I wanted to change the approach to the recruitment. So I asked to please have the power over the transfers, and we made a lot of changes, and there was some continuity. The only players we kept from the 2015-16 season into the summer of 2016 were Tom Kearney, Scott Parker, Ryan Fredericks,

Tim Riem, and Marcus Bettinelli were the only five first-team players. And then Ryan Sesson, we brought it from the Academy, and we brought in, I believe, 18 or 19 new players. And so many great ones, including guys that have made huge contributions to the football club, like Stefan Johansson, Kevin McDonald, Dennis Adoy. It was a great time. And then that year, you know, after finishing 20th in the championship the previous year, that team finished 6th. And then the next year we did get promoted. It's been a lot of learning and a great experience.

and certainly the best results have been in the past several years and working closely with Marco Silva, who did a great job at the football club. He left very recently and we're in the process right now of identifying the next person to come in and coach the team, but I have so much respect for Marco and working with him the past five years certainly has been a great experience for all of us at the football club.

And he left on a very high note after four seasons, of achieving exactly what we wanted, which was building to be stable and getting those results where the past four years in the Premier League, we finished 10th, 13th, 11th and 11th. So we had very consistent results. So I think that showed how far we had come after finishing 20th in the championship 10 years earlier. And just remind me who you're bringing in as his successor.

Breaking all the news. Well, it's fair to ask. There's one name that is kind of floating around at the moment? Well, all I can say is, as I've said, talking to the supporters when I was at Craven Cottage last week, that we are speaking very closely to two candidates who both bring a lot of positives to the football club. It's a very important process. Clear. Clear. Really important time.

But, you know, being here at the World Cup and having the chance to visit with you, I thought it would be great to come and do that because it's an exciting and important summer for the football club. Well, as long as you keep your hands off, Grimsby Towns, David Artel, I'm absolutely fine with that. That's one of the two names. Well, if it is, I mean... Yeah, you'd be fewing. I will wrestle you. Okay. Should we talk about the World Cup?

A lot of the talk has been about the ticket prices. You know, I'm not sure if you've been aware of that. Do you think it's become too expensive for the average fan, or... Well, I definitely think that it is a very expensive premium game, and the prices are high. and it's always important to stay in touch with the fans. And looking at the prices market by market, I think it certainly is a concern, but I think that what's been great is that the games are all being aired on free TV.

And that is important. I think in England, certainly that's always a priority. The BBC and ITV do a fantastic job with the coverage. But certainly the live experience is so great, and that's such a huge part of football. So having tickets that are affordable is important. The 48 teams thing, I think, was a bit controversial because people were like, is that going to be too much football?

Are there going to be teams that ordinarily wouldn't be in it? Are you going to have some big mismatches? And actually, what we've seen is some fantastic stories. I mean, Cape Verdi is the obvious one. But he's like, no one saw this happening. And it's been brilliant. Yeah, absolutely. It has been exciting.

There's been some really fantastic stories. And you're right, there's still been drama. There's still big teams that have high stakes as we go in to the end of this group stage. And it's going to be really interesting to see who gets into the knockout round with that expanded field in that. That'll be interesting too because you'll have top teams

getting knocked out in the sudden death format sooner than they would have been. So it's a double-edged sword. And it'll be really interesting to see how it plays out, but it's great from the media side. So I do love it and more matches to watch. It's fun. And it's more opportunities. to watch more footballers.

So from a Fulham perspective, I do think it's better because we get to see more players and more opportunities to scout. I spend a lot of time looking at data and the more time we can see players in person that the scouts, all of us can get a look at the players with eyes and compare that to the data.

It's really important to have a complete picture and not just rely on one side or the other. In terms of the fan experience, what do you think football can still learn from your wrestling and an American football? I wouldn't, I think the fan experience is so fantastic in English football. It's one of the most perfect things in the world. I wouldn't change a thing about it.

I love it. And I am biased because I've spent so much of my life at Craven Cottage, but it's one of the most perfect ways to spend a day. And any kind of day, it's lovely. It's just perfect. It could be snowing, it could be raining, it could be a perfect sunny day. There's no bad day at Craven Cottage. and there's a great tradition of football there.

And so I love the experience and the match day. It's very different than NFL football. Going to a big Premier League game is certainly a lot different than an NFL playoff game, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. What's been interesting this time round in the World Cup, we've got the hydration breaks. So people are going, we now play four quarters.

Like, we're not two halves, it's four quarters. What I loved yesterday, John Murray, commentator on BBC 5 Live, just said, during the hydration break, went, what does Parade even taste like? So, I mean, there's people that never tasted Parade going, well, I guess might I try it? So as you say, from a commercial standpoint,

they're getting in there. Did the hydration break come in for the first time in the restart in 2020? Because I remember we had the high duration breaks in 2020 when we came back from the COVID restart. Yeah, from COVID. And we absolutely had the drinks break. Do you think it's here to stay?

Do you think we'll have hydration? breaks in a Premier League where we definitely don't need them. I cannot speak to that at all, but in the World Cup, I think it's been good for the experience, and I would have to imagine they've generated millions, if not billions of dollars in it. I've been told here by producer Lizzie that hydration breaks were in 2022, but sparingly, of a case-by-case basis, whereas here, no matter what, even if it's chucking it down with water and the players are just drenched.

That's got a name, Rain. Oh, Ray. When it chucks it down with water, it's called rain. I've been in Venice Beach so long. I don't know what it's like. It's almost like the terminology thing. The idea of it going from a game of two halves, like that old cliche, to being four quarters,

kind of just makes me go, blah. Well, you know, it's a game of four quarters. Yeah, I don't like that as a phrase. At the end of the third quarter, it doesn't really work. But maybe we just have to get used to it. We played Brentford in the empty Wembley Stadium in that season and got promoted through the English Football League Championship, playoff. Having been there two years earlier and played

Aston Villa in a packed over 80,000 people in Wembley Stadium, we were there two years later, we played in the empty, it was quite the experience. Speaking of Wembley, you're going to be there in August with AEW all in London. Do you get to go and visit the stadium in advance of putting a wrestling show on and have a little walk around? Because obviously I guess if you're, I think, do you hire it? I've never hired Wembley, and I'm going to speak out now. I don't think I probably ever will. But do you go there

and have a little look and can you ever, can you ever kick around? I've spent so much time at Wembley Stadium over the years because we've had so many matches with Jacksonville Jaguars football. We have fixtures for Jaguars play every year at Wembley Stadium. And

then we've had big games for Fulham, huge and have now had two awesome shows at Wembley Stadium and we set the world record for the most tickets ever sold for pro wrestling for AEW, which is a challenger startup league that we've started since I've known you.

And we set the world record in that time. And we're coming back, August 30th. This summer, the bank holiday, it's going to be a fantastic show. And absolutely, I hope you can come. I'd love for you guys to be there. It's a bank holiday weekend. It's going to be really special. Back on to the football, is there a concern for you as an owner of a domestic team about how

much football players are having to play now. So we've talked about it a lot in an England context, because we look at Declan Rice, I think he's played 63 games this season before the start of the World Cup, and he's having some fitness issues, and you can't help but think, well, yeah, he's played too much football. Yes. I mean, there's a lot of football being played at multiple levels. When you look at the top football, there's 38 matches in the Premier League and the international competition. It's a year-round job. It's mad. And how long the season goes, how many matches are played. But at the same time, it goes to every level. The championship, when you have 46 matches and League 1, 46 matches. So at every level, there's a lot of football being played. It's incredible

how hard footballers work. And I think it's why at a national and international level, all the youth aspire to be top footballers. It's so many people's dream to be in that spotlight. we all know you have to work really, really hard to get there. And then the spotlight is a lot of work and it's a lot of matches. How much time off will you give your six players who are here? I mean, it would depend slightly on how far they get. But I think, and I would say it's a good question, but I would say a lot of that, to be fair,

would be now in the hands of the new coach who's going to be coming in very soon. Who's not David Artel? But is. Rick is an absolute journalist. Look, I'm just to be kidding him. He's good. He's good. He's good.

Oh, don't, he'll clip that up now. That'll be his ring tone. He's good. Yeah. He's good. Yeah, I completely agree with that. Do you think we'll still be feeling the impact of this World Cup in USA, Canada, and Mexico, in five or ten years? Yes, 100%.

I was a small boy when the World Cup was here in 1994, and I still remember it. And I hope it's not another 32 years before it comes back, because I think it's had a very positive impact on the sport here. and I think America and Canada and Mexico now as well have been yearning and hoping to have the opportunity to bring the World Cup here. There are so many amazing stadiums and towns here in America. We're in a really great one. I'm biased.

I love Los Angeles very much. But there are so many great cities hosting the World Cup throughout North America. And this is a huge opportunity. So I'm very glad it's here. There's a lot of great markets all over the world. But I hope that it's not 32 years again, because again, the 1994 experience is still resonating.

So I'm very sure Lloyd that the impact of this World Cup here in North America is going to be felt for a very long time to come. I've seen some quite funny comments from Americans saying, actually, I think we've done such a good job. We should just have it here every time. I'm like, no, probably not that, actually. But I do admire the confidence. Yeah. Tony, thank you so much for coming on. We'll see you in August.

And then maybe we'll pop down to the cottage at some point. That would be lovely. That would be nice, yeah. Love to see you guys at Craven Cottage. And see you down at Fulham Pier. You guys should come down. It's lovely now. The new Fulham Pier is really beautiful.

Just very quickly, would we make a decent tag team? Yeah, I do think we should do that. You guys should do it. I think we've got an interesting combo. What if that's a thing at Wembley Stadium? What if you guys come in the ring? I mean, look. Let's not rule it out, Zoddy.

August 30th. What if I find... Now, what if I get... Here we go. Okay, now you can cut this out if you don't want to do it. What if I get you guys and I get the two guys from ITV?

And they're the big bad guys. Come on. They're the bad guys. Come on. And the whole country would just go nuts if I said there's going to be the good guys with the BBC and the bad guys of the IT guys.

Perfect. No, by the way, I should note, before you release this, I work for ITV. Don't worry about that. They might do well in this. No, no, no, no. I'm going to drop the people's elbow on Mark Pugatch. And then we'll see.

That's great. Let's do it. Yeah, I'm in. We're shaking on that. You guys are in. You guys are in. Hey, so these guys, welcome to Wembley Stadium, August 30th, AEW. All in.

Rick and Lloyd are coming to the show. In the Range Rover Sport, performance is more than a promise. It's something you feel on every day. drive. With the choice of powerful mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines, Range River Sport responds instantly, bringing unbridled power and precise handling into perfect balance. Explore more at rangerover.ca. Every story is a technology story in one way or another. And on the interface, we decode the tech that's rewiring your weak and your world. On this week's episode, is AI pushing us towards an infinite work week? And this year's World Cup is the most technologically advanced ever,

Is it making the game better or worse? Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Five likes, both. So here's the first ball of this series. All the cricket you laugh. Ships on BBC sounds. Smash straight back down the ground. This girl.

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The football day at the People World Cup 2026. With Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith. Live from L.A. We're joined now by Guillem Ballagay, who's just been at the Spain-Uriguez. I'm going to be honest, Guillem. That is not what I want to talk about. All I want to talk about is Kate Verdi.

Are you kidding me? Cape Verdi. Yep. Second. Out of the group. What? Yeah, it's normal that we start talking about Cape Verde, but at the same time, wasn't for Uruguay, being just so terrible in a semi-civil war without the camp, where players trying to do one thing, the manager doing another.

Today was the best game, but you're absolutely right. It is historically the smallest nation to get to the knockout stages of the World Cup, I'm sure you used that already, but it's down to a team that gives absolutely everything. Everybody thinks like one, the draw against Spain, as you can imagine, reaction was like, how could we do that as only Cabo Verde? And then you've seen them do what they've done. It's got to goals as well. So it's not like just defending. And it's something to celebrate. They're going to play Argentina in Miami. I mean, what an occasion. What a game. And also, just what a nice reward for them for doing so well. Do you think they think they're going to

get anything out of it or do you think they're just got to enjoy it? They are, the thing about this side is that they are very competitive. The result is important. How they get there is not that important. And to be honest, they know they don't have the most talented squad, but they give absolutely everything. We mentioned that last time we spoke, to have a World Cup that allows these things to happen. It's to me an invitation to have even more nations

in a World Cup, even more weeks of competition. It hasn't been a gift to them to qualify. They've done it in a wonderful way. And they are kind of at this point, everyone's second team. It's the narrative that everyone here has enjoyed the most, isn't it? Yeah, you've got the Bozina story, of course, the man that should be actually doing volunteering of volleyball,

I think that's what he does in the summer. The school where he does it, he does it every summer, send a statement, a public statement, saying apologising to the parents that he cannot do it at the moment because he's beating the World Cup. But yeah, and finally he managed to get his mother, having access to the States. I think both FIFA and the United States as well helped

for her to be part of the second game. She became a star of the even ahead of some of the VAPs that are at the game. Start up that game. She's around still and will be as well. So yeah, and like that, you're going to find a dozen stories, of course, on that team. And in terms of that Argentina game,

they may not fancy their chances of winning, But their defense has been so resilient, so well organized. It's not just about the goalkeeper. I think they will go in thinking we might be out of restrict them. Yeah, the bad news is that Messing is not going to start against Jordan. So he's going to be a little bit fresher and a little bit sharper for to play against them. But never mind. We'll ignore that. But you're going to have to beat a defense that will be as solid and as compact on the edge of the box as he was against Spain and against Uruguay.

But be careful. because you actually give them the opportunity to count and they will do it. Only with three players, they don't attack with many. But as we're seeing, and Portugal has suffered against Congo, and we suffered it against Kauberde, England against Ghana. If you actually defend organously at the back, it's not easy to beat a team like that. Speaking of Uruguay, you're obviously there.

I'd say probably the biggest name not to qualify so far. And I don't know about Uruguay. They didn't make out of the groups last time, did they? I just felt like they're always a bit disappointing. And also, I think this game, yeah, they lost, but it was just overshadowed by the fact that they just looked. So, they just looked like they were just about to explode within themselves. And you saw the last five minutes was a bit of a disgrace from being brutally honest.

Yeah, let me use that word. It was absolutely disgraceful. There's no need for it. There were three, at least three tackles in the last five minutes that could have broken somebody's leg. In fact, Yer Mipino in one of those, supposedly his shoulder with shoulder, as injured his shoulder.

Nico Williams in that tackle of Canobio, who should have been sent off already with a couple of yellows or five yellows. He was actually, you know, no need for that aggression. But anyway, against Nico Williams was so bad that Nico went straight to the doctors at the end of the game

and he's going to have to have some treatment. He's not having the greatest of years we're waiting for him, we're waiting for a Charles Alamein, for a sharp rodry is not happening, another of the wingers Victor Munoz's injury, is injured Jeremy Pino, another of the wingers too may be as well and that's

absolutely crucial to Spain that the four wingers are not at the best right now and remember in the Euros it was about that wasn't it? What aggression with him without the ball attacking down the wings and all of that but some of it in the case of Nico Williams has got to do with what Canobia has done who deserved the red

I said perhaps even earlier that tackle. With the kind of yeah the tackles that were flying in from Uruguay and the general sort of feel

in that last five minutes has Bielsa just lost control of his players what's going on? I think he's allowed Uruguay to be Uruguay from that point of view the players were out

of the seat of the bench and in the technical area all the time morning protesting there was you must have seen it on television a couple of times where there was exchange of words and more with the Spanish bench

and he did get that right, if you like, that aggression that's so related to Oruai that has not gone. But he said after the game to everybody who asked, I haven't managed to get this team to play football in the good way that they did early on the qualifiers. So I think he expected him resigning or certainly the Federation not keeping him.

But what was interesting as well from that game, you saw, of course, that very strange thing of Muzlera the goalkeeper being replaced Bielsa who doesn't hire anything he was asked about it and said no he said he didn't want to play the second half I mean it is I wasn't watching it with you but I imagine

you said you've got to hold on to that there was a number of questions going on in mad I just love the honesty we've got to talk about the referee because as you say there was maybe a few other cards that should have been brandished beforehand but the American ref Ishma Elfath I mean

I haven't seen a more no-nonsense referee since his boss Pia Luigi Kalina. Reasonably aggressive, wasn't he? Oh, like, I thought at one point, they were going head to head.

I was like, go on, Raff. I'm sorry, it was partly his fault. That he didn't have to look after the school yard was a little bit down to the fact

that he didn't control matters from the beginning. The little files were not given, the medium files were not given, and only at the end he started to be a little bit stronger on the behavior of Rewa. But what was interesting

is that I was just hearing a couple of Spanish players after the game straight after the game in the fly zone and they were saying look is the world cop i fully understand their irwians went with everything they tried everything they did things a lot of things well and put the ball into the box a few times nothing was created of too much danger but there was no criticism from the attitude of uh of urawian players of find that good fair play from us how will spain uh the spanish team and manager be feeling about their

form in this world cup versus what they're seeing from france one of the other team's tip to win it well last time I asked I won't tell you which player it is but you probably have spoken to him at some point I said oh France oh my God

he's looking amazing and said yeah we beat them twice under this manager and they are in no fear whatsoever oh France I am I mean you are impressed of France of course

I mean you look at them Belé and you can you can I'm Bapae and now you know even have a midfielder that I'm midfielded can deal with matters without the ball and then only say played in the middle is so effective too

yeah okay but they faced us twice one in the semi-finals of the nation's league one in the semi-finals of the euros and we beat them well there we go then on that Norway France game it's a funny one wasn't it because Norway made 10 changes they're just like well it doesn't matter we're just all about the the last 32 now that round of 32 game how much you can read into it I'm not sure. However, France's attack again looked extremely potent. Yeah, would you have seen a different game if they actually have played maybe with Hallen? I mean, Hallam would have taken the penalty and then it would have been a three two at that point maybe. I think it was three one, wasn't it? I'm not sure they would have done much more and at the end because when the players

that come on have got so much quality and the energy and the ability, they're battling for the place, but collas should start instead of duet for instance. So it comes. and tries to impress and then what happens is they take the game away from anybody. But for Norway, remember, they celebrated qualifying for the World Cup as if it was Christmas, and I think they are very happy to be here. And just, you know, having been already by the beginning of the game, as a second, the group meant that it just didn't matter so much to win it or not win it. They're not going to win it, are they?

They just want to be as long as they can in the tournament. What about the race for the Golden Boot then? This feels like, and you correct me if I'm wrong here, Guillem, but in my memory, we haven't had a better race for the Golden Boot. Like so many players are scoring so many goals, and it's really hard to call you. He's going to look down at the list. So you get Messi out on 5.

Dembele now up there after his hat trick today. Mbapé, Venetius Jr., Harland, all on 4. I think like six or seven people on three. It's just really enjoyable to watch it play out. Yeah, the fact that Brazil, France, England, that they've got the forwards scoring, that Vinnie has done it, that Kane has done it, that Halland with Norway has done it.

And they, perhaps with exception of Norway, they're not even at the best. These teams are trying to get to the best form. But quite clearly they're competing against each other, aren't they? Probably in Bapé could have rested at the end or I don't know they could have got as they did with them Belé as well

coming off and give him time to rest but he wants to win the golden boot and he actually will be, he's on the way to be the best goals scoring the history of the World Cup. He's got two or three more World Cups in Eman is only two goals in total from from Messi but it has become

important in a World Cup in the States in which football is saying like in other parts of the world as well as a collective but also an individual sport if you like a lot of focus on the superstars i think they just want to be seen they just want to shine that's why i saw today for instance alaminia mal very frustrated that he cannot do that he hasn't got the physicality for it while he sees others scoring those goals and and getting all the all the attraction nice giant see you chat to you again soon also england play panama later today 10 o'clock kickoff england are

definitely through now. How? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Just the way that stuff has gone with today's games, yesterday's games England are through. I think it's because even if

they lose and some under results don't go their way, the worst they could end up is third on four points and that would be enough to take you through as one of the third I think. You think? But I don't know. This is what I wanted to mention earlier with Tony is that, you know, the Americanisation,

even though this is an Americanisation, obviously, it's a FIFA have implemented this, but along with the high duration breaks, this whole third ranked team thing, I'm paying attention to that table, like my life depends on it. It's ridiculous. It is odd to have a league table of third places.

And also to go, oh, so and so, I've got a 48.3% chance of going through. It's like, when have we ever said that before? We've never said it before. However, it does mean that England are through, And at the time of record, Scotland on a 1.82% chance. Everybody else in that ranked table are on between 60% and 100%. Which reminds me of a scene from Dumb and Duma, appropriately,

where Kerry says, CSA is a chance. John Murray spoke to Thomas Tuchel earlier today. He has confirmed that Reese James is out of this game, the Panama game with a minor hamstring injury. So that's Livermento and Reese James out. And it is the area that people were talking about right back as being a potential worry. And they look at it and go, well, I suppose it's probably Jed Spence. Jed Spence on the right and you think Michael Riley on the left.

But then, if anything happens to them, you've got these utility players where Conzer. Conzer can play there. Dan Byrne has played there this season, can play there. But you kind of want... Where's Lewis Hall? Yeah. So it's... Well, if we're doing that,

Mr Alexander Arnold There's a few of them There's a few there Where's Harvey Rogers He plays a right back for Grimsby Rice I actually I'd probably work that out

Do you know what I joke about that And I'm just throwing that end Because he is a right back But for the last three seasons He's been playing centreback And David Artel Basically said

I think you're a right back And I'm going to try you need to be a right back Everyone's like What is you doing And last season He won a player of the year For Grimsby Town

playing it right back So all I'm saying is there might be a case where Thomas Tuchel knows probably a bit more than us and has gone, yeah, we'll be fine. So look, I hope it all figures itself out, but it is a little bit kind of like, oh, crikey. It is good to do a podcast about the World Cup, where a lot of it is through the Prism of Grimsby. Thank you for the questions the other day. Just to say, you can get in touch with us throughout the tournament.

Send us a WhatsApp or voice note on 08-80-28-289. Are you just writing that in your... Are you saving that? I've got something to show you. Oh, lovely. Okay. We would obviously love to hear from you. Just start your message with Rick and Lloyd.

We've actually got a message through already that Lizzie just gave to me before we went on to record. This message is from Joseph in Palmer's Green. My dad used to live in Palmer's Green. Carry on. Rick and Lloyd, I have to get in touch as my six-year-old son

just asked if you could watch Columbia versus Dr. Congo highlights. That's a triumph. Your humour is that of a six-year-old, but I very much enjoy it. Keep on dragging Five Lives Daily Podcasts, reputation through the mud. We'll do. Joseph in Palmer's Green. I think, thank you.

Massive, thank you. I love the fact that you're influencing a six-year-old kid to say Dr. Congo instead of DR Congo. Using my position for good, as always. In a way. Yeah. In a way. Commentaries of the last round of the groups coming up for you later today then. So England, Panama from 10, with updates from Ghana, Croatia, Colombia, Portugal from 12.30am.

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