SoccerWise - First Touch ’26 World Cup Daily Show Opening Day

Episode Date: June 11, 2026

The day has finally arrived and Susannah Fuller, Matt Doyle and David Gass give you all their fun soccer picks and predictions heading into the 2026 World Cup. They talk a little US and Canada with a special tactical breakdown from Doyle and a special World Cup simulation before the crew previews the first games of the tournament: Mexico against South Africa and a showdown between South Korea and Czechia.0:00 Intro4:53 1 Wish for this World Cup9:36 The Tourney Favorites15:40 The Dark Horses22:00 Vibes SC Picks26:26 Football Manager World Cup simulation30:15 Talkin’ USMNT35:57 Canada’s Prospects40:07 Doyle’s Tactical Segment43:52 Mexico vs. South Africa 53:15 South Korea vs. Czechia59:55 Declan Rice Sunburn

Good morning soccer friends. Welcome to First Touch 26, our daily World Cup show that we will be bringing to you every single morning from our beautiful studios here in Midtown Manhattan. We're going to be bringing you the best commentary, the best analysis, and in my opinion, the very best vibes throughout this entire historic and epic World Cup that we are on the precipice of. I am so excited to be here. I'm Susanna Fuller alongside my two best soccer pals in the entire world. David Goss and Matt Doyle. Guys, we're here. We're doing it.

Goss, we have a lot to celebrate because not only is it like World Cup morning. The Knicks. The New York Knicks. What just happened last night? Also, it's Goss's birthday. It is also my birthday. This just feels very, almost like serendipitous. Yeah. I've been.

Like, dawn of the World Cup, the Knicks had this epic comeback win last night, and it's your birthday. Like, all things are coming up, gosh. I'm a World Cup baby. So would you ask for a Mexico win on your birthday? Well, they're playing South Africa. I don't have, like, beef with specifically. If they were playing a European team, then it would have been an easy, no-brainer. I will say, I got a text from a friend who's a Mexican journalist because we talked about Mexican.

for a while on our shows as we've been leading up to this. Listen, I love Mexico. I grew up in Mexican soccer culture in the U.S. I love League MX. You love Mexican food. I love Mexican food. I know that. I go into Mexico.

I hate the Mexican national team. Yeah, that's fair. It is the hardest thing for me to root for. But in light of O.G. and Inobie being the greatest human being who's ever grace this planet, everyone can get a win today. Everyone deserves it. I'm worried that OG's star turn bodes well for English.

because he's London board. I don't hear. He is, but he does not see that vibes. I actually think I know Toronto's repping him hard right now. Okay. So I think the vibes for Canada tomorrow are high. Canada needs that because Moisbomboe.

I mean, he made the team, but best defender, irreplaceable. Alfonso Davies also, we're going to get into all over the other. I was going to say, guys, this is just like a little sample of what you are going to get over the next 40 days because I think there are, what do we got, 104 matches to cover?

And I'll also eliminate like the first 16. Stee. Buckle up, kids! It's going to be a wild ride. I can't believe that we're actually here. It feels very surreal. I went to bed last night, and I was like, this is the thing that we have been building up to for the last eight years,

and it feels like we have talked, we have exhausted talking about this World Cup and what it's going to be. And now that we're in it, it is this, like, it's this very, like, surreal kind of multi-dimensional. moment where I'm like, is this actually happening? Is this real life? So I, like, I had the opposite experience because, I think because, you know, as I'm a U.S. fan, there's no qualifying. I thought I didn't say it for much. Yeah, right. You know, qualifying is the trials and tribulations, the biblical trials and tribulations you survive to get to paradise, you know, which is the World

Cup finals. And even when it doesn't go well, it's still like a one-of-a-kind thing. And having not, gone through qualifying. I don't feel prepped for it. I feel like it just got plopped down. It's like, okay. No stretch, no warm up. Yeah. It's like, let's hit the thing.

I'm gonna be a wreck tomorrow. I'm like, because like I haven't flexed those muscles for a few years. I will say there was a bit of a moment where like you've said, we've been building up and waiting for it and leading to it.

And then like as of last night and today, I started to hit like my, I know what a World Cup's like. I know that I'm checking the schedule. I know I'm like looking at bars that are from different ethnicities to see who I'm going to go watch, when, where. I started to, like, do some of that and was like, oh, this is a normal World Cup.

And then I was like, oh, but, like, it's here. And that's the part that I think will be really interesting to experience out the gate of, like, obviously, the Aztec is going to be legendary. I know we're going to start and talk about some stuff that we're excited. But, I mean, the SEC is going to be, it's the first stadium, three world cups. I think to many people, it is soccer, and as it should be. So I think that's going to be huge today. And then who knows what's going to happen.

Is this your way of telling us that you found a place in Ktown for us? I have many if you'd like to. We're in a town by 10. That's pretty good, actually, yeah. Your girl needs some beep and bub. Okay. Stat. Stat.

All right. So before we get into all of our discussion points today, I wanted to ask you, let's pretend something for a minute. I am your World Cup fairy. Little World Cup fairy godmother. I have the pixie cut that kind of goes with it, right? I'm not the part. Okay. So I'm your World Cup fairy godmother.

getting nervous. One wish for this World Cup. One wish. It can be a result. It can be how it's going to go as a whole. But I'm waving my wand and I'm going to grant you one wish for this World Cup. What would it be Doyle? U.S. national team semifinals. Okay. You're not even going fine. You're just trying to be. Go one step further than we have in the past. It was magical for South Korea 24 years ago when they made the semi- That's, I mean, ironically, the same World Cup where the U.S. made the quarters. But to see them get to experience that in front of that crowd, I want some of that.

I want some of that for, you know, this team and this fan base, you know, and for myself. I like that. I like it. Luckily, do. I don't have to wish for that. If there's a second wish, Christian rolled on, outstanding. ending performance in the quarterfinals. I love you, you MLS sicko.

God. Oh, what a guy. See, I don't have to do those now. What a guy. Which is great. So mine will be more wishes. Yeah, my will. First wish, 500 wishes.

The genie says you can't wish for more wishes. It wasn't in the fine print on the wishes thing and you're not a genie. You're fairy. You've already disqualified yourself. This is a legal show actually first. My wish would be insane and brand with what I love. I will say something like the communities in these countries that are going to see their teams play get the moments they deserve. The Cape Verde fans, the Iran fans, the Algeria fans, the Bosnia fans.

Like, I think to me that's going to be this big event, which is, oh, I didn't realize. And I think there can be pride in that and there can be, you know, connection with that. And I think that can have lasting effects on understanding what your community is actually made of. and one of the reasons we see the Haiti fans come out every time Haiti comes to play is because it's a chance for them to connect but it's a point of pride to elevate who they are and say like this is our community, this is what we do.

We saw for the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and the World Baseball Classic, which is like so minor compared to what we're talking about but I do live in Miami so I got it. And just look at what's happening now. Just look at these fans that are pouring into these cities and a lot are traveling from overseas which is great, but a lot are already here.

Yeah. I didn't know how many Spanish fans or French people were in some of these pockets. It's even walking around Manhattan. I mean, it's wild. You are hearing accents from everywhere, all different kinds of languages. It's very, very cool.

What are you asking the ferry for? So my wish from the ferry, asking myself, is that it's the soccer that shines. Yeah. This World Cup. There has been so much distraction in the buildup to this,

just politically, socially, I and I have found myself getting caught up in it, and it's taken away the shine a little bit, and I hated that because I love World Cups. I live for them, and I want that. I just want the soccer to be the star and to shine. And for all of those issues to just kind of take a back seat for now, I'm not saying they are not important because they are.

They absolutely are, and they deserve attention. But for a moment, you know, soccer, we call it the beautiful game for a reason. you know, and it can be the great unifier. And I think that I really want that to be the focus in this one, because it'll be easy to get derailed and get distracted. But that's part of what we're going to do on this show every day at 9.30 a.m. Every single day. So I know the games, I've already been looking at schedules.

They're going to come hot and heavy, 10 p.m. Eastern Time kickoffs, early kickoffs. So we're going to recap every games that happen the next day. So if you miss anything, we got you, we'll get you ready. and we'll preview everything. And like you said, I think we're going to talk about all of it. We're going to talk about the news. We're going to talk about the stories. We're going to talk about what's going on.

But we are going to try and find the joy in it because that's the thing we love. We absolutely are. And like you said, you know, ordinarily on these shows, we're going to be doing a recap of the previous days matches. Obviously, this is day one of this World Cup. So we're going to recap the Knicks for David. The Knicks game just for guys because it's his birthday. Love you, Tommy Scoops. I'm kidding.

No, we're going to kind of do some, some big picture conversations heading into this World Cup because as we know every time, every four years, this rolls around, there are always the favorites. There's always the clear front runners. And Doyle, you are going to give us your favorites for this 2026 World Cup, who you got. Well, there's kind of like two tiers of favorites. To me, there's three teams that are sort of levitating above the rest of the field. It's the previous winner, Argentina, who finished top.

of qualifying and Call Me Bowl and are two-time defending Cup of America champions as well. They have not lost a tournament they have entered in the 2020s. Last time they lost a knockout round game was 2019. That's wild.

Then they also have a guy you might have heard. Is that a real stat? Yeah. And I don't even think they're that good. Yeah. Like if you look at them, man for man, France, who are the other favorites and the other finalists from four years ago,

it feels like they have so much more talent than Argentina. And Spain, who are the third team in this tier, the Euro winners have so much more talent, it feels like, but this Argentina team, after a decade of being the ones who couldn't get over the hump. I mean, how many, Copa America, 24 teams. I mean, Messi's whole career. Yeah.

He retired in Giant Stadium like, what, 10 years ago, saying, I just can't take this anymore. Yeah. Yeah. And then he's won through his straight. All right, dude, relax. Yeah. So those three teams, you know, friends. are the depth and breadth of talent they have is incredible,

but they don't control the game through midfield quite as well as Spain does. And Spain probably have the second most talent in the world. And Spain also have my favorite player in the world to watch in Pedri, who is, you know, he's a central midfielder who doesn't rack up a ton of goals or assists, but if you're new to the game, just watch Pedri. He makes it beautiful. And of course, once Lamin, Jamal comes back healthy, he might be the other best player in the world. So those three, but then there's about five or six teams.

So that's like top tier. Yeah, yeah, S-tier. And then there's like a half dozen teams after that where I don't think anybody would be that surprised if they won. Brazil, Germany, even though those two teams have not been at their best, really, they have a ton of talent, and they're Brazil and Germany. England, I would be surprised if they won. I think most people would have England in the tier one, based off what I'm seeing. Yeah, but I mean, those are dumb bettors. That's like Lakers fans betting.

Like, the books always change the Lakers number. And to be clear, FIFA, when they made the draw, they seeded England in the three with you as they wouldn't meet till a semifinal if they all win. So in theory, NCAA tournament style, they're the top four seats. Why are they not for you? because they're England. I knew you were going to say that. Like, why should I believe they have the ability to do this until they show the ability to do this, right?

Getting to a European final, though, that doesn't do it for you? Did they win? They didn't win? No, they did not. No, they did not. And look, I love Harry Kane. He is the best forward in the world as far as I'm concerned. I have real questions about the squad that Thomas Tuchel picked.

I, like, I know that England has real. questions about the squad he picked. I just don't, I don't think they're at the same level in big moments as the teams I listed, but they are absolutely talented enough to win. The other one is Portugal. Portugal actually beat Spain in the Nations League final last year. I thought Spain outplayed them pretty well, but they have match winners. And in Vitina, they have probably the second best midfielder in the world, in my opinion.

and they have a lot of championship equity because if you look at PSG, that team is more Portuguese than French, especially in midfield. And they can control the game and they could, you know, Portugal knows how to suffer defensively. Netherlands, are they in this tier? I don't think so.

Their elite isn't quite elite enough. And like, look, Morocco deserves a mention. Based upon how good they were in 2022, based upon the fact that they won the, one Afcon, And the amount of talent that they have, I'm throwing Morocco into the top contenders here. Fair. Yeah. Do you agree with this?

No, I think all of them, what he mentioned, I think they're all right. I do think, I actually feel like Argentina has been somewhat, nice, I feel like Argentina's been somewhat. We got to keep our sponsors happening. I thought maybe it was like something. I thought a Knicks fan was coming through the window. I think Argentina has been a little bit underrated. So, no, I agree with.

People aren't talking about them. Right. I think it's to your point, which is they don't really play this thing. It's tough to figure out, like I was going through film. And like, it's easy to sort of deconstruct what France and Spain, what makes them so special. But with Argentina, it's like, well, it's messy, but it's not just messy. They do this other stuff around him, but you're not really sure exactly what it is for a moment to moment. And I think a lot of that is just this team has played together for so long at such a high level that they have like,

complete, you know, 10,000 hour rule, synchronicity. The thing, I think so. It's a really good album. I think the thing with Argentina is, you know it's going to fall apart, right? Look what happened to Spain in 2014, and we just don't know when.

And that stuff's like a little bit less predictable. So like at some point, the old guys are going to, I mean, Nicholas Hauda Mendi starts at, how many finals can he stay? Right. So that's, I think, the word. The other thing that I always thought of was like in the 2010s, they kept losing those finals,

on hell d maria kept getting hurt and missing or playing at like half strength in those finals and then in 21 cop america he was healthy and they won 22 world cup he was healthy and they won 25 co or 24 cop america he was healthy and they won on held the d maria is not a central part of this team yeah okay should we move it along us to the dark horses this is my favorite space because this is the this is this is normally the teams I pick to win, they don't win, I lose my brackets, and that's what happens. I wish I wish you guys could see. And I'm always playing with these names. And a lot of these are, I think, the game's becoming more global.

And what's happening there is because scouting's more accessible, because travel is a little bit easier because of digital technology. And then I think also because of broadcast, more players from more places in the world are getting brought into the biggest teams around the world. And so that like high level quality. I mean, Ecuador is going to start a centerback pairing of two guys who play in the Champions League final. There's something you couldn't even in Cayeto. And then Roy says Casado in front of that. They gave up five goals. Something you could not have imagined, though.

I remember when Antonio Valencia broke through and the guys they were talking about being stars for their team in the 06 World Cup played for PSV-Idenhoeven. It was a miracle for them that a player could reach that level. And now things have shifted a little, but the worry for a World Cup comes to death. and especially with an added game, because a round of 32 now with more teams, especially because of the heat and the travel and everything else that's going to go, it's going to be hot. Ecuador is going to be fine with the heat. So Ecuador, I think, is arguably the biggest of this.

And you'll see when we talk through our football manager simulations that happen, that Ecuador will perform at a high level. That's a little teaser for you. And they were, as Doyle said, they were a second best team in qualifying in South America. They were the best defense. They very much know who they are. Most of this group was at the 2020 World Cup. So they have a little bit of experience.

Did you see this progression coming for Ecuador? So the thing about them is they have this club independent de Valle, which is arguably the best youth producer in the world now. And that has helped spur more interest back into the league. So now guys coming out of LDU Kito and some of the other clubs, they're starting to get pulled forward. And I think as someone coming from outside where I don't have the historical experience of, you know, oh, you'll never be at the level.

Like I grew up thinking Columbia was a big national team Because I grew up out of the 90s And then you talk to South Americans who are older And like, oh, that's like they're that's a minnow Yeah So I don't have that historical reference So for me Ecuador coming into it Yeah, it felt like this was possible

But I think the issue becomes like what is What's the critical mass you can build of players To maintain it over like decades And then also can you push to to a higher level But it really is a lot of these young players that are all developed together and they've won U-20 stuff, and they've won youth Copa Libertadores and stuff like that.

If you could combine Colombia and Ecuador into one team, they would be probably at least a tier two, maybe. Because the story is Ecuador can't score. Enter Valencia is like 102, and he will still be the center forward for this team. He also has a snazzy little dyed haircut. Oh, does he? A little bit of blonde,

and we're going to be playing a game as we go through the tournament. Maybe I was the inspo. Maybe you were. Yeah, maybe you were. But I think they're going to win their group over Germany. I think they have a huge opportunity. If you're putting Morocco in your tier two, I wouldn't have them as a dark horse. Senegal is won, the actual winners of Afcon. Correct. They've struggled in their friendlies to get warmed up for the tournament. They've been

trying to change formation a little bit, I think, to have a second tool in their bag. I think they go back to set them up for success coming into this World Cup. They also are going to play France, which is the maybe still the greatest moment in Senegalese soccer history was their win in 2002. And they're going to play twice in New York City. If you've ever been to 116th Street, there's going to be some fans

there. I talked to a Senegalese guy in Miami who's like, I'm going to be there. Like zero questions asked. So I think they're going to have crowds behind them. I think they're going to have vibes. But they are in a group with Norway, who's another obvious dark horse with Erling Hollen leading the best attack in Europe towards the World Cup.

And the thing with Norway that people will get to the tournament goes is it's not just Holland. It's not just Odegaard. It is like one of those special moments where a star breaks through and needs support and it turns out that this is now the best group that's existed for 30 years. Yes. Are we allowed to use that term? I think so.

I love a golden generation if it's correctly used. And I think it is. Antonio Nusa, Oscar Bob. I mean, and then Berg and then depth through the team. And they seem very cohesive. Their vibes are crazy high. They also pretty reliably shift formation in the middle of game. So you have to prep two game plans when you're playing against Norway.

And, you know, teams really stress. I mean, over the course of qualifying, they beat Italy 7-1 on aggregate. That is no joke. I know, like, we meme on Italy, but Italy's still a really good team. And Norway buried them. Yeah. Did you see their team photo that they took? The Norway one.

That's what I'm saying. Everything they put out. Immaculate. Their fans are already like marching around New York. It's incredible. Yeah. The king's doing videos. Listen, I'm not like the biggest royalty guy, but like respect to the king.

You know, you're going to do a little shoutout video. They got boats everywhere. The vibes are high. Vives are very high. Okay. And then honestly, this is an issue where it's like I could go forever. But let me say this because we'll talk about them all. I'm going to put all three hosts in this.

Yep. Because you're a host country. I would argue all three. host got easy draws. So the assumption is you're getting out of your group. All three of them got lucky groups, which is they'll play a third place team if they win their group. Because of the allowance of the pathways and all of that, if they continue to win, you stay near your base camp. Also, all of this travel and weather and all the stuff, the only people who get it are the players in those teams. I mean, you've got guys in the Canada team where we're like, are we taking a coach bus?

Oh, we're flying sick. Then wake me up tomorrow and I'll play. So I think all three should be put in that conversation and um and columbia would be my last one okay so how many that's my problem this is my space a lot of dark horses this is my space there's like 10 teams I'm like these teams suck if you had to pick one of the to win it no like like the most likely of your dark horses to I think Ecuador has the highest floor of the teams I just named cool good stuff goss um all right so I am going to give you stop it so you mentioned vibes yeah and Norway is absolutely giving elite vibes right now. But for me, if we're talking about like, you know, vibes, vibes F-C, is that what we called it?

Vives. S-C. S-C. Yeah. I'm going to go with Curisaw. There's two teams that stand out. Curisow right now. So obviously this is their first ever World Cup.

So they're just riding high off of, they very much are carrying this. We're just happy to be here kind of energy, which is adorable. I did it last time. Somebody, oh, right, right. Is my earpiece? Yeah, it's his, it's his turn. We need a tape sponsor. But Curis out, so their base camp was in, good job.

Good job, Gus. Well done. See, teamwork makes the dream work. They're in Boca Raton, Florida, which, you know, just right there, just gives you kind of like country club. Country Club vibes for every video. Deep Sea fishing, teetree. Well, did you see their captain, Leandro Bakuna?

He threw out the first. pitch at the Marlins game. And he was practicing. Like it was, they're just, they're loving this. They're having so much, in every video they post

their dancing. And I think like when you look at their, like their group, their Germany, Ivory Coast and Ecuador. Okay. So like, they kind of know.

Yeah, they got 270 minutes. Yeah. They're like, we, this is, like I said, we're just happy to be here. We're going to take advantage of, of this moment.

Literally nothing to lose in this competition. So I think, think their vibes have been really fun and elite. It's been for Bacuna in particular. Like he's their captain. He's 34, 35 years old. He, I think his first cap was about 10 years ago when Carousaub barely even had a team.

Yeah. To get to this point now where, you know, that team is, I think, about a half made up of Curacao natives and then a half of the diaspora. No, I think only one person was born in Curisat. They're all Dutch. To Heath Chong is the only person that was born in Curisat. Okay. Yeah.

So it was even more extreme than I realized. So I guess the story is Bacquina deciding to play was like the first. So Eloy Ruhlian will tell you he was the first. Okay. Eli Rune lives in Miami now. Columbus Crew. Does he really? Columbus Crew Legend.

Because he's playing for Miami FC with Juergen LoCadia. So him and the two of them were the first. Okay. And they did a lot of the recruiting after that. Rudollett started the recruiting process. They sort of continued it as players. and then as the coach has changed. But yeah, it's an incredible story.

I think it's a cool idea of like, Curisound culture is them, right? Like that's their culture, and so they get to rep it on this level and whether they can challenge the teams on the field will be a whole different conversation. And then Bukunya had to recruit his own brother, which I think is really funny.

Like Junior didn't come immediately. It was like, oh, I don't know, I want to play for the Netherlands. It's like, bro, come on. Julian de Guzman and his brother who played for Netherland. Yes. It is exactly like that.

Now you don't make that decision. Canada is better. I also want to give a shout vibes-wise to Algeria because it's just funny. So they're base camp is in Lawrence, Kansas. Yeah. You know, right in the smack middle of America. They're staying at a double tree. Love it.

Which, you know, like very much an every man hotel. I love a double tree. That's where they put all the USL League One teams. I think they're an official league partner. So I myself have stayed at many a double tree over the last two years. But one of the reasons, and I'm going to give Goss credit here because he told me this story this morning,

one of the reasons they chose this hotel is so that they could smoke. And so like the thought of like these guys, these players, mingling with the normal folk and just like... Post it up. Post it up outside, having a siggy. Like that's vibes. Like that is.

That is that is vibes. There was a tornado warning the other night. And apparently none of the players or staff got up and left. They all just left through it. They're like, this ain't no thing. They're perfectly comfortable. It's a real sort of 80s vibe. Yeah.

Yes. Very old school. Meanwhile, the England team's like there was an earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico. Someone call an emergency. Get over it. England's going to get smoked on this show. Amazing. All right.

Gus, I'm going to like. you take the lead on this next segment. Yes, we are very excited that we have football manager as one of our presenting sponsors. So you can see the sign up behind me. And the game obviously has come out and you can get, you can play the World Cup in it. So you can go and download it on Steam and you can play and you can experience the World Cup. But to help you do so, we've already simulated the World Cup. So we can tell you what's going to happen.

If Derek shoots me up here on my computer, I can walk you through it. So this is, thanks to our intern, Theo, who helped us put this together. Good job with no problematic tabs. I'm working on this very heavily. I actually didn't even know they were going to show until he just said that. So we've simmed the group stage, and I'm not going to lie, pretty shocked. Chequia wins their group. That one was like the first out the gate.

Bosnia and Herzegovina. And then we have Scotland winning a group over Brazil, Morocco, and Haiti. What? Like, are you kidding me? Wow. And Scotland is going to be one of the stories because they're going to be playing in Boston, but then they're going to play a game in Miami. And you talk about sunburns, which we'll get to later.

Oh, yes. Yeah, it is going to be a five. Sweden, who are the worst qualifying team, are able to steal their group as well. So then we go into the knockout rounds and in the knockout rounds, this is where we get to Ecuador. Ecuador beats France. Oh, my goodness. Sweden and Spain play each other. Norway beats Morocco, both Canada and.

Mexico get eliminated in those knockout rounds. But here's the juice that I think everyone's going to be waiting for. So you've got the USA who continue on by beating Argentina, which would be the path, by the way. The U.S. wins their group. They'll probably have to beat the third place team from Canada's group. Then after that, they would probably play the winner of Uruguay, Argentina. So just keep that in the back of your mind as we talk about everything, but that's probably the reality.

And then you get into this. And this, I think, is what everyone's waiting for. if it happens and they both win their group, I think it's Kansas City in which Portugal would play Argentina and of course it would be Ronaldo against Messi. Because Scotland is the best soccer team in the world,

they've ended up in a quarterfinal against England, which we believe could be Mexico hosting at the Estetka. Is that Czechia still standing? No, Croatia. Oh, Croatia. Croatia knocks off the Netherlands and Sweden somehow is the lucky losers,

which wouldn't be unheard of, right? Denmark, 19th. So Sweden, every time, they don't always make the World Cup, but I think the last five times they have, they've gotten out of the group at least. So maybe that's a bugging the system now. So then what we have in the semifinals,

England beats Portugal, Croatia beats Sweden, which would mean we'd have a group stage rematch. We'd have a 2018 World Cup semifinal rematch, and we would have England against Croatia in this one. Jordan Pickford, goalie of the tournament. Antonio Nusa, our Wonder Kit. Best young player. He was on our show a couple months ago.

Incredible person. Incredible person. And I do think we'll be a star. You talked a little bit about Chequio when we were hanging out yesterday. Peter Suechek being a big part of this and the size they have. And then we've got Harry Gain. Nine goals winning the Golden Boot. So you don't have to play.

You don't have to watch the World Cup. you need to go play football manager, go get the game, and you need to come to the show because we're going to help you. Because tomorrow, we're going to do this for the U.S. men's national team and help play out the World Cup that they will be playing. Amazing. Oh, that was fun. I mean, four European teams in the semifinals, tough, David.

It's not unheard of. It's not the one tomorrow you'll like more, I promise. Okay. Yeah. All right, guys, let's get into some team previews here. So we're clearly going to start with the U.S. men's national team. I think we know now what Pacha's starting 11 is going to be. Obviously, one of the biggest pieces of news coming out is that Chris Richards is going to be available for that first match against Paraguay, which is huge, huge Doyle.

But just in terms of how we're entering this tournament, I think we can take away from those matches against Senegal and Germany. Like those were positive overall performances. So Doyle, what is your outlook for the U.S. men's national team? How good do you feel about us as we entered this tournament and get ready for our first match tomorrow? I feel really good. Okay. Given how they played against Germany and Senegal and given how they played last autumn. Now, obviously, the March window was a disaster.

We saw players, I think, lose their place in the team because of that. And we saw a poach throwout, just completely scrap a tactical adjustment he had made for those two games. And the tactical adjustment back in this window towards what the U.S. had done that worked so well in autumn. Like it worked well against Paraguay. It worked extraordinarily well against Uruguay. It worked well against Senegal and Germany. Why wouldn't work well against Paraguay again in Australia and Turkey? So I'm pretty happy with the way things are.

Obviously, it would be better if Chris Richards, like, I'm not convinced he's going to go from the start in this one because he hasn't played in a month. Tyler Adams, even though we have video of him jumping over couches and crocks celebrating the win last night. Derek, throw my computer up again. Don't worry.

We got you. Because guess what? The New York Knicks are up 3-1, and Tyler Adams is the New Yorker baby. It's worth it. He's like, Tyler. He was like, can you please stop moving like? That hamstring, look at that thigh.

Look at that money right there. The vibes are high. Matt Turner's doing content capture, everything you need. Tyler Adams was not great in those two games. And like the Germany goal, you know, he committed a foul that I think is a little uncharacteristic of him and it was kind of a desperate lunging type of foul that he didn't need to, and I think that's a type of foul you commit if you don't entirely trust your body.

Yeah. And the game before, he didn't track Manet's. run with the confidence that I thought he should have. And that's something where you don't maybe entirely trust your body. Is the U.S.'s success dependent on Tyler Adams having a good World Cup, performing at his highest level? I think the U.S. should get out of the group, even if Tyler Adams and Chris Richards don't play a minute.

If Tom Bogart played left back, you'd want someone who could complete a pass. I think the U.S. should have that standard. But once you get into the knockout rounds and you're meeting teams with everything on the line who are top 30 teams in the world by definition, you need your best players to be your best players. Yeah. Yeah, it feels like there's some depth to this team.

It feels like there's options. It feels like a number of players are peaking at the right time. That's what it's felt like over the last two weeks. The U.S. is not deep enough to not have the best 12 or 13 available for the big games. And what I was saying as I went through the football manager stuff is there really aren't, you can't hide. Like you got it.

The roads are going through teams that are good. You could get lucky in a round of 32 at this point. But actually, the way I've been gaming this out because of the third place teams, like big teams probably don't get eliminated. They just maybe struggle in the group stage. But you're playing a true name. You're playing Argentina, Uruguay, or Belgium at,

at worst in a round of, or at best in a round of 16 and a quarter final. So there's nowhere to hide and I think there's a little bit of a vibe right now of this group of like, oh, you know, together we can get it done, blah, blah, blah, and that's what you need.

Like you don't, it doesn't need to be pretty. It doesn't need to be special. You need to score a set piece goal and win one zero. And like, I'd like for it to be pretty. I mean, but it was an own goal in 94 and it changed the perception of the sport forever in the trajectory. So we'll take what we can get,

hopefully with less casualties. But we'll take what we can get. Earlier you talked about your sort of, you know, tier one teams. Where does the U.S. stack up against those teams? Like how far is the divide between where we are at currently right now as we enter into this World Cup against those favorites? We would be prohibitive underdogs against any of them. And I think the gap between the very top of the world in our sport and the rest of the pack has grown over the last. the past 15 years.

So. But right behind that, the dark horses, so let's say Norway, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, that's not a huge gap. Correct. Correct. I would go into, if I'm a U.S. fan, I would go into any of those games on home turf saying, like, we have to win this game. Right. Okay.

Should we top this group? I think so. Mm-hmm. You know, so Turkey arguably has more top-end talent. but they haven't really played like a team that I've ever seen. Australia play really hard. They don't have match winners. Paraguay, their best player, I think, is hurt,

and probably don't have the talent that we do. All right. We're winning the group. We're putting it out there. All right. That's my prediction. Gass, let's move it along to Canada, another host nation. They had a favorable group draw as well against Bosnia,

Ertzagovina, Qatar, and Switzerland. Canada is a team that has never gotten out of the group stage, and it feels like they've got a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, something to prove, especially based on their performance in the 2022 World Cup. So, Goss, when you're looking at this Canadian men's national team, what are your expectations for them in this tournament? Can I just say, first, all those group stage endings,

Steve Marth body the graphics we did. Everything looks amazing. So huge shout out to him and Ben and Evan and Mitya and everyone else working on those. I think for this candidate team expectations should be high. And that's why they hired Jesse Marsh. And that's why the last five years, six years have been heading towards. And as you said, it's a doable group. Qatar is one of the three or four worst teams at this World Cup.

So you should get three points. I have said over and over. If you get three points, there's a 67% chance you get at the group stage. So they should make history. Now, we'll talk about this over the next 40 days. What is history? Is a round of 32 win. A knockout win is getting out of the group the same as it used to be, whatever.

But it'll be momentum and it will be a week of soccer that Canada on the men's side has never experienced before. And the energy, I think, that will come into the country from that will be game-changing for the sport. And this is kind of it. They hosted the Women's World Cup in 2015. They've built the league. Toronto FC's been good. Christy Sinclair is the greatest goal score in history. They won a gold medal.

Like, if the sport's going to get there, I don't know what else they can do besides host the men's World Cup and do well. So let me just say, getting out of the group unquestionably means everything. Right. It is, as you said, it's history. Canada has played six games at the men's World Cup. They have lost all six. Yeah. They scored goals now.

And they're good. And that's the part that I come back, come around to. They are not coming in in a perfect time. Many of the pieces of this team have been hurt and aren't informed because they have haven't played or are currently hurt. Alfonso Davies the biggest. Yeah. I would be surprised if we saw him in the group stage.

I'd be shocked if we saw him before the third game. Mois Bombito, who is, I would say, a cornerstone piece for the way Jesse plays with this team, who's been playing in France after coming out of junior college. He broke his leg in October. He has, his first game of any sort real live game was the friendly against Uzbekistan, which he left with his leg wrapped in ice, and he's been working his way into fitness. As of today, we get official notification that he will be on the roster because the last time to change the roster is at 3 p.m. today for Canada. So he is staying. Ralph Pryso now comes off the team or is officially off the team.

Jaden Nelson's been added because the injuries just keep piling up for this team. So I think it's pretty scary that a lot of the guys they rely on, Stephen Oostakio, a special player. Now Richie Lareia because of the way he has to play, Alfie Jones might start at centerback. He hadn't played a competitive game in four months. A lot of these guys are hurt, but they're good. Okay. And I think that's where what we've seen, and we saw 2024 Cope America when they went to semifinal, we saw it, I think, in the 2022 World Cup qualifying.

There's a ton of belief in connectivity in this group. They have a lot to play for. I think the crowds are going to be great. Toronto, obviously, is special. It's a special place to play. But Vancouver's actually been the real, like, cultural home for the Canadian men's national team. They played a lot of big qualifiers in Vancouver. because they could get good crowds, and BC plays fills up and gets loud.

So I think that's going to feel really, really strong. And when you look at this group, I mean, I'm always underwhelmed by Switzerland. There's never a game I've watched Switzerland play where I'm not underwhelmed, except for when they... Who didn't they beat? Beat the hell out of the U.S. every time. Congratulations. Welcome to the club. I feel like they had a huge win against Argentina.

They had a good Euros. A couple of war cups ago. Or they had a good Nations League a few years back. They're sneaky. Like, I feel like... Yeah, yeah. But again, it's a good draw, so I think Canada should be confident

and feel good about what they're doing. Okay. Love it. All right, guys, it is time for... We've got our tactical... What are you? Armchair? Yeah, armchair analyst, tactics three zone.

Whatever you want to call it. It's our... This is going to be our first touch Tactics Board presented by Football Manager 26. Thank you very much, one of our lovely sponsors. And the next best thing to football manager's tactical immersion is this guy, Matt Doyle.

So he's going to give us kind of a more of a big picture, tactical breakdown of what we can expect on the whole in terms of what we're going to see on the pitch in this World Cup, Doyle. Yeah, it's how teams play now, right? You're going to see a lot of teams going out there and looking to get into similar and familiar shapes. It's just a question of how they go ahead and do it. All right. Let's take a look.

Every team in modern soccer is trying to get to the same place when they have the ball. The 3-2-4-1 or 3-2-2-3, depending on how aggressive they want to be. Three defenders, two holders, everyone else pushed high. The shape is basically universal. The only difference is how they get them.

Type number one are the teams that are born in it. They start in that shape. Three centerbacks, two-sixes, wide-wing backs. They never have to restructure. What you see out of possession is more or less what you get in possession. It's clean, but it's predictable. Then you've got the second type,

the classic La Salida Lavo Piana, which was everywhere in the 2010s. Start in a back forward, drop one defensive midfielder between the centerbacks, and suddenly you've got three at the back with both fullbacks free to push high. Pepped did it. Everyone copied it. It still works, but you need very specific personnel. The third type is rotating fullbacks, where the fullbacks take turns overlapping. One will go forward, the other holds.

It's more fluid with the highest attacking upside, but it means your shape is kind of constantly shifting. You need smart, disciplined fullbacks who read each other and the wingers in front of them. This is Spain right now, one of the tournament favorites. Then there's the safe build, which is the most conservative version. One fullback slides inside to become a third centerback. The other pushes up, but only to the defensive midfield line. Meanwhile, one of your actual demids steps forward into attack. You're manufacturing a back three in midfield pivot without exposing anything. This is what England are under Thomas Tuchel at the moment. And then there's the asymmetric version where the roles are fixed, not rotational.

One fullback always tucks in to form that back three, while the other always goes forward into attack. It's a committed structural choice, not a reaction to the game. Maricio Pachitino made this the identity of the U.S. national team starting last autumn, and it's worked. The U.S. have become more secure in possession and their secret weapon, a much more dangerous and dynamic pressing team since the shift. So there's five different roads, but only one destination, the 3-2-4-1.

In possession, everybody's playing the same game. The question is, how much are you going to risk to get there? Great stuff, Doyle. Thanks, Suz. Thanks for that. Very excited to hear all of your tactical breakdowns throughout the tournament. And then we can pretend we know what it is and be like watching games with friends and family and be like, oh, well, they're shifting it to a 3-4-1-2.

Like, you guys make me seem so cool to my family and friends. The cue balls over here is cool? Your family and friends should have higher standards. No, nah, nah, come on, guys. All right, Football Manager, 26 International mode is available. Now you can download it and stream it on your favorite console. The sale starts today through July 9th, and it's 50% off. So go do the thing.

All right, guys, time for some match previews because we are literally hours away from the first kick of this 22. 26 World Cup, which is very exciting. Group A action will lead off the festivities. So we're going to get into our Mexico preview presented by Soccer.com. Make sure you visit Soccer.com for the widest selection of World Cup product. Free shipping on orders over $49. You can get beautiful kits like this Porto 1 right here. Yeah, that's a banger.

A whole wall behind you. We've got Mexico. The France is so clean, Japan. Packing for this trip was so fun. Just loaded up on Soccer.com. I did. It's literally. all kits, which is really awesome.

And that's the sharpest. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks. Adidas did this whole drop of like the throwback. I said before. You do look like you could win a gold medal on balance beam or on parallel bars. I mean, I know it's your birthday.

I'll start bringing you more things. I feel like I haven't brought you enough stuff. Thank you. That's fair. All right, guys. Let's start with this Mexico versus South Africa match in Mexico City. This is going to be huge. I think overall, it feels like the sentiment surrounding this Mexican national team hasn't been super high, Doyle,

but you've said that that's actually erroneous. That's not wrong. This Mexico team is actually formidable. Tell us why. I just think they're really well balanced. They have a lot of players who are floor raisers and who understand their jobs. They're just really good pros. and they don't have the same type of super elite attacking talent

that there's no Cicorito, there's no Cuo, there's no Hugo Sanchez, if you want to go back that far. There's not even really a Carlos Hermesio, you know? Or Valar Gordano. Right. So it doesn't have the same spark that previous Mexican teams have had, but I just like the way that they've been playing for the past year under Javier Aguirre. And then they have this new generation of players coming.

Guys like Brian Gutierrez, who's a Mexican-American kid from Chicago, he played for the fire for a long time. He filed a one-time switch. He looks like he's going to be a starter. Obed Vargas, who I think everybody knows with the sounders, moved to Athletico Madrid, he's death. And then they have in Gilbert Domora, 17-year-old kid who is just, he is special. Now, it's probably too early for him to be the best player at the tournament

or anything like that. But there's a chance he could be the breakout teenager. And then your favorite guy, my golden boot draft pick. Julian Canaanese, yeah. Golden Boot winner in Saudi Arabia over Cristiano Ronaldo and Yvonne, Antoni, who are both at this World Cup. I think Kinonez will be the breakout of this World Cup in terms of he's sort of the last, it feels like a player is where it's like, I've never heard of this guy.

And the World Cup happens. And it's not like, oh, he might score a good goal. I think he might be the best player on the field. And we saw it in League. In significant games. And we saw it in League MX. his combination of technique, understanding of how to finish where and moments, and then athleticism and speed, I don't know how he went under the radar as long as he said, I guess he didn't, Tigris signed him. They just couldn't get him on the field. He's an incredible player. And because that attack lacks so much, someone needs to try stuff. And he's going to try stuff and he's going to pull stuff off. And he is so huge for Rollo Jimenez. But what he does, he's so great at attacking space behind the back line, which works really well when Roel Jimenez is your starting number nine.

and also works really well when you have two midfielders like Brian Gutierrez and Gilbert Romero who are willing to hit those passes in behind the backline. So again, even though it's not one player who you look at and you're like, wow, this guy could be one of this absolute stars of the tournament, all of these guys work together really well. But I need Javier Aguirre to be brave

and to play Edson Alvarez, who is their best DEMID, and DEMID is his best position. He has to play him as a centerback, because the value he adds at centerback is greater for Mexico than what he adds at D-Mid, where they have more depth and more quality. Yeah, it's an interesting test. Johann Vasquez is clearly a starter for this team. Cesar Mantes has dropped off, and I think that's where they thought they'd have the strength

to not play at Sen alvarez there. The question then in central midfield is, is it Obed Vargas? Is he ready to play that spot? It's more likely Lira, right? And then is it Lira? Is it Fidalgo? Fidelgo hasn't been in the team very long. And this is where Mexico's in a similar place with the U.S.

US where, and actually unfortunately more teams, which is the coaching change happened so late, but because the US and Mexico didn't have qualifying, there's not like a, he hasn't had a ton to work with. So these guys haven't been in fires together. They haven't really been in challenges. They've scheduled these weird friendlies to try and add more games. But if the guys on the team aren't at the game, it doesn't matter what name is on the scoreboard. So I think for Aguirre, he doesn't have a ton of experience with a lot of those guys in midfield.

They don't have a ton of experience as a group. And that's where he's going to have to balance what he. trust and who he believes in where Montez has a little bit more experience and the fullbacks are a huge part of their attack and Hazers Gallardo getting forward and all of that. So there's going to have to be that acknowledgement. I think the other side of being brave is they're going to have to find like how they're an attacking team. They are not a great possession team. And the expectation from their fans in their stadium is that they'll be Brazil. And Brazil in the 70s, not Brazil now. Like that's the way Mexico fans feel. And it's awesome to be around. But they're

start to whistle this team and they get mad and they get they get underwhelmed and they get frustrated and there is a time where home advantage shifts to disadvantage for Mexico players the players have talked about it former players have talked about it it is an acknowledgement I mean they booed this team in the November friendlies against Uruguay and a zero zero draw against Uruguay like not the worst result anyone's ever seen in which they were trying out a new goalkeeper because they'd lost their starting goalkeeper to an ACL injury So it can get intense very fast, but on the flip side, there's no home advantage like you with the altitude, with the way the stadium is set up with the potential for the crowd to just overwhelm you. The stadium being the Azteca. Let's just call it the Azteca.

Oh, really? Not the Mexico City Stadium. No, it's actually worse. It's been responsored. So it's actually not the Azteca. I didn't realize it's. The Azteca is a sponsor. Oh.

And now it's Estadio Benorte, which has now been changed to Mexico City. And in our hearts, it's the Azteca. It's the Azteca. It's the Azteca. Steckh. It just blew my mind. Stamp it. Yeah.

Me too. Okay. So taking on South Africa, Bafana Bafana, rematch of the 2010 opening World Cup game. They play a very defensive game. How can they rattle this Mexican side? Just about hanging in there.

Like what I said, I think for South Africa, what is their advantage here is this plays into their game model already. They weren't going to extend their lines. You watched the Afcon. They struggled when they had. had to go win games. They struggled when they trailed early. The only way they create chances is overwhelming numbers. And then that disorganizes their own shape defensively. So Ronan Williams

in goal was a shortlistor for the ball and door three years ago. He was that good at the Afcon in leading them to the semifinals. And then their centerback pairing is the strength of this team, one of which is a little familiar to this region and Embaqaze who plays in this area and is another Chicago fire. Chicago Fire. Yeah, and he's a rising star. Ember Kaze is fantastic. He's great.

Yeah, he's like a little under, I think he's five foot 11. So he's not what you think of when you think of a modern centerback, but he plays bigger than that. Size doesn't matter, man. He's the size of the dog. Did he make the L.S. All-Star team? I think he did. I believe he was in the first 11 vote. The first 11.

And I think Kat Busch, who did some of our data stuff put out before the World Cup as we were previewing it, like leads the league in blocks because he's so good side to side. He really like, physically. really good side to side, reads the game really well. And I was saying brave in context of the manager for Mexico. Embaqazi is brave with the passus he picks. And so if honestly, if South Africa is getting out on the run, it's probably because they absorb some pressure and Embalcazi was able to get on the ball

and break lines that like puts Mexico into full retreat. I just got chills thinking about the Azteca being like alive today. I literally, I know. And like, think about it, like the pageantry, right? The opening ceremony is going to be there. Like, this is the inaugural match of this 2026. There's going to be like 10,000 people when the game kicks off because it takes forever to get in that building.

This is, this stadium is soccer. How do you, do you feel like there is, there's going to be a little bit of a feeling out period between these. I think there's going to be. I think there's going to be. I think it's going to be shot out of cannon, but not cohesive. It's going to be high energy, but I don't know that they're going to be able to contain it properly.

and it's going to be like high press, but then the ball runs out, and then you start to feel your way into it. But you can hear that buzz already of what the Aztecas sounds like. I think for us, watching World Cup qualifiers there, like there's a feel to it that you get, which we're going to see at a World Cup for the first time in my life. Oh, my God, this is going to be amazing. Mexico for South Africa, 3 p.m. Eastern.

This is wild. I can't believe we've got World Cup matches today. It's so exciting. Okay, we've got another one this evening. Chechia taking on South Africa in Guadalajara. Oh, sorry. Everyone's South. South Korea at 10 p.m. Eastern in Guadalajara.

South Korea, are they a dark horse? I know they weren't really included in your list. Yeah, I think to assume they're going to go deep in the tournament is tough. I have them as the second best team in this group. So I have them coming out as the second place team. I think you could argue Kinman J is the best player in the entire group across all four teams and obviously the resume that he has and where he plays. And I think you would probably say in terms of like high level games, most of the players on this roster are better than a lot of the other players in this group.

It's a fairly cohesive squad that's been together for a couple of years. It's been chaotic as they've put it together on a new manager because they struggled at the last Asian Cup. They fired Yergen-Clinzman. It took six months to detox out of their bodies. And then they've started to try and rebuild things. But they will play out of this sort of this base three, three, five, two. 532, whatever you want to call it. And for this team, obviously Sun Yung Min is the huge piece up top, but it will be the

attackers underneath him, whether it's Huang He-chan playing with wolves, whether it's Lee Kang-in or Li J-sung, where they're the creative driving forces. And I think their necessity to go into Sunspace when he vacates it and push and pull, that's going to really like fuel their attack. And I think this is a game, well, no, I think, check here what doesn't want the ball. Yep. That's who they are. So it's going to be on South Korea to go and win this.

And if they don't, they're going to concede because Jekio will, they won't get shut out. Offset pieces, off counterattacks. They're the biggest team, their most physical team. They're going to score the goals that they score. They have a shick up top and he, like they will just launch long balls at him all game. And he's really good at winning that first ball. And in a way that sort of feeds into fabricated transition moments, right? You win first ball, second ball, and you go north-south.

Like, that is the game plan. They're really, really good at it. And it's a problem, I think, for South Korea, because it's going to... South Korea is going to have to be the protagonists. And when they have had to be protagonists against teams that they don't have an overwhelming talent advantage against, they have struggled.

And Czech, you know, Chechchia does not play beautiful soccer, but they have a lot of talent and guys who are really fit for how they play. They also, the way they qualified, you know, they had to win in the, no, they're like a cat. Yeah, exactly. They have 19 lives. They have 19 lives. And there is, you, you get a sense that they're one of those teams that has that belief

in themselves that when their backs are against the wall, they will be able to pull out a result. And so in that way, I feel like it makes them a little bit dangerous in. It definitely does. And South Korea are the opposites. South Korea have this collective, like the team has had sort of a collective psychosis at times in these big, they haven't won the Asian Cup in 65 years. You know, and this is a team that is always one. They got fake medals.

Yeah, there you go. We did a whole thing about this. They got fake gold and they haven't won since the fake golds. It's a curse. Yeah. They will break down emotionally at some point. Like that is who South Korea are as a team. And to son's credit, every time they get knocked down, he has been the one to rally them

and pick them up. and he will need to be better in this tournament than he has been for L-AFC this year. I just want every team struggling with injuries. It's going to be a thing we have to talk about every single time because there's just a lot of games, players are getting hurt. And this is the nature of a World Cup. It just comes around at one moment. It doesn't mean everyone's fit.

But Chou Min went down in one of the warm-up games for South Korea, experienced veteran centerback who was supposed to start, oh, and Kim and Jay. He was supposed to be sort of salve for a lot of the issues. Joel just talked about. So it's just one of those things where it's a problem you know could be coming. And one of your solutions of like experienced centerback who's been there before where our strength is who will help us calm things down,

you're just already missing him where he like turned his ankle in a warm up game. And so I just think that's like one of those hits that this theme will struggle to deal with. And what we saw in the World Cup qualifiers was check you hit early. Like every set piece first, the Denmark game specifically. And so I think that's where old enough to really. remember when they did that to the U.S. in 2006? Me too.

I've rewatched it recently. How big of an upset would it be if Chechia were able to? I mean, football manager has them winning the group. Oh, that's right. And I do think that's the thing with most of the host groups is the host got the best draws, as did the teams playing them. Because none of the hosts are the best teams in the pot one. Okay.

So it's kind of like very evened out. Qatar is an outlier in all of that. But in all three of those groups, like you could tell me, South Africa wins this group, I wouldn't be shocked. I would be pretty shocked. But you steal a win, you get a tie, now you're on four points. I would be pretty shocked. All right.

Well, if South Africa wins the group, I hope that you. Clip it. Clip it. Show your shock. Show your shock. Show it to me. And I think that's the same for South Korea. It's the same for Mexico and Czechia as well. But Czechia, like I said with Mexico, change their coach in December.

So all these teams are like chopping and change and trying to find like the right little bit of magic, which is what we've seen work at the international level, Croatia being the biggest example. Ooh, amazing. Soccer baby. Soccer baby. Guys, it all kicks off today. Mexico versus South Africa at 3 p.m.

Eastern. And then tonight, South Korea and Chechia. Chechia. Chechia? Chechia. I think it's Chechia. I think it's Chechiaia. Formerly Czech Republic.

Right? Yeah. Before that, Czechoslovakia. So, yeah. You said it with confidence and then you asked me, so I didn't know there was a question. Do you know sometimes when you say something you're like, they sounded weird coming out? Well, you said a thing. more than once. If I say a word like three times, I'm like, I don't know what it is anymore.

So it's going to be. We've got 40 more days of this. I was going to say it's going to be a long, long tournament. We'll start getting the Bloody Mary's going. We really do need. Also, I'm putting it out there right now. This is obviously a morning show. If there is any sort of, you know, booze company that lends itself to brunch cocktails, Bloody Mary's, Mimosas, Bellini's. Morning beers. We are a veers. We are available. We are available. We've got two beautiful sponsors in Football Manager.

We got plenty of space. Soccer.com, but we got room. You see all this? Yeah, we got space. These are for beverages. Yeah. And yeah, that would be really fun. Yeah.

Really fun. Okay. Before we go, I want to do this thing at the end. I feel, you know, we got to keep this light and fun. Not that we haven't. But I want to show, like, something that has made me smile, laugh. I don't know, just hitching the good feels. And I saw this last night.

It was just, it was so relatable, but also so funny and goes into a trope that Doyle has been kind of hammering down. So Declan Rice, England have been based in Orlando, okay? And you, when I picked Harry Kane as my golden, you laughed in your face. You laughed in my face because you said these English boys are going to fry in the heat. Well, Declan Rice completely playing into that narrative because they took their team photos and this is how it's. turned out for Declan. I feel like he should go to the emergency room. Look at the watch line.

This is like the most normal thing. It's so embarrassing. You can see it on his head too. Like he is absolutely scorched. He definitely like first day was like, oh, I'll go out for training. I'll go get sunscreen. I'm concerned for him.

That's horrifying. My English friends, it's like like sunscreen just doesn't, it's not something they even like really like consider. Meanwhile, Australians are like the full hat sleeves Yes, because they know. Well, they haven't had an ozone layer for 50 years.

This is incredible. And then I guess he was interviewed about it and asked about it. And he said his mom, like, got on the phone and just yelled at him. I will say this. What are you doing? It's called sunscreen. When we go on vacation and, you know, people, you like go into the hotel restaurant, my wife is just like, oh my God.

Because you see these people come in and it's like they fell asleep in the sun. 100%. Or they just have no. I live in Miami. They just have no idea what's coming. And it's like, so, that reminds me, Scotland plays their final group stage game against Brazil in Miami. I'm pretty sure it's like a day game.

Oh, geez. And I just, I don't even know that FEMA has enough support. Oh, Godspeed. Yeah. And on top of that, you know they're going to get the drinks. But it's the fans. The fans are going to just. No, I'm saying, oh, I'm not talking about the players at all.

I'm talking about the fans. The players are done. No. They have no shot. No shot. I'm talking about the fans where it's like, you have, I'm not sat in an NFL stadium, which is built to be a microwave wide open in the middle of nowhere, Miami. Sorry, Miami Gardens.

When you, like, burn the insect through the magnified. That's what it is. You're going to be able to smell the stadium from a distance. And on that note, wow. Guys, we did it. Our first episode in the books. The number one show out there. This is so much fun.

Seriously, though, thank you guys so much for tuning in and joining us. As I said, we're going to be here every single morning at 9.30 a.m. Eastern bringing you all the commentary and analysis that you could ever want. I know you've got lots of choices these days when it comes to World Cup content. But we're really glad and honored that you picked us because I think we're pretty fun. Number one in your hearts. That's right. We're going to keep having fun.

So again, thanks to our sponsors, Soccer.com. Football manager, we appreciate you. And hey, guys, happy World Cup Day. Enjoy all the soccer. Let's do it again tomorrow. Thank you.