SoccerWise - Iranian World Cup Opener, Messi & Mbappe Begin & More

Episode Date: June 16, 2026

The vibes are flying high after a day of dramatic "upset" draws across the World Cup. Sooz, Doyle & Gass dig through all the quirky stories, tactical breakdowns & off field drama as the tournament rolls along.

Good morning soccer friends. Welcome to First Touch 26. So glad that you guys are starting your day with us as we set the stage for day six of this absolutely incredible World Cup. Stoke to be here. I'm Susanna Fuller alongside the dream team, David Goss, Matt Doyle. Guys, this group stage is proving to be all kinds of fun and entertaining. And hopefully that continues today. How we feel in Doyle?

Welcome back. Thank you. It was nice to have a day off, and by day off, I mean, I sat in my underwear watching when hours of soccer, yeah. It has been a really great World Cup. Like, even yesterday with all the draws, and I think it was, what, the first time? Yeah. There were four draws in a day since 1958.

It was, like, it was super entertaining. The, like, one half versus the other for Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, like two separate games. The very MLS is, MLS after dark nightcap between Iran and New Zealand. It was great. And obviously we're going to talk in a second. Heck yes, we are. Spain versus Cape Verde.

Yeah, I like this guy, Goss. Yeah, I know. Goss is rocking the Columbia. Is this the away kit? Yeah, the second kit. I've just been waiting for Columbia to play and I couldn't wait. I know. We did talk about this kit yesterday in our soccer.com segment about best kits.

And their throwback one is the 94 and that one's pretty class. Where do you think the U.S. kit ranks in the best kit covers? I would argue the blue is better than the red and white. Oh, really? One is going to be iconic. It's not the wave. It's going to be iconic. Yeah.

So I still think the most... I think it will be the same as like the denim kit. Really? Yes. I think we've had two iconic kits the U.S. have in our history. One is the denims, which I don't love, but like it's very American, so yes. And the other one is the Waldo's. And this is a riff on the Waldoz.

And look, it's the flag. And it's immediately identifiable. That the U.S. are going to win the World Cup in, guys. So there you go. You still believe. That's why. Jordan believes out there. If you don't believe right now, what's wrong with you?

Jordan's watched two soccer games in his life and he believes you. Let's go. I know he's out there, fist pumping. I love it. It's so good. All right, guys, let's get into our three things. Three things, our takeaways from what we've seen so far yesterday, perhaps. Doyle.

Well, like we were saying, it's been a great World Cup so far. And that is in spite of, frankly, my expectations for the group stage. I thought we were going to see a lot of the minnows get absolutely steamrolled. They mostly have not. And even the one that did with Curacao, that game, it felt legit, right? Like they brought something out of Germany after the first 25 minutes. And it was one-sided after that. But we've seen teams get, I mean, we saw Brazil get their asses beat like that 12 years ago.

So it like it has not been this parade of giant teams just beaten the hell out of anyone ranked under 35 in the world. rankings and that surprised me a little bit. And it's the wonderful thing, you know, Goss has been saying it since before the World Cup. It's like, this is never easy. Yeah. We all think it is when you see these two mismatch. It is never, ever easy.

And it's a good reminder. Good job, Dave. You're having quite a week. I am having a week. And I feel good about some of my takes. And yet I was still a little scared to go full on Cape Verde yesterday because I was confused out of that Kurosau results. But I'm going to show my confidence again as we go through the show today.

My big thing was that Tyler Binden came on the field yesterday for New Zealand and what was a really fun game against Iran. And he and his mother became the first mother-son World Cup appearance duo in sports history. Wow. I think that's pretty special. That's really cool. His mom, Jenny, he's actually from the U.S. and Tyler Binden was the name I recognize and realized he's like a deep cut, deep internet, big soccer.

Like, oh, he's going to be a star for the U.S. because he wasn't raised here. So therefore, he has to be better at soccer than the people that are. now that I got that toxicity out of the way. I think this is like one of the coolest stories. Obviously the women's game has come on leaps and bounds, but it's newer. So something like this wasn't really possible for a really long time. And Jenny Binden, born in the U.S., so a cool way for him to debut here and be a part of that. And she has now worked with the New Zealand national team as a coach with 77 caps in her career and multiple World Cups.

And now her son is able to step up. That's really cool. I think that's a pretty special stat. And what a cool night for them. Amazing. I love that. Okay, so my big thing is I love the referee cam. Oh, yeah.

That they're showing during these broadcasts. Every time they cut to it, I don't know, it's like you're in this virtual reality situation and experiencing it. Like, I want to put the goggles on and just like be fully immersed into the match. And that's what it feels like for those moments at the referee camp. Do you think you do a little nauseous? I think I would puke if it was a full, like, as they go to it, I'm like, Get to the part because I can't just keep watching.

It's so, it's incredible because is it attached to their chest to the camera or their, it's on, it's next to their eye. Oh, is it like the meta glasses that they're kind of doing? It like comes around their ear. It looks like you'll notice it now when they show the ref for the first time. It's like a back like headphone thing and it's sitting right next to the head, which is why it's better than the ones that have been used in the past. Because when it was on the chest, I don't think your chest moves with. Right, right, right.

So you do actually know. notice it is much more accurate now to what's going on on the field. I just, you feel, you get a sense of the speed of the game and the speed at which things are happening. And the speed at which players complain. It's unbelievable. It's crazy. But I love it.

I think it's such a cool element. And yeah, I'm stoked every time it comes on the TV. So there's my thing. Guys, we've got some big news items to get to today. So we're going to hit on a few of those. As we spoke about Tunisia, Sacked Sabri. Lamucci after their 5-1 loss to Sweden. And his replacement is going to be a familiar face.

Elv Renaud is coming back to the World Cup. I mean, we're in the French kit, so you nailed it. Exactly. Thank you. But this is going to be his third World Cup with coaching his third different country having previously managed Morocco and Saudi Arabia. So here we go. Jordan, I'll throw you a curveball.

Can you hit me on my computer here? Oh, boy. Because I realize we can't talk about Herbert, and just like not have photos of him. So if you're watching, you're welcome. If you're listening to your podcast, you can go check it out. I mean, he has eternally been known as the most beautiful coach in soccer. The white button down with the top three.

He's always perfectly tanned, too. Well, he only coaches along the equator. Exactly. That's intentional. Kieran Doyle on Blue Sky, a guy we know, ASA guy. No relation. It inspired, yeah, it inspired some fan fict. and he wrote like a skeet that was like Herr-Vernard on a coast somewhere.

He's ironing a white linen button down the same as he's wearing. And a woman comes up behind him and goes, Erv, the phone. And he goes, who's it this time? I mean, this is a guy who has been brought in at the last minute to coach every single team. He has won multiple Afghans with different countries. He coached Saudi Arabia to defeat Argentina. Then he left to go coach the French women's team at the World Cup, which went poorly.

Then he came back to coach Saudi Arabia. Then he got fired. His resume is one of the longest in international soccer. He is, though, the person you'd hire in this moment. Like he is not. He's Winston Wolf. Yeah, he's not long-term build. He is put a little, just put a little whipped cream on the top of the disaster

and hide it for 30 minutes and it steals you the moment that you want. Let me ask you this. Do you think he was on a beach somewhere or do you think he was on a super yacht? Because he's got that Saudi month. money now, so I think he's probably on a super yet. I think he's also one of those who like had, like Michelangelo's style, he's got backers, right? People who just like want him to be around him and want to like fund him but have no purpose for it. One of my favorite memories of soccer ever was he won the Afcon with the Zambia national team.

It was like sort of his breakthrough. And the final ended up being not too big teams. And the entire broadcast, you could hear Hervernard screaming at the center forward for 90 minutes. he's just screaming his name and telling him what to do over and over and over again. And then when they won in one of the post games, he goes, yeah, I can't remember his name now. I thought he had a pretty good game. And you're like, pretty good. It sounded like he thought he had the worst game ever.

And then since then he's got on. He's coached Morocco and everything. I don't even understand this. Like, what's he going to break? At this point, what does it matter? It's kind of ridiculous from Tunisia, but they'll get some good press out of it. Yeah, exactly. A long-term contract.

Oh, I didn't see that. Yeah. Like the report is, and it's just got a. so we don't have everything exact. The report is like, oh, he's been hired to then, like, build after this. I guess you don't really take the job if that's not the case. So my assumption is for a program that fired four coaches in 2024 is a pretty good chance her if Bernard's not coaching this team that far in the future.

But that's the move. And then it obviously references back to Ivory Coast who fired their coach during Afcon in 2023. He won it and now is the coach of the World Cup. Yeah, that's great. You provided that nugget a couple things ago. What a man. What I'm, you know what?

I'm glad. You're not bad. I'm not mad. Oh, okay. Not mad at all. Welcome back, Ev. All right. The England camp, a little bit of drama there.

Fullback, Tino Livramento, suffered a calf injury in training. He is now being replaced by Chelsea centerback. Trevo Shaloba. And I said it right because it sounds like Shalame, as in Timothy Shalame, Nick's superfan. That's how I remembered it. This is interesting, though, because you're replacing a fullback.

Yeah. with a centerback, and Trent Alexander is probably sitting there going, uh, Trent Alexander Arnold. Yeah. Hi, I'm here. I'm here, Thomas Tuchel. What's going on? So this is when we were talking, you know, at the start of the show back in, you know,

a week ago, I was saying I had some real questions about Thomas Tuchel's squad, the players he's picked. And we're seeing this here, right? Because Trent Alexander Arnold is one of the best attacking fullbacks in the world. He unlocks defenses in a way that, that, few guys who play on the back line do. Thomas Stuckel does not use his fullbacks that way. He uses fullbacks to come inside as like an ad hoc defensive midfielder or just

to slide inside as a centerback. He is all about that structure. The talent differential does not matter. So of course he would do something extremely boring like bringing in another centerback in place of... Don't you think you have to be a little bit flexible, especially during World Cup? Like, come on. Yeah.

I mean, I just, look, they have so many, they have so many good attacking players. I'm a bunch of them left those out too. But like they can actually unlock most teams without taking risks. But I do think that they will come to a point in this tournament where the conservative nature of the manager actually ends up being a handicapped. Because the structure is great. You have to be able to break out of it sometimes. You have to take risks against teams like Spain, like Germany. like France, like Argentina.

Also, like a set piece, you know? Like, Trent is so lethal on free kicks and corners. And those can be so important in a World Cup. I just, I think it's a big oversight. You think it's a big oversight. I'm saying, like, man, we're the two best things in the world. I'm sure they're hanging out right now. I think we'll talk about England more tomorrow

because they finally debut tomorrow, which has been a weird part of this World Cup. It's like the four favorites. The big dogs haven't played until yesterday with Spain. I believe there's some theory for two of like building a team and not the best squad. And what you said, I think Tuchel's response would be,

here's the last 26 years. That's what England's done for 26 years and they haven't won anything. So he's trying to zag a little, which is, can I have a group that's cohesive? And I almost feel like he's left guys out who are better because they're not role players. And he's trying to build a team with roles

so that there is not confusion going into a game of, well, why isn't Trent Alexander all starting? Well, you don't have to ask that question because he's not in the team. team, and my guess would be Tuchel would say, I don't want the free kick because he's already conceded two goals on the other side, and I'd rather not come back from two zero down. So we shall see, but I think England will be the most boring they've been in a while, and I can guarantee you no one will care if they would.

Right. So, and that's what Tuchel's betting on. And every game they win, it will be more proven and he'll get a little more confidence. But, you know, this is the anti-Gerard Lampard. you got to jam everyone in the team. And I think it is shifting as well from Southgate of like, let's have top dogs and then let's have almost followers in this group rather than guys who Cole Palmer who believes he is the top dog

but isn't going to be a consistent piece of the rotation. Yeah, poor Jude Bellingham. Also, if any of them want to move to the U.S., they could get American citizenship. So Cole Palmer or Phil Foden if they're looking for something to do. It's a way to get to the World Cup. Come on over. All right. Let's get into yesterday's action, shall we?

As Doyle mentioned, all draws across the board, which actually ended up being provided some really, really awesome moment. So let's start in Group H. Spain taking on Capeford, and this was the best scoreless draw you will ever see. This point for Capeford, I'm getting goosebumps talking. I literally have goosebumps talking about this. This felt like one of those.

of those iconic seismic world cup moments because as we know spain a heavy favorite in this competition they're a european giant cape bird making their world cup debut and obviously the expectation heading into this one was that spain would would dominate and that was not the case my god cape verd defending for their life goalkeeping heroic i just i this was it was such a power of powerful and beautiful moment, Goss, I don't, I'm like at a loss for words for this. Yeah, it's, we did our preview, our bio episodes about every country, which I would recommend if you're listening and you want to learn more. Like we talked about culture and history and legends and all of that. And in it, we had a quote from, I believe it was the prime minister or the president who said there are the three most important days in Cape Verde history.

There's Independence Day. I think it was the day the Constitution was brought in and then what he said was today which was the day Capeford qualified for the World Cup and the coach said yesterday, quote, this means everything for our country. We've always said that we wanted everybody who see our country, our team

and we've shown an organization and braveness and this is proof of what our country is about, resilience and to try to overcome hardships. It is a one-off experience. It is what you get with this expansion, right? Cape Verde probably wouldn't have been in a previous World Cup. Now they are.

They show that they belong. We had a correspondent Valer Chabella at the game and he said there was about 10,000 Cape Verde fans first about 60,000 Spanish fans and the Cape Verde fans blew them out of the water. He's getting texts from friends in the building because it was in Atlanta saying I'm moving to Cape Verde from random people who live in Nashville, Tennessee and Chattanooga who drove in for the game. And I think they've won a lot of fans around the world with this performance. And we're all lucky enough to know someone on the team and Stephen Marrera and talking to him. before the tournament started and he was like, we're so proud. We just want to get on the field and show who we are. And you saw a post game. He was like, one, he said, oh, I've been in this building a lot and I've won some big games with Columbus. So I felt pretty good about the vibes. And can you imagine walking in and being like, oh, guys, don't worry.

I beat Atlanta United. So it was an epic game. It's one I think that really launched the World Cup for a lot of people where it's like, I know for me, you're sitting in. meetings and school, whatever, screaming at a TV to hope a country you'll never go to is able to just get over the line against Spain to keep the draw. And then on the flip side, the storylines with Spain. So Spain had 74% possession in this game.

Cape Verde only conceded one foul, so there was no free kicks there. Pedri made 21 inaccurate forward passes, which is the most by any player at this World Cup. And here is the kicker. Spain have only three wins in the World Cup since the 12th. 2010 World Cup final. That's wild. So they've either knock on out of the group, they've gotten a win that got them out of the group,

and then lost in the round of 16. They have not won their opener in four of the last five World Cups. That includes the World Cup winner where they lost Switzerland. I mean, it is absolutely astounding. They were the number one favorite, I think, coming in. Yeah, they're the team that I picked to win it,

and I'm still picking them to win it. Sometimes this happens in soccer. You know, sometimes you get the miracle, scoreless draw from the minute. know that bunkers and bunkers well, right? Obviously, Vosinia is the star of this game, but the entire backline and midfield deserves a lot of credit for staying discipline, for staying sharp, and for forcing Spain to take some chances with the way they were trying to crack them open in the final third that didn't work out. And Pedri was off. Pedra is my favorite player in the world. He was

off. He was still good enough to create chance after chance after chance. Spain had like 35 shots. and they, you know, generated a lot of good looks. There's a reason why we're all talking about the goalkeeper the day after. It's not like he had nothing to do. But also, Spain are just, like, constitutionally incapable of bringing a target forward. You know, like, you, I think it's the same thing as, like, Tuchel, not bringing Trent because there are going to be certain moments in this tournament where it just helps to have a guy who could come out of the back and make the game like that.

And for Spain, like, even if it's, like, it's like, it's like, it's like, you know, it's like, Like, you know, Gorka Gourdeseta is like not a great soccer player. He's six foot three and he knows where the goal is. He's also, like he does the Chris Wood stuff that we'll talk about later from the New Zealand. And like, it is, that is a good breaking case of emergency option for Spain to have. And it was for all the slack Alvaro Marata has gotten over the last eight years. But yeah, is that the wrong phrase? Yeah.

Oh, Slack's a good thing. Yeah. He provided that at times. And he was a censure point. and he pulled centerbacks around and he created channels and he brought them to European championship. That was not happening yesterday. Like, Aratha Ball was great in terms of dropping off and, like, moving the centerbacks around a little bit. That needs to happen in conjunction with like hard direct runs from the wing.

And Gavi doesn't provide that. Gavi started a, you know, left wing. And like, they just didn't have enough. Yeah, now Laminia Mall. Well, Laminu Mal is brilliant, and it was good to see him back, and he craped, but he's also not sharp. So there was just like, there was so much rust, and I don't think they took it seriously enough. But also, this team is going to win their next two games, and they'll be fine. Well, they're sitting in first in the group still because of the way this group is set up.

Yeah, this group is nuts. Do you want to talk about the other group H game? Let's move it along to Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, this one taking place in Miami, another draw, 1-1 in this one. And just like we saw in 2022, Saudi Arabia who beat Argentina in that first match, Argentina then go on to win the whole thing. Saudi Arabia showed up, giving teams problems early on. What did we make of this match, Doyle? I mean, very much a tale of two halves.

Yeah. I think Uruguay were a little arrogant coming into this one, and they went down a goal, I think a little bit deservedly. And then the second half, they cranked it up. and it was one-way traffic. 27 shots Uruguay had, but most of those coming in the second half. And look, they deserve their equalizer, but this doesn't change my opinion on them. They're super limited.

They don't, well, if Darius Kayeta was available, maybe the midfield creation engine is humming a little bit better, but they don't have anyone, and we saw this throughout qualifying, They don't really have the high level talent that just unlocks a team. So with Bielsa, it has to happen through the press. And, you know, when the other team is just disciplined about their shape and how they want to play through the press, diminishing returns. And that was kind of the story of this one. And I think one of my issues with Uruguay is so much happens in their attack buildup down the wings

and they have the two big center forwards. But it's not high level chance creation. it's a little bit more hopeful. And it doesn't feel like there's anything on Zone 14 right at the top of the box. And so it just becomes predictable. Yep. And it becomes defendable. And for a lot of the teams in the World Cup where you're a favorite against,

that's what they're going to prefer is, you know, every centerback would say, all right, put 65 balls at my head. I'll go and win 65 of them. Darwin Nunez had the least touches so far in this World Cup of any player who played in 30 minutes. I mean, he was non-existent in the game. And then I think even with the subs, everything came down. the right wing after that and there was some creativity in that but you at some point you have to break line centrally at some point you have to disorganize defenses and create chances and that wasn't

the case i know people who are at this game it's obviously a huge uruguayan community in miami they have the same food as argenstein and they have their italian markets which i end up in all the time and i'm like i thought this was italian and it's not and i heard the crowd was really that like a lot of people were like there just wasn't energy in the building compared to to other games they've been to. I think the Uruguay fans know that this team's not going anywhere. But think about this. In 2010, when they hadn't been at the 06 World Cup,

they flew across the world to get, well, halfway across the world, to get South Africa, and there's these, like, legendary images and of these, like, marches of Uruguay fans into the stadium, they had no idea Diego Forlone was the first to get the ball and that he was going to lead them. And so I thought my, I think my expectation was, now you don't have to travel around the world,

like this place is going to be epic and I will say the best World Cup atmosphere I've ever been in was Argentina in 2018 when they very clearly were not going to go far it felt like Buenos Aires so I kind of expected more from the Uruguay fans and I think

in general people were the amount of money people paid for those tickets and the amount of time they spent in the parking lot I think people were pissed I will say this for Uruguay this was the first game I watched in the World Cup where I was like oh the diving is odious like this there was an unixed unacceptable amount of flopping from Uruguay, and I was glad to see that the

refl mostly did not. Yeah. Like Yaron was sitting back being like, right? And I think the officiating in this World Cup has been spectacular so far, and I was I was really, really happy that some of the stuff you have to kind of hold your nose about if you're a soccer fan, just not being rewarded at all. Someone in the chat on our YouTube, we appreciate everyone watching live. We love talking about. Yes, we do. They said, Vosigno went from 48,000 followers on social media yesterday, 7.5 million.

Vosinia being the 40-year-old keeper for Capeford that stood on his head yesterday. Inspiring all 40-hills and anyone in that vicinity to still believe. Let's go, my God. No, he was incredible, man. You could see the emotion too on his face at the end. It made me, I got a little teary yesterday watching the reaction. But yeah, he's internet famous. It's like Tim Payne.

He has more followers in Tim Payne. Does he have more followers now? I think Tim Payne's about around five. But we'll keep you updated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.

So one little note here, which is I think the Saudi Arabia tie against Uruguay actually is bigger for the potential standings in group than Spain. Yeah. Because I think Spain will still win the group, as Doyle said. Yeah. I had Cape Verde third in the group coming into it, so I don't feel any differently about that. My big upset pick was I thought Cape Verde would be Uruguay. Oh, second, which is on the table now.

Let's pull up the table, actually. And we're only going to be close to that. They are obviously all tied across the board. And they're all on one point. The note for everyone to know is that for this World Cup, FIFA went NCAA tournament style where they seeded the top four teams in the rankings. So Spain, France, Argentina, and England. Those teams cannot meet until the semifinals of the World Cup if they win their groups.

if Spain falls off that top spot, it throws everything off because it moves them into Argentina's quadrant. If Argentina wins their group, it for us, moves them out of the U.S.'s quadrant because they're the number one seed in that quadrant. And it could set up an Argentina-SPAN round of 16 match,

which we thought might be Uruguay. So there are now like knock-on repercussions of all this stuff that's happening. I believe like 18, teams odds to win the World Cup shifted yesterday without playing a second because Spain dropped points, which threw off the odds of them potentially winning their group, which then shifted the bracket. Wow. I'm really glad I have you to keep track of all this for me. I just say odds, too. I don't actually know the numbers. No, that's great stuff. All right, moving along to Group G,

who was also in action yesterday, Belgium facing Egypt in Seattle. A one-one draw here. And, man, Belgium just really cannot escape this narrative of underperforming. It's just, it feels like, oh, it feels like every World Cup, like that is what we're talking about when it comes to this Belgium team. And once again, they just kind of, they didn't really have any medal. I feel like it wasn't until they brought in Lukaku that they actually looked threatening Doyle. I mean, Lukaku was built for these games, these early group stage games, where, we're

He can, you know, kind of unlock defenses that are trying to play first ball, second ball. And, you know, he came on and immediately kind of created a goal. It wasn't credited to him, but, like, forced an own goal. Forced the own goal. But we saw throughout this game, it's not the Golden Generations team anymore. It is Jeremy Dooku's team. And, like, everything tilted to the left. So, it was so extreme.

And the idea was, you figure it out. and will do the other stuff. And to me, this, like, I wanted to see more than that from Belgium. You know, I wanted to see the patience they showed against the U.S. a couple months ago in that friendly. But credit to Egypt for staying organized. And I thought they did a really good job of getting pressure to the ball deep

and not letting Tilemon sort of dictate things. And then that kind of cut off service in good spots to DeBriano. And if you don't let DeBrona start picking you apart, then you're probably going to be in okay shape against this team. And I think Trosar, his creative play is coming inside and connecting. And so then he's filling the same space as Debrana. And I think that skewed the whole game even further towards Doku because there was no width on the other side. And he comes in and connects. And there's a little element of this one of like, it's a great shot that goes in.

And now you're down one zero and it changes the reality of what Egypt has to go through. Goals change games, mate. That's a big one. That's a big one. But this was a huge upset for me because I have spoken very much of, I thought, to what you said, I thought some of the pressure would come off Belgium because it's not the golden generation. Yeah.

And I think, I thought Doku maybe would not have sort of that like on his shoulders that I think Hazard and DeBrona and all those guys have lived with their whole career, which is like, golden generation, time to win. And sometimes for people who aren't a part of that, right, Dooku comes after that. it's like oh i don't have that specific moniker and that pressure and i can sort of go out and play and i think he will uh he he's too good not to he was tackled 11 times which is the most in the like everything went through him he tried didn't all come off and there's a lot of pressure on him but they do need to figure out a way to get him a little bit more help i mean you you compare his

performance and really the way belgium used him to what happened with yandum and in kote d'i and Cote d'Ivar and it's just night and day and Doku is like the platonic ideal of what Diamonde can become as a soccer player so I like we're focusing a lot on Belgium here but a lot of credit to Egypt what a lot of credit to Egypt they knew what was coming and they were prepared for it and they deserved they deserve the result they deserve the point also happy birthday Mosala he turned 34 yesterday and notched an assist on Egypt's goal that makes me feel way better Someone said 38, and I was like, there is no way. 34.

Yeah. Okay, that makes me feel better. I think it's their first result in a World Cup since 1990, and they have still never won a game at the World Cup. Egypt is this, if you don't know about this, they won four Afcons in a row and didn't qualify for the World Cup, that entire span from 05 through 2012. And I talked about it yesterday, my favorite player, one of my favorite players of all time, Mohamedo Bucayko, was like the center of that. Hossam Hassan, who's the coach, was a big part of that. Muhammad Zedan was a big part of that. Great teams.

Teams that sold out 90,000 person buildings and went and won on the road, and they could not get to a World Cup. And so Mosa has been there twice. This is his first result, which is awesome. And this group is open. Like, if you're Egypt, you have to be saying, job done. Yeah. Absolutely.

But there's also, like, they're going to go look at the film, and they're going to realize that there was zero connection between Mosella. and Omar Mahmush, and they need to sort of figure out a way to make that happen, because if they're going to defend deep, and I think they will through most of this tournament, those two guys need to be on the same page and sort of amplifying each other's skill set, especially in those transition moments where, I mean, you know very well. Mosala is one of the best players we've had over the past two decades. And a little passing of the torch, when Mosala came off, he came off for an 18-year-old,

Hansa-Aldel-Karim, who is in Barst's academy, or in barses two team on loan, the purchase options already been triggered. He is supposed to be the next Mo Salah, and so that's a cool little moment there. Changing of the guard. But one of the things I realized yesterday is I've been thinking a lot about three points. Three points gets you through. It gets you through on potentially third points. If you're Egypt in this game, one.

No, for sure. But my other thing is I kind of forgot also, you could still finish second, however, in a group. And so now it's like, forget the other group. If you're Egypt, forget the other groups. Forget three points. Forget gold differential. It's, you know, head to head, Iran, New Zealand.

You do your job there. You're through a second place team or first place team. You don't have to worry about watching the other groups. And I think yesterday, all of the teams that got draws where now they're on one point and maybe you're a little bit behind some teams in another group. Because if you won your first game and like we said this about the U.S., you could say this about South Korea, like you won your first game, you're probably already through it.

You can start to like game state stuff if you need to latent games to look around at other groups. Can you hold goal differential tight? Can you still one point, whatever? If you're in a group where you tied, maybe you feel like it's a little bit harder to get to three points, but like just game-stated out where head-to-head, whatever happens, just do enough to finish second in your group. And that's what Egypt now has on the table for them, which is a massive start to this.

Yeah. And let's take a look at the other group G match. Iran versus New Zealand. This one, as Doyle mentioned, had a lot of World Cup after dark, brown liquor special energy. This one was really, really fun. And I honestly, there was really bright spots for for both sides in this one. It felt very, this felt like a fair two-two draw. It absolutely was.

And I just watching this version of Iran rather than the Carlos Giroz version that we've gotten for like most of the past 15 years and there is no more negative coach in the world of soccer than Carlos. And Ghana is coming up tomorrow. It was a breath of fresh air. And look, man, like the geopolitical situation between Iran and the United States and Israel and Lebanon, obviously hanging over this team. They were not allowed to train in the U.S. They had to come in, I think, the day of the gamers. The night before the game.

But then they had to be out directly afterwards. It was a lot. They were dealing with a lot. And I think... But it's okay because Gianni understand. Yeah, he does. Today he's Iranian. Yeah, today.

Oh, boy. But I think they got kind of ambushed the first 10 minutes of this game. And you give a lot of credit to New Zealand for that because they had a game plan, which is kick it as far as they can because Chris Wood is up there and he will win the first ball. And they executed it. But then Iran did the hardest thing, which is to come back into a game in the World Cup. And they just kept banging on the door. And they had some really good moments of play. And it ended up being an absolute banger of a game.

The other thing that we mentioned yesterday, but I don't know it has been discussed. enough on all top of everything that Doyle just mentioned about what Iran's going through is because of the conflict, their league is not played. So anyone who plays domestically just hasn't played competitive soccer. And a lot of the Middle Eastern leagues have also been on suspension. So a number of these players have played maybe three games of friendlies in the last six months at a competitive level. And I think the first 20 minutes, I mean, the opening goal for all the quality, whatnot, how is someone bringing a ball down on their thigh to their foot in the middle of a World Cup field? and there's no pressure.

The D-Mid, and I don't think it was Gatos, drops off wood deeper as if you as a D-Met have a responsibility past the center forward with two centerbacks behind you, and it was just pure chaos. So overall, the quality for New Zealand, I think you really saw an Iranian team

that was just unprepared to play. And then Tremi hits the post and they start to come into it. And from every report I heard from people who were at SoFi on Friday, and then again, yesterday, it was like 10 decibels louder. Yesterday it is the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.

Terrangelois. Terrangeles, yeah. And they said it was bumping. I think you could feel it when the post got hit where it went up a level. And then Iran started to push and create chances. The second New Zealand goal is really well worked. It is some of the most shocking goalkeeping. I have it.

It's like he dove. He dove out of the way. It's like he dove because he's like, you know what would be cool if I dove right now. He dove before the ball was struck like in any, like you didn't even know the shot was coming yet. It was a bizarre moment. moment. And I think those are the things that Iran would be kicking themselves about and Tremi spoke post game about the frustration around the travel and some of the conditions they've been put in and all that type of stuff. I will say on the leaving after the game though, that was

like a storyline. Australia did the same thing. And they got home at like 4 a.m. I don't know if that's a we want, I mean, obviously Iran has to. I think a lot of these teams you want to get back to your base camp because that's where you stay. And I think they're just not used to being in the U.S. or it takes 19 hours. I don't think I would want to be in the U.S. us right now. So, but welcome to Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back flying from Memphis. Shout out to Elijah Just, too, who is the goal score for New Zealand. First New Zealand player, man or woman to score multiple goals in a World Cup and the first

motherwell player to ever score in a World Cup. Well done, Elijah. There's like a joke here that I can't quite find because their two best players were Elijah Just and Chris Wood. Elijah Wood. New Zealand. Lord of the Rings. How did I not make this connection?

I can't quite stitch it all together, but there's something there. It is out there in the ether. Feel free to message us on Blue Sky, get into the Instagram comments. You let us know what you need us to say. We'll say it. Doyle, thank you for that.

New Zealand had scored four goals in their entire World Cup history. They've never won a game. They've never lost, right? In 2010, they drew all three group stage games. I don't know in 82, what ended up happening. They scored two in one game. Yeah.

So they're on their way. And they were deserved. We call that progress. All right, let's take a look at the group G standings as they are right now. Here we go. Oh, everyone on one point. Everybody on one point. Who would have thought?

I think many people coming into this felt that the Iran-Egypt game, which of course is the pride match in Seattle, would be the decider of who would get through as that second place team. I think New Zealand put their name in there yesterday saying, no, that other game. not going to be easy. And if New Zealand can steal a result off Egypt as well, then they're in that conversation. And Belgium has work to do. So I thought yesterday, to Doyle's point, was a real expanded World Cup. 11 players against 11 players, 90 minutes in a soccer ball. It's just, it's not as straightforward as people think.

And the intensity. It's what, David? It's hard. It's hard. And the intensity of what's going to happen, right? This is not a Wednesday game. And, oh, we're looking to the weekend. We're not good enough.

city's just going to get a result off us. We're out of it. This is six months of preparation for one opponent and trying to be exact in every single action and motion, which will be interesting in the second game now. I'm about to say, do you think the second game, the score is the talent differential will be a little more decisive? I think it opens up a little bit more.

But my theory, this whole time has been what the round of 32 will bring is, I think teams will get more settled in a way in which teams hadn't in the past, where if you were a team sort of lower down in the standings and you come into a World Cup and you concede early and now you're chasing the tournament and you're out before you've even really settled in.

For example, Tunisia could go through. Right. And they could find their feet. They lost 5-1 and fired their coach in the opening game. And then I wonder then in the round of 32, does it come back around where it's like, well, actually the pressure's on now. And Spain, you have to win.

We're on house money. We already get the vibe of a World Cup. We've dealt with the media for two weeks. We've dealt with the experience, the heat, the conditions. And so I think maybe game two opens up, but then I think as we get to the end of the group stage and into the round of 32, I think some of these upset teams have real shots. All right. Guys, one of the best parts of any World Cup are the stories that develop throughout the tournament, showcasing how, you know, soccer becomes this beautiful unifier. And suddenly you're making friends with people that you have thought maybe you had no commonality with.

But some of that is taking place right here in the heartland of America. And Kansas City Star Journalist Daniel Sperry breaks down all the feel-good vibes around the Algerian national team whose home base is in Lawrence, Kansas. There's a very special connection brewing there. Let's take a closer look. So I want to say thank you to Team Algeria for choosing our hometown, Lawrence, Kansas, to come here. And so welcome. Welcome to United States.

Welcome to Kansas. It started kind of with the arrival. It very quickly became a thing of like, okay, the Algerians are going to support their team. And they see all of these local residents that are there to support their team. And the local residents are kind of like, hey, you chose us.

We're just a small college town. As big as KU is in the U.S., it's just a small college town. And right now in the summer, a lot of them are just Lawrence resident. So, like, you get this mix of like, hey, you chose us. But then the Algerians are kind of saying, well, you chose us now. And so there's this beautiful kind of back and forth that we've seen in a variety of ways, especially even not just in Lawrence, but even around the Kansas City Metro for the last week.

There's a woman that lives here kind of in the Kansas City Metro where I live. And she was out at everything I've been to out in Lawrence. And there's a couple of college students that go to, they live in Lawrence, their family moved to Lawrence, but they also go to KU. And they met when the team arrived. And then when it came to the community training session last Thursday, she handed them out, like gave them Algeria jerseys to wear. And they were like, they were touched. He got Rami, one of the guys is a big Dortmund fan. He got Rami Ben Spaini to sign his jersey.

And he was freaking out. And I think those are the. They are extremely hospitable and extremely generous to everyone around them. And I think they've got these two groups of kind of that Midwest hospitality and a very welcome you into their home kind of and come and see type of community in Algeria, the Algerians, both from Algeria and those that are here. And it's collided in just this really cool, unique way that I don't think has happened in a lot of the other like home-based city. I know there's cool things. Oh, like you saw this guy out on a biker, you see Laminia Mall at a Walmart.

Like that's funny and kind of embracing that, but like to see the kind of true relationship happen between the community and that's hosting it and the fans of that country and ultimately the team. They've all been blown away by it. Lawrence, with its being a college town, already you have a town full of young college kids and a very international. national college town. We have a kind of very open and welcoming town that that has really gotten a chance to showcase not just like okay college KU you know rock chalk and the college basketball games there are insane and they they go all over the place but the residents the ones that have lived there for decades are kind of able to step into the light and be shown kind of hey we've always been like really welcoming. There's an elderly man Stan heard and these artists

through this big, big field art that he did in the grass to make the Algerian flag outside of the League Center at University of Kansas. I went out there on Saturday, booked it out there, tried to get out there before the storms to just go check it out. And it is really cool. It almost doesn't make sense because everyone from the outside might look at Lawrence and they say, okay, it's kind of rural Kansas. In reality, when you drive that 40-minute, 50-minute drive down I-70 or they tend to

there, you probably think of like country music rolling through the fields. There's not a lot. And so then you come up on this town and everybody there is just so welcoming and hospitable. And it is people might look at it and say, okay, it's Kansas, right? It's Midwest. Is there a probably different type of culture and everyone has their mind made up about what that really looks like. Until they get there and you see this beautiful Muslim community colliding with this beautiful, really open and accepting community in the middle of the country that, had just collided and put on a little bit for the world, what life's really like. So cool for the Lawrence community to kind of do this, but also for the Algerian diaspora,

which I've learned is pretty large here in the Kansas City Metro. And to see them kind of get to interact with their team in this way, and a lot of them kind of, you know, have immigrated here over decades, especially some of the older ones. I think there was a man that he got a jersey from the 1982, which is Algeria's first World Cup signed by a bunch of the Common Day players. I just thought that there's this, there's a generation of Algerian immigrants in this country that are now sitting there watching their kids, watching the new generations kind of bring their country to fame and it's just been really, really cool.

So a guy walking in, he's yelling rock chalk Algeria and people have been putting the Algerian flag into like the Jayhawk logo and it's just kind of silly stuff. And there's a lot of the fun online stuff, but I also like, I don't know how many, any anytime I post anything about it, it blows up the Algerians, even in Algeria, or loving it. And I think it's interesting how many of them have been like, okay, tell me about Kansas City. Tell me about Lawrence. Who do I root for? Like what should I? And so I think there's this kind of interesting connection. And I've seen it covering like sporting Kansas City and the Casey Current. I've seen like eight span decades. And I think I think this might be one of those on

the positive side. Right. Like I don't know how many people have been like, you must come and visit Algeria or people are interested. And I think it will start a really interesting thing. I would be really curious 20 years down the road to like see, okay, are there students, like Algerian students at KU that like said, hey, maybe I could go to college in America this place really loved and accepted my country and I would love to go there. So I hope we see a lot of that. But I also think it does, I hope it really does bring a really good, I guess, boost,

I think to the Algerian population here in the metro just because I didn't know a whole lot about them, but now I can see where their fingerprints are within the community. And I am looking forward to seeing that continue to grow because it's been really beautiful. And they are residents of Kansas City. They are residents of Florida. They really do care about communities that they're living in. And I think that is equally important to out here. Love that. So beautiful. So Daniel, who does a great job, awesome coverage in Kansas City.

You should follow him if you don't. He mentioned the generational thing, hate versus love. And like we've all traveled where you have those weird. I mean, I guess people here too of like, you know, one of my good friends is a diehard Liverpool fan because his dad went on vacation. Someone brought a jersey when he was six. And that's 30 years later. That's like his thing.

And I've been to foreign countries where I saw Larry Bird one time at 7 a.m. in Italy and now I'm a Celtics fan. there's going to be KUJ Hawk fans in Algeria. That's so cool. Who are like DeBons is overrated, Peterson for life. Rock Chalk, Rock Chalk. Like literally Rock Chalk, Algeria. I don't think Kansas fans are Peterson for life.

Yeah, maybe. But like you know that there's going to be kids or adults there who, when they see an American for the next 30 years are going to yell, go Jayhawks. Yeah, that's pretty cool. And that's hilarious. Love that. All right, guys. It is now time for our North American soccer segment presented by soccer.com and Doyle, Mexico. has to find a replacement for Cesar Montez

due to his red card that he picked up in that first match. And they've got South Korea up next. What are they going to do? I think that the obvious thing to do here is to bring out Edson Alvarez and play him as a centerback. And that's something that we've been talking about on this show since we started this show.

Edson has played his best moments in his career at the club level have been as a defensive midfield. Like that is where he has earned his bread. But this team is good at defensive midfield. And they are thin at centerback, especially after this red card. And Edson, when he came on for the final 25 minutes in the opener against South Africa, he did not look comfortable receiving on the half turn. He started, you know, once he came on, he came on at Demid,

and he didn't look comfortable doing the stuff a D-Bid needs to do. He looked much better once Mexico, you know, was down a man and he had to come back and play in centerback and he could face the field. So I think it is a very clear-cut choice for Javier Aguirre. I actually think it raises their ceiling because his distribution from the back line, he can skip lines in a way that the other centerbacks don't. And that could create maybe a little bit of downhill attacking momentum that Mexico largely lacked in that first game.

So I don't disagree with you. The other way they could improve is they move Israel Reyes from right back to his natural position at centerback, and then they get with, whether it's through Jorge Sanchez, who I think many people thought would start, potentially Mateo Chavez comes on and you swap at fullback, or I have been saying, just play Cesar Huerta there, because the guy would run through a wall and we'll cover the ground and we'll give you a difference. He is not a fullback. He's not a fullback, and he is not positionally disciplined in the way that you need to be against South Korea, because the way the South Korean attackers sort of interchange, especially coming out to that,

you know, their left side, it would be Mexico's right side. We know that Son is going to pull out to that. Yeah. To that. And they're going to create overloads. They're going to find gaps that don't otherwise exist. So I kind of agree with you in principle on Caesar. Not in this game.

Yeah. Not in this game. You get your experienced guys out there in this game. You leave Reyes because he was good. And you say, all right, like, we're going to make it hard to break us down. And the other piece to Doyle's point is Caesar Montez was captain for the last game. It's an Alvarez, the leader of this generation. So you probably need.

the replacement from a culture point of view in that spot. Good points, guys. All right, make sure you visit soccer.com for the widest selection of World Cup product. Free shipping on all orders over $49. And you mentioned Mexico's opponent, South Korea. There's a little bit of a beef going on. You got to love the World Cup. Everything just becomes a thing.

And the media, what's going on? So there is a story that happened in which the South Korean national team was warming up before they were training. And I guess Sanyanman was sort of leading the run, and he looked a bit like a drill sergeant in the military, and South Korea is a country with mandatory military service, except if you do something exceptional and can get out of that. Soccer players and K-pop stars.

Only if you win something. So the O2 World Cup team, because South Korea, by the way, and you should go listen to our biopac on the first touch feed about this, South Korea, similar to Japan, did not really have a fully professional league. And like the O2 World Cup was for what the U.S. was 94. So the O2 players were the first like, oh, we're going to have pro soccer careers.

And they were able to because getting to the third place match was considered that. So Sonnyang Man, if many people remember, has been going to Asian Cups and different like lower down tournaments to win something. So he didn't have to do his mandatory service. I think you have until 28 or 29 years old. So the journalists who were watching were somewhat mocking

because they felt like he was sort of cosplaying a bit, they were being broadcast out because they are journalists and broadcasters. Hot mic moment. Hot mic moment. And so it got circulated, and the South Korean players are upset about it. So they told the Federation that they don't want to do media now.

So the Federation put out a statement. And it'd be messy, y'all. It'd be messy. I kind of don't blame him, though. I feel like they've got it. Listen, I'm not an expert on any of this. And I would assume there's some cultural stuff going on that is way over my head in all of this.

But it does just give, last game was probably the best most consistent moment in South Korean World Cup history since O2. Yeah. This is a team that has struggled at World Cups. They have struggled to play up to their level. They have tripped in ways that you don't expect. When it's gone bad, like in 2022, it's gone terrible.

So to come off that to this is just one of those that you'd rather not have. It's a bummer. You want to just focus on the soccer. In that vein, let's look ahead to today's matches, shall we? Yeah. We're going to buzz right through this. All right, today, 3 p.m. Eastern France taking on Senegal in Group I at MetLife Stadium. And I just want to thank my good friend, David Goss, who invited me along. He found himself with an extra ticket.

I was not his first choice. I was not his second choice. I was his third choice. But I'm not mad. I said, hell yeah. I'm going and I love you buddy. Choice wasn't the word. I held responsibility for people who had asked me for you.

I'm fine with it by the way. You are wearing a France kit. So we texted me this morning and I was on my way to the studio and I first I was like, are you joking? Is this for real? And I was like, wait till you see what I have on. And I am literally wearing the 98 France kit Zadon on the back. Zidu.

Which. Thank you. And I got this in Paris at the most unbelievable vintage soccer kit store in the world in the second Al-Anne d'isement. It is, it's my pride and joy. So you're going to be rooting for France at this game? Yeah. I love France.

Would you have invited her if you knew that she'd be? Oh, yeah. I think France is not, um, they're not an offensive one to cheer for it. I love the country. I love the butter. The team is very likable. Like the characters on the team are very likable. Like one of the things we had talked about putting on the show is they took a photo,

all the players in their, youth, like the clubs they grew up in. I think a lot of the characters are really enjoyable. I think obviously the pride that they've brought from 98 till now for communities around France and around their former colonies or current overseas protectorates of all the representation that they are. And I think that 2018 team, that Pogba led and Conte led was one of the all-time teams that most people will remember when they think of a World's Cup.

So France are not like England or Germany. We're like, oh, this team. But I'm not running against Senate. Are you kidding me? In my city? In this city? Senegal is going to run this. This crowd's going to be amazing.

I'm so mad you didn't bring a Senegal. So I have a Senegal warmup that soccer.com so kindly sent to me. I left it in Miami. That would have made some great content. We could have made some great content. I will wear it. I'm also supposed to go to the Norway Senegal game. Okay.

Which I will clearly be rooting for Senegal in as well. Suck it on there. So I will be bringing it for that one. But this, we did our preview. with the guys from Stadio, Ryan Hunt, and Musa Ocangu. And Musa started the preview. It was sort of like, what are three things, whether it's a player or a moment in game? He opened with this one.

He's like, this is the Unc final. Like, this is the, if you are an old head, you are going to lord this over the other team for the rest of your life. And that's been the case for Senegal. 2002 opening game. They win against the reigning champions from this 1998 team, France World Cup. Senegal ends up getting out of the group. They go through.

They win a knockout game. France gets eliminated. France has two World Cups. And any time you're debating French Senegal fans, Senegal has the Trump card. They beat them head to head in the biggest moment, and they're trying to do it again. Yeah.

And I think this is potentially, I hope the best game of the first round of the world. It was this or Spain. Are we jinxing it? Sorry, is this or Brazil, Morocco? And yeah, I might be jinxing it. But Senegal was excellent right up until the friendlies, heading into this.

When their coach, Pop Thal, kind of messed with their formation and tactical approach a little bit and I'm slightly trying not to over index on friendly performances or results but I am slightly worried that the vibes may have crashed a little bit

and I think the first 10, 15 minutes are going to be telling in this one from both teams. And local report, the weather is going to be incredible. It's supposed to stay like around 75. Perfect. So for a 3 p.m. local kick

in an open stadium, I don't think the heat will be as big of. So there'll be no hydration break. Oh, the hydration break has to happen for the safety of the players. And the safety of the Ford Ram that has to be promoted on television. That game, 3 p.m. Eastern, we will be there. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Well, I will.

No, I'll be here. You'll be here tomorrow? Tomorrow's Wednesday? Oh, yeah, tomorrow's Wednesday. Oh, yeah, tomorrow's Wednesday. Yeah, okay, great. Oh, this is going to be fun. I'm getting outed on everything my shoes right now.

Listen, I got to bust your chops. All right. Let's move it along to Iraq, taking on Norway. at 5 p.m. this game in Boston. All right. Norway is a lot of people's favorite dark horse team. We finally get a chance to see Erling Holland, who I would argue is probably the best goal score in the world right now on a global stage.

Doyle, what are you going to be watching for? So let's go back to the idea that the minnows don't really have a chance, which is something that we've been coming into this, I felt that way, and we've been disabused for the most part. I mean, some of the smartest soccer people I know were like picking Holland for the golden boot just based on the fact that he could score six in this game. Right? And like, okay, like he kind of could.

And this is what he does. 16 goals and eight qualifiers. He bullies teams that cannot match him physically, and there's very few teams in the world. I was going to say can anyone? Yeah, right? And then when you have Odegaard and. Central Midfield and Oscar. Like they're more than just a one-man show,

but like he is built to mow these guys down. And I think that is going to be the story. Can Iraq match physically what Norway are going to? Because it's going to look like Spain versus Cape Verre in terms of like the field tilt and the possession, except Norway's not going to have any hesitation to just bang it into the box and be like, all right, we have bigger, stronger guys.

They have that outlet piece where if it can't break you down. So this has the potential to be ugly. I feel like it does. And look, if it's close at the hour mark, they drop a winger and they bring on Sorloat as well. So that you have two Vikings in the box. Yeah. The toothless Viking.

I think from a vibes point of view, the Norway fans have been incredible. They're clearly excited. And we know the Iraq fans from our friend Valer, who is down in Monterey, that they are on another level. There's so many Iraqis. in this region who have never seen their team play in person. They haven't been back to Iraq, some of them in their entire lifetimes, if not in the last 15, 20 years.

I think parts of Michigan are just dumping out into the East Coast. It will be Toronto. It is what, Philadelphia, oh, sorry, Boston for this one. I think Philadelphia later on. So there's a ton of support for this Iraq team. They've gotten a little bit younger over the last six months because people who are dual nationals have started to come into the team, which is giving them a couple different options.

and they got a 1-1 draw against Spain and they're friendly, which I know you don't want to over-index on, but in terms of confidence for a team, that's a result they probably never thought they were capable of. So coming into this one, they'll take, they had 34% possession in that game, so they won't be unused to it.

And I will say, I think on top of Holland, it is Nusa and Bob. Their ability to break you down 1V1, and I think that's what we saw in qualifying was they won combined the most 1v1 battles in Europe. And so to get Holland in his spots, you need someone to get to the end line or get to the space. And they can do it. And I do think if you sit in deep, then they can sort of come inside and split a double team and do something special.

And so I have newsaw my board as young player of the tournament. We interviewed him on the show and he was super friendly. So I was already in. But I think he's special. And I think he has that top gear. And because you can't send a ton of numbers and focus on him. Right. Like what happens is going to say like those fullbacks get zero.

help defending against those guys in one-v-one situations because the centerbacks have to pinch in to Brackett Holland and then you know the midfield can't help because if you leave Otagard open for half a second somebody has a tap in all right let's move it along to group j and our 8 p.m. match tonight will feature the reigning world cup champions argentina taking on Algeria in Kansas City and as we see matt doyle is here with us so it's time for our first touch tactics board presented by football manager 26 doyle today we are looking at who else the great leo messy yeah he's the straw that stirs the drink for this team still and this will be his sixth and likely final uh world cup and

argentina you really want to put your name on that right fair fair point um argentina were even better in qualifying this time through uh than they were in 2022 or 2018 or 2014 it's in it's incredible the job that's been done there let's see what you got in south american qualifying argentina didn't just rely on Leo Messi. Instead, they engineered an entire system around him. Two phases of play, two completely different roles. Now, in attack, Messi, of course, operated as a 10, a winger, most often is a second forward, but sometimes even as a free eight.

He dropped deep, collect, and then explode forward. The weak side winger and Lautara Martinez up top stretched the field, creating width in depth while giving Messi cord worse to ghost into. Argentina funneled the ball to him early high and often, So there were entire halves where he was the pivot, the penetrator, finisher, all in one. The other guys would run off of his movement and trust that he would figure it out and he's messy, so he did. But defensively, Messi was essentially off the clock. Scaloni structured Argentina in a compact mid-block 442 with the two wide midfielders, not Messi, doing the grunt work.

Messi would sit narrow, preserve his legs, and wait. The team more or less defended as 10. And this is game theory rather than laziness. you don't burn your most dangerous weapon on defensive duties. Argentina conceded the press, which they mostly don't do, in exchange for mid-block ambushes to turn into transition moments. So every turnover became a messy counterattack opportunity. And qualifying it worked perfectly.

Scaloni built a team that made messy unstoppable by making sure he only had to play half the game. Great stuff. As always, Doyle. Suze, I'm going to tell you a secret. Oh, please do. I actually think Argentina were a little bit better in qualifying in the game. where messy didn't play. Okay. I actually think they played as sort of a more cohesive hole,

but obviously he's messy. He's going to start because he could win any game that he's in all by himself. That's a hot take, and I like it. And I think personally, I fell in 2022. It was like they just did 2% more than everyone else to continue to win games, and he's the 2%. So they might play better, but they all expose themselves to that idea of, well, what if we get down into the fourth quarter,

as everyone likes to say now with the hydration breaks? And then we don't know what to do with ourselves. And that's where Messi elevates and is elite. And I think also gives you a little bit of your chest out that you can go and win these big moans, because you have him. But I think to your point of for Messi to be great, he needs runners. And that's sort of everyone's job in and around the team to Paul's his protection. And everyone else is his weapon going forward. And if you give him that, he can threaten you.

And for Algeria, it is going to be that mix of scramble defending around Messi. but not sending too many numbers because then you get exposed in other spots. And we've watched for 10 years now where some teams just never figure it out. And there's not really a way to predict whether or not you can unless you've done it. And that's going to be the real learning point,

but obviously rock talk Algeria. Rock chalk Algeria. The other thing, real quick, I want to point out, as good as Argentina were, sometimes their rest defense can get messy when they, I didn't mean that. That's terrible. It could be flimsy when they have to bring too,

many numbers up and attack a bunker. And we saw that occasionally in qualifying, and that is obviously going to be on Algeria's radar. Also, I've said this a couple times. At some point, it falls apart. We talked about Spain at the beginning of this show. You know, 2010 went to 2012. They won three tournaments in a row.

Sound familiar? And then 2014, they were favorites. And Holland comes out and just destroys them in the opening game. Nicolasodemendi is 38 years old. Emmy Martinez elevates for the national team. He is not a world-class goalkeeper. He's a world-class performer. And that's a lot of the pieces in this team when you look at fullback,

even maybe DePaul and what's happened with him over the last six to eight months. And so there's not a lot of guys in this team who are at the peaks of their powers. Even Lattaro Martinez. Julian Alvarez, if he can be healthy, I think gives you an even better element because I think he's improved and he's become more central. And the part that you just don't know is when it hits, like when it happens. And it happened to Brazil in 2014. It happened to Germany in 2018,

happen to Spain in 2014, and when it happens, it can get bad fast. All right, we'll find out at 8 p.m. tonight, Argentina, taking on Algeria in Kansas City. And finally, we have our nightcap at midnight tonight, FIFA after dark special Austria 1st Jordan from Santa Clara in Group J. Oh my God, what a game. What a moment.

This is Musa again talked about. You've got to be locked in. Musa said we're going to know who the real ones are when there's the miserable 2am nil-nil game who actually stayed up and watched. This is the one that turns you into a super fan. Whoever that person sitting in a thing in Times Square is, this is going to test them. I mean, this could be the best match of the tournament. You never know.

And Jordan is, you know, Jordan are World Cup debutantes. They are. Big moment for them. They are. It will be a massive moment for them. They are nickname in Arabic is the chivalrous ones. Oh. Yeah.

That's got a bit of a vibe to it. Second best nickname of the day, by the way, because Senegal is the Taranga Lions, and Taranga is Wallaf for, like, hospitality. So I love the idea of, like, warmth and hospitality. With lions. Seems like a bit of a warning. Like a fable. Yeah.

But I'm a big Fenwick Fox's guy. Penick Fox is also a great one. What a day for nicknames. But we watched Jordan go and pretty much get decimated in Switzerland. and their big issue was spacing between their lines, when to pressure, when to not. And Austria, first time, they're going to play at one speed in one direction.

And if you are not locked in and prepared at every moment, there's a Ralph Rognik team. They're going to be direct and they're going to attack you. They have some huge issues. Bumgarner being out for the World Cup is a massive loss for them of someone you can play through. But that is a massive loss, I think, in the, is there a change of pace option?

Less in their A style, which is that direct play, I think won't be affected in a game like this. I think this one could get bad. Same. Okay. Yeah.

So when we're wrong tomorrow, we'll be together. Good. I like that. That makes me happier. Exactly. All right, guys, before we go,

let's take a look at the golden boot standings as they are now. Ooh, an American up top. Looky there. Who's on top? Phelarine Balligan with an outstanding performance against Paraguay.

Kai Havert's. One of those was a penalty. It still counts, though. Okay, here's my hot take. I think there's a new name on the Tide list by the end of tonight. Holland? I don't know.

I'm just saying between, I think these games yesterday was. I'm going specific. Oh, you're saying it. Oh, look. I am. I'm going to come after. I have a feeling. I'm going to say Mbapé.

Okay. As frustrating as I think Railman Trud fans. He won't be for France. He cares about playing for friends. Wow. And this guy, we know he shows up. in World Cups. He loves it. The thing that I'm so frustrated at myself, because when we did the golden boot draft,

I was flipping a coin between Pulisic and Baligan. I know. Yeah. I thought about it too. Dang it. Too bad there wasn't someone else you could troll. Regrets. What a hell to out. I lied. One more thing before we let you go. I like to end on a high note.

And so this something that really made me smile yesterday during this World Cup. and I love, I'm a sucker for animal content, as we all know, I'm obsessed with Merlin the duck. Well, guess what? Let's add baby goats to the list because the Cape Bird fans were all celebrating with goats and just holding them up in the street. And I believe this is in Atlanta. So for anyone listening, you can go watch. That looks like Atlanta. They brought a goat to the celebrations.

They brought two goats, actually. Two goats. Yeah. Two goats to the celebration. So we got to throw the gauntlet down for the American. an outlaws. Yeah. What do you bring on, yeah, there's two guts right there, man.

I don't think legally you're allowed to, but you got to get the bald eagles out there. Oh, wow. Yeah, they live right by me, man. I went hiking last week up to, like one of those peaks overlooking the Hudson. That's pretty rad. Bald eagle just flies right by. Do you just take out your phone and play free bird every time? I don't think you can bring.

I mean, they're in Seattle. Like, what's good luck in Seattle? Can't bring an orca. There's got to be some great birds out there, though. That's like good bird watching territory. There is a nice little stat that I found, which was every country that had won in the World Cup so far at this World Cup had more species of birds in their native to their country than the team they had beat until Ivory Coast Ecuador.

Wow. Ecuador has like, you know, because Galahos everything. What, there's like 97 finches alone on those islands? Ecuador Ivory Coast was the first loss. That's the stuff you come here for. That's the analysis we give you bird species by country. It's everything you didn't know you needed, but we're here for it. Gosh, thanks for that nugget.

Thank you. Guys, thank you for tuning in. As always, we're going to be here every day of this World Cup, breaking it down for you, setting this stage. We're so glad you chose to hang with us today. And we're going to do it again tomorrow. We'll see you then.