The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Colin Cowherd & Landon Donovan react to World Cup Draw: How Far Will Messi & Ronaldo Advance?

Episode Date: December 13, 2025

Colin is joined by U.S. Men's soccer legend Landon Donovan and host of the “Unfiltered Soccer” podcast with Tim Howard to preview the 2026 World Cup. They start with group J featuring 2022 champions Argentina & Lionel Messi and Landon explains why Argentina is great with Messi… but also great WITHOUT him (:30).  Moving to group K headlined by Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo, they discuss whether Portugal is capable of hoisting the trophy and providing the one missing piece to Ronaldo’s resume (2:20).  They head to England’s group L and discuss the overvalued expectations for the English team and the crushing pressure they face from an aggressive media (4:00).  Finally, Landon recounts his favorite places to play around the world as a member of the U.S. team (7:30) (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. Today's World Cup draw reaction is presented by Haleon, the maker of Advil, Centrum, Tums, Sensadine, and Voltairen. They've teamed up with U.S. soccer for the assist, a campaign celebrating all the moments of support that make the big goals possible, because every goal starts with an assist. In the history of the United States men's national team, the man you're looking at has the most goals and most assists in the history of our country. And we have ourselves a World Cup.

Okay, Argentina headlines Group J, Algeria, Austria, and Jordan. When you said the defending champs, Messi will do messy things, which is just individual greatness, off script. Nobody has won back-to-back World Cup since I believe Brazil 58 to 62. It's a different world. It's as moneyed and is competitive, and now we're expanding the tournament. So it's very difficult. There's an argument the last World Cup was perfect timing because you kind of had it felt like the end of Messi's prime, just the end of it. He's now out of his prime. How dependent is Argentina on Messi?

What Scaloney has done their coach a fantastic job of is they are very good with him and they're also very good without him. And that's a really unique quality. When you think about players at the end, think about LeBron, right? how do you, you know, the first part of this season, the Lakers are playing really well, and Austin Reeves is going off, and Luca's great and whatever. And now you have to play LeBron. He's LeBron. And so my question is for them is, how will they use messy, right?

Remember it's in the summer, Colin, it's hot, there's travel. It's not going to be easy. And he's, I think, 39 years old, you can't play every minute of every game. He just can't. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. Maybe they'll prove him. But I don't think they're going to get the best out of him. or Argentina if he plays every minute. So the real conversations are going to be way before the

World Cup with Scoloni their head coach, talking to Leonel Messi and saying, look, this is how I'd like to use you. Let's work together so we get this thing right because I don't want you playing every minute and you can't play every minute if we're going to be successful. All right. Group K is Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia, and potentially a team like Jamaica. So Portugal is the obvious favorite. it. Christiano's last World Cup. The only thing he is missing from his career is the World Cup, which was the only

thing Messi was missing. Many believe he's the greatest individual player. He's certainly on a short list, Pele, Messi. Do you give Portugal always formidable a shot to win it? I do, and this is why, last summer in the Nations League, they, this surprised me. played a very, very good Spain team, who I think are the best team in the world, and they won the game. And it wasn't pretty, but it was gritty.

And they are more than just Ronaldo now. And over time, they've really developed some high quality players, and they're also a very good team, very well coached by Roberto Martinez. They have now a trophy that they can look to and say, we've been here, we've gone through these things, and we have the ability to do this again. Now, do I think they will? No, much like the messy conversation. Do you think Messi has a little bit of an ego?

Cristiano is totally next level. So can you have Roberto Martinez that conversation with him and say, look, we don't want you playing every game. Maybe against Uzbekistan, you're not starting. We're going to win that game. Are you okay with that? So that we get the most out of you when we need you in the knockout stages. Group L features England, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama. England is pretty star-studded.

They've got the new manager, Thomas Tuchel. They're two talented, maybe strong, but there are a lot of, there's a lot of jockeying with England. How do you balance? I mean, England's a country that is always fascinating, not always great. You know, the English Premier League is physical, remarkable immense pressure, probably overstated. in terms of, I think they tend to be a bit overrated, a little overvalued. You're nodding appropriately. But it's the British and the austere way of the Brits.

I mean, it's a roster that certainly doesn't lack talent, right? Right. And you said it, you nailed it. So the problem with the English team is they are overvalued. It's like people who don't really know the NFL might think. think Dallas Cowboy players are better than they are because they're on TV every week. Right. So we turn on our TV every Saturday or Sunday morning and you see all these players and names playing in the Premier League that you know. And you're like, oh, I know him. I know that

name. I know that name. So you think they're better than they are. But you talk about a team that can unravel fast. I mean, the English press are brutal. Broom. Tabloid. Rumor driven. And the weird thing about England is almost to a man, all the players know it and read it and follow it, which is bizarre to me because you get to a point in your career, we're like, I'm turning off the social media. I'm not, but the players, I used to, when I played at Everton, we'd go have breakfast and there's all the rag magazines on there. The guys are sitting flipping through reading them all.

I'm like, what are you doing? Stop reading that crap, you know? And so they really feel it. And if things go bad, it can go bad fast for them because you can see it and sense it on the field. When things are going poorly in a game, they're thinking in their head, oh, my. God, what is the press going to write about this? You can see it happening in their head. They'll have enormous support, however, in Canada or the states, would they not? Oh, they're massive, massive, massive, massive. And that's the beauty of having a World Cup in America

is you could say that about probably 15 nations. And that doesn't generally, like in Qatar, it was there. You don't have 30,000 people there for supporting a team. But you could have, if Jamaica make the World Cup and they play a game in or near Miami or Haiti. Haiti's playing a game in Atlanta. There's going to be a lot of Haitians there, right? So this is a really unique opportunity. If you get a chance anybody to go see a game, doesn't matter what game, go see a game. Scotland's in the World Cup, Colin.

Scotland, I called the first game of the Euros, Germany, Scotland two years ago. Listening to Flower of Scotland, the National Anthem, Live, is a memory I will never forget in my life. 30,000 Scots belting it out. They are a team that will bring the party. So if you get a chance to be around them or a game, do it. Yeah, I'm often asked if you could go to one sporting event, what would it be? And I've always said, men's or women's go to a World Cup match, if not featuring us, featuring our allies like France or England. It's just, I'm envious of few, but I am envious of our American soccer star. You and Alexi and Clint Dempsey, who I've always loved, there's a global aspect to your life,

that your job was getting on a plane and going to see the world. And I've always felt like with my kids, I always say, you know, experiences and education, don't worry about what they cost. Get on planes. Go. Amen. In your world that you've lived, give me the place that you love to play and the country, you love to face. What to you was, you would think about it two weeks out. It could be in Paris,

could be in Wembley, but was there a place to you globally that always felt special? Yeah, there are soccer mecas, right? So Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, the Maracana in Brazil, Wembley in England. And almost every country has a version of that. But the benefit of playing for the U.S. is we used to play a lot of Caribbean countries. And so one of my first national team camps ever was in Barbados. And we won, it was when we had multiple rounds of qualifying. And we won this game and got through that qualifying round. And then it's like, let's go party.

And you're on the beach and the rum and all the things. And so you get to go to these amazing places. You're sitting on a beachfront hotel. And you're kind of looking at yourself like, this is my job. This is a joke. Right? It's phenomenal. Thank you for doing this, man. I really appreciated this. This is great. This is going to be so much fun for me. And I've always, I tell Alexi this all the time. I'm paid to know American sports. But I am an, and I try to be a journalist. I am not with the United States men's national team. I'm an abject homer. I have no problem saying it. I care more about them than anybody else. And I can't wait to watch it. Thanks, man.

It'll be awesome. Thanks, Colin. Big thanks to Halion. And For The Assist, reminding us that no one scores alum. To learn more, visit Halion Assist.com and follow at For the Assist. Every goal starts with an assist.