The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD – HOUR 1 – Pulisic’s World Cup Dud, 76ers + LeBron Would Be STACKED

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

Colin Cowherd addresses the mounting criticism for Team USA star Christian Pulisic after their disappointing exit from the World Cup. He draws comparisons to other star athletes and the scrutiny they face after underperforming. Colin makes the case for LeBron James to join the 76ers and why it would be the most stacked team the legend has ever played for in his historic career. First Things First host Chris Broussard joins Colin to talk about his concerns about a LeBron plus Jaylen Brown Sixers, and how the Celtics will restock and continue to compete in the East.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening to the Heard podcast. Welcome in. It is a Thursday. We are live. It is the herd. United States. American soccer star Christian Pulisic. The knives are out.

Pulisic, making sure everybody hears that he's injured. It is just fantastic. This is what happens in England. When you don't get it done at the World Cup, it's what happens in Brazil and Argentina. I'll tell you we've arrived. We're beating up on Christian Pulific. I'll be the first one.

to say it. It's healthy. We crush Caleb Williams. We crush Patrick Mahomes. We crush Joe Burrow. Christian Pulisks getting criticized. Pulisix people made sure this got out today. Pulisic suffered a bone bruise, micro fracture of the tibia. Nobody's denying he's hurt, but before the injury, there was disappointment. Do I think of Christian Pulisic scored seven goals in the World Cup, this would come out? No, I don't. But Pulisic has been our best soccer player, arguably in the country for six, seven years, four-time player of the year, and like maybe our best ever. So this is part and partial to what happens if you go to a World Cup and you're a no-show. Remember, before the injury, we were greatly disappointed.

And because our soccer media is a little soft and precious and too often panders like our NBA media too often does, it's taken actual soccer players to lower the boom. Here's Landon Donovan. Again, the media and soccer won't do it, so Landon Donovan delivers. I speak to people who are at U.S. soccer. I speak to his sponsors. I speak to his teammates. I speak to the staff and the coaches.

People are fed up with the way things are handled around him. actually don't think it's from him. I think it's from the people around him. And they need to stop. And he needs to man up and have a conversation with them and say, look, guys, this is not helping me. Ask yourself, at the World Cup, Messi's a captain for his team. Mbapé's a captain for his team.

Harry Kane's a captain for his team. Last two World Cups, Pulisic isn't. Burrhalter, nope. Potitino, nope, I'll give it to the old guy. Burholter went with a young guy. Why isn't he the captain? This is not out of bounds. Why isn't he the captain?

I do think when you become Tom Cruise or LeBron James or Messi or a big deal in Silicon Valley, you have handlers, you have layers of people to kind of stop the wannabes from hanging around and it creates resentment because it also keeps some legitimate people at bay. Tom Cruise did TB12. Belichick hated it. He tolerated it. Belichick hated it. Brady was saying my guy's better than the team people. So I'm going to have my guy work on me, not the team people. Brady was right. I agree with Brady. Patriots didn't like it. They didn't like it at all. And the truth is, as our greatest soccer player, Pulisic probably has some handlers and age and a PR person to keep the wannabes and the hangar-ons and the sponsors at bay. I don't blame him at all. Now, that does create resentment because there are some legitimate people in the soccer federal. that are also kept at bay.

I've seen it in Hollywood, in tech, in sports my entire life. So I think if he scored seven or eight goals in the World Cup, you wouldn't hear about it. But the problem when you are a star and you have these layered, Michael Jordan talked about it, it gets very lonely on the road. You don't go out, you're in your hotel room, there's pictures, there's documentaries, you become sort of insulated to keep away the hangar honors. but in that process, it creates resentment from like legitimate people who are also too often kept at bay and don't have the control they want as managers and bosses.

And I think there's a lot of that. You're hearing it from Landon Donovan. You heard it from Stu Holden. It's taken players, Carly Lloyd, Alexey, Lollas. It's taken American players, men and women to come out. They've all been talking about this for years. This is not a new thing. Why wasn't he captain last World Cup? Why isn't he captain this World Cup? Messi is, and Bapa is, Harry Kane, is what's going on. Now, I also think this is true. Because as our best, arguably best American soccer player ever, he's played 11 years of his career overseas. Well, folks, when you stay at a Rich Carlton, a Marriott won't do. When you stay at a four seasons, the Hilton doesn't feel like the same.

So I think 11 years overseas, very sophisticated, he's seen the best, he played against the best, the best leagues, the biggest crowd, the toughest media. Sometimes he feels a little indifferent to like a. regional tournament that we really care and Pochotino really cares and Pertholder really cares and and yeah, I mean, Pulissa kind of cares kind of. But I'm over there at the really nice hotel. And I think that's part of it. I'm not beaten up on him, but I'm saying our soccer media tends to be a little precious. Let's defend him.

This is unfair. It's not his fault. He got a bad World Cup. He hasn't been named captain. If we're going to bang on NFL quarterback, look at how we treat our number one sport. Our media treats football guys like Argentina treats soccer guys. And until we are tough and demanding, it's okay. It's not over the line.

Now, I think when it comes to injuries, I'm not going to guess how serious it was. Before the injury, we were all disappointed. But this is also part of the growth of soccer being really harsh when we disappoint. We got out of the group stage. We won a knockout stage game. but it wasn't good enough. It was an embarrassing loss. This is part of the growth.

I'm not supporting Bullisic, but I'm saying the fact that you have people in the building. Go ahead, yell at me, you don't know what you're talking about. Landon Nunnobin does. Stu Holden does. Corley Lloyd does. Alexei Lawless, they know what they're talking about. They know American soccer.

And this is what happens when you are a star and you create the layer, which I'm not saying you can't do that. You could be a great, you could be a top podcaster. PR people and got people in front of you and you got booking agents and you got an agent and you got handlers and you don't you don't want to do this and that and that that's fine but it does create resentment so you better deliver or the knives come out you age out you stink you have a bad series you're a little vulnerable there's always resentment for stars unless you're winning there's always resentment for stars in every industry okay so um

I'm going to say something you're going to think I'm crazy. I'm not going to tell LeBron James where to go. He and Savannah, it's the sunset stage. Like there's multiple stages for a player. The show off stage, the championship stage, the mogul stage. LeBron's now moved into the sunset stage. Where do you want to watch the sunset in your last year or two? And I truly believe this.

If LeBron joined the Philadelphia 76ers, this is the best starting five he's ever had easily. I don't want to hear about the heatles. I don't want to hear about the Hedle. The Hedels had Mario Chalmers at point. Tyrese Maxie is all NBA. The Hedels had Joel Anthony at center. I'd say Joel M. B'd beed slightly better. The Heat didn't have any young ascending star like V.J. Edgecombe.

They were old. Ray Allen, Badiah, Mike Miller. Adonis Hasam. Udonus Haslum. Guys, I love. They didn't have anybody like Edgecombe who is an ascending star. Like, not good. Like, All-Star to eight times.

Jalen Brown and D. Wade are very similar. Playball fans, very, very athletic. Both are going to end up in the Hall of Fame. LeBron's obviously not as good as the Miami LeBron. But if you're talking quality lineup, Tyrese Maxie, All-NBA, Edgecombe, ascending rocket ship. Joe L.M.M.B., Hall of Fame or MVP. Jalen Brown, all NBA. And I've been hearing this. Well, if he chooses Philadelphia, it's the easy way out. Damn straight it is. The sunset stage is all about the easy way out. You don't need to play the black T's anymore. Move up to the blues or the whites.

And by the way, get a cart and grab a butt light. I don't need you. I know you've proven you're great for all of you. I don't care what career you're in. You could be a landscaper or a lawyer. the sunset stage take the easy way out give yourself a bonus play the white teas grab a cart couple of cigars have somebody else pay for it if i'm lebron james and he shouldn't listen to me or anybody else he should listen to savannah you know his wife he can make the decision i'm just telling

you that's philadelphia starting five oh my god i don't know if it would work but lebron said he wants to be happy and have fun you know what's fun winning you know what makes people happy winning. Edgecombe, Embed, Jalen Brown, Tyrese Maxie, LeBron James. Come on. When the Miami Heat were winning titles, they didn't have any size. They were a lousy rebounding team. They had a bunch of old guys at the end of their career. They had no point guard. LeBron, Mario Chalmers drove him nuts. Maxie Edgecombe, Jalen, LeBron, M.B. Are you kidding me? There's a shot. All five of those guys are Hall of Famers. So when Tom Brady chose Tampa Bay at the end, where did Tom Brady, he could have gone to two or

three play. He chose Tampa Bay. Offensive coach, great wide receiver, tight end talent, easy division. Again, play the white T's. Play the blue T's. This is not like going to the Warriors with Kevin Durant, right? The Sixers have one title in 40 years. They can't win a second playoff series.

So LeBron's not taking, you know, a dynasty in motion. that would be like going to the Knicks. As you age, work smarter, not harder. Philadelphia is stacked if LeBron goes there. I mean, Jeff Bezos always says this. When you're a public figure, the biggest waste of time is worrying what people think about you. Who cares if people say it's the easy way out?

You've earned it. You've earned it. I mean, Cleveland, what about Cleveland? James Harden. Come on. Feel winning playoff guy. What about Miami? They got no shooters. You have a good front court.

You got nobody on the bench. Bob Myers, 76ers exec, making his push for Philly. If he was here, I'd say, I honestly believe this is your best chance to win. You have to decide all the other things that are equally important.

Because it's his life, right? I don't, He gets to play. What I would just say is if it's about winning, and that, let's talk about this team, because you can win here. Like I get Cleveland. It's sentimental. It wraps it in a nice bow.

But never forget, Godfather 3 was awful. Never forget that. Godfather won the best. Godfather 2. Consumable. Godfather 3 ridiculous. I mean, even Caddy Shack 2, unwatchable. Sometimes you always say you can't go home again.

Well, you know what they really say. You can't go home again twice. I'm looking at that Philadelphia roster. That's starting five. I don't know if you could make the money work. Here's all I'm saying. I'm not sure I need a bench. Honestly, McIntyre suit up.

Show them the guns. Go out there and hit some threes. Like I'm not even sure you need a bench. Oh, my goodness. Coming in hot today, huh? Really? You think this is in play or is just his guy, Rich Paul, just shitting up interest so AD can go to the Warriors and then LeBron can go to the Warriors? Bob, Bob Myers just went on a podcast and said, yeah, I mean, it's, that is five Hall of Fame. And by the way, Maxie and is Prime, Edgecombe going into it, Jalen and his prime, LeBron and M. Beater out of it.

But they can still be for games, halves, and moments dominating players. So you'd make them the favorites in the East if LeBron goes to the Sixers? Absolutely. This is not a whiff of Carl Malone and Gary Payton to the Lakers with Kobe and Shaq? This is, I mean, if the Spurs are going to dominate the league, it's going to take something like this to beat him. Wow. But I will say this. When I start hearing this stuff, well, LeBron would take the easy way out.

He should. When you get older, don't work harder. You've worked hard your whole life in any industry. Work smarter. You could play 24 minutes. You can take a night off. You know, it may be on certain nights. It may be good for chemistry.

I'm going to take the night off, let the other guy shoot. Do you worry about if LeBron went to the Sixers? You worry about Edgecombe. Is that kid going to get looks? LeBron's always been good about sharing the ball. LeBron's always done the basketball play. But I'm saying if LeBron wants fun and happiness, and that's the quote from Rich Paul.

Winning is fun and happiness is not having to carry a team, but still being respected. All right. Who's the leader in the huddle of that team, by the way? Fourth quarter, you're down two against the thunder. Game four of the finals. Who's speaking up in the huddle? Is it Embeddeed? Because you know what the MB's going to speak up.

Is it Jimlin Brown? Who thinks he's the man? Who's got the trophies? LeBron will talk. Does it mean LeBron will take the final shot? LeBron will lead the way. It's very exciting. I'm sorry.

Good to have you back, man. I see you fired up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narrative. lives down your throat every day. Straight fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines,

accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen, and you're there for heart-wrenching knockouts. The world's biggest stage. and breathtaking triumph. In 20206, FIFA World Cup. The knockout stage.

Every match, every moment. Listen on TSN Radio. Join the globe. On the road to the July 19th final. 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stream it all live on TSN Radio. Available on IHeard Radio. What's up, fam?

I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars,

the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. We'll give you our takes, our debates, and probably a few disagreements. We'll talk to athletes, celebrate big moments and get into what's happening on and off the field, court, track, and beyond.

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Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support. useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champs Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My first guest is Perix Hilton, Shakira, Luke and Yerrin, Samira and Gracie. I'm so excited. on a bouncy bed. You have surprises?

Many surprises. Welcome to Sweet 305, where the group chat comes to life. What a . It's like a way of saying like, oh, my friend, oh, my brother. What a . Look, I never have ever been I've evered with anybody.

Except with my kids, my children. I see my amante. Uff! That incredible, yeah, the telenovela. You're the only person I know that loves a Yellow Starburst. It's lamented. There's not someone that you

like to say, I'd like to collaborate with this person. This is Sweet 305. Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons as part of my Cultura podcast network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. England has one World Cup.

They invented the sport and they have the best league. They have won. By the way, England is getting ready to play Erling Holland. I'm going to let you hear from one of the English players. He doesn't start.

He doesn't start. He played one minute for England against Mexico as a double-digit score in the English Premier League. He played for an elite team in the English Premier League. He was a double-digit score. He played one minute for England against Mexico. By the way, the player who led Christian Pulisic's A.C. Milan team in scoring, he plays for Portugal. He doesn't start for Portugal.

That's going to go a long way in explaining. We're better than we've ever been. Guys who are double-digit scores lead their team in scoring, don't start for Spain or England. Like I've always said, Germany, Serbia, you, they got dudes in basketball. But against our dream team, you're like, yeah, brother, they got one great player. You know, you're looking at Dennis Schrooter, you're hoping, is your one or your two?

He doesn't make our team. Okay, so here is the English player. Again, double-digit score for a top team talking about Erling Holland. Has anyone ever stopped Herlin Holland? I'm not sure they have, but we're going to try. You're going to have to try, I think. He's such an unbelievable player. The things he does, the numbers he puts up,

you're just in awe of how good he is. And the level is out, we're going to have to maybe try and stop how they play and work on those things and stop how the balls go into him and how he gets his chances because he's so deadly in front of a goal. Morgan Rogers would be our first or second best player.

He played one minute for England against Mexico. So every four years I hear about this discussion. It's the youth. Our best athletes don't play. England invented the sport has the best league that have it won one in 60 years. Now, we dominate our region. We're well funded. This is the most talented group we've ever had. But you know what this reminds me a little bit of? You know, we're used to American exceptionalism.

If we want to dominate AI, tech, medicine, we do. But you ever seen those kids that win the spelling bee? like those 16-year-old kids that win the national spelling bee. Not your local spelling bee, not at the high school, the national spelling bee. You do realize they come from really smart parents. Their parents have been testing them on spelling since they were four. And now at 17 years old, you watch them on the stage and you're like, you can't start working on the spelling bee at,

14 and think by 16, you're beating that kid. Look at the names of the team that are in the quarterfinals. Spain, England, Belgium, Argentina, France. Those are the kids that win the spelling bee. They have a hundred year advantage over us on infrastructure. That kid that wins the spelling bee a couple years ago didn't be like, you know, I never like school much, but I am going to, my parents got some money. I'm going to start memorizing words.

bruh, you are a mile behind. Okay. Japan in 1992, Japan's got a lot of smart people. Japan in 1992 released a 100-year plan to win the World Cup. We're ticked off because, you know, we keep getting to the knockout stage. We may win a game, but we're not beating Belgium and Spain. Guys, incremental.

Okay. Look at who's in the World Cup. Well, what about Norway? They have the best score, arguably, in the world. What about Morocco? The best African nation by a long shot, and African nations overachieved in the World Cup. Also, it should be noted.

Morocco is in the perfect place in the world to be good at soccer, right next to Spain and Portugal. I mean, literally you couldn't put a team in a better spot. The weather's perfect. It's like you've got to feed it. system in Europe? I mean, come on. So, yes, we have our best talent.

This stuff is so hard. I was looking at the United States. They were talking about a story below by Lev Acabas. Christian Pulisic's market value is one-fifth of Spain's best player. Meaning if he was on the market, it's half to a third. of most of your elite players. Doesn't mean Christian Pulisic's not our best player. We just have to be realistic about Christian Pulisic.

Here was Bruce Arena earlier this week. Christian's a good player, but he's not in the class of these elite players in the world right now, like we've seen with the play of Messi and Holland and Kane and others. And for whatever reason, he's dealt with a couple of injuries. this season with his club team. He suffered an injury in preparation for the World Cups, and it's been difficult, and he had to leave the game early. But, you know, it's not about one player.

Japan had a 100-year plan to win the World Cup in 1992. That's a realistic, incremental way to look at it. Yeah, Morgan Rogers, his value, is $130 million on the open market. He played one minute versus Mexico. That's how good England is. I mean, England is just stacked. JMAQ with the news.

No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, we're going to get started with the NFL and our teammate here at Fox. Tom Brady, he was on the New Heights podcast and had a really, really funny line. It's almost like he's watching this show. and maybe biting off some of our material. Here he is talking about how wide receivers are so drama-filled. It's a hard thing.

Like, they're working hard to get the ball and they don't get it. So they get frustrated so easy. And I almost think, like, when I see these NFL off-seasons, I think, I swear to God, I think, now, like, this is how is when I came into the league, you know, this guy goes, gets, you know, this guy gets in trouble, he's arrested. This guy gets cut. This guy gets traded.

this guy's unhappy at receiver. It's every year. It's like real housewives of the NFL. No, it is, you know, for a variety of reasons, the NFL wide receiver, often the team's best athlete, you get this drama. You know, if you go really look, like Randy Moss is an all-time great player. But like Edelman lasted it seemed like forever in New England,

Gronk lasted forever. they got, you know, Moss was their best talent ever. He lasted about two and a half years. And suddenly, Monday night game against the dolphins, they kind of froze him out of the game plan. And it was like he was gone. And it's like it just even, you know, and Randy is great, but it, you can, it's hard to find.

That's what we always say about JSN for the Seahawks. He reminds me of Larry Fitzgerald, where Larry Fitzgerald was great. You got no drama lasted forever. J.S.N has. that. JSN got paid a year early. Why? A lot of it was you get no drama with JSN in Seattle. He's like he's got a linebacker mentality. He's got an offensive lineman mentality. Show up, do the work, get paid, overachieve. And I think it's a real thing. I mean, as great as Tyreek Hill was, Kansas City knew something.

They let him go. He kind of had some personal stuff happened to him in Miami. Some of that stuff, they probably kind of guessed there was a little bit of ego. Kansas City was smart. They got out of it before it. went sideways. But in a Tyree Kill, there was a moment in the NFL, J. Mack, like he was unguardable. Like he was changing defense around the NFL. Kansas City's like, we'll let you go. We won't even get a player back, just a bunch of draft picks.

And it was like, like, it's Seattle moves off D.K. Metcalf. You're like, D.K. Metcalf is exceptional. Like even teams that have star receivers, like Philadelphia, A.J. Brown, like before it gets too bad. It's a situation where if you have a great left tackle, you never let him go. If you have a great quarterback, you don't let him go. If you have like Kelsey, Kelsey's playing forever. But there is something about the wide receiver position that a lot of teams are like, listen, we squeezed a lot of the juice, right? Like we're not going to squeeze every last ounce of juice. Let's move on. It's a reality of the position. I don't know why. So this

offseason, we had Puka, Nakua, rehab. Rishi Rice spent, how many days, 30 days in jail? AJ Brown traded. I don't even know what the latest is with Stefan Diggs. Brady's right. Every year off season, this is what you see at that position for whatever the reason. All right. Let's move to college football, Colin. All right.

So you and I love a good list, and we're going to have some fun with this. But I do need to be up front. This list is insane. Okay. ESPN put out the list of the greatest college football coaches entering this season. Number one is Kurt Signetti? Number one? He had a great season.

But Colin, it's one season. Okay? He got bouncing the playoff the year before in round one. How is he the best college football coach? That's insane to me. Kirby Smart's 2, Ryan Day 3, Marcus Freeman, 4, Dan Lannning 5? Dan Lannning 5? I don't know.

I'm losing my mind here early in the show. First of all, totally disagree. There's a lot of good guys that aren't on this list. Like, I think Kurt Signetti's really good. And the fact that he won a Natty at Indiana's amazing. the fact they went 16 and 0 and won all their close games. Here's where I would push back. But would you put him first.

Hold on. No, I don't think I would. But I put Marcus Freeman, I think,'s the best coach right now in college football. Agreed. Marcus Freeman's number one. And then I think Kalin DeBoer, by the way, is exceptional. I just don't think Alabama has the money right now that Indiana and Ohio State do. Again, I think Dabo Sweeney's good.

He just won't put his arms around, you know, the transfer portal. here's where I just ran into an Indiana person the other day. And I said, like, I think Signetti's great. But I'm like, you do realize you guys trailed in the fourth quarter multiple times. You won like five games, including Iowa, late because you had the best quarterback in the country, the number one pick. It's really remarkable to me how the media in college football has given Signetti all the flowers. Guys, do you understand how good. Fernando Mendoza was as a college quarterback.

Go to the Miami tape. The kid was incredible on third and fourth down. Go to the Penn State. I watched the entire second half of the Penn State game. The Hoosier's defense was a sieve to a backup quarterback for the Nintney Lions. Mendoza was unbelievable on the road. You don't see college quarterbacks do that on the road. So I'm not saying Signetti is not an A coach.

He's exceptional. I am not denying that. But I think it's almost like the Brady Belichick thing. For years, well, Tom's a system quarterback. In Belichick, we trust. I don't care what level of football you're talking about. You know, I don't care what level it is. If you have a star quarterback, they take you to another level.

Andy Reid's been great forever. Mahomes gets him trophies. So I just think that it's the dynamic. You'd think Signetti is 80% of it, Mendoza's 20. I think it's much closer to 50-50. And again, I'm not taking anything away from Signetti. He'd be top five on the list. I just think he's probably closer to five than one.

I mean, Dan Lannning has accomplished a lot more over the last five years than Signetti. Signetti's had an unbelievable rise and he went undefeated. They're not going undefeated this year. We know that. I think Sark is a little undervalued. I mean, Mario Cristobal, what he's done at multiple stops. This list is pretty stacked with college football coaches. There's a lot of good coaches out there.

Ryan Day is excellent, almost undervalued at three. Anyways, let's wrap up, Colin, with a world. Cup game today, quarterfinal number one, France versus Morocco. There is some drama swirling around this match. Fans are outraged that all of the referees, the entire crew, is Argentinians. And obviously, everybody thinks, oh, everybody, they're rooting for Argentina when France has been a machine. Now, these two teams, France and Morocco, Colin, they met in the 2002 World Cup semifinal.

And it was a really good match. France won two nothing without second. goal was late. Morocco's really good. Morocco's just, I would argue athletically, Morocco's the second best team I've seen to France. Just in terms of speed, twitchy.

I think Morocco is really good. Yeah. Their best, like, attacking forward has been ruled out. Saibari, I think he had three goals in the tournament. I mean, they were fine without him against Canada. This is just a tall order for France to have to face Morocco's defense after facing Paraguay's defense.

I'm only under two and a half if you care. Yeah, I think France is the best team, but it's, I mean, I just think it's, you know, everybody always talks about the underdog. I was thinking about this this morning. If, if, if the favorites win, here's going to be the final. Oh, gosh. That's ridiculous. Hold on. Hold on.

If the favorites win, it will be England against Argentina and France against Spain. That's his, I mean, that's Duke against Arizona and Carolina against Yukon. Like, I know you guys all want underdogs. I do not want Virginia Commonwealth in my final four. So that's the one question. The one underdog here would be Norway. Would you want them to break through? Yet what Norway is, again, Norway has maybe the best score in the world.

If we had Norway, we would be a different team. He is a literally. Holland, yeah. Erling Holland is just different. I saw a story. It was yesterday or the day before. When Brady was talking about not having gronk for a brief time, he's like, you didn't understand how great drunk was. He goes, I had gronk for, you know, a decade.

We won every third down. He was always open. And then you don't have gronk and you're like, man, third down's hard. Like Erling Holland, like when you do a corner kick, you can spot him. You can just look up and go, when we do corner kicks, I've said this. Think about this. Erling Holland of the last four years has led the world's best league in scoring three of the last four years. He is the LeBron.

He is the dominant player in the best league. So, I mean, I don't, Norway, as long as he plays. You know, we can go watch whatever we want. We compare this to March Madness a little bit. If you have the best player easily, I can remember covering college basketball, when UNLV had TARC. And there was a big national TV game. And one of the highest ranked teams was Navy.

Well, why would Navy have a good basketball team? David Robinson. They had David Robinson. And it was a massive CBS game. I was there. Pat O'Brien was there. And I remember looking up and thinking, Navy, Navy is the biggest college basketball game. Norway has Erling Holland.

It changes everything, changes the calculus of the country soccer, soccer, program. I think Mbapap is taking note of all your love for Holland to being like, guys, guys, it's me Mbapay. I'm going to be, I'm going to show you what I got. Because remember, he's not chopped liver. He is, I would say Mbapay slightly over Holland right now as the best player in the world. That's just me, though. All right. Jaynego News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. An NFL owner doesn't have to necessarily do what the fans say he should do, but he should listen, right?

They are consumers. They pack your stadium. They tailgate. They buy your merch. Really interesting survey came out in Pittsburgh. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Listen.

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On the road to the July 19th final. 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stream it all live on TSN Radio. Available on IHeard Radio. What's up, fam? Sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl, Sam Jay.

And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.

Every week we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. We'll give you our tapes, our debates, and probably a few disagreements. We'll talk to athletes, celebrate big moments, and get into what's happening on and off the field, court, track, and beyond. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports.

So if you're already a fan, or you're just getting into the game, there's a seat for you right here. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda, Kot me. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people.

Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us.

We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My first guest is Paris Hilton, Shakira, Luke and Yerrin, Samira and Gracie. I'm so excited on the bouncy bed. You have surprises, many surprises. Welcome to Sweet 305 where the group chat comes to life. What a fuck. It's like a way to say like, hello, my friend, hello, my brother.

What a! Look, never I've ever been talking to nobody. Except with my kids, my kids, my children, I know. I see my amante. Oof, punch, that incredible, yeah, the telenovela. You're the only person I know that loves a Yellow Starburst. It's rumored. No, there's someone.

I'd like to collaborate with this person. This is Sweet 305. Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons as part of my Coulthura Podcast Network on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. They're show before us, which we greatly appreciate, and they've been so much fun to watch. They're all in on the World Cup. You guys have done a great job, by the way.

The show is funny. You know what I said this. You know what I always say about the World Cup? It's not necessarily family. It doesn't live with you like the NFL NBA every day. It's like the cousins. You meet at the lake for a month every four years. It is absolutely a blast.

You don't see them very often. But when they're there, you water ski every day, you barbecue every day. And the memories are fantastic. So you guys have done a great job. I want to talk. Thank you. I made this argument about 40 minutes ago. I want to put the starting five up if LeBron would go to Philadelphia.

And I said, when you age, Chris, you don't have to play from the black T's. You can play from the blue T's. You can use a cart. You don't have to walk the course. That's five Hall of Famers potentially. Maxi, if you go to the Miami Heat Team, Chris, Mario Chalmers or Tyrese Maxi, Joel Anthony at Senator Joel M. Bede. That team didn't have in Miami a V.J. Edgecombe, who's going to end up being an all-N-B-A player, in my opinion, over the next five or six years.

Brown and D. Wade are both going to be Hall of Famers. LeBron's not as good as he was. That is the best starting lineup LeBron's ever played for, potentially. Am I out of my mind if he chose Philadelphia? Well, you said the right word, potentially. And look, that looks fantastic. I'm totally with you on that. except I put a giant question mark, or maybe even an X over Joel M.B.

I cannot trust Joel Embed. I'm sorry. Like, he's great. I would love him to stay healthy and win a championship. He's one of the most talented centers we've ever seen. But there's no way I'm counting on him being healthy. I don't know how many 30-some-odd games he's going to play next year. Playoffs, he'll be here for a game, out for a game.

And it's hard, Colin, when you have a great player in and out of the lineup. If he was just a role player, it'd be fine. But when you have a great player in and out of the lineup, you play differently. So if he's there, we're playing totally different. If he's not, we're playing totally different. So I think you can win to a certain degree like that, but I don't think you can win the championship when you're kind of this, you know, you have these two types of teams at the same time playing,

because one guy's in and out. I'll also say this. These four perimeter players, take out Embed. Maxi, it's his team, right? He's great. He's a young guy. He's a budding superstar. Love him.

Edgecombe, young kid on a rookie scale. Edgecombe is trying to prove he's a superstar. Like, he's in that young guy that wants to show you how good he is, so he gets a max contract when time is up. Jalen Brown. Huge chip on his shoulder. He doesn't want to go to Philly and be a role player. He wants to go there and be awesome and prove Boston and everybody else wrong.

And LeBron showed last year in L.A. that he could play whatever role you need him to. But he is not going to be a fourth option or whatever. I just think all four of those guys, particularly the first three without LeBron, they have agendas that now you throw a LeBron in there a fourth great perimeter player and like who's going to average who's going to be happy average in 15 there?

You know, so I just think that it is a great team on paper and if M.B. was guaranteed to be healthy or, you know, a healthy player, I would say LeBron should go there. But he's not going to be healthy, unfortunately. and then those other four, the other three going to have personal agendas. There are people that have said this for several years that Brad Stevens is among the smartest people in the league. I don't suddenly think he became an idiot.

Is there a chance that with the draft picks and Paul George and another lever or move, I still contend Boston's going to be really good? Or am I on an island here that Brad made a massive mistake and they're going to circle the drain? They're going to be good. They will win 50-ish games again next year. That's what I think. Yeah, because remember, let's say Paul George doesn't play a game. All you're doing is sticking in Jason Tatum where Jalen Brown used to be.

And then you added Mitchell Robinson. So they're going to be a fine regular season team. And if George can play, then he just asked that he's a very good role player at this point. But I don't think they're going to. could win the East, you know, barring major injuries. I don't think they beat New York. I think they got worse by getting rid of Jalen Brown. And look, Brad Stevens, like a lot of teams now, he's analytics.

And that front office is analytics. The analytics have never loved Jalen Brown. And that's why I think analytics are just wrong. I think he's a great player. I'd love to have him. But I think that's what this decision was about. The analytics tell us he's not that good, not as good as his accolades are,

so we'll be fine without him. And we'll see. All right. Chris Brousard, good seeing you, buddy, as always. Have a great, great Thursday.

All right, Colin. See. They've done a great job on that show. Chris and Nick and Kevin. Really fun to watch their World Cup coverage. Yeah, I mean, it's... The Philadelphia roster could be a circus. I heard from somebody who is friends.

with a Sixers general manager. Somebody I've known for a long time. Certainly knows his basketball. He's in the basketball industry. And he said, you know, they know it's going to be a wild ride. But Philadelphia kind of felt like, listen, if we can get off the Embed contract's not great, the Paul George contract's not great, the Jalen Brown contract analytically is not great, but at least he's healthy.

We're going to make the move. But they know in Philadelphia, there's one basketball. There's a lot of guys that want to shoot. there's a lot of guys that want to shoot. But I think it's going to be a wildly entertaining circus. And I think sometimes you go to the grocery store and you're like, yeah, that's just too good to pass up. I think Philadelphia went, we don't know if we have enough basketballs for this team with Edgecombe and M.B and Max, he's an amazing player. And Jalen Brown's great.

And now they want, now they want LeBron James. It's like, I don't know how it's going to work. But you know what? Katie, Steph, Clay, it worked. I mean, I mean, Steph and Clay were the Splash Brothers. They brought in another guy that needs 15, 18 shots. It worked great. They dominated the league.

So, I mean, a lot of times in the NBA, we can talk analytics. I got more talent than you do. I got more dudes than you do. What's up, fam, it's sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the hosts of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from together. We're breaking down the biggest headlines, the viral moments,

and the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports. From game-changing performances to culture-shifting conversations, we'll give you our takes, our debates, and a few laughs along the way. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Joy is essential, and it's also elusive. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence.

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Listen to Sweet 305 with Lele Pons on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jake Brennan, and on my podcast, Disgraceland, I tell the stories behind music's biggest names. Like how the story of the foo fighters isn't just about music, it's about grief, shock, in the moment everything changed.

Imagine that. You're in the biggest band on the planet, as Dave Grohl was in 1994 in Nirvana. And the phone rings. And you learn that your singer, your friend, the reluctant voice of a generation, Kurt Cobain, is dead. Listen to Disgraceland on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.