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Messi’s record, Mbappé’s magic and Haaland’s big splash: World Cup Daily
00:40:13
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Ben Fisher, Lars Sivertsen and Philippe Auclair as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all hit their stride in style
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- [00:00]
A
This is the Guardian.
- [00:10]
B
You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings by $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.
- [00:50]
A
Hi Podfans Max here. Barry's here too. Hello, Football Weekly here, supported by Hotels.com now Barry question. When you're booking a hotel, do you use hotels.com? actually, you're probably just going to say I don't know. Producer Joel does it.
- [01:01]
C
I don't know Producer Joel does it.
- [01:03]
A
Well, I think you should give it a try for yourself. Obviously it's a massive summer of soccer and loads of our listeners will be traveling to watch the tournament and needing to book somewhere great to stay. So it's good to know that when you're a Hotels.com member, you can save up to 20% on hundreds of thousands of hotels. Plus you earn rewards on every stay. So each trip you take helps pay for your future trips. Just use those rewards like cash. And importantly, there are never any blackout dates.
- [01:26]
C
What's a blackout date?
- [01:27]
A
Well, it's a date where you can't use travel rewards, frustratingly, usually on or around major holidays or other peak travel periods. But there are no Blackout dates with Hotels.com rewards.
- [01:37]
C
Superb.
- [01:38]
A
Yes. So next time you're booking somewhere to stay, just book it at hotels.com hotels.com it's all in the name. Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Kylian Mbappe scores two Erlinghouse Haaland matches him and Lionel Messi says, I might be 38, but I'll show you guys a hat trick. The joint top scorer in World cup history. He even made a rebound from 5 yards. Looked beautiful. But who's better, Messi or Ronaldo? Not today. Cristiano Mbappe had led the day. France were brilliant in the second half. His supporting cast pretty impressive. Elyse Barcola and Rabiot is. Rabiot is actually quite good. Then Erling Haaland got able support from his teammates and the Iraqis too. England finally get their World cup underway tomorrow, so we'll look ahead to that. There's some hobbit, some apple and. And some sourdough to discuss. We'll answer your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today in the studio with me in Los Angeles, Barry Glendenning. Hello.
- [02:36]
C
Hello, Max.
- [02:37]
A
Hello. Ben Fisher.
- [02:38]
D
Hey, Max.
- [02:38]
A
And over in Dallas, ahead of England versus Croatia, Lars Siverts. Hey, Lars.
- [02:42]
E
Howdy.
- [02:44]
A
Howdy, indeed. Rooten, Tootin and all that. We're recording before Jordan, Austria, so we'll discuss that tomorrow. Let's start with group J, Argentina 3, Algeria, nil. And B after Mbappe. And then Harland for Messi to come out and score a hat trick. He's 38. He's 39 next week. It is ridiculous.
- [03:02]
C
Well, for me and Indeed you, Max, 39 is still quite sprightly. I take your point, I believe. Unless I'm very much mistaken, as he took the field today, Leo Messi became the first man to take to the field and play in six World Cups. And I can only imagine that, you know, due to the vagaries of the fixture generator, Cristiano Ronaldo will join him tomorrow. And I'd say he's very happy about being the second male footballer to. To play in six World Cups. But what a way to mark the occasion. It was also his 200th international appearance for Argentina, and he scored a hatrick, had a goal disallowed as well for good measure, and went off with 10 minutes to go. I've quite fancied him to get another one or two. And they were all really good goals. I think the first was my favorite, that pass fizz to him by Rodrigo De Paul, like, at. At incredible speed. And he just controlled it, you know, instantly trapped the ball dead, turned, advanced a little, and shot. I think Luca Zidane should. He got both sets of fingertips to it, probably should have kept it out, but he didn't. And I'm kind of glad he didn't because it was such a great goal.
- [04:28]
A
Yeah, I guess. Lars, you've probably watched more MLS than anyone else here, and I don't know what I was expecting from Messi. You know, I know Messi is good, right? I'm aware of that. But I. I wonder if I was expecting. I wasn't necessarily expecting him to be this good.
- [04:42]
E
Yeah, he is preposterous. I mean, he turns 39 in about a week. Is this. But. But he's playing. He's staying healthy. I mean, he started something like 14 out of 15 games for Miami this season. Like, he's. He's still around, and he's so extremely clinical. And I think that's the most, like, devastating thing. It's like, you have this guy who has been doing this year in, year out. He never stops. He doesn't seem to ever get injured. He doesn't seem to ever have a dip in form. There doesn't seem to ever be any problems outside the pitch that that has been not. He just does the thing, and
- [05:18]
F
you
- [05:19]
E
get into the situation now where he has the ball at the edge of the box. Unbelievable pass from Rodrigo DePaul. Like you said, like, unbelievable. But, like, when he gets to the edge of the box, you just kind of know he's going to put it in the top corner. Like, you're not surprised at all, because that's just what he does. And say we run out of superlatives. We ran out of superlatives 15 years ago. Like, it's been a really big problem for the podcasting fraternity. There's absolutely nothing new to say about. Just going to have to update the numbers and just marvel at the fact that this man just never goes away. It's ridiculous. But I also just think the only vaguely intelligent thing, perhaps maybe I'm stretching it here that I feel like I can add, is that I do think this tournament sets up particularly well for him. One thing is that he's played here for a little while, so traveling around, which I think might be a shock to some player system, he'll be very familiar with. Of course, they fly about a lot in mls. The various sort of humidity of certain venues, the altitude you might run into some places, all this sort of stuff that we freak out about ahead of the tournament, he'll have been a part of already. And I also think this is because of his age. You think, okay, he can't really press and he can't really do all the stuff that the tactics people freak out about a striker not being able to do, myself included sometimes. But I don't think it'll be that kind of tournament. I don't think anyone's going to press all summer. No one's got the legs for that. So it's going to be a tournament of moments. And those moments, God, he still has them. He has so many of them.
- [06:48]
D
Yeah.
- [06:48]
A
And Ben, actually, in the. In the flat, we were watching it together, and the second goal, which is sort of the least impressive of the goals, in a way, that was the one that you just looked at, and you thought, he has so much Time, like so many strikers run onto that and blast it and probably score. But just the way he just. He makes that look beautiful.
- [07:08]
D
Yeah. On the kind of face of it, it looked really simple, but I think that's the art of Messi. Right. Just a sumptuous finish. Just guided it in, as you say, with so much confidence. I mean, he's obviously done it so many times, but I think with. With Messi, the. The thing that struck me today watching him was that that kind of speed of thought and the fact that, like, for the last goal where he. He reacts quickest, he expects the, you know, the, The. The rebound, he expects it to happen. And I think. I don't know, with him the day or with. As players get older, you maybe sometimes think, are they going to slow down? Or especially with him, is he going to be more on the periphery? But he was front and center. He's got, you know, hat trick and Dislau go in the opening game. So, yeah, what a start to the tournament for him. Obviously level with Miroslav Klota now in terms of most goals ever. Most goals at a World Cup.
- [07:58]
A
Yeah, I mean, I was trying to feel like we needed to say some more about Messi. Do you know what I mean, Barry? Like you seem to need to. He has played against Zinedine Zidane and now his son. He played el Clasco in 05. I think that was the last time he played against Sedans. Not many people have played against a father and son, apart from sort of weird, you know, Sunday leagues. But I have no more questions about Messi, Barry. I should have some, but I can't think of anything to add that we.
- [08:21]
C
I think we've established over the years that he is pretty good player.
- [08:24]
A
Yeah, I think you're probably right.
- [08:26]
C
What I will say is that he. He's got off to a flyer hat trick in his first game. Mbappe scored two, Erling Haaland scored two. I just know Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo will be watching those games today and going, right, I need. I need to score tomorrow.
- [08:42]
A
At least once did that game make you think Argentina in a better place, Lars, than perhaps you did before the tournament? Or maybe you had them. I'd heard people sort of writing Argentina off and having watched that, and it's hard to gauge. I think Al Jura are not a bad football team, but where do you have them? After seeing one performance?
- [09:01]
E
In the interest of like, fair and transparent and open podcasting, I feel like you need to look up where I had them. Ah, I see. I had them losing to Portugal in the quarterfinals. I do quite like them for a few reasons, which is, again, maybe I harp on about the conditions too much, but I think the conditions are going to matter. I don't think no one's going to gag and press their way to the final here. I just don't think it can be done. Whereas if I look at Argentina, they have a lot of, like, smart footballers there, I think tactically clever, technically well schooled players who know when to raise the tempo, when to lower the tempo, players who can control things. That midfield, there's a lot of football IQ there, I think, and I think that really suits the decision situation and the. The circumstances. I think if they can get obvious. It's an obvious thing to say, but if they can keep getting these magical moments out of Messi up front, there's a lot of good stuff in that midfield as the defense, they've got the maddest defense in the tournament, surely, like Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez at the back and Emmy the Martinez behind them. That's just like, there's a lot of lunacy per player there. But they're also very good. Like if they can all avoid getting sent off, or ideally not get sent off all at the same time, because that'd be very bad. But, you know, if you can keep them going and keep them vaguely saying, that's also very good. So I think there's a lot to like about this Argentina team.
- [10:20]
D
Yeah.
- [10:20]
A
Meanwhile, for Algeria, Bass, look, they started okay, you know, they had that their disallowed goal was tighter than Argentina's and maybe that makes a difference, I don't know. But they got blown away in the end, I think.
- [10:30]
C
I thought they more than held their own in the first half and the only difference was the. The messy cheat code that Argentina had. And second half they, yeah, they were completely dominated. I don't think they disgraced themselves, but, you know, Messi is a cheat code and Argentina have them.
- [10:51]
A
Sure. And they have Austria and Jordan to play, so, you know, they still could quite easily get through to the last 32. That game is happening after we finish recording, so we'll talk about that tomorrow. And that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll do France, Senegal, beginning with a nice chat with Philippeau Claire. Hi, POD fans. Max here. Barry's here too.
- [11:09]
C
Hello.
- [11:10]
A
Football Weekly is supported by Hotels.com. now, Barry, question. When you're booking a hotel, do you use hotels.com? actually, you're probably just going to say I don't know Producer Joel does it.
- [11:18]
C
I don't know Producer Joel does it.
- [11:20]
A
Well, I think you should give it a try for yourself. Obviously it's a massive summer of soccer and loads of our listeners will be traveling to watch the tournament and needing to book somewhere great to stay. So it's good to know that when you're a Hotels.com member, you can save up to 20% on hundreds of thousands of hotels. Plus you earn rewards on every stay. So each trip you take helps pay for your future trips. Just use those rewards like cash. And importantly, there are never any blackout dates.
- [11:43]
C
What's a blackout date?
- [11:45]
A
Well, it's a date where you can't use travel rewards frustratingly, usually on or around major holidays or other peak travel periods. But there are no blackout dates with hotels.com rewards.
- [11:55]
C
Superb.
- [11:55]
A
Yes. So next time you're booking somewhere to stay, just book it at hotels.com hotels.com it's all in the name. This episode is supported by Boss formal wear provider for the US Men's national soccer team. For soccer's biggest event this summer, the US is playing on home soil and Boss will be dressing the US Players and coach Maurizio Pochettino in Boss Performance businesswear for their off pitch appearances. Boss and the USMNT share the same values discipline, precision and the confidence to perform under pressure. US fans can look sharp too in the Boss Performance collection and wear their passion with special fanwear, capsule and embroidered badges in national colors. Own the moment with confidence. Discover the Boss Performance collection as worn by the US Men's national soccer team and the fan capsule of jerseys, polos and jackets in national colors. Wear your passion your way. Available now@boss.com or at your nearest boss store beyourown boss. Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly ASO France 3 Senegal 1 in group I Before I chat to the chaps here, I caught up with Philippe Eau Claire and I greeted him in French Bonjour Philippe. What is the French for hurling some tastutes in the around the dressing room at half time? Because that second half was something else.
- [13:29]
G
Well yes, it was. It was rather different, wasn't it? And yeah, quite a. Quite a change of scenery. And I think, I think probably Didier Deschamps went to the mirror, looked at himself and said, what did you do wrong, Didier? And Didier answered, you're playing the best player in the world in the wrong position. So if you put him in the right position, which is in the middle, things will change. And lo and behold, you put the best player in the world at the moment. Not the guy who scored the goals, but the guy who made them and who made France stick. And then suddenly it's a completely different proposal. And Senegal just couldn't live with Michael Olisse. And Kylian Bappe, who is tonight has now holds the record for the most goals scored by a Frenchman for the national team. And I wish somebody had written a book about him that I could refer to to explain how he got there.
- [14:33]
A
But there you go, full confession time. Now, about half time, I was. I had a few things in the script saying Mbappe doesn't press. He's a bit of a luxury player. Would you be better if you just put Mateta up there and then, well, I mean, as you say, the pass from Elise, I mean, there was a pass from Elise to Mbappe which almost made it. And then there was the goal, and then there was the way that Mbappe, you know, Senegal score and you think, okay, this could be an interesting three minutes. And then Mbappe goes, all right. And I think about it proved today that he is quite good at football.
- [15:06]
G
He's decent. I still think he's not the center forward, and I still think he would be more effective if he played on the left and that the team would work better if he played from the left. But this was a typical Bape game because he had loads of half chances and even you would call three quarter chances, which he didn't quite put through. And his first touch was a bit heavy. Sometimes he looked a little bit. Not uninterested, but a little bit petulant at times. And then suddenly something switches on and then it's a different player and it's the Kylian Mbappe who is now Francis record goalscorer with 58 goals. That's rather a lot. He's only 27 years of age. I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous. And. But it shouldn't make us forget that Francis first half was, apt to quote Alan Hansen, was diabolical. It was really awful. It had no rhythm, no pattern, no fluidity, no beat, nothing. And to be honest, France was very, very lucky to come off the pitch at halftime with the score at nil. Nil scored, parity score because Senegal was the better team, better organized and more dangerous. But they don't have an Olise a Barcola. Mbappe Dembele was very quiet today, which is not the first time he's been with the French national team. But again, is he playing in the right position with that particular setup? I'm not too sure about that. And it also shows that Deschamps has got this amazing bench that he can count on, because when you can ask.
- [16:50]
A
Bring on turkey with five minutes left. Unbelievable.
- [16:52]
G
Yeah, that's all right.
- [16:53]
A
And Barcala. Yeah, of course.
- [16:54]
G
Yeah, you bring in Bacola and you bring in Cherokee, so that's okay. And there are a couple of other guys were there, but it's not perfect by any means. But I, I think I was actually dreading that game, Max, because I thought that it could be. I thought the 90 minutes or nearly 100 minutes would be as tough as the first 45 were. That's what I was expecting. But then again, pure quality spoke and. And paid off. And France are basically already in. In the second. You know, they're in the knockout stages. I mean, a 31 victory is pretty much insurance that whatever happens against Norway, which is going to be an interesting game. But Senegal though, it's a. It's. It's a tough one to take, I have to say.
- [17:41]
A
Tell you who was good. Philippe.
- [17:43]
G
Tell me.
- [17:44]
A
And actually I thought was quite good in the first half. You may disagreement with Rabiot.
- [17:48]
G
Yeah, no, he. He was for me in the first half. He was Francis best player.
- [17:52]
A
That pass for Barcolo.
- [17:56]
G
That's. That was. We were talking with some friends about it and said that was almost worthy of Antoine Griezmann, which is, you know, in my book. That's. Yeah, you know, it's stratospheric in terms of. In terms of compliment. But he was. This was the good Rabiot that we saw, the very, very good Rabiot that we saw today. And in fact he was Francis best player in midfield by some distance and he created. He intercepted a few balls. The decisions he took were most of the time the good ones scrapped a few balls in midfield as well. So no, he was excellent. And there would be. I mean, there were others. I think Tyre Node had a decent game. Desire Edouet was a little bit underwhelming. Was really had loads of problems on his flank in the first half, in particular defending as well as attacking. But all in all, I think Deschamps would be. He would be more than delighted with that. In the end. The result is great. No injuries. We don't think so. And he's found. Well, he now knows he should have known before where to play. What I keep saying is the best attacking player in the world at the moment and has been throughout the season with Michael Olise and who is. He's going to be this World Cup Star, I think. I mean, it's just. I mean, what can you say? The elegance.
- [19:29]
A
Yeah, yeah, I know.
- [19:32]
G
Oh, God, it makes me. You know, it makes my hair stand on end. It's like this kind of player who actually makes you love football. Makes you almost forget about Jenny Infantino and Donald Trump and all the horrible things which have been happening all over America for the past. Well, for quite a while now, but before the World cup even started. And, yeah, that was. Yeah, that was a decent second half, I would say.
- [20:00]
A
We're getting you on for a full episode soon, so we will ready the lawyers for then, but for the time being. Abianto, Philippe.
- [20:06]
G
Merci beaucoup. Monsi Lepa.
- [20:08]
E
Au revoir.
- [20:09]
A
Philippe Beauclerc there. I mean, it's worth spending a bit more time on that second half. Bas. Because the difference in performance from the first, the second was something else.
- [20:15]
C
Yes. I'm glad you pointed out to the listeners that you greeted Philippe in French,
- [20:20]
A
because nice to marry the guest, otherwise. Thank you, Barry.
- [20:25]
C
Yeah, the difference between. I mean, Philippe has pretty much covered everything as far as I'm concerned, but the difference between first half France, who were desperate, awful, and second half France, chalk, cheese or a chalk fromage.
- [20:41]
A
Yes. You don't know the French for chalk?
- [20:44]
C
No, le chalk.
- [20:46]
A
I have no idea.
- [20:47]
C
And Didier Deschamps clearly gave them an absolute rollicking at halftime. And it's good to see, you know, people are occasionally concerned who runs that dressing room. Well, I think in the second half we saw who the boss is there. Certainly it was a brilliant performance. Michael Elise was brilliant. Killian Mbappe was brilliant. Adrian Rabiot. That pass for Barclays goal was brilliant. I'm just repeating what Philippe said, so I might as well stop talking.
- [21:16]
A
Actually, I did love, Ben, that Mbappe's second is so just at that moment where you were like, oh, hello, Senegal could get something here. And then just that turn and hit was. It felt very Mexico 86 to me.
- [21:27]
D
And he didn't even look at the goal. He knew where it was going. Again, low finish, diagonal cross goal. But again, Elise was. Was the architect, wasn't he? And I was just thinking earlier because obviously Elise being born in London, I think he grew up in White City. And Mbappe's celebration, the. The flute, that. That was from James Corden or his time with James Corden. So it was kind of bit of a London link to Mbappe's first goal, as it were. The artistry behind them.
- [21:54]
A
Is that right? You're grimacing, Barry.
- [21:56]
C
I am groovy.
- [21:58]
A
That's okay. People like some presenters and don't like others. What did you make of Senegal in this game last? Because they did have chances, didn't they? You know, Jackson hits the post, it bounces off mania. That could go in. SA has that chance just before half time. If they take the lead. Is this game different?
- [22:16]
E
Jackson had a brilliant volley that went in, and I thought, oh, my days, it's a Jackson incredible finish that hits the net. I'm like, this is so great. It was offside, clearly, and I thought he was remarkably calm about that. I think for a guy who has missed as many chances as he has in his life, when he finally hits, like, the sweetest volley against France in the World cup, if that was given, I think you're entitled to lose your shit a little bit if that gets given as offside. But he was remarkably calm. I wonder still how much the first half was France just being bad and how much of it was France taking it easy? A little bit. Because I do think this French team has come here thinking we're going to be here for seven, eight games, so we're not going to burn off a ton of powder in the first 45 against Senegal. But whatever they were trying to do, they ended up not doing much of anything. And for sure, Senegal had chances. And from a Norwegian perspective, I was watching this going, yeah, I don't love this. Like, these are quite tasty. We knew this already, but I have anxieties about facing Senegal, for sure.
- [23:17]
A
But you are top of the group, Lars, aren't you? After beating Iraq 4 1. How was it for you?
- [23:23]
E
I feel so incredibly relieved, Max. That's the only thing I can really, like, moved on occasion, just by seeing, like, the players and the anthem and everything. It's been 28 years. It's been 10, 10,227 days, I think, since the last time we played a game at the World Cup. It's been a while, and it's strange for me because I've ended up sort of scraping a living doing this sort of thing. And I've watched all these tournaments and I've done podcasts and written things, but in my entire adult life, I've never, like, actually had proper skin in the game. And I do have a greater sense of understanding for why you all completely lose your minds about England and stuff like this than I maybe had previously. In the same way that, like. Yeah, no, I understand it much more now, to the point where I found it really hard to, like, provide any analysis or forecast about this game in advance in any sort of rational way. Because, yes, clearly we are quite a lot better than Iraq. But we've had like, so far the story of the tournament. There's been so many upsets. You know, there's been Qatar nicking something against Switzerland, there's been Cape Verde holding Spain, there's been Saudis stopping Uruguay. Like the upsets have. Have been coming. And as the match drew near, I became increasingly convinced and terrified that the upsets would come for us as well. And then when we played not well in the first half, I thought Iraq, Iraq should get credit. Iraq had really done their homework. I felt. I got the sense that they picked their moments in terms of pressing and they really targeted those of our players who are not super comfortable on the ball. They really made us uncomfortable and we couldn't play the way we really want to for. For a lot. For certainly, for the. Certainly for the first quarter when we had the drinks break. That's definitely not an ad break. And we got into the second quarter of the game, we obviously scored a very, very good goal. Nicely worked move. And that settled everyone down a little bit. But then they equalize and then, yeah, when the equalizer comes, I'm thinking, yeah, we're the Swiss now. We are gonna. Or we are the Spain or we are. We are Uruguay, whoever. I thought the upset was coming and I'm just really relieved that we got through it. Even though it was a scruffy performance that probably won't have convinced anyone, except for we know that Erling Haaland is a beast. He's right on it, physically. He's in great shape at the moment. He's so hungry. And that was really the big difference.
- [25:47]
A
You can plug your book like Philippe plugged his book about Mbappe if you want to at this stage. I mean, it's really great, Barry, for Harlan to get off the mark of his.
- [25:55]
E
I think most of our listeners know about it, but I have written a book on Ali Nolan. You can look it up. It's quite good. Check it out. You'll learn all about why he's that good. If you didn't know already.
- [26:04]
A
What did you make of this?
- [26:06]
C
Norway weren't good for the first. Well, they weren't good until they scored, basically. And it's no great surprise that Haaland got off the mark. If Norway go deep into the competition, we know it's the semi final and final in which he'll fail to score, but hopefully the game against England where Harry Kane also fails, he'll Be dancing in the streets.
- [26:31]
A
Everything proved right. These flat track bullies together.
- [26:33]
C
His goals, I mean, the first was a bog standard. Slid the ball home from a really good low cross at the power post. And the second one was gifted to him by the keeper dawdling over a back pass.
- [26:47]
A
I loved how long he took because it was like you can see the ball coming to him and you're like, I think you really need to go to the ball, mate. And he's just waiting. He's just waiting and waiting.
- [26:55]
C
You can almost hear the Jaws music.
- [26:58]
A
Exactly.
- [26:58]
C
I can go. So his goals were probably the two worst, you know, worst inadvertent commas of the game. I thought the Iraq, the goal they scored equalize.
- [27:11]
A
Alamari.
- [27:12]
C
Alamari. What a brilliant header that was. Erik Torresford's son. I thought he'd scored Norway's fourth one for the dads there. Eric Torsford obviously was a Spurs goalkeeper. Made a. Famously made a nightmare debut for spurs, but his son came on as a sub for Norway and I thought he'd scored the fourth with a header from about three inches out, but apparently it was an own goal. Possibly. So anyway.
- [27:37]
A
And actually their third was an amazing towering. I mean, like the definition.
- [27:40]
C
Oh, yes, that was a great, great header.
- [27:42]
A
Definition of a towering header. Any other strong thoughts on this game
- [27:45]
D
in terms of Iraq? A bit of a moment of history with Zidane Iqbal coming on, formerly of Manchester United, believe he becomes the first player of Pakistani heritage to play at World cup and he actually has the Pakistan flag on one boot and the Iraqi flag on the other. So they were probably never expected to get a result. As Lars was saying, there's always that trepidation beforehand. Will Norway come unstuck. But a moment for Iraq despite defeat.
- [28:09]
E
So it's funny you mention Kirstjan Tolstrad because actually this was a historic game. You had, I believe, for the first time in World cup history, you had three sons of fathers who had also played in the World cup play for the same team. Kirstein Tolstoy, but also Alex solos, his father played in 94 in that very memorable game against Ireland, I believe. And of course Erling Haaland's father also played in World Cup 94. So we had three players whose dads also played in the World Cup. And I want to just note as well on, I'm so incredibly happy for him getting a goal because he's lost his place. He's someone who cares a lot. He wears his heart on his sleeve. But it was him who made a terrible mistake against Scotland in the euro qualifying campaign, which basically consigned us to not going to the Euros. And I think it's been eating at him a little bit, I suspect. And so for him to be back in the frame and scoring a goal, I think that was a wonderful moment.
- [29:01]
A
Good stuff. All right, that'll do for part two, part three. We'll look ahead to tomorrow's games which include England against Croatia, will the Croatians. You know the rest. We'll be back in a sec.
- [29:13]
B
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- [29:42]
F
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- [30:29]
A
Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So tomorrow begins with Portugal, Dr. Congo, then England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama, Uzbekistan, Colombia, England, Croatia feels it feels so late to be beginning in a tournament, Ben, but like it's been really relaxing for me and now I know I'm gonna wake up tomorrow thinking oh God yeah,
- [30:46]
D
it feels crazy, doesn't it? And I do wonder what that does that have any effect on the players or management or what does that do? Certainly for the fans it's, it probably heightens the anxieties as you say. I think Tuchel has managed probably that aspect really well though even in his pre match press conference today he was kind of just quelling all of the potential hiccups or things that could, you know, create further noise. He was asked about even stuff like the tornado the other week, you know, has that affected things, the kit getting stolen? He basically just batted everything away. And he said, you know, he's reluctant to kind of overdo it in terms of motivation. We know there's loads of hype around the team. He knows that. I think he's really savvy, really smart, and I think his management of these things, basically ever since England have been out on the training camp, has been really impressive.
- [31:33]
A
And actually, Ben, whether he picks Consa or Stones or Gay or whether he picks Gordon or Rashford or Rodgers or Bellingham, we sort of know the plan. It's not like we're going to be all there going, why is he at left back, like, whoever he puts, wherever we sort of know. Unless, of course, he does something different that we're not expecting.
- [31:53]
D
Yeah, definitely that. The emergence of Elliot Anderson alongside Rice is kind of beefed up, that sense of plan. I think that maybe that was one of the areas, certainly in previous tournaments or recent tournaments where we felt a little bit uneasy. I think now the defense is still probably the area of concern. And, you know, Tino Liveramento's injury and therefore Shalaba coming in, you do think, does that kind of just make us a little bit more susceptible again? Even though Livramento probably wasn't going to play loads of minutes, it's kind of another brick that's removed from that kind of defensive wall, if you like. And that's the area of concern, I would say.
- [32:31]
A
Barry, where's your fearometer? Having watched most of the teams in
- [32:35]
C
terms of this game, the fearometer isn't even switched on because I expect England to win and if they don't, it doesn't really matter. They're going to be quicker than Croatia. They're younger than Croatia.
- [32:50]
A
I think we're younger than Croatia.
- [32:51]
D
Yeah.
- [32:52]
C
The new format means should the worst happen and they lose, which I can't see happening at all, it doesn't matter.
- [33:00]
A
Lars, what's your. What's your take? And specifically on Croatia?
- [33:03]
E
Actually, yeah, I'm very excited. I'm going to this game whether it matters or not. Barry. So this is going to be a fun time for me. Croatia, obviously, like, they. They have this unfathomable amount of experience and I just looked this up now because it's kind of boggles the brain. Johnny, you. Many games, how many caps? Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic have played together for Croatia?
- [33:24]
C
Well, about 260.
- [33:28]
E
Yeah, you'd think so. It is actually 130. They played 8,880 minutes together for Croatia, according to the very excellent transfer Mark.
- [33:36]
C
I was going each, like, between them.
- [33:38]
A
Yeah, okay. No, that's fine. Yeah, that's. That is mad.
- [33:41]
E
Don't often see that. You do wonder with, like, some of the. It feels like Croatia have. You're kind of seeing the sunset of a pretty golden generation, but the next one haven't quite come through yet. So you do wonder if there's enough legs in this team to really make an impact in the tournament. But here's the thing. This is the first game, so this shouldn't really be an issue yet. And as we think. I think we've established on this team, they are. They're not tired yet. They're seemingly never tired, and certainly they're not going to be it in the first game of the tournament. I just wonder a little bit where the goals are coming from.
- [34:11]
A
Yeah, it does feel like that sunset has been setting. That sun is setting forever. It's the best sunset ever. Get some great photos.
- [34:17]
E
One of those countries where the sun just is always right on the horizon there and it never goes all the way down. Like a Norwegian summer.
- [34:23]
A
What about Portugal, Dr. Congo, Lars? I guess it's all about, you know, Ronaldo starting and his impact or not on the team.
- [34:31]
E
I am genuinely curious about how this is going to work because I am one of the many people who find it strange that he is still there. But the fact is they don't have a ton of options right now. Gonzalo Ramos hasn't been playing regularly for PSG for a long time. And are you playing? Are you starting Rao Felix over Cristiano Ronaldo? I don't think so.
- [34:51]
G
So.
- [34:51]
E
So there he is. And I can't really get away from the fact that he does have a genuinely strong record internationally of late, including games against, you know, good opposition in the Nations League thing the other year. So maybe it could still work. Gotta be totally honest and say that it'd be very funny if it didn't. Like, there's something about the hubris of the man that I find a little distasteful and a few other things, but Portugal away from him, and they're an incredibly exciting team. I mean, possibly the best midfield in. In the competition. Nevis and Virginia from psg. And Bruno Fernandez, who's coming off an incredible season for. For Man United with Brewer Bernardo Silva, can just slot in where you need him, if you need him. Like an unbelievable team, really. If they had an absolutely elite, top class number nine, you'd say they're a good semi, final, potentially final pick, to be honest. There's so much good stuff here. Can Cristiano still be that player? I have my doubts, but I will say it'll be very fascinating to find out.
- [35:51]
C
Portugal's players tomorrow will be wearing commemorative wristbands in honor of Diogo Jota, which were gifted to them by the Portuguese Prime Minister, Louis Montenegro. But apparently he did loads of research to make sure that they don't fall foul of any of FIFA's byzantine.
- [36:11]
A
Right.
- [36:12]
C
And myriad rules and regulations in terms of conditions of what players are allowed to wear and not allowed to wear on the field of play. So that's a little something.
- [36:22]
A
Yeah, it's a nice touch. And actually, I don't think we talked about it, but I think Diego, Josh's wife wrote a really beautiful letter to Andy Robertson ahead of the Scotland game saying, you know, you're. You're sort of playing for Diogo as well, because Robertson and Jota were such great friends and that. I watched that at a, you know, emotionally weak moment and was crying my eyes out somewhere. The other games, Ghana, Panama, Uzbekistan, Colombia. Ben, any thoughts? Well, you laugh.
- [36:53]
E
It's a bit of a hospital pass in it.
- [36:55]
A
You can say, no thoughts. You know, I said anything.
- [36:57]
C
I mean, I love, you know, in normal times. Ben has the biggest beat in football journalism, which stretches from Middlesbrough to South or to Portsmouth to Bristol. Now at the World cup, he's covering
- [37:12]
A
Panama and Ghana and Uzbekistan.
- [37:17]
D
Well, I mean, I did see Ghana play at Wells in, in the. One of the last friendlies before coming out and they were pretty underwhelming, I would say. I mean, Semeno was sort of wrapped up in cotton wool for that game. Didn't even warm up. He was there, but didn't. Didn't even warm up. So it does feel like they're kind of counting on him to do everything, but I don't know. Jordan Ayew still knocking around and Fatah, who obviously was at Leicester as well. I'm not too sure about how threatening they will be, but I'd expect them to beat Panama.
- [37:47]
A
You were at the Iran New Zealand game yesterday and you wanted to talk about what happened after the game?
- [37:52]
D
Yeah, no, I just. It was. There was obviously a lot of interest in the game. Going into the game. What was it going to look like in terms of the, the support, the kind of reception that the Iran team would get. Would they sing the national anthem? Which they did. And it was overwhelmingly positive in the stadium beforehand. There were some protests outside from probably a couple of hundred supporters who don't believe the team represents them or Iran. But the atmosphere inside the ground was brilliant, actually. And I think a lot of the handling of Iran's participation in the tournament has been obviously really poor. And afterwards, Infantino went into the dressing room and spoke to some of the players and it was quite interesting because the head coach, Amir Galenois, kind of just laid it all out as well. He didn't sort of give Infantino an easy ride. And he said in front of him, in front of the squad, you know, the challenges they're facing, and said, basically, we need more help. Iran had to fly back after the game. Rather than being allowed to do their recovery in the us they had to fly back to Mexico late last night about 11 o' clock local time. They were advised of that on the day they were expecting to be able to return at lunchtime the next day. So. And these things matter, you know, like other people have said, oh, it was only a short flight, about 40 minutes. And other teams have done it, which is all true. But, you know, in this kind of era of, you know, teams flying because they don't want to sit on a coach for hours because, well, marginal gains, right. It is that. And I just think if you're going to allow Iran into the tournament, they have to be treated like everybody else. And. And the reality is they haven't been. And afterwards, Mehdi Turimi was highly critical of FIFA of the US and the head coach said their treatment is the most oppressive at the tournament, which is probably not the sort of tagline that Infantino and co were hoping for.
- [39:46]
A
It's just what you want when you've run around for 90 minutes. Is Gianni coming in saying, chill, relax, guys posing for selfies.
- [39:53]
D
Yeah. And there was even like this really awkward laughter when he said, you know, if the team needs a striker, you know, count me in, guys. And everybody sort of felt compelled to laugh. But, yeah, I don't think it was genuine.
- [40:04]
C
But one of the players, Mehdi Turabi, winger, he only has a visa for yesterday's game, so he doesn't have one for the next two.
- [40:12]
D
He. Since they've actually applied and they've got one, which again, is an example, I think, of FIFA, if you want to give him, you know, a portion of credit, is it maybe it seems they have listened because that's, you know, people were looking at that thinking that's not going to happen in time for Sunday, the next game, but it has. So he will be eligible for the. For the remaining games.
- [40:31]
E
Very minor thing in the grand scheme of it. But Gianni Finfantino also told the Iranian players that they had two games left to go. So you only had to like stay focused, which is. It's unbelievably tone deaf. They don't have two games left to go. They're not knocked out of the tournament.
- [40:45]
A
Yeah.
- [40:45]
E
And it is just example number 1 billion of the fact that this man has absolutely no clue whatsoever how this sport works and how players work or how any of this works.
- [40:53]
A
On a slightly different note, my Elijah Wood. Elijah just mishap at the start of yesterday's pod. Chris says although he spent a long time filming in New Zealand, Elijah Wood wasn't eligible. It was Elijah just. I just appreciate it was a slip of the tongue, but don't make a hobbit of it.
- [41:11]
E
Very good, Chris.
- [41:12]
A
Alexander. We said hobbit. Alexander says he's Frodo the Hobbit. You're supposed to be experts. So, yeah, I mean, don't get the wrong side of the Lord of the Rings Hobbit crowd. Happened to me earlier. So yeah, our apologies.
- [41:25]
C
Frodo not a hobbit.
- [41:27]
A
I think Frodo wasn't the.
- [41:28]
D
Well, I'm with you, Max.
- [41:30]
A
I'm not getting stuck with you on
- [41:31]
D
the anti Lord of the Rings.
- [41:32]
A
Thank you so much. The production team very much. Not, Not. So Frodo is a hobbit, but he's not the hobbit. So there we are. Frodo's in Lord of the Rings and the hobbit is Bilbo Baggins. Yeah, that's right.
- [41:43]
C
Bilbo's a hobbit.
- [41:44]
A
He is a hobbit, but he's not the hobbit. Okay. Like it wants to clarify these things. Darren says. Morning, lads. Just wanted to send a supporting email to Max regarding Applegate. For years my wife has been complaining about how loudly I eat apples. I had the same defense as Max. How else am I supposed to eat an apple these days? I try to avoid eating an apple in front of my wife or move to a different room as she has taken the joy out of it. Keep up the good work, Darren. Thank you so much.
- [42:08]
C
I would suggest you should eat an apple the way my father used to eat apples, which is to cut bits off with a pen knife and then just insert them in your mouth rather than bite into the apple with your teeth.
- [42:21]
A
So, just for the record, eating an apple wrong and today I put the cap back on a Coke bottle, but I didn't screw it on enough for Barry's liking.
- [42:31]
C
Oh, you left it unscrewed? More or less. Well, so the Coke goes flat when you made a. The eight dollar bottle of Coke goes flat.
- [42:39]
A
I presumed in the flat I hadn't put it back on. And that I could see was an error. I had to put it back on. I just hadn't tightened it.
- [42:45]
C
That's worse than.
- [42:46]
A
Oh, is it worse? I see. My apologies. Although I was sent a message by someone who'd quoted probably I've got your name saying that the sound getting angry at people when they breathe or eat is called misophonia, and it's an actual brain disorder. So maybe you have an actual brain disorder, Barry. This is from Hannah says. Hello. We're a bakery based in Suffolk and a couple of our bakers absolutely love your podcast. Our sourdough starter is named Barry, after Barry Glendenning. Give a shout out to Rudy if you see this. Hello, Rudy. So there we have the picture, Barry, of the sourdough starter before it becomes a loaf of bread. Named it after you, Barry.
- [43:26]
C
So I'm only named. Only an ingredient is named after the actual bread.
- [43:31]
A
Well, I'm not an expert on.
- [43:33]
C
Wilson will be very jealous because he.
- [43:35]
A
He's a sourdough guy.
- [43:37]
C
He's a big sourdough nerd.
- [43:39]
A
Okay, right. Is the starter all the bread or it's just, I don't know, getting going in there? I mean, look, we can't upset the topic, guys. And the sourdough guy, I mean, I imagine a lot of our listeners, you know, they're 100% sourdough. The Venn diagram is. This isn't it? Pedro says, was Barry's chili good? I want the recipe. Ben, you were there. Barry was really fretting about his chili con carne because yesterday Matt made an excellent chicken karai. I suppose you don't have that to
- [44:05]
D
compare it to, do you? But. But the chili was a big hit. I think I'm. I think I'm speaking on behalf of everybody on the team. And we thoroughly enjoyed it.
- [44:12]
A
We all ate it an hour ago. Everyone is still standing or sitting. No one's. So, you know, you didn't need to worry about it.
- [44:18]
C
Good, good. I mean, chili's pretty basic and bas.
- [44:22]
A
And your chili was pretty basic.
- [44:23]
D
And Baz did the washing up as well.
- [44:25]
A
And he did the washing up. What a hero. Well, then another point for you Another win for Baz.
- [44:31]
D
Okay, there's a cakewalk.
- [44:35]
A
Anyway, that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Lars.
- [44:37]
E
Thank you, Max.
- [44:38]
A
Enjoy the game tomorrow. Cheers, Barry.
- [44:39]
C
Thank you.
- [44:40]
A
Cheers, Ben.
- [44:40]
D
Cheers.
- [44:41]
A
Football Weekly is produced by Rory Simon and Matt Bentley Viney. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. And we're back tomorrow. This is the guard. Hi pod fans. Max here. Barry's here too.
- [45:01]
C
Hello.
- [45:02]
A
Football Weekly is supported by Hotels.com Now, Barry, question. When you're booking a hotel, do you use hotels.com? actually, you're probably just going to say, I don't know. Producer Joel does it.
- [45:10]
C
I don't know. Producer Joel does it.
- [45:13]
A
Well, I think you should give it a try for yourself. Obviously, it's a massive summer of soccer and loads of our listeners will be traveling to watch the tournament and needing to book somewhere great to stay. So it's good to know that when you're a Hotels.com member, you can save up to 20 on hundreds of thousands of hotels. Plus you earn rewards on every stay. So each trip you take helps pay for your future trips. Just use those rewards like cash. And importantly, there are never any blackout dates.
- [45:35]
C
What's a blackout date?
- [45:37]
A
Well, it's a date where you can't use travel rewards frustratingly. Usually on or around major holidays or other peak travel periods. But there are no blackout dates with hotels.com rewards.
- [45:47]
C
Superb.
- [45:48]
A
Yes. So next time you're booking somewhere to stay, just book it at hotels.com hotels.com it's all in the name.
- [46:01]
B
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H
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C
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