Messi magic, England come alive, and an Algeria vs Austria shocker, featuring Peter Drury: Night Cup 06/27/26

Summary

Men In Blazers Podcast — “Messi Magic, England Come Alive, and an Algeria vs Austria Shocker”

Featuring Peter Drury: Night Cup 06/27/26
Date: June 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into a wild, emotional day at the 2026 World Cup with the Men in Blazers team—Roger Bennett and Rory Smith—joined by football’s celebrated orator, Peter Drury. They dissect Argentina’s Messi-inspired win, England’s hard-fought revival, and the jaw-dropping Algeria-Austria draw—a match riddled with echoes and revenge of the old “Disgrace of Gijón.” Layered throughout are personal anecdotes from stadium trips, fan culture, poetic waxing on football’s beauty, and Drury’s insights on commentary, emotion, and this World Cup’s unifying energy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. World Cup Day 17: Group Stage Drama & Narrative (00:50–17:30)

• Argentina 3–1 Jordan:

  • Messi starts on the bench for the first time since 2006, coming on in the second half and, predictably, scoring from a free kick.
  • Scaloni’s decision to let legendary broadcaster Enrique Macaya Márquez break team news.

    “To not play is to deprive [fans] almost of their quasi religious experience.” (Roger Bennett, 10:16)

  • Nico Paz hailed as Argentina’s emerging star.

• Algeria 2–2 Austria: “Revenge of Gijón”

  • A notorious 1982 fixed result lingers; both teams need a draw to advance at Iran’s expense.
  • For 75 minutes, teams fight honestly, but after, the game slows to conspicuous, mutually beneficial passing until—shock—a late Algerian ambush goal nearly dumps Austria out.

    “It did get a bit hee honey. Because football ultimately is self-interest...” (Rory Smith, 20:09)
    “The Algerians tricked them.” (Rory Smith, 21:20)
    “For this second 93rd minute Iran were through. Algeria through. Iran was through. I mean, this was almost like the revenge of he hon in this moment...” (Roger Bennett, 22:37)

  • Austria claws back in stoppage to even it, chaos and heartbreak for Iran.

• DR Congo’s Historic Qualification

  • DR Congo reach World Cup knockouts for first time ever; celebration of African football’s passion and tenacity.

    “It has been, Roger, a really dramatic day... a confusing at times, convoluted, but really fascinating conclusion to the group stage.” (Rory Smith, 3:50)

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2. Stadium Life, Fan Culture, and Footballers’ Aromas (04:17–09:05)

• Personal Encounters & Fan Vibrancy:
  • Croatians singing “Country Roads” in Philly; Ghanaians gather outside stadium sans tickets just for atmosphere.
  • Joy in experiencing the blend of cultures—stadium sections feeling like Zagreb or Accra.
• Mario Balotelli’s Legendary Cologne:
  • Extended riff on best-smelling footballers: Balotelli, van Dijk, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (DCL). Peter Drury himself also gets a nod.

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3. Deep Dives: Matches of the Day

a. Argentina’s Messi Show (09:05–17:30)

• Messi’s role as living legend, every appearance met with near-religious fervor.
• “Like seeing your school teacher in normal clothes” — how strange it feels to see Messi enter from the bench.
• Discussion of how teammates rally to help Messi build legacy:

  “With everything he does, he’s stepping into uncharted territory…” (Rory Smith, 15:35) “No one is ever more alive than Lionel Messi, 30 yards out from goal with the ball at his feet…” (Rory Smith, 16:15)

b. Algeria vs Austria (17:31–24:15, 19:33–23:50)

• The crowd’s growing suspicion as play slows, the echoes of infamous match-fixing, then a sudden jolt as Algeria try to sneak Iran through—only for Austria to respond in injury time.
• Raw emotion in analysis: fans, players, and the profound unfairness for Iran.

c. Colombia 0–0 Portugal (26:10–29:51)

• Electric tactical battle in Miami; Colombia the aggressors, Portugal cautious and reliant on Ronaldo—who is physically outmatched.
• Colombia's historic goalless game; Portugal’s fortune in still making knockouts.

  “Colombia should be favorites to make the quarterfinals…” (Rory Smith, 29:51)

d. England 2–0 Panama (30:37–38:13)

• England’s staleness broken late by Bellingham and Kane.
• Worry over creativity, heavy pressure on Kane, lack of spark until the dam breaks.
• Broader reflection on England’s mentality, depth, and the road ahead.

  “They don’t look like a side…who are going to win this thing…unless they find an extra dimension…” (Roger Bennett, 36:49)

e. Croatia 2–1 Ghana (38:13–44:07)

• Slow, tactical, punctuated by hydration break rave culture.
• Croatia rebound, showing echoes of their 2018/2022 successes.

f. DR Congo 3–1 Uzbekistan (44:07–48:55)

• Triumph without “superfan” La Mambo Vea in the stands.
• Team’s journey marked by struggle, visa woes, Ebola quarantine, and finally, history.

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4. Peter Drury Spotlight: Commentary, Emotion, and the World Cup’s Meaning (51:11–80:19)

a. Drury on the Art of Commentary (53:30–59:37)

• Moments that “fly by” are emotional, “what matter.”
• The joy of unexpected stories—managers hugging families, extraordinary human drama.
• Drury’s humility about his role, emphasizing authenticity over affectation:

  “If you start worrying and overthinking about what people might be thinking and how you ought to reflect that, then it stops being a natural sentiment.” (Peter Drury, 58:17)

• On calling Messi’s games as “narrating a piece of history”.

b. Football’s Power to Unite (75:29–77:17)

• Drury reflects on football’s capacity to bring people together, recalling scenes in Moscow’s Red Square: enemies united by sport.

  “If sport was put in charge of the world, it’s not impossible that we could derive some sort of universal happiness.” (Peter Drury, 75:29)

• Rory Smith: “I think when you put people together … people are all right.” (77:05)

c. Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

• On Messi: “He’s beautiful and remarkable… he’s going to flip and go and do it all again, and then we’ve got to find something new to say.” (Drury, 64:39)
• On “worm burner”: Humorous challenge to Drury to work the Americanism into a live call.
• Scrabble tangent—Drury’s distaste for high-scoring but “cheating” short words: “They spoil the game.” (61:39)

d. Drury’s Picks & Closing Thoughts

• France tipped as favorites, Norway as a long-shot.
• Drury and team revel in the World Cup’s emotional high notes, hope for lasting unity.

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5. Community, Humor, and Culture (Throughout)

• Cheesesteak debates from Philadelphia.
• Fan poetry in the mailbag.
• Jokes about footballers’ cologne and city atmospheres.
• Running gags about “worm burner” and the universal search for footballing language.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “It was almost too much. Austria, go to bed.” (Roger Bennett, 17:48)
• “It did get a bit hee honey. Because football ultimately is self-interest…” (Rory Smith, 20:09)
• “The Algerians tricked them.” (Rory Smith, 21:20)
• “Argentina win all three group games for the first time since 2010.” (Roger Bennett, 16:53)
• “No one is ever more alive than Lionel Messi, 30 yards out from goal with the ball at his feet…” (Rory Smith, 16:15)
• “If sport was put in charge of the world, it’s not impossible that we could derive some sort of universal happiness.” (Peter Drury, 75:29)
• “He’s beautiful and remarkable...he’s going to flip and go and do it all again, and then we’ve got to find something new to say.” (Peter Drury, 64:39)

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Notable Segment Timestamps

• [09:05] Argentina v Jordan recap (“Messi magic” bench cameo)
• [17:48] Algeria–Austria Group Stage Heist/Drama
• [26:10] Colombia–Portugal tactical draw
• [30:37] England–Panama, struggle and breakthrough
• [44:07] DR Congo’s historic win and context
• [51:51] Peter Drury interview begins
• [75:29] On football’s unifying global magic
• [77:21] "Worm burner" wordplay request
• [79:06] Drury’s World Cup winner picks

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Tone & Style

The hosts maintain their signature blend: witty, self-deprecating, emotionally earnest, and occasionally poetic. Drury blends awe with humility, upholding football’s romance while acknowledging its foibles.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode paints a vivid picture of the World Cup’s drama—both on and off the field. From Messi’s magic, England’s awkward liberation, to the Algeria-Austria group stage thriller, you’ll find stories of passion, injustice, and unity, interspersed with banter about footballers’ cologne, poetic language, and the irreplaceable joy of watching football with friends, fans, and legends like Peter Drury. The running themes: football unites the world, its fairy tales bloom at every tournament, and, as Drury underscores, its best storytellers are led by love, not cynicism.

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Courage.

Transcript

[Roger Bennett]

For nearly two decades, almost as long as Tim Ream has been in the U.S. men's National Team, All State has bat the growth of this game in every corner of this great footballing nation, from grassroots pitches to the biggest stages, they've been here believing in it, protecting its future. Because supporting soccer, it's not just about match days. And that's why All State offers affordable coverage at personalised rates, so you can spend less time worrying and and more time watching. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. Visit allstate.com or call a local agent today. Allstate. You're in good hands. Potential savings vary subject to terms and availability. Allstate North America Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. We are delighted to bring you the Men in Blazers City Guides presented by Visa, a joyously assembled guide to the best places to eat, drink and explore and watch the beautiful game across the country enjoyed. Aimed at helping fans experience the city as a local. It's built by you, our listeners, recommending some of the best small businesses in your communities, like the finest Fiat Cajun in Houston. Yes. The best burrito in San Francisco. Yes. Where to save a lemon pepper wet in Atlanta. Yes. Yes. Yes. A massive shout out to our sponsor, Visa, who's made this guide possible. Visa gives local business owners the tools and support to be ready for moments exactly like this one. Welcoming you to enjoy the games this summer. Start planning your [e-mail] CityGuides Lays, an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026, is also the official sponsor of all bandwagon fans during this euphoric summer of footballing wonder. And this summer, they're inviting all of us to jump on because come kick off. Hope springs eternal. My cold, dark heart grows three sizes every FIFA world up. The ebullient Moroccans, the splimed Spanish. You can't help but fall in love again and again. So ask Grandma if perhaps your 1/16 French, Brazilian or Japanese. Adopt a new anthem, borrow a new flag. Embrace that bandwagon. Because when your team goes home, the party doesn't have to grab a bag of lays, gather some friends and cheer for whoever you damn well like. You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network. Suboptimal Radio. Day 17 of the world cup and what have we just witnessed? Argentina made Jordan look like Henderson. Oh, and Algeria and Austria got a draw. How convenient. But it wasn't no boring fixed draw. It's one of the most ecstatic drawers I think we've ever Seen.

[Rory Smith]

If that, if that was a fix, it was the most elaborate kind of Hollywood style fix I've ever seen. It was genuinely. That might have been the best game of the group stage.

[Roger Bennett]

It was like a Steven Soderbergh crime keeper at cheek and bluster. Says, what do we say to the God of death? Oh, we say, I'm sorry, Iran. That's what we say. England constipated until they weren't. Feels good. Sponsored by bran fans. Celebrated by by hitting a nearby mall and giving it loads. This is modern football now rule. Oh, yes. England fans in the New Jersey mall like ice cream and french fries. Strangely complimentary. Colombia and Portugal, they played a tie so sizzling I think Steve Harvey would want to wear it. And Amidst emotional scenes, Dr. Congo qualified for the knockout rounds for the very first time. Face England with no fear. God bless this World cup of Africa. Dr. Congo. I like Dr. Tottenham, but the opposite.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah. They're a doctor who actually make you feel good. That's. Yeah. No, it's a brilliant story contradicting to DRC getting through. It's an amazing, genuinely amazing story. And it has been Roger, I've got to say, a really dramatic day. Quite a kind of confusing at times convoluted, but really fascinating conclusion to the group stage. I've enjoyed it.

[Roger Bennett]

Who would win in a fight between a hundred Dr. Congos and one 100 foot Dr. Joe?

[Rory Smith]

Dr. Joe Mashnik. My hero.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah.

[Rory Smith]

He's immortal.

[Roger Bennett]

Yes. You cannot front Dr. Joe. He's seen it all and he's seen it all off. And I won't have any Dr. Joe Erasure. We've got the footballing Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Peter Drury coming to be with us in just one moment. Slap your questions for him in the chat. Well, what day you and I. My hand still smells of him from when I shook his hand. We have Mario Balotelli. I crap you not on the match day Life.

[Rory Smith]

There is Mario Balotelli who does did manage to kind of maintain the image of the professional footballer. He's still playing. Who smells better than any other human.

[Roger Bennett]

How would you describe to her? Because we did talk about how well he smelled in front of his face, but we weren't exaggerating. It was just like when you meet him, he's actually a lovely man, a funny man, quite a shy man. Yeah. A very sweet, sweet, sweet human being. But it is overpowering in the most beautiful way. It's like walking out with your dog on the first stunning day of spring. The sun's out, hits you in the face. The birds are shining. It was that kind of smell.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah. I think Sam Mewis, who was sat next to him, was quite overcome, to be honest, by Mario's aroma. It was floral, it was lemony, citrusy. I don't know what it is. Footballers always smell amazing. You said it about Virgil van Dijk as well.

[Roger Bennett]

Unbelievable.

[Rory Smith]

I don't know whether they have access to a better quality of cologne than we do or whether they're just so rich they use it as shower gel.

[Roger Bennett]

I think they shower so often they just so one with their bodies, they slap it on everywhere. By the way, top three best smelling footballers ever. Balotelli fresh. In a new entry at number three, number two, Virgil van Dijk. Number one, always dcl. Just absolutely. There was a DCL cologne. Be slapping it on all over. Tell us who you smelt from the football world in the.

[Rory Smith]

Who have you smelled?

[Roger Bennett]

Peter Drury. He's very, very, very overpoweringly.

[Rory Smith]

Peter smells quite nice.

[Roger Bennett]

I think he smells delightful.

[Rory Smith]

He does, yeah.

[Roger Bennett]

I'm asking when he comes.

[Rory Smith]

He'd also be able to describe his.

[Roger Bennett]

His fragrance in the most fruity of ways. Something in my teeth there. I do want to apologize to all you viewers, by the way, I also had the honor, this is hard to believe, of awarding the superior player of the Match award to P or Tour after the Croatia one win. Sent this to my kids. They were like, why are you making him present the man of the Match award to you, dad?

[Rory Smith]

It does look like you've done it the wrong way around.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, I know. It's like he's very humble. I'm a bit shocked. It's really one me, me. All I did is watch the game. It was a really lovely experience. An incredible way to cap off. We were both at the game today in Philadelphia, part of the city with sadly we leave tonight. We're gonna Atlanta almost imminently because football don't sleep. No sleep till MetLife. But parts of this city today felt like Zigreb. Parts of the city felt like Accra in the most joyous ways. I find it so moving to be part of this incredible experience, to be, you know, sandwiched in between two deeply passionate, fantastic fan bases who filled that stadium. You know, I woke up this morning, walked around the city center which was packed with. With Croatia fans. They were singing Country Road, you can see here, which is so wild. That is our new national anthem. Raw.

[Rory Smith]

A lot of John Denver in. In Re Aca and Split.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. Look at this. Are they. Are they pandering or do they really mean this.

[Rory Smith]

I think there's an element of pandering there. But then I was on. I got the train back on the scepter back from the stadium with. With a mix of various people. A listener called Paul who was. Was very. Had a lovely chat with him. Nice, nice to speak to Paul.

[Roger Bennett]

But the people who listen to our crap for the.

[Rory Smith]

But there were Croatians, people wearing Croatia shirts who were speaking Croatian and there were people wearing Croatian shirts who were very much American. So I think it's. Once again, it's the D word, Rog is people trying to celebrate in their roots. But my. My favorite part of the day, other than the time I spent with Mario Balotelli just inhaling him, was outside the stadiums. We, we parted. We. We sat in separate sections. Big J, you had to. You had to go and be by

[Roger Bennett]

the organizers just winning.

[Rory Smith]

The superior Rog had an Evangelos marinate style throne installed in the stadium.

[Roger Bennett]

I'm told you not to tell people that. What are you doing?

[Rory Smith]

So I went to the sort of the journalism entry where we have to sneak into the stadium downstairs and there were so many Ghanaians outside, some of whom I think didn't have tickets. No, there was an issue with tickets. I think some thought they had tickets and then they didn't turn up. But there were also people who'd just gone, I think to be there. Because it is one of those cities like Seattle where you can kind of walk to the stadium, let the train to the stadium. It's not out of town just to kind of sample the atmosphere, just to be around other Ghanaians. And then on the way back, there was a band playing. There was a kind of an impromptu march. Lots of dancing, lots of swaying. It was a brilliant vibe in Philly today.

[Roger Bennett]

It was quite ecstatic. I'm so proud to be part of this in America. It's gone midnight. It's amazing to share it with you, you beautiful viewers. To the football. Let's start with tonight's late action in group J. J for Joy Division Jordan 1. Argentina 3. Argentina already won the group nine changes they made. Poch invented this, by the way. We Learned a full 24 hours earlier that Messi would start on the bench for the first time. Incredible this. He hadn't not started a World cup game since the 2006 quarterfinal against Germany. Will which is 2025 straight games took him pre iPhone. The way he got the scoop, actually the way the world got the scoop was quite beautiful. The manager Scaloni was asked by 92 year old Argentine broadcasting legend Enrique Macayer Marquez, who's in the United States covering. This is incredible. It's 18th, 18th consecutive. I mean, that's just amazing. 18 World Cups. First was Sweden, 1958, he was 23 years old. Scaloni. He asked Scaloney, will Messi play? Scaly was like so in awe of this journey. He called him a luminary. He said he wouldn't tell anybody apart from him, if anyone else had asked, he would have denied it. But he said, okay, Messi's going to come on in the second half. I have to tell you, honestly, Messi needs to come on. You were talking about this yesterday. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of Argentine fans here following this team, many of whom have sacrificed everything. To follow this team recklessly. To not play is to deprive them almost of their kind of quasi religious experience.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, it's really nice that Stallone felt the knee, felt that he wanted to sell Mikael Marquez the scoop, wanted to give him that story out of respect for how long he has been a journalist, for the work that he has done. But I wonder as well whether it kind of worked for Stallone, because if the fans had got to the stadium, seen the team be announced and not seen Messi, you, I think you'd have had quite an unhappy set of people because there will have been people in that crowd, both Argentinians, Americans, probably some Jordanians, to be perfectly honest, who had bought tickets in the expectation they would see Messi in the event. They basically had to endure a first half without him. And then he came on after I think 55 minutes, which was earlier than I was anticipating. I thought he might get a run around for 10 or 15, basically to keep the public happy, but still only gave him a good 35, 40 minutes and chance to store a goal. Rog.

[Roger Bennett]

Yes, and what a chance it was, Mr. Goalkeeper. Not even really bothering to master and phoning it in. But we'll get there, we'll get there. The game. The honest truth is we wondered how would the changes make a difference? Made little difference. Argentine Argentina dominated. Took them 80 minutes to crack. Jordan Giovanni the Celso stepping up for a free kick. Questions about the wall. Yazid, the goalkeeper not well positioned, but it was a curler so sweet, even little Messi on the bench smiled. It was really a lovely moment. First World cup goal for the former spurs man. Ten minutes later, the goalkeeper Yazid redeemed himself with an incredible pair of saves from close range. But a closer look said Var and Jordan center back was caught Kung Fu fighting Marco Sinisi in the head during the sequence. It was very subtle. Penalty later and Martinez stepped up, buried it. His first World cup goal as well. No smile for Messi on that one. Argentina do look different without him in the side. They were still, you know, a pleasure to watch the game throw through Nico Paz. Commentary was gushing with praise for him. I guess the air apparent he's not just there to play in the Billy Bob Thornton play for an ultra commercial role.

[Rory Smith]

No, he is. He's kind of the. The coming man in Argentine football. There's another one. There's a kid at Real Madrid for Franco Masto Antuono who, Who's not kind of quite as far advanced, but Paz has just been bought. He's been playing for Como. Real have bought him back and then they've sold him back to Como for quite a lot more money. It's. It's a slight. Been a slightly busy couple of days for Nico Paz, but he is incredibly talented. He's probably the best player in Italy last year. He. He should be kind of the first reserve off the bench for Argentina at this stage.

[Roger Bennett]

What was laundered in these moments, I'm

[Rory Smith]

not making any allegations, but Real bought him from coma for 9 million euros and sold him back to coma for 60 million euros.

[Roger Bennett]

Okay. Okay. You know what I mean? What's that? European police force. Is that still in business? The combined. What was it?

[Rory Smith]

The Flying Squad?

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. Interpol.

[Rory Smith]

No, I think it's a Paul's more than just Europe.

[Roger Bennett]

Is it really?

[Rory Smith]

I don't. I think it's just the.

[Roger Bennett]

The way these parts, baby, I gotta

[Rory Smith]

tell you, their jurisdiction doesn't stretch here.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, this is, this is Pennsylvania, baby. We do Lord differently. Messi did wander onto the field. Ultimately, huge cheer went up in Dallas. There was a Jordanian goal while he was waiting to come on. But any, by the way, come watching Messi come on as a substitute. Strange feelings, ones I've not had since I was a kid. You remember those things you had when you saw your teacher in the supermarket and civilian clothes and you're like, oh, well, it's weird. That's what it's like watching them kind of shuffle on. But it did not take long. Another free kick, like 28 yards out. Stepped up, killed it. Yeah. Did he kill it? I'd say, I mean a good boy, if you got a theory on this. It was almost like Yazid was like, I. I think we're going to look at yazid tweets. About 15 years ago. Really hate Ronaldo, bro. Something like the rest.

[Rory Smith]

Messy is the goat.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, yeah, the.

[Rory Smith]

I think what probably happened. So there was a Jordanian wall and then there was an Argentinian wall next to it, and Messi whipped it around the Argentinian wall. And I think what probably happened was that, you see, was unsighted by that wall and he shifted his. His weight onto his left foot and couldn't get back.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah.

[Rory Smith]

But it did look an awful lot like midway through, he decided he'd quite like to concede it also. Yes.

[Roger Bennett]

I remember when Messi got like, what was his 300th goal and Bud sent out like, oh, yeah, beers to everyone he'd scored.

[Rory Smith]

Oh, maybe he's thinking, I'm getting a crate.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, he's thinking, I'm getting a crate if I did. That's not like free beer.

[Peter Drury]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roger Bennett]

It's like the Homer Simpson of, of. Of goalkeepers in, in Jordan. If you have theories, we want to hear them. It was amazing to watch because this was a goal. They'd already won number one. Number two, they already topped the group. But the ecstatic euphoria, I mean, it was still a deeply religious spectacle at this part. Watching this man score a goal in this tournament, well, he's.

[Rory Smith]

He's stepping with everything he does, he's stepping into uncharted territory, isn't he? That's the thing that now extends his lead. It's another. Another target for Killian Mbappe to hit. It cements his legend yet further. And I think the Argentinian players are deeply conscious of that. I think they, just as in Qatar four years ago, I think part of their motivation is they want to give Leo everything he could possibly desire. I think that is a genuine kind of motivation for, for Argentina.

[Roger Bennett]

James Taylor has a song where he talks about fortune and fame. A peculiar game. People want you to play fire and rain again and again, like his hit. And he's essentially sound bored of playing this over and over and over. Messi never gets tired of playing his hit, does he?

[Rory Smith]

I think. I think Messi will know that that goal was quite cheap. I think Messi will look at that on, on the replay. But that keeper wasn't trying very hard, was he? But no, he, he. I said to you the other day that no one is ever more alive than Lionel Messi. 30 yards out from goal with the ball at his feet, that is. You see an electricity kind of sparkle through him. He just lights up and yeah, he'd had a site, a site of free kick, a few minutes before and he, he's just, he seems so happy when he's on the pitch and it's, it's infectious. It's hard not to watch it and enjoy it for him and with him and I think for his teammates, his kind of what, what he means to them is so great that they are genuinely delighted that he scored a goal.

[Roger Bennett]

Argentina win all three group games for the first time since 2010 World cup raw if and big if Argentina get past Cape Verde in the round of 32 they would not another top 10 ranked team until the semi finals.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, I mean look, looking at that, that, that is a list of the great superpowers of world football, isn't it? It's Switzerland, it's Ghana, it's Australia like this. I mean that is a. That's as kind as you could possibly hope. If Argentina don't make the semi finals, it will have been a relatively large cock up. Rog. I would say you can't take anything for granted but that, that has worked out very nicely for them.

[Roger Bennett]

Script Royce is the phone in and in at James Wilson runs says in the chat Ro coffee and the beers. Yeah, we're just a one. I'd like to keep things honest, man. If you're on them, I'm on them. Tell me what you're drinking. Algeria. Oh my God. What happened here?

[Rory Smith]

No, this was. It was almost too much. Austria go to bed.

[Roger Bennett]

Football 44 years after the disgrace of he ha. This happened in 1982. Austria and Germany we talked about a number of times. You can google it. They fixed the result they needed in the final game so that Algeria remember that Algeria were knocked out at their expense. That was the moment when FIFA realized they had to play all these last round of the opening games at the same time. So no fixie, fixie, fixie. Algeria play in front of a home crowd essentially In Kansas City, 40 miles east of their beloved Lawrence, Kansas, the capital of Algeria. Yeah, it was fascinating. Could they find themselves on the other side of the wink wink nudge nudge. How the turntables mutually beneficial result. A drew of Austria would have seen both through at Iran's expense. Remember that as we go deeper here, the goals kind of flowed. Marco and out of it now 37 thing. If you actually carbon date him, he's about 20 years older than that. First start the tournament for Austria open the net and a minute before halftime, Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez won a ball kept in play by the corner flag was taken out by a rugby tackle. But play on, because Rafi Balgali then dribbled the maze foo. Austrian defenders slammed home for the equalizer. Another former Mancunian doing the goal scoring. Then, oh, the dashing Sabitzer. What a fine looking man. Marcel Sabitzer is cut back goal. Bloody hell. And this time, Maris was waiting for his first goal to equalize it. And the rest of the game, 2, 2. It felt like the team's. What I mean, you described. They were just passing the ball around. As the crowd started to boo, the crowd suddenly realized, hold on a minute, there's been a truce. There's been a truce here and they're kind of playing at Iran's expense and it's disgusting.

[Rory Smith]

So I think from watching it, I was paying much more attention to that game than the Argentina game because it was the one that there was stuff riding on. I think until about 75 minutes, both teams were trying to win. I think they were both conscious of the disgrace of Hee Haw. I think they knew they would be accused of kind of carving it up between them.

[Roger Bennett]

So it looked to me like he han2electric boogal it.

[Rory Smith]

He honed to electric bouraloo.

[Roger Bennett]

The boohaloo.

[Peter Drury]

Boohaloo.

[Rory Smith]

That's just rhodology. So I think it was relatively normal until 75 minutes they were trying, both teams were trying.

[Roger Bennett]

And then it got very hee honey.

[Rory Smith]

And then it did get a bit hee honey. Because football ultimately is self interest, there is an element of self interest at both teams. But, Rog, this is where it gets amazing. So both teams, I think, gradually realised we need to tone this down a little bit. Everyone gets through with a draw. We're sorry, Iran, but this is the way the touchie crumbles.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, this is it. And by the way, if you didn't watch the game, they were just passing the ball around with no menacing intent around you. Austria kind of sat deep and Algiers kind of knocked it from side to side just, just inside the. The Austrian half. It's not football as we know it. It was more like. It was more like, you know, if you've ever seen an over 80 game of football, I guess that's what it most resembled.

[Rory Smith]

And Austria weren't pressing at all. Austria, we just sat there. We're in our shape. You have the ball, let's leave it. Which is exactly if you watch footage. Thierry Henry on Fox told the audience to do their own research on the distress of Heehon, which I thought was very funny, but not a phrase that's ever been heard on Fox before. But the. If you watch that footage of that game, then that's what Austria and West Germany do. They just pass the ball amongst themselves and the other team sits off completely.

[Roger Bennett]

It's like if you watch the Simpsons open wide for some soccer. It really is exactly the same as that.

[Rory Smith]

But then dun, dun, dun.

[Roger Bennett]

Out of nowhere. Truce. Did we say truce?

[Rory Smith]

We meant it was a trick. The Algerians. I genuinely believe this. The Algerians tricked them. So they'd been passing it around amongst themselves for. For two or three minutes. The Austrians were kind of getting bored, as you say, Rog. The crowd was booing and then bam, bam, bam. Algeria go through. Riad Mares runs. Austria don't have time to react and suddenly Algeria have strawed. And Austria at that moment, Rog were going out.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. By the way, when you say that moment, you mean the 93rd moment of the game with important detail. It was like we're not going to hit each other in the ring at all, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not hitting each other. Oh, sorry.

[Rory Smith]

Boom. Yeah.

[Roger Bennett]

That's what that girl was like. Was like. Woof. And Austria were rocked the faces of agony. Like there was no time left. They had been. They had been blindsided.

[Rory Smith]

We disagree on this. I think Rogers. I'm not sure they realized they were going out.

[Roger Bennett]

They were. They knew.

[Rory Smith]

Do you think they knew?

[Roger Bennett]

Oh, my God, the faces. Yeah. I mean, if I ever seen human agony. They were stunned, they were embarrassed, they were shocked. There was probably an anger. The substitutes were immediate.

[Rory Smith]

Sasha talented came on straight away. Randy May. What the coach may well have realized they were going out. But it was, it looked to me like a deliberate ploy from Algeria to say, let's pretend we're doing what you did to us. And then let's give you a taste

[Roger Bennett]

of your own medicine for this second 93rd minute. Iran were through. Algeria through. Iran was through. I mean, this was almost like the revenge of he hon in this moment, always has been Riyadh Morris part of the game, isn't it? Yeah. You go baby.

[Rory Smith]

Play the hits.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. In comes Randnick. Throws on some players, throws on.

[Rory Smith]

And this is quite a nice story as well, Roger. It's not quite as nice a story. Sasha taladc, a giant 6 foot 7 striker who lost about two years of his career to a horrendous injury that he sustained at Wolves. He was the. The last roll of the dice. He was the kind of the pull, pull emergency towards in case of emergency. Not said that. Right.

[Roger Bennett]

It was sticking a big lump.

[Rory Smith]

It was lump it forward and get it to the big fella.

[Roger Bennett]

Yep.

[Rory Smith]

The ultimate football tactic.

[Roger Bennett]

Got his head on it somehow. Just like prodded at home. What was the minute on that?

[Rory Smith]

That was 90. It was the 95th minute.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. 96 minute. He scored in, oh, four minutes injury time. Yeah. I mean, one minute. Iran were in the knockout round. Just ecstasy. My God, they fought so hard. They deserve it. And then boom, Utter shattered everything there. Iran in knockout round. A little bit like the streets of Hormuz. One minute it's open, the next it's closed. One minute you're in it, the next you're not.

[Rory Smith]

You can't keep up.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. I mean, football is a cruel, cruel bastard.

[Rory Smith]

That, that genuinely was. And that would be in my top 10 World cup minutes without a shadow of a doubt. I mean, the stuff that was happening, the layers upon layers within the between the second Maris doll and the teladic equalizer, the kind of chaos in the stadium, it was. I'm, I, I'm slightly annoyed that we're doing this as I'd quite like to watch it again.

[Roger Bennett]

Okay, well, we can in a minute. My top 10 minute probably was when Roger Bennett awarded the superior player.

[Peter Drury]

That's what people remember.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, it was very beautifully done. We'll have to pop that photo up again one more time before the end of this. I'm so vain. After midnight and as the world arrives in the United States for the biggest spectacle in sports. We're going coast to coast, host city to host city to meet the world with the men in blazers Matchday live tour. These are free college game day style live events taking place just before kickoff at some of the biggest games of the summer where we'll be taking the stage with celebrity guests in front of thousands of fans. It's going to be amazing. Come and be with us in person or From Afar on YouTube. Let's celebrate this some other way. It's meant to be celebrated. Head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details. To the football, to more together. Courage. My name is Shannon Maldonado. I'm the founder of Yaoi, a gift shop. From the lens of artists and handmade objects, I chose Shopify because when I was testing other platforms, it was definitely one of the most user friendly. It was important to important to me to think about where we would be in the future. All of the tools for reading your sales, like planning inventory, they're just right there on your dashboard. For anyone starting a small business, the biggest thing I can tell you, it doesn't have to be perfect, Shopify can help you build upon it. Start your free trial on shopify.com I'm

[Rory Smith]

Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify.

[Roger Bennett]

Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know,

[Rory Smith]

and it thinks about the customer more than anything.

[Roger Bennett]

Every day I'm thinking about some other

[Rory Smith]

new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop. I'm addicted.

[Roger Bennett]

Start your free [e-mail] earlier in group K for Kevin James. It was Colombian Ill. Portugal nil. Not as boring as it sounds, children. Battle Royale electric match up with real stakes. First in the group face Ghana. Second in the group would face Croatia. Then Spain. No one wants to play Spain. And the first half really match the height. Two teams in an ecstatic, frenzied exchange. It was pace filled. Columbia were ferocious. They were roared on. I think 90 of the crowd were were there in their yellow jerseys screaming for them. The the team swarmed. They scorched forward. They fired from all points at Costa who I've got to on right form in the Portugal net. Portugal tried to play on the counter, which was a choice. They actually had one exquisite save. Bruno blasted Vargas. Somehow you can always see him absorb the shot. Waves. It was an incredible save. Even better. Ronaldo tried to do an overhead kick and just went. I think the phrase in 1950s England was they went tit over ass. Sometimes the goals can flow and the game can feel magnificent. But this was one of those games where when no one found the back of the net in the first 45 minutes and it was still just eye bulgingly gorgeous.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, it was. And the setting helped because you know Miami full of. Full of Colombian fans. It was the. This was the most expensive game of the group stage. It was the one. It was the kind of the big ticket item of the whole group stage.

[Roger Bennett]

Columbia, we're so value driven.

[Rory Smith]

Exactly the but it was for all that there weren't goals in that first half. It was entertaining. I don't know if I'd say the same about the second half.

[Roger Bennett]

Well, can we have a quick word on Ronaldo? Quick little, I think. Is it a heat check? 35 touches. I'm old enough to remember when he barked at the camera. I'm back. I'm back. Asterix just against Uzbekistan here. The Colombian backline essentially treated him as like Caitlin Clark. They just slapped him around, roughed him up at will, really pissed him off, threw him off his game. This performance was kind of like rearing back into the Is he gonna hinder Portugal's campaign and ambition rule? Are we allowed to ask the question, is Ronaldo back?

[Rory Smith]

No, we're not allowed to ask that because he has. He's established that he is. Because he's struggling against Uzbekistan. Yeah. That's all you need to know. This is playing out. Roger, you did predict this, and it will play out exactly as you said, because you're a prophet. That he would store against Uzbekistan. I think you said three, he got two, and that would justify him staying in the team, and it will ultimately cost Portugal.

[Roger Bennett]

Please note I'm getting ahead of myself, but there is now no mathematical way that Argentina and Portugal can play until the final in New York. Narrator's voice Messi and Ronaldo are never going to face each other. It's not happening. This World cup second half, you've already nailed it. Less ecstatic. And Colombia edged it with their ambition and verve. Cutting in from both the flanks at pace. Remarkable statistic. Columbia had never played a goalless game before in World cup history. They kept shooting out the lights and they 24 shots and they thought they'd stole it in the 91st Davidson Sanchez just an incredibly acute big air angled header. It was beautiful to watch. Full euphoric was vard off by a toe. And really the lack of fuhrer was because, well, Colombia have won this thing. They corrupt up first place. Portugal, who seemed to be making a little out of a lot at this tournament. Face Luka Modric and Croatia, who we'll talk about in a minute in Colombia. They know that I think if they can calibrate their shooting rule, they're going to face Ghana. They can really roar in this thing.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, I thought Colombia a little bit like Belgium. A South American Belgium, which is not how you want to be described. I thought they were kind of at that same stage of being towards the tail end of one generation and they'd forgotten about the next. But the World cup has kind of opened up a little bit for them. They're on the same in the same quadrant as Argentina. And looking at those teams, I mean, I think Algeria are good, I think Switzerland are good, but none but Colombia should be favorites to make to the quarterfinals there. And at that point, they'll run into Argentina, who have been the best team in South America for quite a long time. But you give Colombia a chance. If Lewis Diastan find a bit, a little bit More form then. Then they have a cutting edge. They have a threat. Quintero's ball for the. The ruled out role was outstanding today. They. They then they're not to be taken lightly. But I'm not sure they've got the quality to edge Argentina.

[Roger Bennett]

Don't know what is Spanish for that's a lot of a percentage. Let's go to group L for Love Island. England 2, Panama nil. In a perfect world, England would have limbered up to this one in first place. Lockdown could have been a dead rubber. They could have rested up. But no at perfect world shattered by the. The dead legging that Garner handed out to them in the nil. Nil style, mate. Of course because we were live streaming mission imperative that they clinch the top spot so there could be no easing up. There were five changes to the the Ghana trauma. Quite fascinating some of these injuries. Rhys James, we didn't know. How do you not know that? Rhys James is essentially, you know, real sickness potential. I mean, Declan Rice's body, lower body slapped, you know, the former out the lineup entirely. If they had to fill Gerald Quanta, which is. This is 2026. This is not a drill. It is remarkable. And the result was an England 11. Never played together before. Look like it. Panama, God bless them. Simple aim to not join the pantheon of doomed who have not scored a single goal. A World Cup. Can you name one of the teams in that realm that have bronze for

[Rory Smith]

a World cup without story?

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, there's three of them.

[Rory Smith]

Oh, interesting. Slovakia.

[Roger Bennett]

Just making up names now.

[Rory Smith]

Paraguay.

[Roger Bennett]

Not in this World cup. Ever.

[Rory Smith]

Ever.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, go on, I'll give you a clue. Dutch East Indies, 1938. I mean, how you didn't get that?

[Rory Smith]

All right, okay.

[Roger Bennett]

Piss poor.

[Rory Smith]

I'm a lifelong fan of the Dutch East Indies poor.

[Roger Bennett]

Where are they now?

[Rory Smith]

Indonesia.

[Roger Bennett]

Where are they? Is that what it is? China. Where are they now? 2002. Okay. And then the other one. Well, it's hard because they're now called Dr. Congo.

[Rory Smith]

Ah, Zaire, 1974.

[Roger Bennett]

Yes. I mean I gave you that as context for England. Really. This is heroically bad. Historically bad. Still, England labored mightily in that. First off, they had Elliot Anderson, who is now a God of football. Is he Manchester City's Ellie Anderson? Is he? 150 million rumored most expensive, soon to be crowned player in English history. He struggled without Royce by his side. England played essentially three athletes in midfield. There was almost no creativity. None of them had the ability to unlock a compact block. Really. The only one is Kane, who has that kind of passing ability, Jude Bellingham, in that first half, looked like a shadow of the man that spent the whole World cup sitting on Timothy Chalamet's boot and getting ready to play the fantastic three neighborhood Kings.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, he couldn't. Maybe he's had his ten of confidence hurt by not being able to beat those. That trio of players.

[Roger Bennett]

I love that trio players, they gotta

[Rory Smith]

be candid, maybe put them in. I think there is an issue with England and Kane. Miguel Delaney's written. Written this today, that. That Kane is good as kind of the playmaking striker. When you. When there is space to play into, that's when it gets the most out of his kind of passing range, which is amazing. I think he takes that really compact low block, as everyone calls it. Now, England do seem to have an issue, and the problem is that if they can get to the latter stages, if they do run into a Brazil or whatever, they will, they will have chance to play in space, but not as in, like, in outer space, but like, they will have space to play in is what I mean. It's late, Roger, but against Dr. Congo, what they're getting is a low block, and they're gonna have to break it down.

[Roger Bennett]

I mean, Panama played on the break. Jordan picked for that to make a couple of saves. There was a sense of true staleness about this. Two hours without a goal, three halves back to back to back. You looked at Tuchel on the sideline, There's a sudden dread that, you know, his selections for this squad were maligned in the first second. And everyone was like, no, he's just a reasonable man, pragmatic. He's a winner. And we're starting to think, oh, my God, there's a sense. Do they lack sufficient creative spark? And with Croatia leading, England was sliding into second place. It was a shot at the 45 mark of Thomas Tuchel grinding on his chewing gum so aggressively, more powerfully than I think anyone's jaw should be capable of. He's feeling it. He's pretending not to be feeling it, but he's feeling it. England had nine crosses in the first half, none of them successful. 0.49, actually. Kane working, walking around in disbelief. I think he had the face on, and it was like. I thought the curse had been lifted. I mean, it. It did feel like just general darkness was descending, cloaking, smothering this English team.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, you can feel the kind of. The complex starting to manifest itself. I think that's basically what the problem is, that they. It's good Thinking that they had that kind of suffocation, that frustration against Jana.

[Roger Bennett]

It's like a vice that's tightening and

[Rory Smith]

then all of a sudden with every kind of attack that doesn't work, they're getting more and more anxious that they're not going to be able to score. I think that is the English condition.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. And then the 62nd minute, Saka took a corner. Bellingham kicked a leg out, made contact. Oh. Mosquera stood flat footed. One nil to England. Just.

[Rory Smith]

Oh.

[Roger Bennett]

Anyone that's really yearned for their bowels to release will know that feeling. Cumulative 31 shots before netting that single goal. Not pretty. I'm not sure it would have won the the Marriott Bonvoy take your shot challenge. We'll talk about that later.

[Peter Drury]

We will.

[Roger Bennett]

Been a big weekend, but he lifted England back to the top of Groupel. Five minutes later, Harry Kane found the springs in both sketches and levitated to meet a beautiful ball from Jude Bellingham. Curse lifted. England 2 nil history. Harry Kane becomes England's all time cop scorer in the World Cup. 11 goals. One more than a man called Ronaldo which by the way Ronaldo is absolutely fully aware of. Raw Harry Kane, most superlative vanilla striker ever to do it. Scoring all the goals, breaking all the records, getting I'd say little of the respect or. Thanks.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah. You can make the case that Harry Kane is England's greatest ever player without a shadow of a doubt. You, you looked at what he's done at club level in terms of the numbers of, number of goals he scored for Tottenham, what he's done since he joined Bayern Munich which has been astonishing. The number of records he holds for England, the way the team is built around him. His record for England in terms of where they've got to with him in the team. He has been an astonishing player and he is the secret. If England are going to win the World cup, they need to find a way to get the best out of Kane.

[Roger Bennett]

Three full games of football. I think they played two good hearts by my scorecard. They don't look like a side right now who are going to win this thing or really go deep unless they find an extra dimension in these knockout rounds rule. But this result about the three points, almost like a cheap tailor you'd say, never mind the, the quality, feel the width.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah. I think, I think that the way the third place algorithm thing has worked out is probably helpful. There was a point today when they might have played Senator all which would have been genuinely problematic for them. I think Dr. Congo, they should get passed even though we know that the con the condoles will be able to put put up more than a stout resistance. And England don't like defensive teams Mexico or Ecuador at altitude in Mexico City. That's a problem that's not easy as much as it looks like it's relatively kind on paper. The Ecuadorians will will run you down and Metro home advantage in Mexico City is an issue.

[Roger Bennett]

Our boys have played their way at

[Rory Smith]

Sunderland and then I think you'd expect to see Brazil or Norway, I guess later on.

[Roger Bennett]

No.

[Rory Smith]

In the quarterfinals. No, I think. Is that right? I can't. I'm very confused by this and I

[Roger Bennett]

think that's the quarter and I can't even see it. It's like an optician's board. I can't see anything.

[Rory Smith]

It doesn't look. It maybe doesn't look that intimidating at first glance, but I think when you actually think about who they've got to play and how inland are playing, there are. There are hurdles there.

[Roger Bennett]

The game we're both out in Philadelphia. Croatia 2 gone, A1 Black Stars came to this on the back of two clean sheets. Very much in the image of Harden up Carlos Kira as their manager he was asked that you interestingly if they might prove a loss here because they didn't want to have to go back to Canada where captain Thomas party's been denied a visa because of his pending sexual assault charges. And Kira said the game of football is so difficult you cannot play two or three games at the same time. So it sounded like a yes to me anyway. Oh, Ghana began with a lot more possession than the kind of customer they used to or even they want. They'd had 30% in the first two games. Croatia almost just gave it to them, drew them in, tried to create space in behind. Tempo was so slow. It was remarkable. Say this was interesting. This is my first World cup game. Not been there for the hydration breaks before. They are so different in the stadium than they are on tv. It is crazy. The music is essentially like Las Vegas Disco 1990 era. It was a lot of Macarena and living on the prayer so loud and the crowd quite well served. I think that's what I'd say in Philly. They go ballistic and it almost like the hydration break. It's almost as if the football is like that level of intensity and the hydration break just becomes like a rave. It is utterly insane. I realize everyone's acting for the fan cam. People are losing their minds all around you. It's almost like the football is ancillary. But I also realized the hydration make another reason it's going to stay. It's two more times for the fan base to get concessions. Beers, hot dogs and everything. There's so much money, they're like really making it. Oh, the hydration. It's the funnest part. I love the hydration breaks. That's where we are, man. In stadium. It was madness.

[Rory Smith]

I can't wait for the hydration break. I'm gonna go and get a drink. I think it was interesting that it. Both of them got booed initially and then as soon as the music started blaring out the Macarena, obviously a traditional football song. They were. People do engage and it is as much I don't like them. I don't see. I don't think we need them. I understand why FIFA wants to have a consistency about them. I do. I see that part of the logic. There will be games where they are necessary, but I just don't understand why you would be so excited at what very clearly is a break in momentum of the play. I didn't. I guess if you want a drink, whether you're at home or in the stadium, there's a logic there.

[Roger Bennett]

Roger Loebs.

[Rory Smith]

But the way people reacted, I found. I did. I do find people reacted like very strange.

[Roger Bennett]

This is how people reacted. They were just like, boo. Macarina. Macarina. It was like so crazy to me and I'm just genuinely fussed. Oh, that clip 22 says hydration breaks are for the rod Schlobes. It's always gonna catch on, baby. In terms of the football evidence, former sweetheart Vlasic hit the post, catching the black stars in transition. 31 minutes. It's Inter Milan midfielder, my friend. Actually, Peter Such it spotted a gap in the Ghana defense. It was a daisy cutter from way outside the box through legs. First man to beat keeper Benjamin Asare in this World cup celebration suggested there's a little soutich on the way. Big, big question. Everyone in football's asking. Was this a worm burner?

[Rory Smith]

Absolutely. Was a worm burner? Complete worm burner? I mean, it was almost the platonic ideal of a worm burner.

[Roger Bennett]

How do you say worm burner in Croatian? One wonders.

[Rory Smith]

I have no idea.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, we'll have to ask Peter Drury. I'm sure he'll know. That seems more Derek Ray. True.

[Rory Smith]

Derek Ray definitely knows. No, it was. It was exactly. It would be a daisy tutor in England, but it was what Ray would say stimmed the. The sort of the top of the grass.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, it's funny watching Ghana. Anton Semenya is like so clearly inhibited in the Kira system. There are a couple of moments he seemed to be like sod it. It let me show my manager fearlessly that I can lead this team and score the goals. Garner did grow hungry and more ambitious second half search forward in numbers probed but when they scored it came from a set piece. Derek Lucas and actually Dutch striker Brian Broadbeat's brother. This is the World cup of Robbies in it found himself free in the six yard box stuck home a fine cross inside the four post goal given after a very, very long slightly mysterious for a review but Croatia back in front 10 minutes later I was in the bowels of the stadium when my award just waited when I heard the roar. Did I tell you that I gave the superior no biggie. Croatia were back in front. Whip crowd swinger from old man Modric. We talked about him a lot in our matchday live in our preview found the head of Lucas Vlasic. Raw. This Croatia team smashed in the first game by England. But rumors of their demise greatly exaggerated.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, I was quite impressed with them. I was very down on them after the England game. They looked tired, they looked old. They looked like they had not thought about replenishing their resources as Modric and Perisic and all the others kind of aged naturally. But I think there was a bit of a response from them today. I think they realized that they had been quite disappointing in the first two games of the tournament. They looked a little bit more like the old Croatia, the Croatia of 2018 and 2022. And if they can build on that, they will pose a problem for people in the knockout rounds.

[Roger Bennett]

Oh, news just in. Verm burner in Croatian is Zemijana Lobta. Sorry, I'm just shouting words out to try and get the pronunciation. I'm sure that's nice. And that's. It's literally ground ball. Apparently that's in. In the chat. You tell me Croatians, if I'm right or wrong. Both teams have answered around the 32. Croatia will face Portugal in Toronto and Colombia will meet Ghana in KC July 3rd. But raw quickly, port one out for the Tartan army as this result officially brings to an end Scotland's memorably immemorable on the field. 2026 World cup manager Steve Clark subsequent resignation in favor of his Japanese movie from the 1940s. He'd do the old Sapudo, wouldn't he? Whatever it is. Raw no Scotland no party has never sounded sadder.

[Rory Smith]

No, it's. It's nice to finally be out of your misery. I think it's been. It's not. It's not ideal. This sounds a little bit bitter. It's not ideal that Scotland kind of had their final game, I think, on Wednesday, and which meant that the teams playing today went into it knowing what they had to do, which was not a privilege afforded to the Scots. But it's very hard to. To kind of believe that even if Scotland had known what they had to do, whether they would have been able to do it.

[Roger Bennett]

RIP Scotland. But live on Dr. Congo in Atlanta. Dr. Congo 3 Uzbekistan 1. A match, it has to be said, without the quite magisterial presence of Congo. Super fan. La Mambo Vea, the man who owners there, he is the revolutionary leader of congan independence, the Mamba. Standing erect, proud fist in the air. I admire this man so much. Does it for the full 90. It's one of the most exquisitely executed just fan realities. American fans. Why don't you draw inspiration from this man for our other combo? You know what? It is not going there in this moment. He made it to the second game, Mexico, but was not allowed back into the US because of visa issues related to Ebola. I found it very jarring. Prey sense can be found for the round of 32. Raw World cup needs that aura, right?

[Rory Smith]

Yeah. And it's. It's such a shame that. That he's not been able to go to. To the game today. And it would be even worse for him not to have the chance to. To see Condo in a knockout game. Does it such a kind of characteristic idiosyncratic, such a special thing. If he's allowed into Mexico, I don't really understand why he's not allowed into

[Roger Bennett]

the US All I can say what that does is just so many layers to it. Pulls everything together just so perfectly. It is just one of the most exquisite executions of football. Love of passion, of love of your nation, of knowing your history of just true, true commitment and joy and feeling and balance. I do. I am in awe of it. I do wonder whether he does like special training. You know what I mean? Just like special sits around with little hand exercises. It's like he's someone with no core strength. I am in awe of that.

[Rory Smith]

Do you think he's got a scaffold in his trousers like one of those

[Roger Bennett]

mimes who do that? I don't know. You'll have to. You know what? If we're in, we're going to Atlanta. We'll come and hang out with him. He keeps insta storying our post so maybe I'll. I'll hit him on the old DM and we can go and maybe we can work out together. It's just. Just us boys. Another fan stood in his stair. Life size cut out of. The dapper gent did make its way in too. But initially Leopards felt his absence as Becky Stan came to life. Stunning finish. Great goal actually. Shimora Dov Conquer had to summon the tenacity that had gotten them here. They've come the long route. I think they were the second to last team to qualify. They had to outlast Jamaica and only just to become back in this big time. For the first time in over 50 years. They did dig deep. Stepped up the intensity in the third quarter. There was a great goal from this one. I think that it was was it Fist and Myele won a name. Played for the pyramids in the Egyptian League last season. Made it to with a delicate instinctive finish. Johan we should converted a penalty just before he scored the third. Third. And that's it. Beautiful. Congo qualify for the first time in their history for the knockout rounds. A human story of tenacity. This is a team that had to go to Belgium for three weeks before the tournament to quarantine because of the Ebola outbreak. Had to leave all of their deeply passionate fans behind. They could not get visas because of that reason. They had to struggle with visa issues for their delegation. But they didn't just come to make the numbers. They've been ferociously tenacious whenever they've had the opportunity. They shock Portugal in that first game. Were just outplayed by Colombia and then they came back from a goal down to drop at the Asbeckies. The reward really an epic matchup in Atlanta. Will be there doing a matchday live right before they're going to play England. And they will take the field without fear or absolutely.

[Rory Smith]

And it will be the sort of game that inspires them because it is a World cup game. You know, it's easy for me I guess to be kind of a little bit dismissive of England, but to the players on that pitch, some of them are English born or live in England or have grown up in England. It'll be special to them, even to the ones that haven't. You're playing against some of the best players in the world. You're playing one of the great football powers and it's your chance to bloody their nose. So it's a hugely special Occasion for Congo. They have been magnificent. Mario Balotelli, our close personal friend Rog, said today, said today that the. Or, just to be clear, ordinarily, if someone says smell my hand, I don't. It does. I can say. I can say with absolute honesty. It does smell really nice.

[Roger Bennett]

It does. It smells beautiful.

[Rory Smith]

It doesn't suggest you've washed your hands since you saw Mary Balotelli, which is slightly.

[Roger Bennett]

I'm never going to wash my hands again. Never going to wash my hands again.

[Rory Smith]

Hygiene is descending.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, man, I haven't had a shower in about three weeks now.

[Rory Smith]

Thank God we're not on the bus. I've lost my track now, lost my train of thought. No, Mario said that, that the smaller teams. I'll just call him Mario. The smaller teams can stand up to the bigger teams because the smaller teams are good. Which is sounds quite basic. It sounds like quite basic analysis, but it's essentially true. And Tondra and Tondo are the same. Tondo weren't outplayed by Portugal. They were slightly unfortunate to lose to Colombia. Colombia with a better team and then as you say, they've beaten us. Better stand as they should do. They are not here to be pushovers.

[Roger Bennett]

At most gracious in the chat says new chance idea. Our smell is shite. But we don't care how much gracious. I do care. I just like this effing four games a day, six games a day schedule. It just means so bloody time. I can't even turn the shower on, never mind getting it. But it's not about me. Poll from YouTube. What was your match of the day? Algeria 3, Austria 3, 74, 13 for Dr. Congo, 7% for Jordan, Argentina 6% for Croatia 2, Ghana 1. But that was only because of the guy that gave the superior matches award.

[Rory Smith]

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[Roger Bennett]

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[Rory Smith]

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[Roger Bennett]

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[Rory Smith]

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[Roger Bennett]

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[Rory Smith]

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[Roger Bennett]

For the ones who get it done, it is time. In a special edition of Nightcap, we're about to be joined by a gentleman who's one of football's true orators. He puts words to our feelings in his awestruck voice. He's a testimony to the artistry of this sport because as passionately as he loves this game, he loves its characters even more and loves the emotions that make it living, breathing thing we, we commit our lives to. He understands how we feel and he puts words to those feelings. Join us. Cleanse the palate of the group stage. Set the table for whatever the knockouts served to us. Let's welcome, it's the great Mr. Peter Drury.

[Peter Drury]

Hey, Rog, how are you?

[Roger Bennett]

I'm here with King Rory. Too big.

[Peter Drury]

I know.

[Rory Smith]

Peter. How you doing, Rory?

[Peter Drury]

I'm good, thank you. It's so good to see you and hear you bring some sort of intelligence and insight to Roger's company.

[Roger Bennett]

That's not possible. It's not possible to elevate my crap, I'll say that.

[Rory Smith]

Thank you, Peter.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. Take it.

[Rory Smith]

Absolutely.

[Roger Bennett]

I'm never going to hear the end of this. Peter Drury, where are we finding you? Where are we finding it?

[Peter Drury]

I'm in my hotel room in New Jersey. I've got a nice room which, which if I peek between all the high rise blocks, enables me to see the Statue of Liberty. Not at the moment because it's dark and I am based for the world feed Coventry here in New Jersey. So I've done all five games at that stadium and we'll do the two knockout games. I'm very lucky. France, Sweden is next on my agenda. And then if it falls that way, it'll be Brazil, Norway, which you guys have been talking about. And then I go into a quarter final in Boston and a semi final in Dallas and end up here again for the final. So that's my World Cup.

[Roger Bennett]

I'm just imagining Peter Drury looking out the curtains at the Statue of Liberty and saying, lady Liberty, the passionate defender of. I mean, just giving it loads, just like dropping the poetry. But we've just made it through this super sized group stage. I mean, I feel like a celebration. It's why we wanted to bring you on to mark this. It's a beautiful moment. It's been a delirious euphoric slightly mad. It's been an ultra marathon. How do you point your voice to it, erasing it, you know, being the. Being the lead singer almost to the World Cup. How do you experience which parts fly by, which parts drag feet?

[Peter Drury]

Well, the bits that fly by, Roger, and I'm not just playing to your. Your beautifully florid introduction. For me, the bits that fly by are the proper emotional bits because they are what matter. And what you've just been saying about Dr. Congo is bang on. And of the games that I've been to in person, my favorite is Ecuador. You know, I did that Ecuador Germany game and the emotion around that. And that coach who was about to be fired and suddenly wasn't and went up and hugged his wife and his children and his friends and danced up and down. And he, you know, he looks like in 1978, you know, Rick Parfit doesn't. He looks like sort of lead singer of Status Quo. And he's got these rock star looks and he's got this winning smile as if he, you know, sells Colgate. And he. And his joy was so utterly unconfined. And Ecuador, Ecuador had to beat the four times world champions to stay alive. And they beat the four times world champions from behind. And, you know, the beauty of that is boundless. And those are the great moments, and those are the great moments which underpin the glorious moments of the superstars. And so we've had Kurasan, we've had Cape Verde, and we've had the Ecuador moment. We've had that ridiculous game you've been talking about involving Algeria and Austria. And then we've still had Mbappe and we've had Harland and we've had Kane and, And, you know, so I must say in. In. In our. What are you saying, Rog?

[Roger Bennett]

No, no, no. I'm just saying put Flo Baligan Panda to the audience. Peter. Flo Baligan. And we've. And we've had Flo Baligan, by the

[Peter Drury]

way, on the subject of Flo Baligan, in my experience of World Cups, the best World Cups happen when the hosts are happy. And so the fact that Mexico, Canada and the USA have all cracked it, that's all good news. That's all good news. I was talking to. Sadly, they've gone out, but I was talking to a lady from South Korea last night and reminiscing about the World cup of 2002 when I was stationed in Seoul. And South Korea kept beating people they weren't meant to be. And there were one or two questions around that at the time, but they did keep doing it. And the atmosphere in Seoul was unbelievable. Unbelievable. It was the most beautiful place in the world to be. And one of the reasons that for me is still, I think, my favorite World cup of the eight I've now been lucky enough to work on is because South Korea did so well, and the joy around it was fantastic. And you're also right to identify, Roger, you speak to an American audience a lot of the time, and you understand it. You're right to identify the gear change in terms of the acceptance of the game that has happened. I think I perceive, you know better than me within the USA over the course of the last three weeks, because it was incidental to begin with. It was happening and it was accepted and it was there. But the Knicks were winning the NBA. I was in New York when that happened, and that was crazy. And that was taking our game of football away from the center of attention. But that's gone now, and it is a genuine part of the American conversation now. It's not a kind of, what's this curiosity going on? It's actually a thing.

[Roger Bennett]

It is a thing, by the way. That's the breakthrough, I gotta say. Peter Drury commentating on the Knicks, I think, for our audience would be a dream come true. Peter giving it a little bit of the bang would be genuinely amazing.

[Rory Smith]

Does that not exist in the NBA? Do you not have.

[Roger Bennett]

We got. We got many, but the game is the game. Like the. The joy of jewelry is that he builds. He builds and then delivers. NBA commentary is just orgasm after orgasm. Right? Which it would be, but it would be. I mean, the chat's going mad. Peter Drury might bring crossover episode. Everyone's demanding.

[Rory Smith]

Peter, how much you talked about. You're completely right about the emotional moments, because I think to me, the first. The first phase of the World cup is always. It is. It is always a global carnival, and that sets the tone. And then the elite sporting competition comes later. How much responsibility do you feel to your listeners, your viewers? Because when those moments are remembered, it is your voice etched in their memory.

[Peter Drury]

If I thought about that, Rory, A, I'd be in danger of becoming, and I hope I'm not already slightly pretentious, but B, becoming slightly worried and affected. You know, I feel bad, honestly, because it's only authentic if it's authentic. And if you start worrying and overthinking about what people might be thinking and how you ought to reflect that, then it stops being a natural sentiment. Does that make sense? I try not to think about it too much. And yet that.

[Roger Bennett]

Think about it with us a lot, though. Think about it with us a lot. Well, come on, I mean, let's. Let me throw one out. Let me throw one out for you. Let me throw. Let me throw one out for you. You've said commentating on the Lionel Messi game you called it feels like narrating a piece of history. And I was like. When I read that, I was like, oh, my God, there must be an extra pressure to drop your best stuff because you know it's going to be on soundtracks for generations. Don't like to, like, make you think about this or do you don't want to think about. But it's going to be your voice. Archaeologists are going to find in a thousand, thousand years time. Yeah. They're going to find messy in the blue pizza box.

[Peter Drury]

The thing is, though, Roger, honestly, if you think about it, if you start doing that too much, it becomes an exercise in plasticness and it's really. It's really important that you don't do that. And you, as a commentator, I'm sure, say the same about writing. You know, if you preconceive what you're going to have thought or said, if you imagine a goal in advance, then what actually happens won't properly coincide with the way you feel about it at the time. And so whilst I suppose it is true that sometimes your words get associated with a goal or a moment, the most important thing, I think, well, not the most important thing, but an important thing to remember is that the goals are scored by the footballers and you're just a lucky bloke who sits there and gets the chance to articulate it in the moment. And that's really exciting. And when Ecuador scored, that was really exciting. Once you've established who scored the goal, which is the first panic moment,

[Rory Smith]

we're

[Roger Bennett]

getting a lot of questions in the chat. Manuelestamos8750 says question for Peter Drury. What's the last word you looked up? The etymology of and why?

[Peter Drury]

I. I don't. I don't look up the etymology of words.

[Roger Bennett]

Sorry, Rod, do you look in the thesaurus for words?

[Peter Drury]

No.

[Roger Bennett]

You don't?

[Rory Smith]

No, I. I've met. But, you know, I've met. I've spent enough time with Peter to know that Peter just has quite an extensive vocabulary.

[Roger Bennett]

Never play Peter at Scrabble, Peter. You could have Scrabble, Peter. You're really annoyingly good.

[Rory Smith]

I'm not.

[Peter Drury]

No, I'm not bad, but I'm. I'm certainly not invincible within my family. My youngest son. My youngest son has beaten me.

[Rory Smith]

Peter, how do you feel about those annoying little words that store a lot

[Roger Bennett]

of points but are sort of cheating non commentary words?

[Peter Drury]

I've got a very strong view on this.

[Roger Bennett]

Like you go on just.

[Peter Drury]

They spoil the game.

[Rory Smith]

They do, I agree.

[Peter Drury]

Yeah, they distort the game. They distort the game. And honestly, I think there needs to be a way to bring Scrabble to an end in a juster way.

[Rory Smith]

I agree.

[Peter Drury]

Because people can steal points with a word that doesn't really exist.

[Roger Bennett]

You're gonna get FIFA on this.

[Rory Smith]

You're not clever because you know that xi is a spelling of the word chi. You don't deserve 27 points for that. It's ridiculous.

[Roger Bennett]

This is amazing. I love how heated you've become. It's like change your personality. Essentially. Little words that annoy you are ones that you're not allowed to, to use in commentary. And I do Love this at drmo7c says Peter. I'm putting that tone on it. I like it. I like that. Peter, what game from the group stage, do you envy that you didn't call, but you wish you had?

[Peter Drury]

Oh, well, honestly, Algeria or Austria tonight I'd love to have done that. I mean, what a, what fantastic drama at the end of that. I'd also, of course I was envious listening to others eulogize about Kate Verde's goalkeeper. That would have been a lot of fun to do because, because again, as you guys have been articulating for, for the whole of the evening, these are great human stories. You know, when you do, when you do the big teams, and this goes for club football as well as international football, truthfully, there's not a lot you can tell your audience. I don't mind that because really, as you've also said, you can articulate the emotion of it and that's fine. But when there is, it's like in the English FA cup, you do a first round tie and the postman scores the winner. There's a, there's a, there's a human story to be told that you can tell people something they didn't already know. There's nothing you can tell them about Mbappe. So when a 40 year old goalkeeper for Cape Verde, you know, does something and, and you've bothered to find out about him beforehand, there's a, there's a story you can pass on. So, so those are the, those human stories are, are the, are the lovely ones. And again, I'm sure Rory you'd agree with that. I mean, you know, any of us who sort of make it our job to tell the story of football love those sort of tales. Yeah.

[Rory Smith]

And I do not. I wouldn't dare put myself in the same class, in a different sort of skill as Peter, but I find those stories and the kind of, the moments of greatness you get at World Cups. I was in Kansas City to see Messi's hat trick, and I'd had a really. I'd had a really long day. Kansas City is really far from Los Angeles. I was very tired. I hadn't really sleep. I had very little time to have a barbecue, and I was upset about it. And then you watch Messi play and you feel this sort of childlike glee at seeing him play. And I found that incredibly easy to write about. It is genuinely. It feels like you are just. The words are there and you put them on the page. And whatever you say, he inspires you to be poetic. And I think, I think that is probably a similar feeling to you, Peter.

[Peter Drury]

That is bang on, Rory. That is bang on. And that is why the sort of reflected glory we sometimes get. And I do mean we, you and I, all of us who articulate the game have to understand that it is reflected and that we can only articulate what he and others do. But he is the best example. And, you know, the one thing, this, this is a silly little gripe of mine, but when I hear people say there's nothing more to be said about Lionel Messi, I think, well, come on, challenge yourself to say something about Lionel Messi because he deserves for you to find something new to say. And as you also rightly say, if you genuinely are imbued with a love of the game, how, how can you not be lifted to find something to say about him? Because he's beautiful. I mean, he's beautiful and remarkable and, and, and, and you know what? The only thing he's doing. Rory, I don't know whether you agree with this as well. You, you're well entitled not to. The only thing he's doing, which is mildly irritating, is laughing in the face of all of us who had the great privilege of working on his last World Cup Final and treated it as if it was his grand farewell, because he's gonna flip and go and do it all again, and then we've gotta find something new to say.

[Rory Smith]

It's difficult and you've already reached such a pitch of, like, rhetorical high flown kind of ecstasy that it's very hard to find another gear to that, to be perfectly honest.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, you'd be a very good, rapturous priest. I mean, just like an ecstatic. I mean, you just got to keep. You know, here's what I do in these moments. Peter, I'm going to give this to you. I don't like to give out advice, you know, to legends, but what I do to find those new levels, those new kind of. It's very hard to make the inarticulate, articulate the emotion real. I go to a thing called Chat GPT and I say, how would I say. How would Peter jury describe Lionel Messi? And in new ways. And then they just rip you off. It's quite fantastic. It's very, very liberating.

[Peter Drury]

AI.

[Rory Smith]

Do you know what, Roger? You know what this Peter is. Peter is English. So this will. This will make Peter feel awkward and I can, I'm confident of that because I'm also British and it would make me feel awkward.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah.

[Rory Smith]

What I. What I love most about Peter's commentary is the enthusiasm. It's the fact that you can tell that you're really enjoying it. And I think that it's really important. A lot of the kind of media that surrounds football concentrates on the negative. It's criticizing things and that has to exist. It's important, it matters to people. But I think we should never forget that this is a thing that people love. And what Peter does that makes his commentary so amazing to listen to is he conveys love. I think that's really important.

[Peter Drury]

Rory, that is really kind. And I think it's also, if I may say so, whilst taking the compliment, I hope with modesty, I think it's balanced as well, because you're absolutely right to say that there has to be a proper journalistic rigor around football and it, and it can't. That can't all be fairy tales. And it's, it's my great good fortune and those who do the same job as me that essentially our job is around the fairy tales. You know, we shout the name of the goal scorers, the ball goes in the net. And so it's actually quite easy to live as I probably do, because I'm childlike and, and, and live as if I was a six year old in a. In a utopian world that doesn't really exist. And it would be nonsense to assume in any way that that is in itself a realistic reflection of, of how sport is, because of course there's monstrous cynicism and there's big business and there are all the major Issues, and those need to be journalistically dived into. But for some of us, and we're the very luckiest ones, really, it all begins with the first whistle. It ends with the final whistle. And so in that regard, it's just fun.

[Rory Smith]

You say that, Peter, but I. This, I might be calling this wrong. Did I see you holding a pair of scissors in your hands earlier?

[Peter Drury]

Yeah. Why is that? Isn't that weird?

[Rory Smith]

Are you trotting out your notes?

[Peter Drury]

No, my notes. Rory, today in. Where were we in the New York, New Jersey. What we're not allowed to call the MetLife Stadium was we're right up in the Gods without a Roof, as you know, in that thing. And it rained and my notes became papier mache. They would not be cuttable at the moment.

[Roger Bennett]

They are an absolute Japanic in that situation.

[Peter Drury]

What I did say afterwards, Rog, was that if that game, which it couldn't, of course, had gone to a penalty shootout, I'd have had nowhere to where I could write my little chart where I tick off who scored and who hasn't scored the penalties.

[Roger Bennett]

You would have been like a goalkeeper who's had his bottle thrown into the crowd by the other goalkeeper. It would have been.

[Peter Drury]

That is a very good simile. That's exactly how I would have felt.

[Roger Bennett]

You would have had to have navigated by the stars, Peter.

[Peter Drury]

I'd have just dived left every time.

[Roger Bennett]

Okay, I want to ask you about these things. It is amazing. English people are not known for their emotionalism. Like the English commentary traditionally has been very rigorous. You know, the, the, the greats, you know, would watch spectacular goals. And when you do watch stuff in the 80s, they'd be like a howitzer from 50 yards and the commentator would just shout out the player's name. Go. I remember when Ian Dark came over here and became beloved. 2010 World Cup. Everyone loved him. We called him Syrian Dark on the show. And it took Americans about five years to realize he wasn't actually united because they felt that kind of love and awe for him. But I do remember him going back to England after that and looking on Twitter and people, you know, in England did not like it in the same way as Americans do. And I remember one comment in particular was like, Syrian, not Syrian. It was like in. Dark commentates on football as if he's like a seven year old baby watching the game for the very first time. It's that very difficult balance between over emotionalism and. And nailing it. I find what you did in the Ecuador game so moving. When you. You. You said, put yourself now on the streets of Quito, Feel what he is feeling. Talking about the manager going over to kiss his wife, it seemed almost no one was more shocked than the Ecuadorians themselves, which is a real Pantheon moment for me. And your list, can you describe what you do, try and do behind the mic in your mind, giving viewers what they need? You're almost trying to make emotionalism, which is very inarticulate, real.

[Peter Drury]

Yeah. Well, first of all, Roger, on the subject of my friend Ian Dark, who's absolutely brilliant, the greatest. Yeah. And a really lovely, generous man, you know, he's. He. You know, he's.

[Rory Smith]

He's really.

[Peter Drury]

God bless him, I don't want to wait him, but he's kind of the generation before me. He's always been fantastically kind to me. Big Portsmouth fan. Perhaps I'm not supposed to say that out loud, but anyway, Dark is a fabulous guy, and like all of us, you know, there are going to be. There's going to be stuff he does in certain circumstances and around certain contexts which is not necessarily appreciated and doesn't necessarily transfer from one audience to another. And occasionally, in that regard, I guess we all either get it wrong or feel sore that we're being criticized for the way we're doing it, but that happens. That's the world. And obviously, I mean, that is the world. That's not a complaint, that's just how it is in terms of how I do it. When I'm doing a regular Premier League game, this sounds more formulaic than I hope it really is, but genuinely, as I walk up to a stadium, I do think it's Chelsea against Nottingham Forest. If I was a Chelsea fan, what would I be thinking today? How will I react if we score? How will I react if they score? And then I flip it over and say, if I'm a Nottingham Forest fan, likewise. What's the vibe? If I was buying my burger outside the ground, I was talking to my mates, what would we be talking about? And I think if you can sort of get inside of that, and I'm not saying that's necessarily the right way, but that's the way I do it, because it's. Because I am, I think, as you say, a commentator who bases his work on emotion. And there are other commentators, absolutely, as good, some would say better, who base their commentary on statistical knowledge or historical knowledge or tactical knowledge. You know, people who really understand the game, people who can. You won't hear me articulate very often, unless it's plain and Obvious, you know, what a high press is or what a. You know, or how it's morphing from three at the back to, you know, who's playing six and who's playing eight, which is. I'm not going to demean myself by saying I don't understand that. I broadly understand it, but I don't feel expert enough to go into that stuff. And there are some really good commentators who are expert enough to do that.

[Roger Bennett]

Who's your favorite commentator?

[Peter Drury]

I. I find that awkward to answer because I've got so many friends with my friends who are commentators.

[Rory Smith]

Nest of vipers.

[Roger Bennett]

Just whisper it. Yeah, just whisper.

[Peter Drury]

Just whisper it. No, I'm not going to answer that question. I, I'm not, Roger. I'm not of the. Of the current lot, because you can

[Roger Bennett]

take the Fifth Amendment. You can just plead the Andres Cantor. Yeah.

[Peter Drury]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[Rory Smith]

Good.

[Peter Drury]

There you go.

[Rory Smith]

There you go.

[Peter Drury]

Rory, you've tucked me out there.

[Roger Bennett]

Oh, I'm trying to think of one for you to keep this. I. I think it's very beautiful.

[Peter Drury]

I would give you the answer, which would be cricket commentators, but that. That wouldn't work on here.

[Roger Bennett]

It wouldn't. It wouldn't. It wouldn't. The. The answer's always, oh, it's Mike Tirico. Van Frankenstein, in the chat, says, man, I love Peter Drew. Peter, we gotta go. I could do this all night. I do want to ask you very. Two, very quickly. This World cup has had incredible timing. It's a moment when football and the world is. You know, the world has been in chaos. Football has come in. We've, we've. We felt a sense of unity, even if it's fleeting. We felt a sense of openness, of joy, of fan bases, you know, engaging the world around them, inviting them in in the most loving and wondrous way. If the tournament ended tonight, at the end of the group save, we already played more games than in a normal 32 game, which is crazy. What would you say that has really defined this tournament? This World cup has been a World cup of what?

[Peter Drury]

It's proved again, Roger, that there are certain things in the world that only sport can do. If sport was put in charge of the world, it's not impossible that we could derive some sort of universal happiness. Now, ultimately, people would lose, you know, and we'd all get grumpy eventually. But funnily enough, I was reflecting the other day with someone I remember, you know, eight years ago, I remember walking through Red Square, Moscow, and look what's happened to the world since Then, and not least to Russia since then and its place in the world, and seeing supporters from every corner of the planet, hostile countries. Hostile countries embracing each other and kissing and cheering and singing and screaming and putting their arms around each other. And it genuinely. I don't want to overeg the pudding set and move me to tears, but I was on my own and I welled up. I welled up. I thought, this is what the world could be if you just let sport take charge and wipe the rest of the nonsense away. And essentially you could say all the same things now.

[Rory Smith]

It's absolutely right. I don't know if it's sport. I think it's people. I think that's what the World cup every four years, whether it's in. Because I had the same experience on Nikolskaya in Moscow, where it did feel like the whole world was in one street. I had the same experience in the suit in Doha. I'm sure that when we get to. We've not been in New York yet, but I'm sure when we get to time, swear it'll be the same. See, we saw a bit in Seattle and a bit in Philly.

[Roger Bennett]

It's amazing. Did we just invent democracy?

[Rory Smith]

No, I think. I think when. Do you know what it is? It's B. This sounds really stupid, but when you put people together wherever, whether you're from Peru or Russia or wherever it is, the people. People are all right.

[Peter Drury]

Yeah. Correct. Smiling. The whole world smiles with you. Oh, honestly.

[Roger Bennett]

I'm going to use that line, the first song, and I think it's going to be a big hit. Peter, we got one last request. We have fallen in love with the word. This World Cup. I'm gonna get Rory to define it for you because he loves it even more than I do, but when he has, I want you to tell me what you think of this word. And the word it's worm burner is worm burner.

[Peter Drury]

What does it mean? Rory, I heard you talking about it earlier and I was hoping you wouldn't bring it up. It is.

[Rory Smith]

It is, Peter. It's American for daisy tutter and Rog, and I would very much like it if you got it into commentary.

[Roger Bennett]

Can you just fit it in? Fit it in. It's when it's a low drive.

[Rory Smith]

It's a daisy trotter. It's a daisy trotter.

[Roger Bennett]

So the first Croatian goal today was a worm burner. So, like, when the ball is driven along the ground into the net, it's a worm. Can you say it's A worm burner.

[Peter Drury]

And that. That is the goal, which is prevented from happening by the bloke who lies down behind the defensive wall, presumably. Yeah, that's what he's there for, is the small worm.

[Roger Bennett]

He's technically the anti worm burner.

[Rory Smith]

He's the worm. He's the worm protector, the worm retardant. That's what he is. We're not.

[Roger Bennett]

We're not. We're not asking, we're not begging. By the way, worm burner would get 20 points in Scrabble. We're not asking, we're not begging. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? W4, 1 1.

[Rory Smith]

There should be extra points for length of word.

[Peter Drury]

Yeah. And by the way, you'd surely be on a few double word and double letters.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, you would.

[Peter Drury]

You would hit at least two.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, yeah. So we're not asking, we're not begging. We're going to end the convo there, but you got a lot of games to go. A lot of games to go. And if you see it, we've just given you a gift is all I'm saying.

[Peter Drury]

Yeah.

[Roger Bennett]

Peter, who's going to win this thing?

[Peter Drury]

Well, let me get. France is the obvious answer. To me, France is the obvious answer. But if. If I'm allowed a little dark horse, and if I had so much money I could throw it away, I would throw it away on Norway.

[Rory Smith]

Okay, interesting.

[Peter Drury]

So well done, the Ivory coast, for winning the next game.

[Roger Bennett]

Can I just tell you, you are a man built of joy and love and the ability to articulate things. Things on a regular basis with. With a defiance and, you know, just. Just a consistent brilliance. To spend some time with you at this time of night is an absolute joy. I'm sure everyone who's listening to this, we're all fatigued. We're all high on life. We're all high on football. To spend time with you is to really take this moment, this end of the group stage, the ultra marathon stage, and to really appreciate it. And I'm incredibly grateful. Grateful for you taking this time. You really are. You've lifted.

[Peter Drury]

It's a joy. It's a joy. We all just love it, don't we? It's only fun. It's only fun. So it's great. Thank you for having me on. Great to talk with you. Rory, too. Always.

[Rory Smith]

Always a pleasure. Peter.

[Roger Bennett]

Peter. Big, big love, courage. Thank you, man. Oh, I feel amazing.

[Rory Smith]

You're never in a bad mood. When he's speaking to Peter Drury, do

[Roger Bennett]

you think he's gonna.

[Rory Smith]

I think that it'll be in his head. We need. We need some. We need the next. What he's doing The James at MetLife. And they're triple. In one in Boston, one in Dallas. I'm going to that game in Dallas. I'll.

[Roger Bennett]

I'll just shove it back in.

[Rory Smith]

Yeah, but it'll be in his head. If he sees it, I think he'll. I think he'll deliver it as a. And that's what the Americans call a worm burner.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, I think that's how we're going to work. In his head.

[Rory Smith]

He's not gonna be like, it's a worm burner. He's got more class than that does either.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, I'm gonna take that clip. I'm gonna get my producer. Take that clip. Going to be my new ringtone. But I should have got him to say piss boiler, too.

[Rory Smith]

No, I don't.

[Peter Drury]

Wouldn't like. I don't want.

[Rory Smith]

I don't want to hear that.

[Roger Bennett]

In psychology. It makes my piss boil. I've got a feeling. We think it's really nice, but he's just got off and just like put his laptop down and gone. Those two. How dare they think they can put words in my mouth.

[Rory Smith]

Peter. Peter has already thought of the word worm burner. He's rejected it.

[Roger Bennett]

Jane Austen did. Jane Austen. What is this cameo? Did Jane Austin get suggestions? I don't know.

[Rory Smith]

It doesn't. It doesn't have the right cadence. There's no. Yeah, he's the expert.

[Roger Bennett]

And then he'll be shaving later tonight. Be like, worm, worm burner. Worm burner. It'll be like practicing and it'll just stick. It's gonna be. When it happens. It's gonna.

[Rory Smith]

It's all gonna be.

[Roger Bennett]

This is now a 12 hour podcast. We're gonna blow through the back full rodent. Yeah, we can. We. There we go. Full rogues. Roger Loeb, by the way, it's time for the previews. Thank God. To shorten this thing. There's just a solitary game. What are we even going to talk about the other 22 hours of the day? Go outside, talk to our loved ones. Canada against South Africa. Two teams who never made it to knockout round before. Canada, whom I love and adore and admire, finishing second. The awful reality is they no longer get to play in Canada. They're on the outside in. They're going to Los Angeles for this time. They're to going big time. Hooray for Hollywood. Canada. They're going to become the first host nation to play outside their own country, which I think is an agony and should not be occurring. Of all the teams they could have drawn, they've got to say they could have had South Korea in Los Angeles. That would have been a human darkness they got. South Africa may have secretly topped their list of opponents in the end of the day.

[Rory Smith]

Well, I mean, I learned enough about Los Angeles in my time there to to believe that there's probably like a large and vibrant South Africa, African community as well. There's everything else.

[Roger Bennett]

100,000 Trevor Noah fans packing the place.

[Rory Smith]

Trevor Noah will be there topless, sort of screaming at people.

[Roger Bennett]

Tops off, tops off.

[Rory Smith]

For Trevor Noah, it's a don't attempt fate. It is annoying that they're out of Canada, but it's a good draw for Jesse Marsh and his brave maple syrup flavored boys.

[Roger Bennett]

Hey, big question. Is Jesse Marsh admitted he was bluffing about Alfonso Davis being ready to come back to action? No crap, man. He said it was quoted decoy in a lie and the injured players need to be treated, quote, like a Ferrari. Now we're in the knockouts. Do we see Fonzie on the field?

[Rory Smith]

I wonder if they're behind and it's narrow and you've got 10 minutes left. Maybe, maybe you throw him on. I mean, it'll be up to Alfonso Davies to decide how fit he feels, how much, how much he's willing to kind of take that risk if he's not ready to. Ready. To be honest, if he's not ready to play, he shouldn't play. He's Alphonso. David's got another world cup in him. It won't be a home World cup. But then you could make a case that this game is not a home World cup game.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. I would say if Marsh is trying to use his gamesmanship again, it's probably not going to distract the South African manager, 74 year old Hugo Bros, who said, quote, I do not read social media trash.

[Rory Smith]

I don't know how to make social media work. Yeah.

[Roger Bennett]

I don't know if he is actually South African. Someone let me know if he is or not because I didn't want a chance to.

[Peter Drury]

Wrong.

[Roger Bennett]

Wrong accent there and come out. But that was very.

[Rory Smith]

I've got. I've just gone for it.

[Roger Bennett]

You've got accents, man. I don't have accents, by the way. I've really loved being in each city on these tours. It's been incredible to see the energy. I love Philadelphia. I'm so sad to leave it. We're leaving in about three hours. I love the love between the cultures the hope from the American fans everywhere. We've seen our merch out in the wild at games. I saw a bunch today out our shows out on the streets. We even saw a why not us scarf in that. There's a TV commercial of Fox keep showing to kind of hype up the next game and it's got that why not a scarf front and center, which is just unbelievable. Now I've said it, they'll probably cut it out, you'll never see it again. But check it all out at the men in blazers shop. The link is in the show notes. I'm really grateful to all of you. It brings me incredible love. Hugo Bruce's Belgian.

[Rory Smith]

He's probably picked up a bit of the broken.

[Roger Bennett]

We've reached that part of the night where we figure out what everyone suddenly believes. We're gonna look at calcium percentages to peek into the brains of football fans everywhere. Tonight we got the pleasure of our fully realized round of 30T when America loves a bracket popped up on the screen. Of the 16 teams who have the lowest percentages to advance at around the 16 raw, who do you think can overcome the odds on this list and stay in this tournament?

[Rory Smith]

I think there's a few that have got a chance, Rog. Perfectly honest. I think Canada for a start.

[Roger Bennett]

Yes.

[Rory Smith]

I think they, they stand a chance, Edward. Or could do.

[Roger Bennett]

I think they will.

[Rory Smith]

Morocco is a 5050 and to be honest, Croatia. I think Croatia having not looked great against England might well not even stop at the round of 16.

[Roger Bennett]

They are attorney a man shaft, by the way. I'll tell you, save some money. I'll tell you now a secret. Iran are not going to get out of the round of 32. Oh, God bless. I think we must have made this slide in the 93rd minute. I think we 93rded. We put on the cool, cool meme glasses a bit early on this one. God bless Raw. We are going to do tomorrow the blazes the awards for the opening rounds. We'll go through those tomorrow. So this is not a 12 hour podcast but we are going to ask for such things as the best uniform, the best player, the best surprise player, the hot, hottest manager. Yeah, I don't know why we're doing

[Rory Smith]

the hot because it's because it's a very competitive field.

[Roger Bennett]

I know it is the fast food food restaurant who stock price, you know, these kind of things. Send us your suggestions for what you want us to get into. Men in Blazer, gmail.com and we'll give you our answers. But now it's time for the food. It's the European mind cannot comprehend. Yesterday, we tried my favorite Jim south street cheesesteaks. Check that on our socials. Roar actually gave it a whopping 9.2% to top the leaderboard, Someone had to defend dethrone air war, which I think

[Peter Drury]

we've got a way to.

[Roger Bennett]

Come on in. Kippo. Next, we're gonna cheesesteak it up again. A cheesesteak on. Cheesesteak battle. A lot of you are pissed off. We did not go to Dalesandro's, the North Philadelphia institution. And we're gonna officially declare the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Oh, my God. This is. This is. Look at that. That is genuinely erotic.

[Rory Smith]

It's a lot of meat.

[Roger Bennett]

Look at it. I mean, that is genuine. It's like a Georgia o' Keeffe painting. It's. It's gorgeous. Look at that. Oh. Oh, my God. Raw. Save every second. Write down your score. I'm gonna guess this is really. I do believe there'll be peace in the world when you eat your cheesesteak. This is my third cheesesteak of the day, guys. By the way, I'm running on. I'm running on health. Here's. If you don't want to know what we're competing with, that's where we are. Believe a one. So high up on that list. I can't believe my favorite Roscoe's chicken didn't make this. Okay, I think you're gonna give this one. I think this is an 8.4. This is a very odd game where I guess before he's even written. It's just stupid. Go on. Oh, my God. Until officially, the other.

[Rory Smith]

The other Tuesday was nicer.

[Roger Bennett]

He gave a 9.2. This is really good. As a. I will say as a third one, it's a nice little. Nice little runner.

[Rory Smith]

The other one had a bit more. Yeah, Zing.

[Roger Bennett]

It did. The other one was like the Mario Balotelli aftershave of G steaks. I love. I love Jim South Street. And I'm not afraid to admit it is my spot. When it burnt down, I was devoed for a while. Support it. Love it all. Enjoy. Every Tuesday, we shouted a few out in match day live. Everyone's got their thing. There it is. Stop the count. We've got an official cheesesteak champion of the city. Only judge from Yorkshire has declared it. You're welcome, America. Last but not least, we invite you, dear listeners. Share your world cup journeys with us. We want to hear from you. How are you feeling what are you doing? How are you marking all of this Wonder? Remember meninblazers gmail.com or you can go to our incredible discord. I was in there today doing bits and you guys make me laugh so hard in game. I love it. I love it, I love it. This quite creative note comes from gfop. Matt Brady hit our Instagram DMS with a really big beautiful message. Raw. Do the honors.

[Rory Smith]

So it it initially it takes the form of a poem, Rog. So I'd like it if we could all just kind of relax. Murmur as if from nowhere. One muddy day in June they suddenly appeared drunk on place and space. They darted freely together, synchronized Joy, convergence, verve connected. They showed us how life could be not the unrelenting imagined one before us. Real. No Scotland, no party. For some reason, seeing the Strats from from afar I'm much more comfortable with prose. Inspired me in an entirely unique way. Surely might surely like many others out there. Maybe it's the crazy world we live in today. All that's gone wrong and the way it seems that it's continued Unraveling is inevitable. I had a thought then that I turned into a poem. It's not the best and maybe I've unconsciously stolen elements from elsewhere but. We apologize for the plagiarism but thought I'd share in the event it resonates with you all.

[Roger Bennett]

That's a beautiful way to end the Scotland run. That had me laughing. It's a first for us on Nightcap. A poem finally. A good one at that. What you say is true. Tarn army came, made us sore. And you've really reflected. One of the greatest phrases for me in poetry is life is slow dying by Larkin. And that is beautiful, beautiful truth that your poem tries to articulate. We love you, Matt. Keep sending us your poems for this World cup and your chance, your songs and long live the tartan army. I look terrible. I look ill. At the end of the opening round, I'm almost translucent. I've been in conference rooms in the bowels of hotels watching game after game and I wouldn't want to end any other way. Watching with you. Watching with all of you. We'll be saying goodbye to Philadelphia in a moment. Breaks my heart. I do love this city. But we're headed back to another amazing oh, metropolis, Atlanta. We're going to do back to back match day live shows. Are we really the Founders Green in South Downtown. First of which is this Wednesday, July 1st. We're in for another day of days with our friend the Great. James Horncastle is coming. Look at that. When has that trio ever been on a post?

[Rory Smith]

That is the wrong order, though. Horncastle should be the. Should be the headliner. Yeah.

[Roger Bennett]

We got my favorite NBA player and my favorite Leeds United pot owner Larry Nance Jr. Coming back. And what show in Atlanta would be complete without a visit for Unite in Rhyming Armor, it's Big Boy. I love that man. He loves his football. He loves his city, he loves his owls. What else do you need from a human being? It's going to be an unbelievable show. It's free. Come be with us. It is our favorite thing. It's a morning show. We'll be on the coffee, we'll be on the beer. Come be with us. Hit the link. You'll get more details. But come and give us a hug. You can actually also win tickets for the World Cup Final, which is amazing. We'll be back tomorrow night live. Once again, we'll be in Atlanta. So excited. I really, really am. Come check out our YouTube channel. Until then, we'll leave you with another incredible moment from today's Matchday live on Marriott. Bonvoy. Take your shot challenge. It was a really lovely moment, this role.

[Rory Smith]

It was. I. Peter was saying he welled up. I welled up at this moment. It was beautiful.

[Roger Bennett]

This time. Oh, we're just giving away free World cup final tickets at this point to everyone. Come see us on next show, Wednesday, July 1st in Atlanta, UK win. You could be this human being with World Cup Final tickets of Marriott Bombay. It's really amazing. This is my favorite part of the World Cup. This is Rog saying big, big love and courage. Roll tape. Here he.

[Peter Drury]

Oh, my God.