A World Cup Starter Pack for People Who Don't Understand Soccer

Summary

Welcome to the Party: "A World Cup Starter Pack for People Who Don't Understand Soccer"

Podcast: Welcome to the Party
Host: Treat Media (with Julie Foudy, Abby Wambach, Billie Jean King, Julie James, Glennon Doyle, Amanda)
Date: July 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

This lively and informative episode is designed as a “starter pack” for people who are new to soccer or just trying to figure out what all the World Cup buzz is about. Soccer legends Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy, alongside special crossover guests from "We Can Do Hard Things" (Glennon Doyle and Amanda), break down the basics of the World Cup, share personal stories, discuss the emotional experience of fandom and defeat, and explain key rules and cultural phenomena. The episode invites everyone—regardless of their background—to join the global celebration of soccer, with the ever-present aim: have fun and elevate women’s sports.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Emotional Fallout of Tournament Loss (00:03–10:26)

• The crew discusses the emotional toll of the recent US Men’s National Team loss, relating it to grief and handling public disappointment.
  • Abby Wambach: “What we are all kind of going through, whether you want to admit it or not, is, like, the stages of grief.” (03:34)
  • Julie Foudy: “They deserve to not hurt after what they've given this country. They've given us a lot of hope and a lot of wholesomeness and a lot of joy.” (07:09)
• Emphasis on not piling on criticism after defeat. They advocate for holding both grief and gratitude in parallel and discuss how sports build resilience and community.

2. The Power and Healing of World Cup Community (13:32–22:44)

• Glennon Doyle describes how “the soccer” has invaded her home, leading to both confusion and joy, and sets the scene for a fun, explanatory crossover conversation.
• The World Cup is likened to a global family reunion—a party with long-lost cousins, transcending national boundaries.
  • Amanda: “It’s like we’re all the cousins and it isn’t that the other countries are bad, it’s that our parents are all just crazy and that’s why we’ve never met our cousins. It’s that kind of vibe.” (17:23)
• The sense of hope and national pride—how wearing a USA jersey, even for skeptics, starts to feel meaningful again.

3. Why Get Into the World Cup? (22:44–26:20)

• Julie James: “When I wear the USA red, white, and blue...I am cheering for the version of this country that I believe to be true and the version...I want this country to become.” (22:44)
• Discussion about how the World Cup is one of those rare, unifying events in a polarized society.
• Notable Insight: Thanks to the US Soccer equal pay deal, every time the men advance, US Women’s National Team players directly benefit financially.
  • Julie James: “Do you know that the men’s national team and their success in this World Cup is actually putting dollars into the pockets of our women’s national team players?” (24:09)
  • Amanda (joking): “You should have led with that!” (24:10)

4. The World Cup’s Global and Cultural Significance (26:20–32:00)

• Explains why soccer is so much bigger in most countries—the only sport, a generational tradition and even akin to religion.
• Highlights the emotional investment of smaller countries (e.g., Cape Verde) and immigrant communities in the US rooting for home and adopted countries—for some, it’s “their church, their thing.”
  • Glennon Doyle: “It’s a religion in some ways...you get to sit next to somebody and watch them go through emotional toil and ups and downs.” (29:26)

5. Understanding the Basics—Whiteboard Session! (38:00–45:45)

• Julie Foudy offers a visual whiteboard breakdown of the offside rule—the perennial head-scratcher for soccer newcomers.
  • Explanation frames offside in terms of fairness: you cannot lurk near the goal without defenders present.
  • Glennon Doyle: "It can't be understood, really, no matter what Julie says. It's just a matter of spiritual surrender." (44:05)
• House analogies (like puppy guarding in Capture the Flag) make the rules relatable.

6. What’s Up with Cards, VAR, and Flopping? (45:06–51:35)

• Explains yellow and red cards (warnings vs. ejections), with Glennon advocating for “green cards” for kindness.
• Julie Foudy: New rule—if you flop and don't return to play right away, you must go off for one minute, creating a "power play" for the other team! (47:09)
• Discussion on the gendered dynamic of flopping—men’s soccer is notorious, women’s much less so.
  • Glennon Doyle: “What’s triggering about [flopping]...is that seems what happens in every room, business, family, Supreme Court justice. The men flop...if the women raise an eyebrow, everyone says they’re too emotional.” (48:37)

7. The Unsung Heroes: Referees & Supporters (51:35–54:49)

• Glennon praises referees for their composure under massive pressure; Amanda likens them to “free climbers”—made of different stuff!
• American Outlaws, the iconic fan group, and the way supporter culture builds the unique, festive World Cup vibe.

8. Global Stories and the Meaning of Representation (56:03–63:49)

• Birthright citizenship and its direct impact: The USMNT’s star striker Flo Balogun can play for the US because he was born in NYC, demonstrating the literal importance of inclusivity and citizenship rights. (59:23)
• Amanda shares the story of a dedicated DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) fan who stands for 90 minutes, arm raised, in tribute to the country’s post-colonial hero Lumumba—a poignant illustration of how the World Cup is a platform for global identity and pride.

9. Game Time: "Is it Queer, or is it FIFA?" (67:50–75:37)

• A hilarious quiz where guests must guess which traits belong to soccer/World Cup culture and which to queer culture, highlighting the “inherently gay” nature of soccer fandom.
• Sample Prompt: "The official sponsor would be Tesla or Subaru?" (69:09)
• Best Quote: “Can you imagine a video replay system called ‘Are we sure, babe?’ That’s definitely queer.” (72:45)

10. Visibility, Reciprocity, and Missed Opportunities (76:29–81:42)

• Glennon and Amanda call out how often women’s presence and support go unacknowledged at men’s games, despite turning up en masse. (78:04)
  • Glennon Doyle: “Why aren’t they showing...the women players who have shown up to these games? Why are there not specific moments highlighting the support and unity between the two teams?” (76:36)
• Discussion about building true unity, not just in private but on global, visible platforms.

11. Overtime & Soccer's Unique Time-Keeping (82:17–84:38)

• Explanation of extra time, overtime, and soccer’s strange preference for counting time up, not down.
  • Glennon Doyle: “It would be like if I started my microwave at zero...the soccer could consider starting at 90 and counting down!” (84:07)

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Most Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On mixed feelings after a loss:
  • “Every single one of those guys knows what happened and every single one...is more heartbroken than the rest of us, truly.” —Abby Wambach (04:20)
• On unity and optimism:
  • "When I wear the USA Red, white and blue...I am cheering for the version of this country that I believe to be true and the version of this country that I want this country to become." —Julie James (22:44)
• On equal pay:
  • "Do you know that the men's national team and their success...is actually putting dollars into the pockets of our women's national team players?" —Julie James (24:09)
• On the World Cup as healing:
  • “It's so beautiful to have the World cup...here this summer, not only because of where our country has been...but like, watching the American immigrants watch their teams...there's something so freaking healing about watching people and the community that brings people together.” —Julie James (31:01)
• On why soccer feels inherently queer:
  • “The butt slaps when someone makes a good play. Because I'm all for butt slaps.” —Julie Foudy (74:07)
  • "How inherently gay is it that we buy the jerseys to put somebody else's name on your back?" —Julie James (74:44)
• On the gendered experience of sports emotion:
  • “Men...allowed to flop around and flail and be so emotional and lose their minds...and if the women raise an eyebrow, everyone says they're too emotional.” —Glennon Doyle (48:37)

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Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Stages of Grief & Sports Heartbreak: 00:03–10:26
• The World Cup Cultural Starter Pack: 13:54–26:20
• Equal Pay Crossover: 24:09–26:20
• Why Soccer Matters Globally: 26:20–32:00
• Offside Illustrated (Whiteboard Time): 38:00–45:45
• Cards, VAR, and Flopping: 45:06–51:35
• Fan Support & Referee Analysis: 51:35–54:49
• Birthright Citizenship Impact: 59:11–60:23
• Iconic DRC Fan Story: 62:26–63:32
• "Queer or FIFA" Game: 67:50–75:37
• Women's Support for Men’s Team/Visibility: 76:29–81:42
• Extra Time & Clock Weirdness: 82:17–84:38

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Tone and Style

The episode is equal parts hilarious, warm, compassionate, and irreverently insightful. The crew keeps the spirit light and inclusive—no question is too basic, no experience too minor. It’s a true “party,” with frequent moments of off-the-cuff humor and emotional candor.

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Final Takeaway

Whether you're a complete soccer newbie, a skeptical onlooker, or a seasoned superfan, this episode offers an open, joyful invitation to join the World Cup party—while learning, laughing, and getting all your starter-pack questions answered by legends themselves. And party rule number one: “have a sh*t ton of fun.”

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For more, listen to the full episode or check out the Welcome to the Party Substack and social channels for further resources and merch.

Transcript

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, my. Oh, my goodness.

[Abby Wambach]

I was just, like, shocked and sad.

[Julie Foudy]

They deserve to not hurt after what they've given this country.

[Julie James]

Their success in this World cup is actually putting dollars into the pockets of our women's national team players.

[Amanda]

Well, you should have led with that.

[Glennon Doyle]

I know, I know.

[Julie Foudy]

You should have gone up the very top.

[Julie James]

Julie and Abby.

[Abby Wambach]

Whiteboard.

[Julie James]

Whiteboard.

[Julie Foudy]

So they're gonna set their line like that.

[Glennon Doyle]

It can't be understood, really, no matter what Julie says. It's like it's just a matter of spiritual surrender.

[Julie James]

Is it queer or is it FIFA?

[Julie Foudy]

The video replay system is named var. Or it's named. Are we sure, babe?

[Glennon Doyle]

This is already more stimulation than I've felt for months and months. I'm sorry. So excited and trying to stay calm.

[Abby Wambach]

Attention.

[Julie James]

The party is about to commence.

[Julie Foudy]

Welcome to the party. What's up, party people? I'm Julie Foudy.

[Abby Wambach]

And I'm Abby Wambach. Still horsey.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, Abigail. Oh, I'm sorry. That's no fun. That is so fun. Were you. Were you screaming at the TV last night for the men?

[Abby Wambach]

Oh, yeah, a little bit. I was just like, shocked and sad really, the whole time. It was just vibes were off, you know?

[Julie Foudy]

I know, I know. Wait, before we get into that, coming up, we have a long planned and highly anticipated crossover episode with abs, your other podcast, We Can Do Hard Things. So we'll have Glennon and Amanda both on, where Abby and I will try to explain all the soccer, particularly all the World cup soccer. Hence we've called it the welcome to the We Can Do World Cup Things party. Mind you, this was pre Baligan red card as well when we recorded this, so also abs, who would have predicted we would get Glennon and back to back episodes. That was fun.

[Abby Wambach]

I know. I'm so glad because all of this was happening during the time in which I've been losing or lost my voice. And now it's coming back.

[Julie Foudy]

Kinda.

[Abby Wambach]

It is coming back.

[Julie Foudy]

It's coming back.

[Abby Wambach]

I have moments.

[Amanda]

Great.

[Abby Wambach]

It's also very early in the morning right now.

[Julie Foudy]

True.

[Abby Wambach]

And which is, like the worst time. And I'm not supposed to whisper.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

But I'm. I'm grateful to her and, you know, for the folks who are listening right now. We recorded the bulk of this episode a week ago and just want to, like, we're going to talk a little bit about yesterday's game, but just want to, like, see you in where we were a week. Like, just putting your bodies. Like, where were you a week ago

[Julie Foudy]

when you had so much hope when

[Abby Wambach]

the hope was still there. But we are going to chat a little bit about last night's game too.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, let's chat. Chat about that. Oh, my. Oh my goodness.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, who wants to start? Do you want me to talk more since you don't have a voice, or

[Julie James]

do you want to start?

[Abby Wambach]

No, I'll talk. I think one of the things that I want the people to understand is what we are all kind of going through, whether you want to admit it or not, is like the stages of grief. And in our family, we try to get to the last stage quickly because all the other ones are important, but they're just kind of COVID ups, I think, you know, and so you go through anger, denial, you know, all of the stages. And, and so I've been, I've been watching some of the, the commentating and, and the pundits since the game on my phone and, and, and, and Stuart Holden is like the one that I'm like, looking towards as he's not getting too negative. I really think that that's such a very common thing that we do nowadays, that we're just gonna eviscerate these men and, and what they did yesterday and judge them based on what they did yesterday. Like, every single one of those guys knows what happened. And every single one of those guys is more heartbroken than the rest of us, truly. And I know what it's like to be in a World Cup. I know what it's like to lose horrifically in a World cup and to play your worst game ever. Like, I know what that feels like. And it just, it's, it's not fun, you know, it's not fun to then go and watch all of these people who have been talking so excitedly and wonderfully and hopefully about you, and then they start to turn on you. And I just am not going to do that. I think more than anything, I feel really sad because. And our daughter last night, she was like, depressed in bed and it was like all of these things were kind of coming down and, and hitting her all at once. Oh, my dog. Honey is coming down. Hi, sweetheart.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, hi, honey.

[Abby Wambach]

She might want to get up here. You might hear a little grunting. It's the French bulldog in her.

[Julie Foudy]

We love grunting. But I feel like I speak for all the party people.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, I feel like she, I feel like what she was teaching me last night is. Yeah, like what, what, what these moments do for us is so amazing. And that cannot be lost when the hope or the potential of us Winning goes away. Like, we can accept that both things can be true at the same time, that they brought us an incredible amount of joy and excitement and hope during the time that they were still going, and that hope and joy can still live beyond the moment past when we are no longer in the actual tournament. This is something that. That happens in, and it's happened with our men's national team. Right. And so this gives us an opportunity to potentially look. Look to other teams. To cheer for that, which is also really good for us in the world that we live in, is to cheer for another team and to be humbled by the loss. You know, we could go through all of the moments and nitpick. I don't. I surely don't want to do that

[Julie Foudy]

neither, because to your point, they know. They know that wasn't. It wasn't good enough.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. Not only do they know, but they're the one. They hurt more.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. And that's actually where. Why I'm sad is because they, they deserve to not hurt after what they've given this country. They've given us a lot of hope and a lot of wholesomeness and a lot of joy, and I wanted them to go out even if they lost. You want to lose while you feel good about the loss.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. Yeah, right, exactly.

[Julie Foudy]

And there can be moments where you are like, I gave everything I had, and we just, on this day, we weren't good enough. And I think that's what pains me is they're going to walk away from this and want another chance.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

To be better. And, and that's because they are better than that.

[Abby Wambach]

Totally. And Jules, like, that. You're true. It's true. Like, they just, they were flat. The vibes were off. The energy was off. Like, the whole game, I felt it. I was worried that all of the hullabaloo prior to the game was going to affect them. And, you know, they're, They're, They're, They're. They're saying that it didn't, which I appreciate, but, like, of course, all of the things affect the way that you go into some of these moments. And, and, and, and honestly, like, some of these guys may not have had the experience that we've had on our women's national team that, you know, Megan Rapinoe gets called out directly by the president. And so it's like, yeah, we know what it's like to get when the president gets involved, and we don't even buy into that. Right. So it's like, these guys are still kind of Young and this team is going to be pretty much the team that could be coming back in four years, which excites me. Some of these, you know, Pulisic and some of the older veteran leader guys, they're going to be a little bit older so we'll see if they are still in form.

[Julie Foudy]

Did you see? I will only say one thing. What did you see? The Belgian Federation posted Lukaku's fourth goal celebration and they showed Lukaku who scored the fourth goal did I'm dirty there. Yeah. And they. All the caption said is overturn this. I was like, okay, okay.

[Abby Wambach]

What did you think?

[Julie Foudy]

I. I think all that you said, I. I think as we've seen, this is the round that always catches us. Right. You get to a top 10 team in the world and it's a very different level. Tyrion Re said it right after. It's what I had been saying the whole game. Like it's levels, it's different level. And that. That is apparent and that's. That's the goal for this men's team going forward is you have to be. Just be so clean. You have to be. You have to be on. And we didn't have any of those things. And that's what I'm sad for them about because we, we showed much better and should have showed much better than we did last night. And I. And they'll live with that, right? It's just like when you as an athlete live with it for. For another four years. You have to wait four damn years to get another chance. It's just brutal. So I feel for them for that.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I just want to say something about that because I think that watching some of their responses, like the men's team, the actual players, Their sadness and their frustration, to me, that was. That was. What's the word? I felt good about that because they

[Julie James]

do need to let it.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, they do need to let it hurt. And that is the only way. In my experience, I was held to a higher account of myself. Like whenever we lost something, I freaking. I like batten down the hatches for that next solid 12 months. I was like, I would not let myself do fun stuff. I'm like, that was not acceptable. And we need to change things so that the outcome is different so that I never feel this way again. And I think that that might be the only thing that I want one of those guys to say is to be brave enough to say something along the lines of that wasn't good enough. And that's never gonna happen again. And, like, put themselves out there. Like, I think we're always so. I don't know. The men were obviously upset and whatever. And I just. I would love to see a guy step into that kind of power. Like, we're never.

[Julie James]

We are.

[Abby Wambach]

We are getting that past the round of 16.

[Julie Foudy]

And the good news is we've got a lot of great games coming up in these quarterfinals, so we've got a lot of good soccer ahead. Party people, don't stop watching. Don't stop cheering. The party is not over. Speaking of parties, now we are going to bring to you the welcome to the we can do World Cup Things party. And again, absetted on the top. Just a reminder to our listeners, this podcast was recorded before the Baligan red card situation and then, of course, the ensuing controversy. So a very different mindset when the World cup felt wholesome and joyful. And I blame Johnny and Trump for killing the vibe. I'm gonna call them vibe killers, which they are. But, yes, it is time for the partiest part of our party.

[Glennon Doyle]

Hello, Pod Squad.

[Julie James]

Hi.

[Glennon Doyle]

No, I thought you were saying, hi, party people.

[Julie James]

Oh, yeah, sorry. I got a lot going on.

[Amanda]

We gotta keep that part in. That's nice.

[Julie Foudy]

Starting over.

[Abby Wambach]

Okay.

[Julie James]

I was just going straight into we can do hard things mode.

[Abby Wambach]

Just like.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Julie James]

How are you? I'm good. Okay. Three, two, one. Well, hello, Pod Squad, party people.

[Glennon Doyle]

You're welcoming the party people?

[Julie James]

Yes, party people. And Pod Squad. Glennon, what are we doing here? Why are you in that jersey?

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, so, Pod Squad, here's what's happening. You may have noticed something going on in the world lately as of, like, the last two weeks, which is that everyone on Earth is talking about the soccer.

[Abby Wambach]

The soccer. Yep.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. And the reason everyone's talking about the soccer is that there's something going on right now that is called the World Cup.

[Julie James]

The Men's World Cup.

[Glennon Doyle]

The Men's World Cup. Which is important to explain. Okay. Our house. Well, our house is a very, very, very fine house. Is it? And it's been invaded. It's been taken over. It's every day, every morning to night. The. The soccer. It is talking about the soccer. It is talking about the soccer. While we eat the soccer, we breathe the soccer, we are living the soccer. The other night, I thought, what is so cool is that my wife and her dear, dear friend and business partner are the experts of the soccer. And they. We could come together and we can do hard things. And. Welcome to the party. And the most incredible icons and experts of the soccer could tell us what in the ever loving hell is going on. And that's what we're here to do today. Because we can do hard things, even embrace and understand the soccer.

[Julie James]

We can do World cup things.

[Glennon Doyle]

Our cup runneth over.

[Julie James]

We can do World cup things. And so for. For the pod squad, who is listening, we are going to go through a whole episode of what the hell. What the heck. All of the men's World cup is. Julie and I are going to take Glennon and Amanda through the fun little intricacies. We might even do a whiteboard session. We also have a little fun game at the end to play with the two of you. So.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. Love. Love. Whiteboards don't love games.

[Julie James]

But in for both you're. I think you're going to love this game.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. All right.

[Julie James]

I think we. We specify the likings of you. So Jules, you want to take it away?

[Julie Foudy]

It is time for the partiest part of our party. Party people, welcome to. As Abby just said, the we can do World cup things party.

[Julie James]

Let'. Abby, welcome to the World cup things party. We can do World cup things Party people and pod squad welcome crossover. Here we are.

[Glennon Doyle]

This is already more stimulation than I felt for months and months. I'm so excited and trying to stay calm.

[Julie James]

This is what fun looks like. Is it doing a show?

[Glennon Doyle]

I feel it. It's tingling inside.

[Abby Wambach]

I feel it.

[Julie Foudy]

Well, and we really wanted to do this crossover because as you were talking about Glennon, like, everyone is talking about world. And even if it's on, maybe not on your home tv, you're seeing it on screens wherever you go, out to eat and to gather. And so we thought, well, maybe we should do like a starter pack for people who are curious or maybe they're

[Glennon Doyle]

over curious

[Julie Foudy]

or maybe they're overwhelmed or maybe they're just pretending to know what the hell is happening.

[Amanda]

So, yes, I feel like there's something. It's like I don't know anything about the players or the teams or the anything, but I can sense that something is a stir. Like, it's like there's something more fun in the air. And I've been seeing all of these, like, memes and videos where it's like, dear government, we've been having so much fun and we are sad it's going to be over. Can the world come for a sleepover next summer too? And this, like, idea that it's like realizing that it's we're all the cousins and it isn't that the other countries are Bad. It's that our parents are all just crazy and that's why we've never met our cousins. It's like that kind of vibe.

[Julie James]

Somebody said that the World cup is just the US having a giant sleepover with the cousins we never see because our parents hate each other. That's the quote that you're referencing?

[Amanda]

Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Amanda]

I'm seeing that kind of stuff. And I'm like, I can sense that. I don't know what's happening on the field, but that vibe I can sense.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. And honestly, I. And I know you all are the same. Like, I finally feel hopeful about this country for the first time in a very long time. And I'm like, I actually can put on a USA jersey and a USA hat and feel good about it. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. I haven't felt that way in a very long time. So I'm super grateful for that as well.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

And yes. I mean, I. I kind of want a row like the Norwegians. Have you been seeing those?

[Amanda]

Yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

We did it. We went to a game and we tried it. And then, of course, it doesn't make sense if no one else is doing it.

[Julie James]

Well, no. Okay. We didn't try it, honey. The American Outlaws, they do a different thing. You just heard them making the similar noise.

[Glennon Doyle]

And then Chase and I did some rowing.

[Julie James]

Well, you know, Jules, at the Turkey A USA game, they're. Because the USA fans do it this way. Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Julie James]

And when they were doing that, Glennon and Chase were, like, growing.

[Glennon Doyle]

We were trying to start something.

[Julie Foudy]

Do you know who I think we stole this from? Because we stole. We steal all cheers from someone.

[Julie James]

Iceland.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes. That was the Iceland cheer, which was a good one, too.

[Amanda]

Am I supposed to stop you? And I don't understand things like who the American Outlaws are.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, for sure.

[Julie James]

Good question.

[Glennon Doyle]

Who are the American Outlaws?

[Julie James]

It's like the USA's fan supporters, the supporting group.

[Amanda]

Okay.

[Julie James]

You know, like, some teams have, like, supporter groups, and then they name themselves some things. American Outlaws is one of them. National team and women's national team.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. And they're huge. And they gather. It's very communal. They gather before the games at, typically, a bar, and then they march into games and they come up with chance. And even though we aren't, as a country, great at chants, we are getting the vibe off of all these other people. And so. Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

And like, every country has that group. I feel like, for me, it feels not just hopeful for our country, but it feels hopeful. There's something about the visuals of it, of seeing these crowds for every country,

[Julie James]

like the Netherlands, all of the orange.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, all of them. It's like I'm seeing the images and I'm thinking, okay, fascist propaganda is basically at the very bottom of it. It's just be scared of everybody. Everyone's different than you. And they can't. Like, nobody can erase the visuals we're seeing of crowds of beautiful people in all their different jerseys with all the love and hope on their faces with their babies and the little ear on their ears and the cheering and the crying. And you can't. Even if you're not translating into words, you can't undo that reverse propaganda in your mind. You can't forget when you see all these different countries we've been told to fear looking just the same. All the love and hope and family and togetherness. It can't be race.

[Julie Foudy]

I know. I know. It is such a good image and such a needed one at the most important time. Honestly. I'm gonna, like, go into morning when this all ends and be like. Like you said, can we do this again?

[Julie James]

Can we have more sleepovers?

[Julie Foudy]

I can.

[Julie James]

Next summer it's called the Women's World Cup.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, exactly. I don't want to wait a whole year.

[Julie James]

I want to give the. The Pod squad folks, why you may want to consider getting into this.

[Amanda]

Oh, cool.

[Julie James]

Because I think that so many of us have struggled, right, with the. The state of our country to be able to wear jersey and cheer for the red, white and blue.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

Especially the men.

[Julie James]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So fair. So what I want to implore on to the pod squad and the party people, but though the party people, I think, are on our team, is that when I wear the USA Red, white and blue and I deck myself out and I go to the games, I am cheering for the version of this country that I believe to be true and the version of this country that I want this country to become.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes, that. That.

[Julie James]

And I believe that what is so great about this country is that we are in some ways set up to be divided, but how we find the middle matters. And I think, and I believe that sports has this unifying way of bringing people who are on the edges and polarized right now. This is one thing that we might be actually able to agree on here, that we're going to agree that we're going to cheer for this one team and. And. And the skill and the muscle of. Of potentially being in the same stadiums or watching the same screens and cheering for the same team. As somebody who may have voted differently than you, I'm not excusing them from that, but what I'm saying is we have to learn and create the skill and the muscle and the habit of being able to do something together. And this is one of those things.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Julie James]

This is one of those things. Now, my second point, which.

[Julie Foudy]

I know where you're going.

[Abby Wambach]

Go.

[Julie James]

Yeah. I think this is gonna excite Amanda. And I talked about it with Glennon. Amanda, do you know that the men's national team and their success in this World cup is actually putting dollars into the pockets of our women's national team players?

[Amanda]

Well, you should have led with that, because I know.

[Julie James]

I know.

[Julie Foudy]

The very top.

[Amanda]

I'd be wearing all the stuff already.

[Julie James]

So we can do equal things.

[Julie Foudy]

We can do.

[Julie James]

Yes. So the equal pay deal that the U.S. woman signed with U.S. soccer.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Julie James]

Requires the men and the women to share prize pools. The money that goes into the prize

[Julie Foudy]

pool from FIFA, which is the.

[Julie James]

From FIFA. So when the men are in the FIFA World cup, the Men's World cup, and the women are in the women's World cup, how those teams do and how far they go on in those tournaments, FIFA gives a prize money to the US soccer that gets then divvied up 50, 50 between the men and women's teams. And the further along this men's team goes in this tournament, every round you go into, more money gets put into that prize pool pot.

[Amanda]

Oh, my God. And isn't it true. So the men have been the recipients of the inverse of that because the women have been winning. However, isn't it true that the pool, the actual, like, prize, the purse in the women's game is so much smaller than the men's game.

[Julie Foudy]

Exactly. Yes. But that, too, is going to eventually change. It's going to get to equal, I think, by 2031, and then the men are going to really benefit because the women are going to be crushing. Go far.

[Julie James]

So if you're struggling to figure out whether or not you can cheer for our men's team, you, in fact, are cheering for our women's team when you are cheering for a men's team during this men's World Cup.

[Glennon Doyle]

Well, you guys are good at this pitch.

[Amanda]

Okay.

[Glennon Doyle]

This is really good.

[Amanda]

I'm in.

[Glennon Doyle]

So, like, if Freeman scores a goal, Trinity Rodman gets money.

[Julie James]

Yes. Well, they have to win and they

[Glennon Doyle]

have to just say it like that. I just want to keep it like that.

[Amanda]

Just say it like that.

[Julie Foudy]

Keep it simple

[Amanda]

enough goals.

[Julie James]

And in my mind, this is. This Is, like, the real definition of, like, one nation, one team, one of the taglines that U.S. soccer has very much had over the years. So we also want to get into a couple of things about why this is considered the greatest sporting event in the world.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Julie James]

Okay. And be. Feel free to ask questions. Feel free to add your own reasons why you might think, because you're smart and funny, and so I just want to give you the green light to just be yourselves here.

[Abby Wambach]

But.

[Julie James]

But the truth is. Is, like, why is it that. That people travel thousands of miles to go cheer their team on? And. And one of the cool things about

[Julie Foudy]

the World cup and, like, sell their houses? By the way, did you hear that people were, like, selling their houses to come and make this a trip because it's so expensive?

[Julie James]

First of all. Yeah, but, Jules, do you. Why would you. Have you ever traveled thousands of miles to go to World Cups?

[Julie Foudy]

I have been. I have traveled thousands of miles, but typically. Because I'm getting paid to cover them and. Or broadcast them. But I think, why. Why the world does this? And this is something that's hard for Americans to understand because we don't feel the sport like the rest of the world feels the sport. And when you think of. This is a sport that has been passed on through generations in these different countries where that's all they have growing up. It's. It's. In America, we have American football and basketball and hockey and baseball. And you go down the list, right? In these countries, they literally live and breathe and bleed for football. They call it football, which is soccer, in. In the United States, or you can call it football. So it's very different because you've grown up with your entire country and your entire culture and your family. Just, you know, everything is around the country's football team. And so you feel it in a very different way culturally. And then it's the World Cup. It's once every four years. And if you can even qualify, it's amazing. But then to get on, which has been fun to watch in this tournament because it's a larger field, they typically had 32 teams. They had 48 this year for the first time. And I thought that might be too much. But what's really cool is you have all these teams who wouldn't have even made it to the World cup who are making a bit of a run. Look at Cape Verde. First World Cup, Abby and I had to look where Cape Verde was. Where is this?

[Glennon Doyle]

So, well, we heard that Cape Verde, Cabo. Whatever.

[Julie James]

Cabo Verde.

[Glennon Doyle]

Cabo Verde. Their entire population is two of the stadiums that are being played. Okay? Two of the stadiums is their entire population. So then you think half of that is girls can't make the team. So you have one stadium.

[Amanda]

They're like, you can play.

[Glennon Doyle]

Half of them are not. Are artists. You've got like 30 people, and you gotta send 27 of them to the World cup, and then they're beating people. It's amazing.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Julie James]

Yeah, it really is. And I think when it comes down to having traveled around the world playing in World Cups and also going to the Euros, it's so cool to watch other countries have the love of this sport that we grew up playing. And not just love, but it's like. It's like reverence and it's. It's in their bones, right? This is what their families did every Sunday. This is their church. This is their. This is their thing. And what I think is. So. It's a religion in some ways. And what I think is so cool is that it's also this experience where you get to sit next to somebody and watch them go through emotional toil and, like, ups and downs. And your father is expressing himself in a way that I never really saw my father express himself. Like, when he's watching, like, the Masters golf on television. Like, he's not like, yeah, he's not like, crying because, you know.

[Julie Foudy]

Did you see to your point when Paraguay again, we're recording this a week before this goes live. Live. But Paraguay won. They beat Germany, right? Was it Germany? Yeah, it was Germany, right?

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

And literally they did this amazing social media post of just slow mode reacts of fans and just weeping. Weeping in the moment when the final whistle blew. And I was like. And I got. I started weeping. I was like, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. They just see the emotion of.

[Julie James]

It just means so much to the people. And for me, too, it's so beautiful to have the World cup, the men's World cup here this summer, not only because of where our country has been over the last couple of years, but, like, watching the American immigrants watch their teams, like, and watch that with the kind of pride and love of their home country. And then they. They left their home country to come here for all of the reasons and that they have the same kind of pride to watch the men, our men, play. Like, there's just something so freaking healing about watching people and the community that brings people together around this thing that we can all agree on. And there seems to be like, there's. There's still some sort of decorum inside of the men's World cup that, like, we're all still agreeing on a certain set of rules to live by that feels.

[Glennon Doyle]

I think that's calming my nervous system because we've been living in such wild, wild west times where there's no consequences, nobody has to follow any rules. We have no agreed upon set of rules anymore. And every time I see a yellow card, I'm like, oh, thank you, Jesus. Someone is being held accountable.

[Amanda]

There is a cover so good rightness in the world. And is that man in the stripes.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes. Yes, I agree. You cannot do that. And we're gonna stop and talk about it.

[Julie James]

Yeah. Okay, Jules. So I try to be pretty intentional about the products that I buy for my family. So when it comes to laundry, I really, I. I choose All Free Clear detergent.

[Julie Foudy]

I love this.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Because we're always talking about being mindful with what we eat or what we put into our bodies, but I actually never really thought about laundry detergent in the same way.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, I know.

[Julie James]

Same. And. And when you really think about it, you're wearing these clothes all day. You're working out in them, you're traveling in them, sleeping in them, and then drying off after the shower with them on. So I do think it matters. That why I like that. All Free Clear uses only essential ingredients that just tackle tough stains and tough odors. We've got teenagers.

[Julie Foudy]

I was gonna say.

[Julie James]

And you need that. It's exactly. It's gentle on the skin, so it's. It's also soft.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. And it's 100% free from dyes and perfumes and parabens. And I feel that once you know that, you can't unknow it, which is a good thing.

[Abby Wambach]

Totally.

[Julie James]

I know. And for me, between our kids and sports gear and just life, there's just always stains. Always stains. Like, there's always something happening.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, always. And honestly, I do feel like workout clothes and watch washing them and especially Declan's, like, layers of workout clothes and how many he puts on a day is a full time job.

[Abby Wambach]

Exactly.

[Julie James]

But. But that's what's great. Right? Because it actually works on all of that. But I still feel good about using it for everyone in the house and myself too.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. I love that you can look at the back of the bottle and actually see what's in it and what each ingredient actually does. That level of transparency, by the way, is not just something you usually get with laundry detergent. Plus, my son Declan has really sensitive skin. He has some allergies. So I love that. As I was saying, there's no dyes or perfumes since those can be irritating to his skin. And as we know, skin is an organ, we worry about what we put on the inside of our bodies. So we should also care about what touches our skin too, with clothes and what we wash them in.

[Julie James]

I know. And that is why it makes it such an easy choice. Jules.

[Julie Foudy]

It works. And it's a clean you can feel good about.

[Abby Wambach]

Pick up a bottle of all free

[Julie James]

clear detergent for your next laundry day.

[Julie Foudy]

This show is brought to you by Ally Bank. Abs. No matter where you are financially, building savings while not missing out on everyday moments is one of the most powerful things you can do for your future. And Ally bank knows just how to help. Their spending and saving accounts don't have month maintenance fees, which is amazing and I love because it means whatever you're putting away while still living life is actually working toward your goals, no matter how big or how small they are. And with their savings buckets, they're basically digital envelopes. You can split your savings into different categories. So you can be saving for home repairs or saving for summer concerts or attending your favorite women's sporting event. Yes. Without needing a bunch of accounts or although I know you love complicated spreadsheets, you don't need them. You can open account today with no minimum deposit, fund it with any amount and everything is super easy to manage. Visit ally.com to learn more. Banking built for life today. Ally Bank Member FDIC this episode is

[Julie James]

brought to you by Levi's.

[Julie Foudy]

One of the things we love about this partnership is what Levi's actually stands for. Celebrating people out in the world who are shifting the status quo, whether in a big way or a small way. And bringing together originals from every walk of life, every background, every expression, and giving them the space to take risks and write their own stories, which we love with Levi's right there with them. So, again, the most exciting part, Levi's is teaming up with some of those most iconic federations, of course, the United States, Mexico, England and France. And because it's not just about the game, it's about identity. It's about how fans show up, how they express themselves, and how they tell their story on and off the field.

[Julie James]

This is going to be the uniform of the fandom show.

[Julie Foudy]

The back of your jacket real quick. Yeah, I don't have that on the red one.

[Julie James]

Look at this.

[Julie Foudy]

That's what I love about Levi's. It's not just about looking good. It's about being Part of something bigger. Learn [e-mail].

[Julie James]

I think that Julie, we're gonna get into a little fun whiteboard exercise. Jules, you got your whiteboard on you?

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, I was just gonna say, is it time for whiteboard time? We need a little. We need a little whiteboard time.

[Julie James]

Yeah, we need, like, a song, a fun little video. Whiteboard.

[Abby Wambach]

Whiteboard. Xo.

[Julie James]

Julie and Abby.

[Abby Wambach]

Whiteboard.

[Julie James]

Whiteboard.

[Julie Foudy]

I have to get my soccer ball. It's on another whiteboard. I can't use the big whiteboard. I gotta one. But I forgot my soccer ball on the big whiteboard. So. Hold on two seconds.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, well. Well, Julie's doing that. I'm gonna give another pitch for why to watch soccer.

[Abby Wambach]

Oh, you have a pitch.

[Julie James]

I love this.

[Glennon Doyle]

And so. And. And also, it makes sense now when you're talking about soccer as a religion and why these people sell their houses and they're not going to a game. They're making a pilgrimage. Like, that's what people do. They sell everything.

[Julie James]

Julie's not even listening.

[Julie Foudy]

I heard that. Pilgrimage. That is good. Yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

But if you're just a person who. Okay, this is my pitch for why I love when soccer. I have loved these last two weeks. I love when soccer is on in the house. And you guys, you know that idea of introvert. Introverts unite. But separately and at home. Like, I. This is my moment where I feel like I'm part of a party because I'm in a moment with everybody else. There's a thousands. Thousands of people that are doing the same thing, and I am on my couch.

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

Like, I am. I feel part of it. I'm a party person.

[Julie James]

You are a party person, aren't you?

[Glennon Doyle]

But also, I'm in my comfort zone, so if you are. Because when I sit and watch TV during the day, a movie, I feel like a loser.

[Amanda]

Yeah, totally.

[Glennon Doyle]

I feel like, what am I doing? I'm not even. But when I'm watching soccer, I feel, like, totally acceptable. Participatory. Yes, it's totally acceptable.

[Amanda]

I'm just meeting all my friends here without actually having to meet anyone while

[Julie Foudy]

still on my couch.

[Abby Wambach]

Just keep it here. Okay.

[Glennon Doyle]

We have a whiteboard too.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, you have one too. Abby, look at you. I know you guys have done offside before, but I know this is a big one for people who don't understand the game. So I had to bring my soccer ball into the mix. Okay. This. Can you see my little soccer ball here?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Amanda]

It's so cute.

[Julie Foudy]

Isn't it cute? Okay, so again, yellow Is defending. Red is on the ball. So say this is Tyler Adams, who we love in midfield.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

And he's sitting on the ball. Okay. And he is about to play the ball over the top or even through, but he's trying to get players in the red.

[Amanda]

He's crossing from his defensive side. He's going to make the ball come from the defensive side of the field to the offensive side of the field.

[Julie Foudy]

Yep. And he could even be on the offensive side. It doesn't matter. It's just when the ball is played, right, the red team, his teammates have to be in an onside position, right. When he plays that ball. So when he serves it on the ground or over the top, it doesn't matter. These red players have to be on this side. Can you see that? On this side?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

Of the yellow players, they can't be on the other side. And they say it's two players that have to be there defensively. And that's because the goalie is typically one and then a defender. Right? So, for example, if this is Kristen Pulisic and Tyler Adams plays the ball, and when he kicks it, if Christian is there, is he onside or offside?

[Amanda]

Offside.

[Julie Foudy]

Offside. And we don't say it plural. We say.

[Glennon Doyle]

No, no, we don't.

[Julie Foudy]

We don't say it plural. We say we don't.

[Glennon Doyle]

That's important to me.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, he's offside. Okay. If he's here when Tyler Adams plays the ball, is he onside or offside? On side. But here's the thing, which is why the video review is important. You could have a damn toenail, and this has happened. We've seen this. Look at Columbia, right? They went crazy because they thought they had scored. And it was literally a toenail. If your toenail gets on the wrong side of that line. So they're basically wherever that defender sets the line. And remember, it's set wherever the last defender is. This is why it's so important that defenders actually stay in a line, because they're going to set their line like that, right? And he cannot have a toe over that line. Right. If that's the line. However, if one defender gets caught snoozing. So say that defender is like, oh, I am just chilling in the corner here. Guess where that line is. That's all the way back to him. Is now back to him. So these guys are all on side, which is why you want to be like. They call it be like a rope. That back line is like a rope. You're holding a rope. And you're. You're, like, straight as a rope. You do not want.

[Amanda]

Never in my life have I understood this. Never. But this makes actual fairness sense to me for the first time. I always thought it was about some line, but really, is this a fair explanation? You can't be playing.

[Glennon Doyle]

It's a really big field, and it's

[Amanda]

not fair to play the ball if that. You're going on that big field towards that goal, and there isn't at least one defender behind you.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

To me, it's like the opposite of puppy guarding.

[Julie James]

That's the cherry picture.

[Glennon Doyle]

You know when you're little and people play outside? I mean, other people did. I didn't, but you know how people played games outside, and then they'd try to get to the thing, like the red. The flag, Capture the flag. You can't have somebody standing there just guarding, right?

[Julie James]

You call that puppy guarding?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, it's puppy guarding. Yeah, it's the opposite of that. It's like, you can't have someone who wants to score a goal just standing next to the goal the whole time. That's not fair, because they'd be too close. So there always has to be a defender there. So there's no puppy guarding or, like, puppy attacking.

[Julie Foudy]

I would have loved that. Which is why it's so important what your back line is doing, right? Because if you're all over the map like this, if your back line looks like that, then your line is here. Right. It's always where that last defender is, goalkeeper, and one other player.

[Glennon Doyle]

And, like, if you're watching, it's just. If you're watching the soccer, it's just important to note that it's just almost always going to be offside. Like, I just feel like.

[Julie James]

Wait, Glennon, what's your definition of offside?

[Glennon Doyle]

My definition, basically, first of all, it can't be understood, really, no matter what Julie says. It's like it's just a matter of spiritual surrender. It's like, God works in mysterious ways, and so does offside. You should just accept it, and. Probably not. Offside is not taking further questions. It's at a press conference, and it's done. Okay? And it doesn't have to defend itself, but if you want to know what it means, it basically just means, even after all that, no goal and no further questions. And so I just recommend that, like, every time a team scores a goal, everyone loses their mind with joy. And I want to say, have we learned nothing? Like, shouldn't we just guard our hearts for a moment? Don't get excited yet. Just hold your heart. Wait to see if the person with the Black Sox raises that little flag, because most likely they're gonna. And then once that part is done, we cheer.

[Abby Wambach]

Oh, that's so good.

[Julie James]

Okay, do we want to talk about what the difference is between a red card and a yellow card?

[Glennon Doyle]

I think we should definitely talk about cards.

[Julie James]

What do you guys think the difference is between a yellow card and a red card? How would you describe that?

[Glennon Doyle]

I mean, to me, a yellow card is. You need to think really hard about your behavior. And the red card is like, that's it. You had your chance, and now it's done, and now you're going to get a consequence. And what I would recommend, just for positivity sake, is that we also add green cards. Like when someone helps someone up, when someone has very good behavior.

[Julie James]

When someone can it X out a yellow card.

[Amanda]

No, because then people will just do it for that.

[Glennon Doyle]

You're right. They'll have the wrong intention. I think a green card is when you do the right thing and you only have good intention. Or, for example, you know, if you're a boy and you're playing soccer, if someone touches your pinky, you don't fall down and cry.

[Julie Foudy]

Like if you enroll four times. Yes, yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

You just deal with it and move on. Green card.

[Julie James]

Okay, so this is something. Actually, before we get into the red card and yellow card thing, we do want to talk a little bit about what is called flopping in soccer. Okay.

[Amanda]

Which is also called soccer.

[Julie James]

Yeah. Well, men's soccer.

[Julie Foudy]

Men's soccer. Let's be clear. Amanda.

[Julie James]

Yeah. So you may have noticed during this men's World cup where there's some sort of battle or interaction on the field tackle, and it doesn't look so bad, but one of the players now has gone down on the ground, and they are flailing, writhing, very upset. They're writhing in pain. They've been kicked in the ankle, but they're holding their face.

[Amanda]

They have never experienced such injustice and, frankly, audacity, ever. Except for 30 seconds before that.

[Julie James]

That's right. Yes. This is what we call flopping. And.

[Abby Wambach]

And.

[Julie James]

And FIFA has tried over the years to really try to get a handle on this. And, Jules, do you know if this World cup that they're trying to caution some of the players who are feigning the injuries?

[Julie Foudy]

Well, they have new rules this year, which is actually really fun. So they've tried to. To your point, Abby, get a handle on this, because it slows the game down. Right. And it's like, God, every 10 seconds, like, someone's rolling and you're like, come on, you're fine. So what they're doing now is if it's not a yellow card, like, cautionary foul. So if the foul did not want warrant a yellow card and the player doesn't get up right away, they have to go into time out. It's like, you've got to face the wall for one minute. They have to go off the field.

[Amanda]

Do they literally have to face the wall?

[Julie Foudy]

I know. No, but I wish they did. Like, you're in timeout for one minute and your team plays down a player.

[Amanda]

Oh, it's like hockey.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, it's like a power for one minute. So they have to get off, the team plays down, and then they run back on.

[Glennon Doyle]

That's wonderful. And I just. I want to say to all the people who feel upset about the flopping, what I would like to suggest is that there's a deeper level of triggering when you're a woman watching men flop all over the place. I mean, for example, women soccer players do not flop. They don't do. I mean, occasionally you see it, occasionally, we see Emma do it occasionally. But it's not like a permanent state of being.

[Julie James]

It's not a tactic.

[Glennon Doyle]

And I think that what's triggering about it is because that seems that's what happens in every room, in every business, in every family, in every court. Supreme Court justice. The men are allowed to flop around and flail and be so emotional and lose their minds. And. And if the women raise an eyebrow, everyone says they're too emotional. So I do just want to suggest that if it's triggering to you to watch the men flop, there might be deeper levels to why that is so annoying.

[Julie Foudy]

So true.

[Glennon Doyle]

That's all. That's all I wanted to say. And, you know, it's possible that men are just too emotional to play soccer or lead in any of these other ways, but carrying on.

[Amanda]

But as long as it's a tactic that, like, people only do things that are aligned with their motivation, with their interests. So, like, it has clearly been an effective use to do that. And now they're realigning the rules so it's less effective.

[Julie James]

So that's the reason why they're trying to do that is because the bigger the reaction, oftentimes because the referees are human. Right. And they're trying to play on the humanity of the referee. And so if they go down and fake this massive injury, the referee is more likely to not only just call it, but potentially Card, the infraction or the player. Which. The more yellow cards. If you get two yellow cards in one game, that equals a red card. To go back to the card situation, and if you get a red card, you have to leave and go into the locker room. You've got the big timeout, and then your team plays down a man or down a player for the rest of that game.

[Amanda]

And don't. Isn't it next game, too?

[Julie James]

Yes. That's sometimes more, depending on how egregious the red card was.

[Abby Wambach]

Was.

[Amanda]

Oh, there's levels of red cards.

[Julie James]

Yeah. They can review all of the cards.

[Glennon Doyle]

Is it like a flagrant foul in basketball?

[Julie James]

Wow. What in the world did you. Where did you pull that from?

[Julie Foudy]

Who are you?

[Glennon Doyle]

Contain multitudes. While we're talking about the flags and the cards.

[Julie James]

The flags.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah. I don't know why I said that. I. I just want to take one moment to shout out a group of people in this soccer that I don't think get enough credit, which is these referees. I am. Oh, I am. Okay. I don't know why anyone hasn't written a book or done a complete study on the nervous system of these referees and how they handle. I know some of them are better than others, but the fact that they have 80,000 of the most passionate people in the entire world screaming at them from the stands, and yet they make the call based on what they see, Resisting the peer pressure, resisting the, like, fear of making. Their nervous systems should be studied. They should have. They should teach parenting classes. Every time I watch them, I'm like, oh, that's how I want to do it.

[Amanda]

It's like the equivalent of free climbers. Like, I'm like, you're made of different things than me. I would look at every play and be like, honestly, I could see it both ways.

[Glennon Doyle]

Or just, like, looking at the crowd and being like, what do you guys think? Okay. Like, they are amazing.

[Julie Foudy]

What do you think? Yeah.

[Amanda]

Their faces say, I believe in myself. I saw what I saw.

[Glennon Doyle]

They should take courses. And they hold the line.

[Amanda]

Never. You could not pay me enough dollars. Nope, nope.

[Julie Foudy]

I know they have some fortitude. That's for sure. I would not.

[Julie James]

They really do.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, my God. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I was thinking of that USA Brazil match. This isn't World cup related. This is women related. When there were eight red cards and that woman. Oh, my gosh. To your point, Glennon, I was like, I. I don't know how she did it. I mean, because that was about to unravel about it. Did it did unravel. There were eight red cards.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, it unraveled. And then. And then Marta came out. And I love me some Marta. And I was like, now she's gonna calm this. And then Martha just ratcheted it up 60%, sister. They brought out riot people with riot gear to protect the refs after.

[Julie Foudy]

Wow.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. It was a wild, wild.

[Glennon Doyle]

This woman ref was just not having it and handled the whole business. And it was. I thought it was going to, like, be a viral thing. Her nervous system.

[Julie James]

I love talking about the referees, but, like, let's keep this thing moving.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah. Julie, I just want to ask you about this real quick, because I need you to. I need you to tell me. Me. I need you to help me understand this.

[Julie Foudy]

Y.

[Glennon Doyle]

We went to the Turkey A USA game. Okay. It was wonderful. It was the most.

[Julie Foudy]

It was a.

[Glennon Doyle]

So fun. And we were actually surrounded by Turkey A fans.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, you were. That's fun.

[Glennon Doyle]

And honestly, Chase and I, when they. Chase and I were, like, crying a little bit for the Turkey A fans, and we were so happy for them. And we were hiding it from Emma and Abby because we felt like they would be furious with us if they saw us feeling that way, but it was. They were. Anyway.

[Julie James]

Is this true?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

My God.

[Glennon Doyle]

We're leaving the stadium, and Abby says to us, I need you to know that we can never go. No matter what happens in this. In this World cup, we can never go to a game again. And she said it in full seriousness. And the kids were like, wait, what?

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

And she said, I can't be there. My energy is not wanted at the game. And I'm telling you right now, I'm not joking. I will not set foot in the stadium again.

[Julie Foudy]

Abby.

[Glennon Doyle]

I know, Case. It's my fault.

[Julie James]

No, you guys, I'm so sad about it. And also, so are my children because they want to go to another game.

[Glennon Doyle]

Julie, help us. What?

[Julie James]

Is that real?

[Glennon Doyle]

What is.

[Julie Foudy]

No, it is not real. It is. Abby's real. She's very superstitious, as we know. But I said to her the same thing, Glennon. I'm like, you're crazy. Go to the game and bring the energy that is required to get them over the top. And she's like, I can't. I can't. I'm like, yes, you can. For your kids and for this country, you can do this.

[Glennon Doyle]

Thank you, Julie Foudy. But it's. She actually believed. I don't agree with it, but there's something about it that I respect so deeply because she Is. Is so self sacrificial. She wants more than anything to be at that game and she feels she can't. There's some kind of grandiosity and also sacrifice in it that I can't.

[Amanda]

It's so self sacrificing and also so self involved because it's like I'm like,

[Julie Foudy]

yeah, you are not responsible for this, Abby.

[Julie James]

I understand. I deeply, deeply understand that. But I would not be able to live with myself if I go and then they lose.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay, I think.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, I think you. I think you need to think differently. I think you need to think and put it into the universe that they will win because you are there and they will win because. Why not us, Abby? That's just what they say. Why not us?

[Julie James]

Okay, so I just wanted to tell you, and I don't know if you know this, sister, but a man's name on our men's national team is called Freeman.

[Amanda]

Wait, what's his name? Freeman.

[Julie James]

Wait, you have two good reason. Yeah, Julie, what is his first name?

[Abby Wambach]

I'm losing my mind.

[Julie Foudy]

Alex.

[Julie James]

Alex Freeman. Okay. And he scored a goal on June 19. Do you understand what the history of the name Freeman is as it relates to Juneteenth?

[Abby Wambach]

Well,

[Amanda]

the Freeman.

[Glennon Doyle]

Does she understand?

[Amanda]

So do you want me to tell

[Glennon Doyle]

the story of Juneteenth or do you want me to tell briefly, since we're not a legal document? How much time you got? We need this brief.

[Amanda]

Okay. Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

So Glennon just said we had time.

[Julie James]

I know.

[Glennon Doyle]

So you don't know what could happen

[Amanda]

here, Julie, The Emancipation Proclamation. This is something Lincoln does. He says, okay, enslaved people. But to be totally clear, it's just the people who are fighting against the Union, not the Northern, not the border states, but that's fine. Are now free because of the south in rebellion against the North. Okay, so now enslaved people are no longer free. Except that the places out west, including Texas, are like, well, if we just don't tell the people they're free, then they will never know. Okay, so it is literally. I think it's three years.

[Abby Wambach]

What?

[Amanda]

It is years after the. I think it's three years, maybe two after enslaved people have been officially emancipated. That word gets to people who are enslaved in Texas, that they have, in fact, not only been liberated from enslavement, but that has been the case for years, but no one has bothered to tell them. So a army officer comes in, spreads the good news to the enslaved people of Texas and says, y' all are free. And that is that date that he came in and spread that news was Juneteenth. And that is what is celebrated on Juneteenth. Which. Freeman. Freeman. So. But I don't.

[Julie James]

Yeah. And so Alex Freeman scored a goal on June 19th.

[Amanda]

Unbelievable.

[Julie James]

For the United States against Australia in a World Cup. Get out of here.

[Glennon Doyle]

And. And they. And that is the most common name, right?

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

The common surname.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

Many of them renamed themselves because they

[Julie Foudy]

rename themselves because they're now free men.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes. Right. Because they had been given names by their slave owners. Right, Correct.

[Amanda]

Yeah. They carried the name of the enslaver.

[Glennon Doyle]

Right.

[Amanda]

For them and their people. So they didn't want those names anymore.

[Glennon Doyle]

That's so incredible.

[Julie James]

It's so cool. It's so cool. Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

Wow.

[Julie James]

We're gonna end that on a high note.

[Julie Foudy]

Wait.

[Julie James]

And go ahead, Jules.

[Julie Foudy]

We have to talk about birthright citizenship.

[Julie James]

Yeah. Yes. I forgot.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, that was the second part. That's what I thought you were going to originally.

[Julie James]

No, I totally freaking forgot. Okay. Okay.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. My number.

[Julie James]

Number 20. He was born in New York City. His mother and his family are from Nigeria, and they live and were residing in London and had citizenship there. Flew from London to the US to visit family. They were turned away at the gate because she was too pregnant, so she had a baby, and a few weeks later flew back to London and lived their whole lives.

[Julie Foudy]

So baby in New York City.

[Julie James]

Yeah, baby in New York City. So because of the birthright citizenship and some of the folks who are cheering on our men's national team, who may not have voted the way that I voted, know this, that Flo Baligan, our leading goal scorer on our men's national team, has. The reason why he's on our national team is because he was born here in the United States because of birthright

[Glennon Doyle]

citizenship, which I believe was just upheld by the. Just upheld.

[Julie James]

Just upheld.

[Julie Foudy]

It was.

[Abby Wambach]

Let's go.

[Julie James]

Can you believe that?

[Glennon Doyle]

They probably just did it so we could keep Baligan. I'm probably gonna take it away right after the World cup, but let's enjoy it. It for a couple weeks.

[Amanda]

I mean, this is what I. These political.

[Glennon Doyle]

I feel like when you're talking about

[Amanda]

the pilgrimage of the countries here, that is so real and. And occurs to me that a lot of these places don't have, like, when. When you can't understand the fanaticism of some of these people supporting their country. Think about like a Red Sox fan or Yankees fan. It's like that, like, you're born, you're initiated into your tribe, where that is just as much a part of you and is going to be forever. Like, and so it's that and it's also like, I feel like it's like a. I mean, the Olympics is like this too, but like the people coming are like, this is who we are. Like, this is how we want the world to document us. This is us like representing ourselves as opposed to the media representing us or the. All the other governments portraying us. And, and the reason I'm so obsessed with DRC is because there is this guy who so, Dr. Democratic Republic of Congo was for a long time fought to get for liberation from colonization by Belgium. And their leader, Lumumba was like this amazing, amazing, amazing human. He was the. Their first like, democratically elected leader, fought for their liberation and then was in part with USA involvement. Tortures, tortured and murdered by like when he was 35. There is this man that goes to every single DRC game. He was there, there at the World cup. And he stands there in a full suit. He trains throughout the whole year to stand in every game for 90 minutes in a full suit in the heat with his arm raised, representing the statue of Lumumba.

[Julie James]

No way.

[Amanda]

And he calls himself because there's a. There's a statue in Kinshasa of when they finally, decades later, got Lumumba's body back to Kinshasa. His name, I'm trying Mboladinga. And Bolodinga is the man who does it. And he stands with his arm, as a statue, frozen with his arm up in the air for 90 minutes the whole time. And he calls himself Lumumba Vieja or Lumumba lives to represent, like, who DRC is, how much they fought for their, for their independence, how they still are fighting for that right now. And he had trouble getting his visa and, and the team put him on as their official roster so he could get his visa to come to the games. Wait, because he's that important to drc?

[Julie Foudy]

What, they rostered him as a player?

[Amanda]

Well, they rostered him not as a player but as like their official team

[Julie Foudy]

so that he could get it. Holy cow.

[Amanda]

No, but I mean, it's like that kind of thing that's like, these people are like, this is see us. Don't listen to what your people say about us. Like, this is who we are. I just. It's so beautiful,

[Julie James]

Jules. I've been using Shipt, okay, For same day grocery deliveries. And honestly, it's just been one of those magical things that gives me time back without sacrificing the little details. I think that matters. And if you like Jules and I are hosting World cup watch parties, then you need Shipt okay. The shoppers with Shipt okay are so thoughtful and I love that you can add like special requests in the app. So if there's a specific brand or substitution you want, they really do pay attention. And it's not just groceries either. You can order from stores like Safeway, Albertsons, Target, Michaels, Petsmart and local grocery stores in your area. So whether I realize I'm out of an ingredient for dinner or I need to grab a last minute gift, it's nice knowing that I can get literally everything that I need from nearby store through one app. And now you can elevate your new game day hosting with new shipped kits. Okay. Designed for the ultimate watch party, these are curated and adjustable bundles let you secure all your beverages, snacks and party needs needs with a single click. Get a 49 annual membership with promo code [e-mail] offer that's S-H-IPT.com offer terms apply.

[Julie Foudy]

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[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

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[Julie James]

Okay, you guys, we're. Do you want to play a game?

[Glennon Doyle]

Sure, babe.

[Julie James]

Okay. The game is this. And Jules, we can just take turns reading them off. But the game, is this. Is it queer or is it FIFA? And by the way, can it be both?

[Abby Wambach]

Good.

[Glennon Doyle]

And can it be bi?

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, not typically. It's not typically both, as you're going to understand.

[Julie James]

And if you don't know what FIFA means, means it means the Federation of International Football Associations, Right? Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay.

[Julie James]

So it is what we call the governing body of international football worldwide. It is the acronym for federation.

[Julie Foudy]

And it's queer means some curious, often not sometimes. It often makes some curious decisions about things like. Yeah, like the peace prize. I don't know.

[Glennon Doyle]

FIFA is the one that cures, so that's all you need to know. They present Donald Trump with a fake peace.

[Julie James]

They made a big peace prize for him because he didn't get the Nobel. Okay. Number one. Okay. This is for Amanda.

[Abby Wambach]

Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

Wait. Should we show them how it works first?

[Julie James]

Sure. I'm gonna say two options, and you're gonna have to decide which one is queer and which one is FIFA.

[Amanda]

Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, that's good. That's good. Okay, go ahead. There you go. You explained it. You can go, ma'.

[Glennon Doyle]

Am.

[Julie James]

The official sponsor would be Tesla or Subaru.

[Amanda]

Oh, my God. Challenge me.

[Abby Wambach]

Tesla.

[Amanda]

FIFA. Subaru. Queer.

[Julie James]

Yes.

[Abby Wambach]

Excellent.

[Julie James]

Da ding. Let's do a check mark there, Glennon, you have the next one.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay. Every stadium would have enough bathrooms for women or would have multiple private suites.

[Glennon Doyle]

Oh, my God. Okay. Multiple private suites. FIFA.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

I mean, I heard FIFA is leaving suites open just because they don't want to lower the prices. They'd rather have empty empty freaking sweets than dare to lower their prices to plebeians. And then I think enough bathrooms for women and would be queer.

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Julie James]

Well done.

[Glennon Doyle]

Thank you.

[Julie James]

Check, check. Okay, Amanda. The opening ceremony entertainment would be Shakira or Brandi Carlile.

[Amanda]

Well, I do know that Shakira wrote the theme song for the World cup when I was living in Africa, that was taking place in South Africa. So I'm going to have to Say, this one's for Africa. Na na na na. I mean, that's a beautiful song. So I hesitate to put Shakira in the FIFA bucket because I claim her. I love her, but I think she was officially that. And Brandi clearly is as queer as queer can be.

[Julie James]

Yes. Cha ching, cha ding.

[Glennon Doyle]

I'm also going to note that I love Shakira, because if you don't love that Hips don't lie song, all you're lying. But also, she didn't like the Barbie movie. She said officially that her sons felt like it was emasculating. So I take her to the. A little. I'm smushing her a little FIFA.

[Amanda]

Okay.

[Glennon Doyle]

I didn't hear that.

[Julie James]

She also was married to one of the best defenders in the history of the game for a long time. Pk.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. And she's just, you know, they're no longer together. She's great at her job.

[Julie James]

All right, next one.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, red card. You did something very bad that sends you to the locker room or red card. Unfortunately, your face card was declined.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. I honestly, I'm gonna go differently than you think I am. I feel like turning you away because you don't look a certain way is more FIFA than queer. I'm going with FIFA for your face. Card was declined. And I feel like queer people are serious about justice, so I'm going with queer for you. Did something bad that sent me to the locker room?

[Abby Wambach]

No.

[Julie Foudy]

I'm gonna give her the check. Cause I think that's brilliant.

[Glennon Doyle]

That is brilliant.

[Amanda]

It's a critical analysis of the game,

[Glennon Doyle]

and I'll give her that.

[Julie James]

All right, Amanda, yellow card for an inappropriate tackle or a yellow card. Girl, get your shit together. Girl.

[Amanda]

Girl. Anything with girl is queer.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes. The video replay system is named var or it's named Are we sure, baby?

[Glennon Doyle]

Oh, my God. Okay. Can you imagine? Are we sure? Babe is so good. Definitely queer. And don't you guys wish we had var in our houses? Every time Abby and I get in an argument, I just want to be like, I wish we had, like, three challenges.

[Amanda]

Yes.

[Glennon Doyle]

I wish we had, like, three times where we could check it.

[Julie James]

Are we sure, babe?

[Glennon Doyle]

But we'd get punished if we overused it like they do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Amanda]

I'd pat my helmet throughout our. Throughout our fight just to roll it

[Julie James]

back and just see what you actually said. One more to Amanda. Hydration breaks so that we can make more money. Or we're gonna play through the 45 minute half because we have yetis.

[Amanda]

Oh, well, we have Yetis because we're queer, but I think we should also have more money.

[Glennon Doyle]

Both queer.

[Julie James]

Actually, somebody on our contest call thought about the hydration breaks to make money to be donated to puppy rescues or something.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. All right. That's good too.

[Julie James]

That could also be queer.

[Glennon Doyle]

If it's lesbians, then it would definitely be to dog rescues.

[Julie James]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Amanda]

Oh, my God, I love that game.

[Julie James]

Oh, and then can we talk a little bit about some of the reasons why we feel like the world the men's World cup is inherently gay?

[Glennon Doyle]

Gah.

[Julie James]

Okay, these are some fun things, Jules. Go ahead and read those off if you want.

[Julie Foudy]

I, I My favorite is clearly the butt slaps when someone makes a good play. Because I I'm all for butt slaps.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah, they just want to touch each other so bad, and they just only have this one opportunity at their practices and their games to hide precious man.

[Amanda]

Like tackle somebody. And he fell down, he tumbled, and he pulled the man up. He was on another team. And he pulled the man up and just kissed him right on his head to make sure he felt okay. I don't know what team it was, but I was like, his immediate reaction was to just give that man a kiss and make sure he was okay.

[Julie James]

Okay. What about buying the jerseys to put somebody else's name on your back? How inherently gay is that? Isn't that so gay of us?

[Glennon Doyle]

Well, it certainly makes me upset when I think about all the guys who get so mad about Swifties. And like, you people, you get mad when girls get excited about anything. It's like, oh, you're such losers. And then these men wake up and like, get together in stadiums and lose their damn minds over the men on the field.

[Julie James]

Yeah. And they have these fantasy teams that the sports. The draft.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Julie James]

That they draft their team and they make it a whole big thing. And they're wearing all of the jerseys and they're high fiving and they're hugging and they're doing a lot of touching during games.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes.

[Julie James]

It's very inherently gay.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes. I love it.

[Amanda]

Also, they call it fantasy is also very funny.

[Julie Foudy]

It's true. I never even thought of that.

[Julie James]

It's true. Also the chanting of players names and then also the collecting cards of the favorite players.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes. And also the grooming. The grooming World cup, these soccer players, it is like they put them in a factory and they, like, run them through the factory and they're like eyebrows check. Put them on the little thing to do legs and to shave it and the hair and the thing. It's like, they are very specific about their.

[Julie Foudy]

And sometimes, like, the hair is perfectly quaffed.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Gelled back. It looks great.

[Glennon Doyle]

Impressive.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes. Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

Can I. Are these boys famous? What?

[Amanda]

Like, are these boys famous who play on our team? Because, like, I. Okay. Because I know all the women are. I think of them as famous, but I don't.

[Julie James]

No, they're famous in the soccer world. Okay.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay.

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

Can I ask you to a question?

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

Okay. So the girls. I'm so sorry. The women are going to be playing in the World cup next. Is it next year?

[Julie James]

Next summer?

[Glennon Doyle]

Next summer. Okay. It feels to me like a beautiful thing is happening right now in which women soccer players, like you two leaders, icons, are really sort of supporting this men's team in a way that feels, like, overt and, like, big. And do you feel that that energy is going to be reciprocated? Is a question that I have. And also I wonder why, like, it feels to me like there are so many missed opportunities from whoever's in charge here, FIFA, U.S. soccer, whatever, to really highlight and show the support and the unity between the two teams. Like, why during the games are they not showing all the women players who have shown up to these games who are flying. Abby told me they're all there. Like, why are there not specific moments where these organizations are highlighting the support between the two? Why? Why when they present awards, do they not have the women's team coming to present something to the men's team, the men's team coming to present it to the women? And do you feel as if this energy will be reciprocated during the Women's World Cup?

[Julie James]

I would love to. For the men to show up in the similar way for the women that the women have shown up for the men. I would love for you.

[Julie Foudy]

Wait, Tio, real quick. Do you think the men know how much the women have showed up for them to. To Glennon's point? Like, no one has ever done there.

[Amanda]

Evergreen statement.

[Glennon Doyle]

But, like, why aren't they showing it? Like, why? Like, do they know during the Turkey I game, I mean, they kept showing Brad Pitt. They thought everybody was gonna get excited about Brad Pitt. Julia made one noise for Brad Pitt. When they showed Mia and Julie in the box, the crowd lost their mind. It was immediate. It was massive. It was. And my thought was, my God, why aren't we. Our country wants to see that so much. Especially when you think about, like, the hockey shit that we went through in the Olympics. And, like, the. The men and the women are showing up the Women are showing up in such a big way for the men, and it feels like it could be such a beautiful precedent and another unifying thing if they would just get their shit together enough to highlight it.

[Julie Foudy]

I think we had at the first opening game in LA, I think we had 40 US women's national team alumni there. Yeah, yeah, right. And like iconic players that Alex Morgan to Kristen Press, Tobin Heath. I mean, go down the list it was. And they. Mia. They didn't show one player. I don't think Lindsay. They showed Lindsay Heaps, which was great, but that was it.

[Amanda]

You can look at that really skeptically. I mean, you have to for. As a thing as organized. I mean, just as like a cultural critic, but not knowing anything about soccer, it's hard to understand how that's not intentional because it would be such an obvious play and would be such an obvious, like, galvanizing situation. And maybe that's precisely why it's not. I mean, it seems to me that FIFA has profited for many, many years with the false paradigm that more for them means less for you and less for them means more for you, and that they have perpetuated that in their negotiations over and over and over again. So wouldn't. Don't they have a stake in that?

[Julie James]

Yeah, I don't think it's a matter of them on purpose keeping the women out of the broadcasts or out of being on the videos in the stadiums. I think that. And it's worse. I think that they just actually don't

[Abby Wambach]

even think about it.

[Glennon Doyle]

Well, this is just a call out, like a manifestation and asked whoever's listening that could possibly affect this. That we need to see that. Yeah, we need to see the. The women icons who have built this thing and have already have all the stars on anyway. We need to see them there supporting this team. We need to see that just as much as we need to see any of these other unifying visuals.

[Julie James]

So do the. So do the guys. So do the players. They need to see it too, because. Because they need to know how we're showing up for them in a way that they then next summer will be able to show up for us. That's how this stuff works. And we're doing it. We're showing up. And I know that some of these guys will also show up and cheer for us and watch for sure. However, it's another thing to do it very publicly, like we're all doing it right, rather than just doing it privately and tweeting once or whatever it is.

[Glennon Doyle]

It's beautiful. Is all I'm saying. It's beautiful, it's new, it's fresh, it should be seen. It could make a difference. And it feels very much like the sleepover thing is happening, but the parents are not showing it. They're not keeping it. And we would like whoever the parents are to actually show that the people at the sleepover are having a good time and cheering for each other.

[Amanda]

Women of excellence cheering on men of excellence and vice versa would be a really healing situation to happen.

[Abby Wambach]

That's true.

[Julie James]

Okay, you guys, guess what?

[Glennon Doyle]

Yeah.

[Julie James]

We've done it.

[Julie Foudy]

We've done it.

[Abby Wambach]

We've done it.

[Julie James]

We love you guys so much for giving us this opportunity to teach you a little bit about the men's World cup and what is going on this summer and how things keep going. Oh, oh, oh. Well, we do need to explain really quick that now that we're in the knockout round stage games, many games might go into what we call extra time over time that are 2:15 minutes. So if the game ends in a tie, the 90 minutes, and you're probably going to see 90 plus six or 90 plus seven, there's that extra bit of time because of the hydration breaks or certain injuries that happen during the game. It extends the game. And then. Did anyone.

[Glennon Doyle]

Hold on, hold on.

[Julie James]

When the final whistle blows for the regulation, then the game goes into two extra times.

[Glennon Doyle]

Yes.

[Julie James]

A first half and a second that are both 15 minutes long. So the overtime period is tote. The total is 30 minutes split up into two. One 15, another 15. Yes. If it is still tied at that point, because there's no golden goal, meaning if somebody scores, the game is not over. You play both overtime periods. If it is still tied after the second overtime period, then it goes into penalty kicks.

[Glennon Doyle]

Jesus Christ.

[Julie Foudy]

Which is.

[Julie James]

Each team gets to do a coin toss to decide where they'll do on, like, where their supporters or their fans are, what goal to do the penalty kick at and then in which order, first or second.

[Julie Foudy]

Well, you mentioned. Well explained, Abby. Well explained.

[Julie James]

Sorry. I just knew that that's gonna happen. And I feel like that was a big missing link.

[Glennon Doyle]

And one thing that the soccer could consider if they have time is we would need less explaining about time if they would maybe consider doing what everyone else does, which is having a clock that counts down instead of up.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Glennon Doyle]

So like, for example, it's impossible to know how much time is left because it would be like if I start my microwave.

[Julie James]

Because you can't do math.

[Glennon Doyle]

If I put my microwave on and I started at five minutes. I put five minutes. And then my microwave just starts at zero. And then I just have to remember how many minutes I put it on because it's counting up. But like the soccer could consider starting with 90 and counting down. And then we would all know what was coming.

[Julie Foudy]

And just stopping the clock instead of the referee adding that stoppage time. Like just stop the clock and then carry it so everyone knows when it's done. It's done.

[Amanda]

Done.

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

There is always a big surprise where the gods go back and tell us how much time we have left.

[Julie James]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

And it's like, what can't.

[Julie Foudy]

No.

[Amanda]

Is it one minute or 19?

[Julie Foudy]

You're like, it's 10 minutes.

[Glennon Doyle]

What?

[Julie James]

Speaking of extra time, we have gone very long and now I'm actually gonna put our. Our ideas to practice. We are. We have to. We have to sign off here. I'd love you guys little fun little thing.

[Glennon Doyle]

Such an honor to learn this from the two best. The two best. Such an honor. We love you both so much. Thank you for this.

[Julie James]

I hope you learned something.

[Julie Foudy]

Thanks for indulging and seemingly interested. I. It looks like you guys interested. Okay, good. Looks like you.

[Glennon Doyle]

And if you're a we can do hard things person and you would like to continue your. Your the sports journey. Freaking go. If you're. If you're not already watching right now, now go to listen and support. Welcome to the party. I mean what they are doing over there with Billie Jean King also is. I mean it's shifting conversations. It's an absolute blast. It's learning about sports from the absolute best. Go over, listen, support them. Especially during this next year as we get towards the Women's World Cup. It's gonna be all anyone's talking about. So you're gonna wanna learn it.

[Julie James]

Yeah. And we also have a sub stack. I don't know if anybody over we can do our things wants to follow our substack. It's welcome to the partyshow.substack.com. we also have a merch store. It's called WelcomeToTheParty Voila Store. If you guys do this in the show notes, we'll also include those links. Follow us at elcometotheparty show. We love you guys so much. Julie and I are so grateful that you gave us this time.

[Glennon Doyle]

Love you.

[Abby Wambach]

Pod squad.

[Glennon Doyle]

Usa. Usa. Can we do it?

[Julie James]

Oh, yeah. Okay, Amanda, pause in.

[Glennon Doyle]

She's never done it.

[Amanda]

Okay, pause in.

[Julie Foudy]

She's never done it.

[Julie James]

Pause in. And Amanda, in 1985, our Women's national team went over to Italy for the very first tournament of our women's national team. And the Italians only saw USA on the jerseys. And so they said, usa. Usa. And so in the very first tournament that our women's national team played in, they created a cheer and it goes like this. Oosa. Usa. Usa.

[Julie Foudy]

So on three is from the source.

[Amanda]

Includes like a pelvic thrust, I imagine you said.

[Julie James]

And by the way, it is still to this day the cheer that our women's national team uses. Yeah, it's very cool. Okay, USA on three. One, one, two, three.

[Julie Foudy]

Us up. We out.

[Julie James]

Good job.

[Glennon Doyle]

You guys nailed it.

[Julie James]

Welcome to the Party is an independent production brought to you by Treat Media. Treat Media makes art for humans who want to stay human. Initial Digital is our production partner, and you can also watch our full conversations on the welcome to the party YouTube channel and follow us at welcome to

[Abby Wambach]

the Party show on Instagram and Twitter TikTok.

[Julie James]

Thanks for listening.