We are three days into the biggest World Cup in history and the tournament has already served up a record-breaking red card fest, a Hollywood-scripted home performance from the USA, a Vinicius Jr masterclass to save Brazil, Scotland ending a 28-year drought, and a result in Vancouver that nobody saw coming.
Episode 1 of our World Cup series went live today, recorded with Sam still half-asleep and Chris armed with printed notes and an encyclopaedic knowledge of 1986. Here is the written version with the full predictions scoreboard.
The opening match set the tone. Julian Quinones gave the Azteca something to roar about inside nine minutes, and Raul Jimenez, the former Wolves man at his fourth World Cup, finally got his first tournament goal in the second half. But the scoreline was a footnote.
Three red cards. Two for South Africa, one for Mexico. The most red cards in a single World Cup match in history. South Africa finished with nine men. As Sam put it on the pod, one of the reds was questionable, but the new rules meant the card stayed. It has gone to VAR, and VAR said red.
The Azteca became the first stadium to host matches at three World Cups: 1970, 1986 and 2026. Cue Dad Nostalgia Corner. Chris asked Sam for a fact about the 1986 World Cup. The answer? Silence. Then eventually, under duress: Maradona. Hand of God. Chris's verdict on the Argentine legend: "Cheating, horrible little twerp he was."
And then 17-year-old Gilberto Mora came off the bench to become Mexico's youngest ever World Cup player and the sixth youngest in tournament history. For the record, the youngest ever remains Norman Whiteside of Manchester United at 17 years and 41 days. Samuel Eto'o was second. Pele was fifth. One for the quiz nights.
Quieter on cards, richer in quality. Czechia took the lead from a brilliant long throw-in header before Lee Kang-in threaded a gorgeous pass for Hwang In-beom's equaliser. Then the moment every substitute dreams of: Oh Hyeon-gyu, on for Son, scored the winner in the 80th minute.
One stat that raised eyebrows: the stadium was far from full. FIFA's explanation? People were watching from the concourse. As we said on the pod: what a load of absolute nonsense. As if.
A quick note on Sam's reading abilities: the notes in front of him said "Canada 1-1 Bosnia" and he announced that Canada "grabbed the win." He did not cover himself in glory. The second host nation couldn't get the job done at home despite 23 shots and seven on target. Wasteful, we agreed, though one of us had to be reminded of the actual result first.
Performance of the tournament so far. No debate from either of us. Pochettino called it the best 45 minutes in US men's football history.
Folarin Balogun, the Arsenal lad, scored twice before half-time to become the first American with two World Cup goals since 1930. Gio Reyna added a stunner eight minutes into added time. Chris Richards of Crystal Palace completed 83 out of 83 passes. As Sam asked: why is it only "believed" to be a World Cup record? "Well, who knows? They clearly don't know."
And then the cold water. Christian Pulisic didn't come out for the second half. Calf tightness. Pochettino admitted it was difficult for him to walk at the break. The whole of America is holding its breath. Pulisic and calves: a story as old as time.
One VAR moment worth noting: Almiron dived, won a free kick, and then VAR overturned the yellow card on the tackler. The system working as it should.
Well done, Sam. He got this one right. Switzerland dominated, Qatar nicked a last-minute point. It was Qatar's first ever World Cup point after losing all three matches as hosts in 2022. As Sam reasonably asked: you'd think if they were hosts they would have done a bit better. Well, they are doing better now.
The standout fixture of the opening round. Morocco were brilliant. Twelve shots in the first 30 minutes, quite easily the better side. Ismael Saibari's chipped lob over Alisson was world class. Then Vinicius Jr happened. The commentators had literally just asked whether he could make a difference when he cut inside and curled an absolute stunner into the top corner on his 50th cap.
But Brazil looked vulnerable. Chris's take was blunt: "Morocco are a good side and Brazil, I don't think, are." He went further: "When they play Scotland, I think Scotland's midfield is better than Brazil's." Sam was not convinced. But Neymar watching from the bench, barely fit, didn't exactly scream confidence. Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Kaka in the stands saw a very different Brazil to the ones they played for.
"When I saw Neymar playing for Barcelona, I thought he was probably the best player in the world at that point. I didn't see anybody better. But he's not Neymar from five years ago, is he?"
Scotland's first World Cup goal in 28 years. And it was a deflection. Does it matter? They all go in the back of the net.
John McGinn scored in the 28th minute. Scrappy but beautiful. Pure Scotland. The last time they scored at a World Cup was 16 June 1998. That is 10,224 days. McGinn became Scotland's oldest ever World Cup scorer at 31, passing Kenny Dalglish, while Ben Gannon-Doak became their youngest ever World Cup player at 20. Scotland sit top of Group C. Above Brazil. Above Morocco. Love to see it.
The shock of the tournament. Turkey had 30 shots and lost 2-0. Nestory Irankunda, a 20-year-old from Watford, scored in the 27th minute and celebrated by punching the corner flag in tribute to Tim Cahill. Connor Metcalfe doubled it from outside the box on 75 minutes. Patrick Beach made eight saves after being picked ahead of Matt Ryan.
The question from the pod: why wasn't Kenan Yildiz starting? When Chris was in Italy last week, the Juventus shop was full of shirts with his name on the back. He came on as a sub and it was too late. Group D now reads USA and Australia on three points, Turkey and Paraguay on none. Nobody predicted that.
We locked in our official tournament predictions on the pod. Both of us picked England to win it, which either means we are united in optimism or equally deluded. Here is the full scoreboard:
The big disagreements: Sam has Sweden as his dark horse (Isak, Gyokeres, "let's not get into Gyokeres"), while Dad has the USA after that Paraguay demolition. Sam thinks Brazil are the biggest flop; Dad's got it in for Germany. On player of the tournament, Sam went with Dembele while Dad picked Declan Rice.
On red cards, four in six matches so far. Sam thinks 17 for the tournament, Dad predicts 25. We will be tracking that one.
As for the forfeit for the loser of the prediction league? We agreed it was completely pointless, because neither of us will actually do it. So that is sorted.
England have settled into their Kansas City base camp. Tuchel split the preparation into two phases: acclimatisation in Florida, then what he called "going into the tunnel" in Kansas City. Kane says the preparation has been "top drawer."
The big squad talking points: no Phil Foden (spotted at the Misfits Boxing), no Cole Palmer. Henderson at his fourth World Cup, equalling Bobby Charlton's record. Sam doesn't think Henderson should be there ("Adam Wharton should be"), but Tuchel clearly sees something in what Henderson brings to the group.
Croatia first up on Wednesday. A repeat of the 2018 semi-final. 9pm UK, ITV1, from Dallas. What must England do? Sam's verdict: "Not lose." He would take a draw. Dad agrees.
Chris ended the pod with his final word: England will win the World Cup. Sam's final word was almost identical, plus Maresca in as Man City manager and a couple of transfer predictions. "Is there an echo in here?"
"Sam might be awake for the next episode. Probably not."
The full recording with all the results, all the banter, all the predictions locked on the board. Available now on all platforms.
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