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America 2026: A World Cup podcast
FIFA under fire: Infantino back in the spotlight, England Conquer the Azteca, and Trump's gaze lands on the World Cup
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There was a real expectation heading into this tournament that off-field issues would wreak havoc on World Cup 2026. It's had its moments, but nothing has come close to the news of the past couple of days.
FIFA has rescinded the red-card suspension of USA star striker Folarin Balogun, clearing him to face Belgium tonight. They did so, primarily, at the request of President Donald Trump. The fallout has been messy: bodies like UEFA have condemned the decision in the strongest possible terms, and things will likely only get stranger from here.
Miguel Delaney, chief football writer for The Independent and author of the superb "States of Play," joins Paul Howard to pick apart the saga and where it goes next. Miguel also reports back from the Azteca, where England marched into the next round by handing Mexico just their third home defeat there in 90 games.
Plus, Kevin Kilbane joins us from Vancouver, where the co-hosts' run at the tournament is over. Though not without another Jesse Marsch zinger or two.
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Zut Alors! - Ken Early in Boston, Gavin Cooney and Malachy Clerkin on the business end of the World Cup, At home with Malcolm
01:14:44|France thumped Morocco with relative ease last night, laying bare just how wide the gulf still yawns between the plucky underdog and the ruling classes of world football.Ken Early joins us from Boston for our weekly check-in, sharing his reflections on the tournament as the endgame comes into view. He also gives his take on the zealous furore engulfing Brazilian media since the seleção's exit.Closer to home, Malachy Clerkin and Gavin Cooney are in studio to look ahead to the weekend’s quarter finals games.Good cup / Bad Cup? Dave Hannigan in New York, Messi business and the halo effect
28:23|Yet another moment, yet another highlight reel, yet another memory for us all - courtesy of Leo Messi's remarkable football career.Egypt’s two-goal lead should have been more, but in the end they were made to bow to the sheer weight of inevitability. Was it fate alone at work here? Or was there a human thumb pressing on the scales?After FIFA's litany of missteps this week, perceived contentious calls are more up for debate than ever. When the game's governing body is torching its own credibility, even the conventional decisions start to look loaded.Dave Hannigan joins us from New York to run through last night's matches, and gives us his take on the many World Cup conspiracy theories up to this point. Produced by Rob SuttonThe Anti-Midas Touch: The US buckle in Seattle, Cristiano bows out, Keith Duggan in Miami and Paul Howard’s Party Trick
44:49|The American Dream is over. The United States, perhaps laden down with the sheer weight of the swirling situation, limped to a 4-1 defeat in Seattle. A result which ends their campaign and potentially the administration’s interest along with it. For all the strings pulled to drag Folarin Balogun back onto the pitch, their exit was a quiet, deflating end to the loudest week of the World Cup so far.Paul Howard and Malachy Clerkin are in studio to review the events of last night and the rolling catastrophe still engulfing FIFA. Meanwhile, Keith Duggan was in Dallas to see Spain pip Portugal last night. The defeat also draws the curtain on Cristiano Ronaldo's (not-so) storied World Cup career, forever missing the one prize that eluded him to the very last.Pole Pole, Slowly Slowly: Ken Early in New York, Kevin Kilbane in Canada, explaining the snickometer, and the delirium of Paul Howard
01:14:32|"We'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge of it."Fridays tend to run giddy on the America 2026 podcast but make no mistake, this World Cup is barrelling into the serious business end now.Malachy Clerkin is in studio to keep an increasingly delirious Paul Howard company. Kevin Kilbane joins us from Canada, where the tournament's stay is drawing to a close. Though not without leaving an enduring mark on the country's culture, and on Kevin's star power.Paul also caught up with Ken Early in New York last night, who shares his reflections on England, hearts of darkness, and the champions-in-waiting: France.Doctor Congo will see you now: Gavin Cooney and Paul Howard on England’s near miss, Kane’s tells and Vegemite
45:33|‘It looks altogether brighter’ echoed the immortal words of the BBC commentary mere moments before Brian Cipenga smashed one past Pickford at the near post to hand DR Congo an early lead.Congo fought valiantly, but twice they couldn't deny Harry Kane, who now has a high-altitude clash with Mexico at the Azteca to look forward to this Sunday.Gavin Cooney and Paul Howard are in studio to round up the last couple of days. They can see clean through Harry Kane's dives as well as Thomas Tuchel and Anthony Barry's party line. Unfortunately for Gavin, though, the same can't be said for the little surprise Paul has in store for him.We also look ahead to Spain v Austria at 8pm and Portugal v Croatia at midnight, before what might just be the loneliest fixture in football: Switzerland v Algeria at 4am.Tah tah Germany, sayonara Japan, doei Netherlands: Killian Sundermann and Gavin Cooney on the World Cup knockouts
50:36|The old world is fading, and the new one struggles to be born. There was a time when it seemed a foregone conclusion that the likes of Germany and the Netherlands would loom large at the business end of any World Cup, grinding out wins with efficient, controlled football. Last night, neither looked anything close to it. Germany crashed out to Paraguay, the Dutch to Morocco, both on penalties.Killian Sundermann - comedian, podcaster and crestfallen Germany fan, joins Paul Howard and Gavin Cooney in studio to explain exactly what went wrong for his boys, and to offer a message of hope and direction to his fellow suffering Germans.Japan, meanwhile, threw everything at their footballing mentors Brazil before falling to a late Gabriel Martinelli winner. They didn't sparkle but perhaps, like a good Ancelotti side, they'll just keep finding a way to win regardless.You have to respect the football: Gavin Cooney and Malachy Clerkin on the start of the knockouts, history for Canada, and 'Peak Ball'
46:03|Jesse Marsch's team stand as Canadian heroes to rank alongside Céline Dion, Justin Bieber and Tim Horton after last night's win over South Africa in Los Angeles - the nation's first-ever World Cup knockout victory, and perhaps the dawn of a brave new world for Canadian soccer.The game itself, though, was… rather less dramatic. Gavin Cooney and Malachy Clerkin join Paul Howard in studio to pick back over a mixed bag of a group phase, one marred by FIFA's baffling choice of format. Iran and South Korea crash out, while ties like Algeria v Austria slid into farce as teams gamed the bracket.Plus, we look ahead to the rest of the round of 32, kicking off with tonight's slate: Japan v Brazil, Germany v Paraguay, and Netherlands v Morocco.Scotland in the lap of the gods: Ken Early in Miami, the Neymar tribute act, and the Disgrace of Gijón
01:09:48|To everything there is a season. That’s a lesson Scotland will surely have to learn if the football gods grant them another crack at this World Cup in the knockouts. Brazil were only too happy to feast on a calamitous defensive set-up, banging in three past a back line that flatly refused to ‘just knock it’.Paul Howard checks in with correspondents across North America, starting with Kevin Kilbane in Vancouver, who watched Canada's momentum get smothered by Switzerland. In Miami, Ken Early is in reflective mood, turning over how the Scots made such a mess of it, and why Brazil's fans so desperately want Neymar to have his ‘Messi in Qatar’ moment.Plus, Jonathan O’Brien unpicks a quirk in this year’s format, one that harks back to one of the strangest and most consequential episodes in World Cup history.