World Soccer Talk

Guillem Balague is one of soccer's most famous journalists, regardless of country. Renowned for his ability to capture the emotion and personality of the game, he is a major part of CBS's developing and entertaining soccer coverage. And, with a new documentary series on Paramount Plus, there is no better time to learn more about Balague.In this interview, Balague talks about Destination: European Nights, which is now available on Paramount Plus. The six-part documentary series has the Spanish journalist travel around Europe during the UEFA Champions League. World Soccer Talk's Kyle Fansler asks Balague about what it is like to travel around and get to know all these different cultures. With visits to Georgia, Israel and the usual cathedrals of the sport, Balague has a better understanding of European soccer than most.Outside of that, Balague also discusses his work with non-League side Biggleswade United, which is in the ninth tier of the English pyramid. There, he is the chairman of the club. Finally, Balague talks about his relationship with Grant Wahl. Like Balague, Wahl was an influential journalist, particularly in the American soccer scene. The two were colleagues, and Balague was with Wahl just before the latter passed away during the World Cup.

We preview CBS Sports' UEFA Champions League Final coverage plans and what viewers can expect. Plus we dive into Financial Fair Play (FFP), and whether Manchester City - if they win - will have their treble triumph tarnished as a result of the investigation that's going into the accusations of violating FFP. In doing so, we share the thoughts of Micah Richards, Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry on the topic.Also discussed are why salary caps are used by sports teams, whether Manchester City and Inter Milan's fanbase will be a factor in the Champions League Final TV ratings, news about our interview with Guillem Balague, how UEFA is hypocritical at times.

This week, Apple finally broke its silence about MLS Season Pass. In its attempts to get soccer fans (and journalists) off Apple's backs who are asking probing questions about how the service is doing, the tech giant refused to answer any questions. In doing so, it's sending a wrong message because people are now wondering why Apple (and MLS) are being so secretive. What do they have to hide?We share more details about what was discussed, what industry insiders are telling us, examples of viewing numbers shared by other streaming services, and where MLS Season Pass goes from here. We also answer your questions about promotion and relegation, and where France's Ligue 1 stands in the global soccer world.

JJ Watt's Burnley may not be the best descriptor. After all, the former NFL defensive lineman is but a minority owner of Burnley FC. Yet, the club won promotion back to the Premier League at its first time of trying. However, he has already, and will continue to have, a major impact on the club's popularity. That is particularly true in the United States.In this episode of the World Soccer Talk podcast, Kyle Fansler talks to AFP sports journalist Simon Evans. Evans, who is a "From the Bee Hole End" podcast host, talks about JJ and Kealia Watt. The two already made waves by lifting the Championship trophy and going on a bar crawl through Burnley. Evans discusses the similarities between Watt's upbringing in Wisconsin and the town of Burnley.Evans is a Burnley native. While he currently resides in the United States, he has a great understanding and respect for the people of the town. That town, which is largely working class, is somewhat similar to Wrexham, where two Hollywood owners in Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds turned around that Welsh club as it returns to the Football League. Can Watt bring enough American enthusiasm to Burnley so that it can develop a strong and consistent following across the Atlantic Ocean?

The last time a Bundesliga club other than Bayern Munich won the title was when GolTV had the rights to broadcast games in the United States. During the time that FOX Sports and ESPN+ have had the rights to the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich has won every single season. And with Borussia Dortmund coming so close to winning it, but failing, the Bundesliga continues to have no good luck in breaking up the dominance by Bayern.On the latest World Soccer Talk Podcast episode, we discuss this as well as the relegation battle in the Premier League (and Germany), as well as the playoff games throughout the Football League, as well as races for Europe in Italy, and what the common thread is between all of these stories.

It doesn't get any better than this. We preview this weekend's end of the season in the Premier League, Bundesliga, Liga MX and English Championship as a host of games with enormous implications happen across Europe.This episode features hosts Christopher Harris and Kyle Fansler discussing everything from the promotion and relegation battles in England to where you can watch all of the major storylines this weekend. We also dive into the history of the teams who are facing promotion and peril.

Poppy Miller is one of the best studio hosts in American soccer coverage. After all, she did win the 2022 World Soccer Talk award as best presenter among stiff competition from the likes of Rebecca Lowe, Kate Abdo or Sebastian Salazar. Miller joins the World Soccer Talk podcast to talk about her background and her rise to working with CBS. There, she is the host of Serie A coverage and Box 2 Box on the CBS Golazo Network.In this interview, Miller talks about her upbringing in Nottingham, where she developed a passion for Nottingham Forest and the sport itself. A talented player, Miller understood the challenges of turning professional. However, she wisely took advantage of her playing ability coming over to the United States to play college soccer. From there, she worked her way up from USL Championship's Charleston Battery to CBS.Among other topics, Miller reveals her favorite soccer player she has talked to, talks about the challenges of being a soccer fan while working professionally in the sport and the potential of relegation and promotion in American soccer. She has experience covering the sport at different levels, and has seen what the sport is like lower.

We cover a range of topics including the Bundesliga title race, Premier League relegation battle, manager merry-go-rounds across Europe and other subjects. But you, the listeners, keep on pulling us back in to talk about MLS Season Pass and Major League Soccer, as a whole. We've received an avalanche of feedback about MLS Season Pass, which we share on the show. That has brought up topics such as what the long-term goal is for MLS after it finishes expanding the league, and whether the league needs to be more realistic about its place in the soccer (and sports) landscape.This episode is in memory of Kartik Krishnaiyer's late father, who sadly passed away on Friday, May 19th. RIP.

This episode of the World Soccer Talk Podcast, entitled Can MLS Season Pass for free sell soccer fans on MLS, is presented by Sling.MLS is betting the farm on MLS Season Pass by offering the streaming service for free. At the same time, MLS is making its MLS 360 whip-around show available in more places for free, too. While that's all well and good, is it going to benefit Major League Soccer in both the short term and long term when it comes to increasing subscriptions to the Apple TV service, as well as being a player on the national stage?We dive into this topic and several more related to MLS Season Pass. Many of you shared fantastic feedback in the Listener Mailbag segment too about the issues impacting Major League Soccer's growth.In this episode, we also discuss Jose Mourinho's tactics in the Europa League semi-final with AS Roma, in addition to the news that MLS is expanding to 30 teams beginning in 2025.