France, Mbappe Breeze Past Morocco

23:25His first game back after his injury was in the World Cup. He didn't have any behind... Well, he may have had behind closed doors games and things like that, but he had a hamstring problem and then he's come back straight away. And he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. he's the star man he is the superstar in the Spanish team and he's 18 years of age so he has to carry a lot of baggage with him speaking to the press etc etc and they'll try and protect him but he is the main man you know when you've got Alex Baena Ayathabal and then Lamine everybody is waiting for Lamine to do something special to unlock defences and maybe that will come today but he's an incredible incredible footballer and we're lucky to have him you know at such an early age you know Leo's is 38 we're talking about Killian now we're talking about an 18 year old so we've got a stretch of players that we're going to keep on enjoying for the foreseeable future Yeah for sure and I think the fact that he's 18 tells part of the story but the real story is the fact he's played nearly 200 games in his career to this point so the stuff some might say is too much at this young sort of young age but when you see what he's saying you think to yourself if any other 18 year old said that you say well this is ridiculous but you can see it you can believe it and I think the two months that he's been out for is significant not least of all because the point that Mac has made like he's a youngster that can't just be drip fed into the team because the nation needs him if they want to win the whole thing and having that sort of pressure on your shoulders requires like a big personality and I think that's what he has that's how you see him speaking the way that he does speak and what I love about him as a player obviously you know you see all the technical side of things but it's his mentality this is a guy who isn't necessarily the most efficient player in the world and you might think oh I start the game well I've beaten him in a couple of duels third duel's mine do you think that bothers him?

25:06yeah doesn't bother him a jot because he knows that he will get his time. When he gets his time, he is a match winner for them. So I think for him, knowing that he can get better whilst also still being important for this side, it is a little bit dangerous. And I think for many, a left-back who will be playing between 90 and the tournament. For them, I don't think they'll be looking forward to what's about to happen next. Oh, we're in for a cracker of a game from SoFi Stadium or Los Angeles Stadium, as it's known during the tournament. A spectacular venue today. And let's catch up on what is going on ahead of this one.

25:34Casey Keller, Mario Suarez, and first, Alex Aljo. We're here at this very impressive stadium in Los Angeles where Spain take on Belgium, unjoined by Casey Keller and Mario Suarez. Spain going into this as the favourites, yet to concede a goal at this World Cup, but Mario still feels like they're in third gear and the best is yet to come from them. Well, I hope so. I hope they are able to win this match. and the good thing of Spain is that they are improving every match, every day, since the first day until now they are improving. They are not depending on any player, they are proving that they are a team, a family.

26:15The other day the players who came off from the bench won the match, so I think there are a lot of good news if we talk about Spain, but they need to prove it against Belgium, it's not going to be easy, but they are favourite, as you said. Casey, as Mario says, they need to prove it. is this going to be the toughest test yet do you think well i still think there's always kind of a when there's a local rivalry a kind of regional rivalry against portugal i think we always felt that that was just going to be a scrappy match and wasn't going to be a beautiful match which is what we saw but they got through it and that's the most important thing now they're playing against the belgian side that is like spain also growing in the tournament they had their best match against the united states rudy garcia had to make some difficult choices in in in selection and it worked perfectly well.

27:01Luka Bakio had a tremendous game on the right. Trossard as well on the left. Obviously Thibaut Courtois can always be a difference maker in goal. And you still know that Lukaku could come off the bench and be a difference maker. You have, you know, I think Doku still hasn't had the tournament that we expect from him. So he can flip a switch and be extremely dangerous against any defender. And Kevin De Bruyne still might have something to prove. So yes, difficult, but I still feel Spain is the stronger side. There was a lot of talk about one Spanish teenager obviously coming into this. That was Laminia Mal, but it feels like we should be talking about another Spanish teenager who's quietly going under the radar.

27:4119-year-old Pao Cubasi played every single minute. Just how impressive has he been, Mario? It's amazing. He's proving every day that the age is just a number. The couple that he's doing with Emery Laporte is amazing. The important thing is that they are not conceding goals, no, they are not conceding even chances to the other teams. They are defending amazing. He can be one of the best defenders in the world for sure. He's only 19 years, as you said, but he's very mature. He's like a leader in the team and it's amazing the way he's performing and I hope that he can continue performing like this against Belgium and in the rest of the matches.

28:23Absolutely and what about in the midfield let's talk about Rodri because last year he said I'm passing the keys from the national team over to Martin Zubimendi but that's not happening it's looking like Ballon d 'Or Rodri isn't it? Yeah it really felt like like the Spanish team needed some just stability kind of in that defensive midfield role and Rodri coming back has clearly proven that and it's a big reason why as Mario pointed out that they're not only not conceding goals, but they're not conceding chances. Some of that also helps when you have 70, 80 percent possession and your opponent doesn't actually have the ball.

28:56It kind of makes it easier for them not to score. But again, this will be a little bit different because you look at the individual speed and talent that Belgium has, that even without the ball, that slightest turnover, Belgium can hit you on the counterattack very quickly. And we still haven't seen Spain have to recover from going a goal down or even conceding a goal so if Belgium gets an early goal it'll be interesting to see how Spain reacts but in the end Spain's the stronger side. What do you think score prediction? Yeah I'm thinking somewhere 2-0, 3-1 Spain 2-0 2-0 Really looking forward to this one, enjoy the game both of you Vamos!

29:40Love it from Alex and the lads So remember, you can check out all our ESPN FC shows every single day of the year. Tonight, 5 p.m. Eastern, right after the game today between Spain and Belgium. Join the folks in New York on ESPN+. Go on, Nathan, do it. Boo! Norway, England with Adrian Healy in Miami next. I'm Steve.

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31:16This is one of the best sites you'll see all World Cup. Times Square, there was a yoga class. This is incredible. That's the best. It's incredible. Norway back at the World Cup for the first time this century, and they are rowing their way all the way to the World Cup quarterfinal, having a laugh every step of the way in Rio. I mean, there's a reason why the world has become fans of Norway. Any neutral, like me, is following this team. Why are there that many people in Rio de Janeiro? Yeah, fair play. We're going to join the lads now. We've got Adrian Healy, who's a sweaty Betty down in Miami.

31:46It's 92 degrees. We've got Archie. It's hot over in Oslo as well. Adrian, the lads want me to go to Archie first so they'll keep you sweating for a second. How do you feel about that? All right. No worries. I can take it. All right, Archie, you're in Oslo over in Norway. Set the scene. What's the atmosphere like ahead of tomorrow? Adrian, the people are excited. And these guys here, they saw that I was from abroad, and they went, well, where are you from? I said, I'm from England. And suddenly it was, whoa, OK. Let's see how things work out. But Petter, I asked you what you think the score will be tomorrow, and you think who will win?

32:23Norway is going to win. Why? You know, we got Berg, Patrick Berg. Yeah. and Shellrup. It's not going to be easy for you. Okay, thank you. Joffert, he's not mentioned one guy's name who I've seen on quite a few shirts here. Do you know who I'm talking about? The big man himself, Erling Haaland. He's the main man of this tournament. I lost. He's like our savior. And why are you going to beat England tomorrow? You know, I heard England had many injuries in the camp, but you know, you have always supported underdogs and now that we are underdogs, we are not expected to win all the games, but now we are on the rise.

33:10I've heard that it's been absolute chaos here in Oslo in the last few weeks. People queuing to get into the stadium just to watch the game. No one can get a shirt. What's the atmosphere been here? It's quite crazy. I think it was like two or three kilometers with queue for the shirt. And almost no one got it. And no one of us have the shirt either. And it's just this whole street was filled with people. And it's crazy. Yeah. OK. Now, the guy said that they wanted to show me something as to how they will possibly celebrate. Guys, are you ready? What's the drum? What's the drum? Okay. Okay. I have to sit apparently.

33:55Okay. Right. Here we go. Okay. Let's go. Come on. Take your time. Holding onto the microphone. Okay. Guys, you need to get on with this. You're losing them. You're losing them. Okay. Here we go. Three, two, one. I mean, Archie could at least do the drum.

34:24Lads, that was wonderful. Thank you very much. Your offer. High five. Thank you very much. They're ready. I hope that they will be a little bit more in sync tomorrow night. But as an Englishman, I actually don't hope so. Back to you, Kevin. All right. So we're feeling the energy in Oslo. Adrian, what's it like in Miami here? I can't wait for Adrian to start doing the role. What's he going to do? Adrian, it's all on you, pal. Hey, row, row, row your boat. That's what I'm ready to start. That's what the England fans are coming back with here. It's fantastic here. I'm right in Miami Beach, right on their iconic Ocean Drive.

35:02And as you can see, Norway are very well represented here. Behind the big Norway. And the Mexican too. A bit late to the party. There you go! There you go! There you go! There you go! There you go! But it's amazing. Everyone who isn't Norwegian seems to have adopted Norway as their second team. A lot of stuff in the media here about how it's Erling Haaland's world and we're all just living in it. So the England support is gathered a little further up Ocean Drive where they have another England soccer ball nicely inflated. but they're about to do the Viking row here big time in about an hour. Oh, more Mexican fans.

35:48Come in, come in, join the party. Sorry, guys. Sorry we had to leave you behind, but Mexico fans obviously thought they were going to be here in Miami Stadium playing Norway, but England had other ideas. Are the English fans all in the pub, Adrian? Where's all the England fans? They've got a lot more sense. Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, but not in Miami, apparently. They got a lot more sense. There are going to be 30 ,000 England fans, but at the moment, they're getting their beauty sleep, and they're probably going to need it. I saw one Middlesbrough flag here about 30 minutes ago, but they took off into a nearby cab, weren't interested in coming on.

36:32I tell you what, a couple of rock stars in Archie and Adrian. We're going to check in. We have a couple more rock stars as well. I want to get the toss of Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood on this game. Let's do it. I'm actually going to see England versus Stormway in Miami. So I'll be cheering for England. And Thomas Tuchel is my mate and he keeps me posted all the time. Oh my God. Yeah. He's going to win. What a mate to have. It's a good mate to have. Let's go. I mean, Erling Haaland is capturing the minds, the imagination of kids all around the world watching the World Cup. This fella is an absolute megastar.

37:07Hammer time, says the paper. And here is the Manchester City superstar before this clash against England. I think there's some clear favourites out there. England's one of them. So I think all of you should put every single pressure on the English lads. I mean, I know exactly what he's doing, obviously. But they're playing with house money here. And they're having fun doing it as well. And he makes a little point. All the pressure is on England to deliver in this moment, Macca. Yeah, England are favourites. They were one of the favourites going into the tournament. The fact that they've gotten to this position after the Mexico game suggests that they should, on paper, be too strong for Norway.

37:48So I totally agree with what Erling Harland says. It's up to the English boys to go out and make it realistic and get the job done and move on to the semi-finals. We're tougher assignments away, but all the pressure is on England. Thomas Tuchel was brought in to get over the line and win the trophy. It's going to be hard enough, but they should dispatch Norway on paper, generally. We were having dinner last night, the three of us, and I'm making the point for the momentum of Norway and this infectious enthusiasm around the entire country and their fan base. But you made the point, you're like, yeah, well, England have that as well.

38:16100%. Like, England have just been to Mexico where many people thought that they would stumble given their history in the World Cup, generally speaking. And they suffered their way through a win there. That matters a lot. So many people will say back in England, we're staying up till, say, silly o 'clock to watch this game. And it felt like they witnessed history at that point. Obviously, that wasn't their final, but it was a moment where they can take significant momentum from it. So I think from an England perspective, the energy is there. But all these teams in these last rounds, everybody's had a positive moment to get them to this stage.

38:44You know, we could talk about, for example, Belgium beating the USA and so on. Spain beating Iberian rivals in Portugal. But it's going to be a very, very interesting time. I think, firstly, I'm obviously incredibly biased as a Man City supporter. I love Erling Haaland, yeah. But one of the reasons I love him is because he's got this sense of, like, humility towards himself. And especially this woke up his nation. You remember his interview he did after the second game, which they won in their group, where he was asked about France, you know, it's this head-to-head thing, you and Mbappe, this, that and the other.

39:12He's like, I don't care. I don't care because for Norway, the fact that they've made it out of the group is a huge achievement. That's them making history themselves. And I think he has that feel and connection to the fan base and those people of Norway, not just this player who, you know, has seen the highest of highs as well. Which is so diametrically opposed, Archie, to how he would feel at Manchester City, given that they're mainly favourites in every game that they play. Give us a sense of what the feeling is like around Erling Haaland, where you are in Oslo. For me, it's been a case of trying to count the Haaland shirts.

39:44And just as a reminder, there was a batch of shirts that were delivered here the other day. And people were queuing for hundreds and hundreds of metres to try and get their hands just on a Norway shirt, let alone an Erling Haaland one. So that is seen as something as a very prized possession. and of course there is pride at the fact that he is a global superstar and the way that he carries himself has also been valued by them a lot. I think you could drop him into WWE. I think he's that sort of character that has that charisma. My son has just started taking an interest in football because of Erling Haaland, because he plays Minecraft, because he's on YouTube.

40:21He's that sort of megastar that will not fear this occasion, Adrian Healy, and will not fear going up against his teammate Mark Gahey in England? No he won't Kev and that's if Gahey is fit to play we're hearing some pretty dodgy reports about that but England know Haaland very well don't they and they know it's basically going to boil down to can they cut off the service to him I think they can they've got to make sure he goes on his right hand side rather than his left the right back position remains a bit of an issue and a question mark but but really I mean that that's what this game balls down to for England in my view.

40:57It's like, can they stop Haaland? Because if Haaland doesn't score, then there's every chance England went. Even if he does score, there's every chance England went. I feel confident going into this. I don't know about you guys. I really do. That grit and determination and togetherness that they produced in Mexico, as long as that wasn't a one-off and they're riding high on the emotion of that and slack off here. I don't see any sign of that happening under Thomas Tuchel. If they can produce even 75 % of that intensity here at Miami Stadium, I think that will be enough. Adrian, you're like the David Hasselhoff of Miami, man.

41:30Pitbull's got nothing on you. I miss the worldwide... Shining down there. Oh, go get yourself some sunscreen, pal. Thanks a million for joining us. Adrian and Archie, top stuff as always. So, so much talk about Balogun and Balogay. Well, what about Kwanzaa? This guy has an extra game added to his suspension. What did you make of this, Nathan? The timing of this, everything about it, it's just a bit wild. Like, the red card is a red card, that's fine. In terms of it being upgraded, I don't necessarily see the logic in that. But I think what makes it worse from my standpoint is that you will not see the framework that led to that decision being given either.

42:07I think we could maybe make the case, for example, I think the Qatari player that broke the leg of the Canadian, the centre midfielder Kone. Kone, yeah. you got a five-game ban you got five-game ban and the tackle itself as you look at it because i saw that somebody had broken their leg so i went to look at the incident and i thought wow he's a bit unlucky there both players and that's five games so in terms of the logic that they put forward for this we don't know what it is fifa will never tell us what it is but everyone always as we saw with a suspended suspension they'll just do it and say well this article says we can't and then we just have to sit there and just accept it which is ridiculous modibo the the player in question for Qatar.

42:43What are your thoughts on Kwanzaa? Yeah, again, I mean, there's no rhyme or reason to anything at the moment. The Balogun one gets Resinza's, he gets two. As Naram said, the other person got five. There's nothing you can do about it, apart from being incredibly frustrated with the scenario about it all. It's very unfortunate for Jarrell because he probably won't take part, you know, even if they get to the final, he's not going to play in the final. He'll stick with whoever's going to play. So that's really unfortunate, but As for the rules and regulations, we just don't know, do we? Because they're not forthcoming and telling us the truth, really.

43:18Yeah, fair point. Look, we're praising the French defence, obviously the Spanish defence as well, yet to concede. And here they are, the English injury concerns right now, Gahey being one big one. Where are you at with this English defence, Nathan? To be honest, I'm OK with it. Because I think, from my perspective looking at England, one of the issues I think I have is that most people, when they talk about them, they judge them according to their own sort of, like, perspective on England, and their own sort of standards. But within the competition itself, you can make a case that obviously Gehi's potentially out now.

43:47But Gehi and Konza, or say like Gehi and Stones, that's one of the best pairings that's still left in his competition. But they're being criticized more so than, say, other pairings. Because, you know, even earlier we were talking about like Koubasi and Laporte. Like, they're good players. But are they like two of the best center halves that this tournament's got left in? And you can look all the way through. You could say Romero, Lissandra Martinez. Like, they've won the World Cup before. but are they the pairing that you would want to guarantee you success? I'm not 100 % sure. And I think England, from a defensive standpoint, especially given the way that Mexico game went the other day, I think they showed a level of competitiveness, which they need to show.

44:21They can do stuff on the ball, great. But all those players that play in those positions, they want to defend. I wonder who Haaland would rather play against, Gaye or Stones, given that he knows them so well. All right, let us know what you guys think. Tomorrow, 9 a.m. Eastern. We are back at it, the three of us. What a Trident we are. Hey, we go again, my friend. We go again. We do. 9am ESPN News, more England-Norway talk. Ahead of the big one in Miami tomorrow. When we come back, Egypt returning as heroes to their home nation. They've got their first ever win. They qualified for the knockout stages in this fella.

44:51What are you up to Neymar? Why is this? Mac has thoughts on this now. I mean, that's surreal.

45:06Make sure you're tuning in tonight to the folks on Football Americas. We've got Alexis Herc, Jermaine and Casey in action this evening. 12 a.m. Eastern, so midnight here tonight on ESPN2. Neymar, he's out and about here in the United States of America. Universal Studios, the folks we're seeing Neymar. Macca, what is he doing? I have no idea what context that's in, but he's going half a mile an hour and his security guards are walking alongside him. So it's the most surreal. He was also seen walking around. I don't know what it is, so I don't want to be too critical, but that is just very, very strange.

45:40All right, we had your opinion on that. What about this? The scenes in Egypt, these players arriving home as heroes. They had never won a World Cup game in their history before this tournament. Obviously, they ran Argentina close in the knockout stages as well in the round of 16. This is a wonderful name. Yeah, it's incredible scenes. And I think what sort of sums up is Egypt are the most successful team in the history of Afgan. And they haven't won a game in the World Cup before that. So for them to make history like that, they're very deserving of that welcome back. Check out what's to come here.

46:08Spain, Belgium today. We've got England, Norway, Argentina, Switzerland to come tomorrow for a place in the World Cup semi-final. And I want to get the thoughts of Julian Aron on this one. Argentina, they certainly have not been at the peak of their powers. they'll now play a stubborn Switzerland team. Should Argentina fans be concerned? I think it'd be a test, you know. I think we've all been a bit underwhelmed by Argentina as a whole. Collectively, Messi has been out of this world, but then he's the GOAT, so that's fine. I think for the rest of the team, not just in the Egypt game, but even before that, the performances haven't really been that great bar what Messi has been able to do on his own, really, to be fair, and not even that consistently.

46:53So I think this is a good test for them. It's a Switzerland team that is disciplined, is well organized, is physical, which I think this is the part for me where one of the keys of the game is that physicality from the Swiss. If they can disturb any kind of bit of rhythm that Argentina can put into this game, if they can, for example, cut the lines of passes between that midfield four and Messi and Julien Alvarez or Lautaro Martinez, whoever plays up front for Argentina, if they have Monsambi back because he's been their best player and with him and the energy that he brings and that intensity in the sort of like number 10, second striker role with Mbolo, I think Switzerland have something to play.

47:36I think Argentina will qualify, sure, but I think they've got something to play in causing trouble to this Argentina team. Hey, Gilles, what's the best podcast in the world?

47:47There's only one, really, Kevin. There's only one. Me and the other guy. There's only one. The Gavin Jules show. Do not miss it. Where you get your podcasts, CSPN FC. It is absolutely brilliant. I'm not brilliant. Oh, come on. It is brilliant. It's not brilliant. As is this. Our animal predictions coming up. This is Macca's favourite part of the show.

48:16Make sure you're tuning in tonight to the folks on Football Americas. We've got Alexis, Herc, Jermaine and Casey in action this evening. 12 a.m. Eastern, so midnight here tonight on ESPN2. Neymar, he's out and about here in the United States of America. Universal Studios, the folks we're seeing, Neymar. Macca, what is he doing? I have no idea what context that's in, but he's going half a mile an hour and his security guards are walking alongside him. So it's the most surreal. He was also seen walking around. Thank God. I don't know what it is, so I don't want to be too critical, but that is just very, very strange.

48:51All right, well, we had your opinion on that. What about this? The scenes in Egypt. These players arriving home as heroes. They had never won a World Cup game in their history before this tournament. Obviously, they ran Argentina close in the knockout stages as well in the round of 16. This is wonderful. Yeah, it's incredible scenes. And I think what sort of sums up is Egypt's the most successful team in the history of Afgan. And they haven't won a game in the World Cup before that. So for them to make history like that, they're very deserving of that. Welcome back. Check out what's to come here.

49:18Spain, Belgium today. We've got England, Norway, Argentina, Switzerland to come tomorrow for a place in the World Cup semi-final. And I want to get the thoughts of Julien Leran on this one. Argentina, they certainly have not been at the peak of their powers. They'll now play a stubborn Switzerland team. Should Argentina fans be concerned? I think it'd be a test, you know. I think we've all been a bit underwhelmed by Argentina as a whole. collectively, Messi has been out of this world, but then he's the GOAT, so that's fine. I think for the rest of the team, not just in the Egypt game, but even before that, the performances haven't really been that great, bar what Messi has been able to do on his own, really, to be fair, and not even that consistently.

50:03So I think this is a good test for them. It's a Switzerland team that is disciplined, is well organized, is physical, which I think this is the part for me where one of the keys of the game is that physicality from the Swiss. If they can disturb any kind of bit of rhythm that Argentina can put into this game, if they can, for example, cut the lines of passes between that midfield four and Messi and Julien Alvarez or Lautaro Martinez, whoever plays up front for Argentina, if they have Monzambi back because he's been their best player and with him and the energy that he brings and that intensity in sort of like number 10, second striker role with Mbolo.

50:43I think Switzerland have something to play. I think Argentina will qualify, sure. But I think they've got something to play in causing trouble to this Argentina team. Hey, Jules, what's the best podcast in the world?

50:57There's only one, really, Kareem. There's only one. Me and the other guy. There's only one. The Gavin Jules Show. Do not miss it. Where you get your podcasts, CSPN FC. It is absolutely brilliant. I'm not. Oh, come on. It is brilliant. It's not brilliant. As is this. Our animal predictions coming up. This is Macca's favourite part of the show.

51:27NWSL back in action with a Cascadia clash. Seattle, Portland coming your way Sunday, 4pm Eastern. Today's game, Spain, the heavy, heavy favourites. Belgium coming in, the underdogs, the side that hit four against the United States men's national team. Here's our animal predictions. They were 100 % right yesterday, Maka. Yes. So whatever they do, whatever they say, you have to go with them. And at the moment, they're all going for the Spanish. I think we need to investigate what they're putting in this. Oh, I like that. More of a dog. This is the important one. Yeah. Maka, big fan of the chickens.

52:02Oh, 2-2. They've got 2-2. Okay. I have to agree with the animals. I don't think this is as straightforward as you guys have led on so far. Okay, okay. All right, go on. Natham, take it away. I think it is quite straightforward, and I'm just going to take this over this way. If you would do mine as well, Natham, I'm following you. Definitely the Spanish. I think the Spanish will win easily. Go on, then. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it.

52:29I'm going to go Belgium. I don't understand. I think Doku is going to have himself a day today. And De Bruyne. Is De Bruyne going to play, do you think? Sorry, let me text him, just one second. I don't have a clue. I think he'll play. I think he'll play. I think he'll change the team rounds, and De Bruyne and Doku will both play. I hope they both play. And they'll still lose. And they'll still lose. I'll watch you after I pick Belgium. And Spain will still win. Folks, we love you, but we've got to go. Join the fellas after the game today for Macca. For Nate and me, Kev, take care. Enjoy the match.

53:23We'll be right back. months or$180 for 12 month plan required$15 per month equivalent to taxes and fees extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy see terms