World Cup Recap (So far...)

21:58So that's how we got here and that's how we will go further. They won the quarter-finals in the finals. They won the Cup of Africa. They are part of a very good team with very good players. They are not here for the chance. So after the match, it's our position. France is a very good squad. They have a lot of quality players. But we as well as a Moroccan squad, we did well until now. and we're gonna prepare us like very good as good as possible to to be ready for the front squad

22:59Hands off me. I know. Hands off me. If it's not Donald Trump, it's journalists. What do you make of that? Just shoehorning yourself in for publicity. It's ridiculous, isn't it? You've got Brahim Diaz trying to answer a question. The coach of Brahim Diaz in a really important time, and yet you've got journalists making it all about themselves. Colin, how do you defend journalists in a moment like this? I don't know. I mean, Ali was a defender. Ali is a defender, so probably she's the one who's probably going to come in there. and play some defence. We've seen a lot of stuff go at press conferences and this is just one of those.

23:30You've had people throwing stuff at each other, taking people's equipment, tossing it on one side, especially when you're kind of jostling to get time to ask questions or be in front of that. So this is par for the course. Oh my goodness, par for the course. Frank, World Cup champion, as we all know, with Le Bleu. You snuck by Paraguay, an emotional game. How nervous are you ahead of this one?

23:57I'm excited. I'm not nervous and I'm respectful. I know what kind of team France is going to face and with all respect with that Moroccan team, it's going to be a hard game. They are much better than the semi-finally 2022. I think they are very much more organized and better at France with, for example, Saibari. I don't know if he's going to play or not. No, he's not. He comes back from his injury. But no, well, good thing for us. Good point. But really, it's with all respect that I'm facing that game and I want to watch that game because France, of course, is the favourite. And France, if they play at 100%, for sure, they're going to go through, but they're going to go through against any team.

24:42But if they think that's going to be easy, they're going to be surprised because the American team is very, very good. Colin, Gab on the Gab and Jules podcast made the point that the Morocco team of four years ago would nearly be more of a threat to this France team with the way they played versus this team that has an awful lot more of the ball and controls the ball. Do you agree? Yes, I think so. Look, you've got to respect this France team. They're really, really good. Going into this tournament, I had them as potential winners, if not the most likely winners. But Morocco, they've grown a lot from the 2022 team.

25:18And when you look at those improvements, you've got to think that, yes, maybe that team would have been a better fit stylistically for this France team. But I also think that the way this Morocco team has evolved, it's evolved in such a way that they can sort of like shift, I mean, shape-shift, so to speak, into whatever works best for them against whatever opposition. And I think that, just like Frank said, this is going to be a really difficult game for France. And look, trust me, I wouldn't be surprised if, as much as I think France are still the best team at this tournament, if Morocco can get a win against France I would misprime that Morocco go ahead and win it all to be honest looking at the path for both France and Morocco here at the 2026 World Cup as you can see France cruising through the group Norway 4-1 victors they played all the stars in that game having already qualified 3-0 against Sweden Paraguay keeping a clean sheet in that game as well as for Morocco big 4-2 win against Haiti they head to the knockout stage it's a tight one against the Netherlands and then they cruise past Canada for more on the tactics behind this game.

26:21Over to the standbox now with Nathan. Yeah, thank you very much, Kevin. So I think from a defensive standpoint, playing against this front side, it's probably one of the toughest tasks you will have in all of world football. And some of that isn't just because of the nature of the attackers that they have, but it's how interchangeable they are with their positions. Because someone like Kylian Mbappe here, he's got a tendency to drift out to his left-hand side. Do you think the two centre-halves, they'll be like, that's fine, everything's okay, there's nobody in the middle. But then Ousmane Dembele is the Ballon d 'Or winner from that nine position.

26:48And so there's a gap on the far right hand side for France. Well who fills that? It will be Michael Alisse because that's his position for Bayern Munich where he's been one of the best players in the world this last season. Desiree Douai can very easily come and sit in that position there. And as you really look at that front four, looking at four players who are either Ballon d 'Or winners or future Ballon d 'Or winners is how I see them. So when you want to establish this sort of duel with the player in front of you, it proves to be very very difficult. Adding to that now as well from a France perspective they have full backs and like Luca Dignes who can go and attack quite high but he knows that his role is to support the play.

27:23The same on the other side with Jules Koundé. They will support the play and before you know it they have the magic, they have the quality and you think okay well this is great if we can be defensively robust against these players then maybe we can hit them in transition and then this is now where France's strength comes in again because at the back you have William Saliba and you have Dayou Pemekano and for me those are two of the best centre halves in all of world football and if we look at this that they are left with if we look at Kone if we look at Rabiot and those two centre halves well it's going to be very very hard to hit them on the break as well so from this front side I think it's one of the most balanced sides we've ever seen but add to that the fact that up top they have four of the best attacking players in all of world football how do you stop it well you try and win your duels well it seems that your So, Jules, if you're going to be at the back, for Morocco, are going to be changing minute through minute in what will be a very, very difficult game for them.

28:16Outstanding there from Nadam. I think that deserves a round of applause. Go me! Look at these superstars. Future manager. For France. The 2018 winners, Dembele, four goals, a couple of assists. Mbappe adds seven more goals. And Michael Alisse leads the World Cup with five assists so far. The balance is better than ever, Frank Leboeuf, according to Nadam. Do you agree? I totally agree. Well done, Nedim. That was great explanation. And really, really, really, I was very amazed and everything you had, everything in spot on. But what I like the most is the versatility of the players at front where and Nedim explained it very well, very well in a way that they can be interchangeable.

29:00They can play in any position they know and they don't feel uncomfortable. And that's what it is. and the compensation that you have with Dini and Koundé on the side, but also the protection that you have with the two midfielders and the two centre-backs is really good, and it makes that team be incomplete. So it's going to be hard to move that team. And again, and I always say that, if France is at 100%, nobody can beat them. Ooh. Ali, you agree? Yeah, I mean, you have the best players and the best attacking players. You have Due, you have Barcola, you have Mbappe, you have Dembele, you have Olisse.

29:37I'm naming all these players. I can't believe they're all on the same team. Yes, anyone can be beaten, right? But the pace that they have on transition, the attacking quality, the defensive organization. This team is unbelievable. It's the best France team I've seen. Sorry, Frankie. Put yourself in Morocco's shoes, though. If you're defending there today, and Nadem talked about the duels, what's your mindset going in against that attack? I would be very confident as Morocco going into this game. They have to be because this is the stage where the best teams have to show up and win. But against the Netherlands, they did show up.

30:12They played really well. I love the mix of the youth and the veteran players that they have to be able to bring that quality, bring that grit that you need, bring that resiliency that you need. So I do think they have a good chance. Any team can win on any day. But this is an excellent France team that I've seen. They're the best team, aren't they? Going into the tournament, they were favorites. They were favorites for a reason. They performed like favourites throughout the tournament, albeit the Paraguay game was... They got over the line. It was a scruffy game. What was the issue for them there?

30:39I just think the way Paraguay played. I think they just made it foul after foul after foul, and sometimes you just have to get through. It won't be like that today. Morocco were going to have to defend, but as Naden rightly said, it's not a case if Hakimi can pick up Douay or Hakimi can pick up Killian, because then they'll just swap over, and then it's Elise on one side, then it's Dembele on the right, and it's Dembele on the left. and that's what I like, the fluidity, the mobility of the players and I think they're going to have to have a bad day, an off day, France to not get through today because if they play like anything we have seen them play and that front four click and at least they haven't even scored a goal yet and waiting for that to happen I can't see anybody beating France even the likes of Spain and stuff like that what I've seen, I just think France have got that little bit of of an X factor that will always, always get them over the line If Mbappe has an off day, at least they'll have an on day.

31:32Or a Dembele will. And somebody else will take the workload if somebody's not playing particularly well. So they're stock up from four years ago? I think they're better than four years ago. Are Argentina stock up or stock down? No, I think Argentina is stock down. I think they're older. I think they're not, you know, I think that they play very narrow, Argentina. I don't, listen, they've got to where they are and they're good. But Leo's whatever he is. Rodrigo de Paul's not playing. I've seen, you know, I've seen what they've done. And I just think France, you can only have one winner. And I just think France are the best team that I've seen so far.

32:01What were you laughing at, Frank? Oh, that was me. Colin, excuse me. I can hear some chuckling going on. Colin, what were you laughing at? That was me. I was chuckling because I was looking at Macca just talking about, you know, how France, they've gotten back in the world. They can hurt you in so many ways. And I think that Morocco have become so disciplined that it's going to take something of real quality to beat them. And that's why I was chuckling, because when Maka was talking, I just remember that goal he scored against Celtic, I think, was it 1997? Again, in the UEFA Cup. And I think that's exactly the kind of thing that France would need, that kind of quality individual goal from, say, either Ulisse, Dembele, or probably Mbappe, to beat this Morocco side, who unfortunately are missing their star striker Ismail Saibari.

32:51And that's already, maybe one would say, a huge disadvantage to Morocco. but they're a collective. And like I said, they can shape, shift to fit whatever is needed. So France will have to be, bring their A game to beat Morocco today. Yeah, very well said. I'm hearing the Emmy Awards have been in touch, by the way. Nadam Sandbox, I mean, absolutely phenomenal. Yeah. Come coach, you're on it. Listen, it's easy. You know what I mean? The rumor is you're on it every day. It's absolutely not. Every day. Every day. If it's to talk about France, I will do it every single day. It's the easiest job in the world.

33:20And you can watch Nadam Sandbox right here on ESPN FC tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern, following the France-Morocco game. Do join us on ESPN Plus. ESPN 2 later on tonight, 10 p.m. Eastern time. Let's see if Natum is as good when it comes to the bracketology. Putting these fellas to the test when we get back. Don't go anywhere, folks. ESPN FC continues.

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34:33España. It was my pick to begin with. I'm riding with Spain because if for no other reason, I am, as my wife likes to tell me all the time, stubborn. Do you know what? Do you know what? No! Oh! Oh, it's coming home. He's coming home. Finally. Here we go. I do think France is going to win again. I know. I'm sorry, Natum and Kay. But that is my decision. To do the right thing. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yay! There's a lot of England. There's a lot of England. There's a lot of England. Oh, man. So, Natum and Kay, of course, think it's coming home. I'm joined by former England international, a couple of Champions Leagues to your name at Real Madrid.

35:16Macca, let's get stuck in here and do out your bracket. Yeah, OK. All right, let's start with France, Morocco. France, Morocco. I'm going to go for France. OK, so France head to the semi-final. Who will they play? Spain or Belgium? I think they'll play Spain. Spain should be... I think Belgium have been very average and they should beat... OK. They should beat... So I'm going to go Spain, France, semi-final. Norway, England. I know where you're going here. Of course, I'm going to go with England. OK, into the semi-final they go. to beat Norway. And as much as I would like Switzerland to win, I'm going to choose Argentina.

35:46Okay. All right. I'd love an Argentina-England semifinal like we all would. And then we head to the semifinals. Here we go. France-Spain. Here we go. I would go for France to beat Spain. I think Spain, I know Yasebel's done well, but I think they do lack a little focal point up front. So France, and then I'm going to go for England. I think England will beat an aging Argentina. They'll have too much for them on the day. All right. Here we go. Please, little. Final. With my head. Oh, you're joking me. Are you serious? You've got England to lose. I want England to win, but we're here to do a job.

36:25Wow. Choose with my head, not my heart. So I'm going to go for France. Hey, Frank Leboeuf, you must love the sound of that. France winning the World Cup, according to Macca. Let's get stuck in with your bracket, starting with France-Morocco. Frank. France. France. Oh, no way. No analysis needed. Spain, Belgium, Frank. Yeah, no discussion. Spain, no discussion. No discussion. Go ahead. OK, all right. You heard it here, folks. Norway, England. Yeah, be careful. Norway. Yeah, baby, the Vikings. Yeah. Tain him off. Tain him off. Love that from you, Frank. Yeah, yeah. Argentina, Switzerland. Switzerland.

37:07Yes. Yes! Wow! That's a semi-final between Norway and Switzerland. All right, Frank, here we go to the semi-finals. France against Spain. France, for sure. For sure. It will be difficult, but for sure. Norway, Switzerland. And Norway. Oh, okay. Norway. Okay. Wow. All right, what have you got, Frank? I wonder how the final's going to go. The big one, July 19th. I can't believe he's going to choose Norway. I know. You know what I'm going to pick. France. France, of course. France is winning the World Cup. So, Colin, over to you. Great stuff there from Frank Leboeuf. Of course, picking France to win it.

37:50Colin, France, Morocco? Morocco. Morocco. Well done, Colin. Well done. That's what we like. That's what we like. Okay. Spain, Belgium, Colin. Ah, Spain. Okay. We've got a Spain-Morocco semifinal. Norway-England, Colin. Look, I'm going with Frankie and Norway. Colin, get off. Get off, Colin. Norway. Norway. Norway to the semifinals of the World Cup. It's our first time back at the World Cup for the first time this century. Argentina-Switzerland. Argentina, they've struggled against Calvertis, struggled against Egypt, and I'm going with Switzerland. Ooh. Wow. Another. Wow. Norway Switzerland. This is incredible.

38:35Make sure you put your money with the bookies, Colin. You'll win a fortune. All right, Colin, take it away. Spain, Morocco. Are you picking an African side to make it to the final for the first time? Morocco. If you want to get past France, Morocco are going to get past Spain. You're thinking Morocco make it to the final. Love that shout. And Morocco in the final will play? Norway. Norway. What a final. What a final that is. Okay. Yeah. Who takes it? We've only ever had eight nations win the World Cup. Norway, Morocco have obviously never won it. Who do you have winning the grand showpiece here?

39:12Norway or Morocco? Norway, unfortunately. I would love to win the World Cup. I did all that. Norway. That is amazing. Here we go. I'm going to give this a rattle and see what happens here. Don't judge me too harshly, folks. Morocco beat France and Spain. France, Morocco in the semifinal. And they're going to lose against Norway. I have France. I have France heading to the semi-finals where they will play Belgium. Wow! I've got a little bit underwhelmed by what I saw from Spain. I've also got Norway taking down England. Kev the Irishman, who would have thought? I am an Irishman but I love my son's favourite player in the world now is Erling Haaland.

39:51And Argentina will have enough to get by Switzerland. Here we go to the semi-final stage. I am picking France to make it to the final. You've got Belgium beating Spain and not France in the end. I'm picking Norway. Wow. Norway. Here we go. France against Norway in the World Cup final. And that is where the dream ends for Norway. So in the end, we get to France winning again. What do you reckon, man? No, I think you and Colin were ridiculous, to be honest. You're not coming back in the world. All right, you can see everyone's picks in full on last night's show. Go and check them all out. ESPN+.

40:31When we come back, we're diving in on my favorite topic, food. Don't go anywhere. It's Bobby Flay's flavors next.

40:45Welcome back in, folks. Now with the World Cup now at the quarterfinal stages, rather than just discussing the football on the field, let's go through some of the world's most popular culinary dishes. Food Network chef Bobby Flay sat down with Alexis Nunes and our own Ali Krieger here to go through some of the favorites. Bon appetit.

41:04Hey, everybody. I'm Bobby Flay here in New York City. I have my friend, chef, Sam Hazen's restaurant, Palladino's Steak and Seafood, with some World Cup cuisine match-ups.

41:18All right, guys, let's talk about favorites now, because going into the World Cup, the favorites, of course, are France. Cannot exclude España. Spain. Then you've got Argentina. And then finally, you have England. always amongst the favorites. How does each country's cuisine fare on the table? This is for France. Oh! And obviously you gotta do French onion soup for France. Some delicious Gruyere cheese and a wonderful onion soup. Enjoy. Smells delicious. Does it get more French than that, Bobby? It starts with the name French onion soup. It's wonderful, you know, it's like beef broth, some chicken broth, it's low and slow.

41:53Lots of caramelized onions, a crouton that's been nicely toasted, and then lots of melted Gruyere cheese on top. It's rich, it's flavorful, it's technical. Like I feel like just like the French team. Let's see what Spain brings. For Spain, Tortilla Espanyol and the tomats, the delicious tomato salad. Wow. So this is basically an egg dish, like a frittata that they have in Italy. Speaking of Italy, where is the Italian food? I know. We want the Italians on the pitch, but we also want their food. There's potatoes and there's peppers and a little bit of bacon. So it's like harder shell and then on the inside it's super soft.

42:30Silky. Silky. Reminds me of Spanish team as well. Silky smooth. Spain gave us the tiki-taka sexy champagne football as well as the fact that they have La Minha Mal. I will say I love Barcelona. I mean for sure. Argentina, three World Cups. Leino Messi. This is his favorite dish. Milanesa? Yeah, of beef. We have some pickled peppers and some chimichurris on the bottom. Enjoy. Delicious. Pounded beef that's been breaded, Milanese style. Uh-oh. I see it in the eyes. Yes. I see it in the eyes. Defending champion. It's festive, but it's also soulful. But the sauce just puts it over the top. The chimichurri.

43:12The chimichurri. I feel like chimichurri is such a deep part of Argentinian cuisine. It's everything. It's their steak sauce. Would you go as far as to say that Argentina can repeat? When we're talking about the field, then yes. Yeah. When Messi is on the field, a lot of defenders are drawn to him, which then opens up space for other players to get into. I really like Enzo Fernandez as well. Yeah. Feisty. He's very feisty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what South American football is in it. All right, we will see what England brings to the table. Wow. Sunday roast? A little Sunday roast, yeah. This is beef fat Yorkshire, so with the beef drippings from the beef, honey carrots, roasted potatoes, and this is for Sir Bobby Charlton.

43:53Fresh horseradish, yes. Roasted prime rib, some potatoes, some root vegetables, some baby carrots, and then Yorkshire protein. Is it tasting like a favorite? This is one of my favorites of the day. It's smoky. Oh, it's juicy. Smoky. The sauce with the horseradish gives it like that extra pizzazz. Yeah, kick. Could this be England's year? How long has it been since the 60s? Yes, 1966. 1966, that's a long time ago. Worse than the Knicks winning a championship. That was 73. I know that one very well. Could you imagine if they won it after all this time, what would happen in England? I mean, it would be amazing.

44:33All right, so we have our four favorites now, representing four favorite countries to win the World Cup. Ali, let me start with you first. Who wins it all? The flavor of the chimichurri mixed in with the meat, I think for me, just was phenomenal. All right, Bobby, so on the pitch now, who would you pick as the winner? I'm going to go with Spain. Hot smoked paprika. Hot smoked paprika. España. Demon's own. Exactly.

45:04I'm hearing the Frank Leboeuf is absolutely fuming right now. The Frenchman in New York City. Your reaction, Frank, is what? I don't know. Why did you pick the onion soup, the French onion soup? We don't eat that anymore. You know, it's been like 50 years that we didn't eat that. Sorry, I think you had to go through that experience. You know, I invited Macca at Le Mazet in West Hartford, the restaurant, and you have the beautiful boeuf bourguignon, which is a beef stew. That's something different, you know, and it cannot compare to anything else. I'm sorry. You should have picked that one. Well, that's probably why I didn't have a choice.

45:43I just ate what was in front of me. That was on the chef. That was not on me. Bang out of order, Frank. Sorry for your soup. Poor Ali Krieger. She just got fed. Yeah, I know. Sorry, Ali. I could barely get a word in because I was eating everything in that show. What did you make of that prime rib? It looked decent. It did look very good, didn't it? I'm with Frank, though. Fancy putting French onion soup out like that. That's a terrible dish, isn't it, really, to choose from? It was actually really good. It was very tasty. Good stuff. Well, great content from you guys out there. That's for sure.

46:13I want to be invited next time. Yeah. That looked absolutely phenomenal. Hey, big thanks to Colin and to Frank LeBouf for joining us here today. If you want more action, do not miss a beat. The NWSL, Sunday, 4 p.m. Eastern time. It is the Cascadia Rivalry Alley. We can't wait for this one. Seattle taking on Portland. Atlanta's been buzzing right now. I had a chance to catch up with these lunatics. The Argentine friends and a little dish for Steve.

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48:06We'll be right back. my pub there, the Irish exit as well. What's it called? The Irish exit! The Irish pub! These were the vibes. Check it out. When Argentina comes back to Atlanta, they'll be a big problem for England. You better watch out. Thomas hosting, he's from England. The three lions will never come home. You'll never have a chance again because Argentina is going to win the third one. We don't have an English breakfast here on the men UK but we do have our main man Pierce has a Stevie breakfast we've got a coke coke and tato Stevie ready to go coke and tato ready for Stevie I want to get Stevie Nickel sitting at the bar here at the Irish exit one day oh we love you Stevie and this is your well-documented diet Mackey you played with Stevie yes I did yes true I think it was true actually but he was the most incredible footballer he'll probably tell you better than what he um what he used to consume I mean, 6 to 6.30, the fish and chips and beans, that's not enough.

49:05Back he goes to the kitchen at 9 o 'clock, club sandwich, pot of tea, pint of Coke. Wait, he can't have eight bags of crisps today. He surely not. Considering how good he was, if that's his formula, then more power to him. Yeah, we saw Messi's diet. You know what he eats earlier on in the show? I just can't believe the amount of crisps. I mean, look at you. The can of Coke. I mean, trisps and then potatoes as well in between. You've got to put it on a sandwich though, no? Well, of course. A big piece of it. On a sandwich. I'd say you were disciplined. Dependent. Dependent who we're playing against.

49:40Hey, cheers for allowing me here in the studio with you guys. To Colin, to Frank, to Natum, Stevie, and of course Ali as well. I'm Kev. Take care, folks. We'll see you a little bit later on. Enjoy France-Morocco.

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