World Cup: Kasper Schmeichel On Scotland's Chances

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1:06Discover the V-Series lineup at cadillac.com. The Football Daily Podcast at the People World Cup 2026 with Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith. Hello and welcome to the Football Daily with me, Rick Edwards, and this gentleman, Lloyd Griffith. The headlines from... Hello. Oh, yeah, sorry. Can I do that again or are you happy with that? I'm happy, yeah. Didn't think the hello was a little bit late? No. Okay. The headlines from today. Scotland beaten 3-0 by Brazil. That means they finished third in their group. Still have got a chance to qualify. Brazil topped that group. Morocco finished second. Switzerland beat Canada 2-1 to top group B.

1:46Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1 to secure third place in that group. South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 to finish second in that group. It's not a great result for Scotland, actually, because it means that South Korea finished third with a better goal difference than Scotland. Mexico have topped the group, winning all three of their games. They're the only team to do that so far. They beat Chechia 3-0. Now, we have actually just finished a lovely chat with Kasper Schmeichel. Oh, what a lovely man. Really nice man. Came out to our house. when he arrives, see, handshakes. Truthfully, the firmest handshake I've ever experienced.

2:25And everyone has agreed with that. Oh, have they? Absolute crime. Oh, you've had harder, have you? Didn't. Like a vice. Yeah, you didn't notice. It was just two goalkeepers shaking hands. But I guess for you, essentially, you know, at the hand of a grandpa. A civilian. A civilian. A civilian grandpa. A hand of a grandpa. Yeah, it just felt like a normal handshake to me. It did feel like my hand was sort of turning to dust in his grip. Yeah, it's painful. Bless you. Thank you. The other thing was, the only brief I think I gave you before the interview, because I knew you'd be excited because you love goalkeepers.

2:56Love them. And I just said, whatever you do, don't start showing him all your photos of goalkeeper gloves. Yes. And at the end of the interview, what did you do? Well, we were just chatting about gloves. And he was, you know, because the conversation... I don't think he brought the gloves up, did he? No, he did. He did, actually. Did he? Yeah, because we'll hear later. but he talked about getting gloves sent over from Germany and he seemed to know quite a lot. So I was like, are you into your gloves? Yeah, I am actually. Is he into his gloves? Yeah, I think he might be. Well, you never know. I know goalkeepers that don't care.

3:27They just, I don't care. Just as long as they're white. I'll wear gardening gloves. We've seen it. I mean, not for a few hundred years, but we've seen it. And then I was like, look, actually, I'm a bit of a goalkeeping glove nerd as well. And I showed him the photos of a lot of gloves. I've got a lot of his dad's old gloves, which I've spent far too much of my future children's inheritance on eBay, just trying to get them. So, honestly, you couldn't stop us. We were just like comparing gloves. Couldn't stop you. Well, we were just comparing. He was looking over at Lizzie. No, no. He was in like, he was like, wow, look at this legend.

3:58That's what he said. He'd go, wow, look at this guy. Have you seen his gloves? Yeah, and actually, we've got quite a few. I said, I've got quite a few of your dad's gloves. And he went, yes, have I? Yeah, it was good. And I was like, oh, okay. Well, I mean, yeah. what a creepy thing to say to a man I've got quite a few of your dad's gloves yeah obviously just take that in isolation that is an insane thing to say to someone if his dad was a surgeon very weird I've got some of your dad's gloves yeah but that's fine he's a gold I didn't say it like that you just did a bit you tapped it on the knee I didn't tap it I would not have done it on the knee I've got a load of your dad's gloves that's what you did and then you showed him photos of them yeah I did and then also I realised that there was a few photos and then there were just pictures of his dad, who is Peter Schmeichel, obviously.

4:44And I was like, he's like, oh, I was just picturing your dad there. I was like, oh God, that does feel a bit creepy, actually. I actually, I couldn't handle it, I had to leave you to it. I used to send Peter Schmeichel Christmas cards every year up until about two years ago. Well, let's get Caspar back and tell him that. I thought that was, the glove's fine, but I can't. I've got loads of Percy and Dad's gloves and I used to send him Christmas cards. I did used to send, not one, but he didn't send it back, but I mean, I'm busy keeping clean sheets and winning trophies. So you keep going, Peter.

5:16But Kasper, lovely man. Really nice man. Immediately after we finished, I don't know if it was Kasper saw the table tennis table. No, it was producer Lizzie that said, do you want to play table tennis with a little fat bloke? You obliged. And you went and played table tennis. I was the referee. He was, I'll be honest, he was not, I thought he was going to be brilliant because sports people tend to be brilliant at everything. He wasn't brilliant. you had him on the ropes you were 10-8 up two match points I did say something about your mental weakness and then you crumbled and you lost two words, Bruce Grumbler I let him win it you had a brown paper bag from him I let him win it you've been saying that for the last hour and there was nothing about your game that looked like you were throwing it everyone is shaking their head We've got video evidence.

6:08Yes, we have got video evidence. You didn't throw it. We've seen it in every table tennis game you've played. The same thing happens. You get a bit ahead and then you crumble. And you did it against Kasper Schmeichel. He has a shoulder injury. And I thought, do you know what would really cheer him up? Beating me at table tennis. And I made that lad's dream come true. So, lovely man. I don't think he's going to be telling that anecdote. I don't think he's going to be telling anyone that he came around here, to be fair. Well, he might say something about the dad's gloves bit. What else are we doing later on in the podcast?

6:40We're going to answer some of your questions. We're going to do a Q &A. Not my questions. Listener questions. Listener questions. You've been very kind and sent a load in, so we'll rattle through some of those. But now, let's dive in to Kasper Schmeichel. Not literally. Well, the first person we've invited over to our shared house is Premier League winner, two-time Scottish Premiership winner, Kasper Schmeichel. Thanks for coming over. Thank you. thanks for the invite it's a nice place isn't it it's a lovely little place you've got here we've lucked out right in the sun it's beautiful just obviously ignore all the socks drying over there please that's just admin that's life admin that's going on we actually live it producer Lizzie about 10 minutes before he turned up she went are you going to move them socks and he was like no I think I'll just keep them in the corner well yeah I popped them and you can barely notice them had you not mentioned them we wouldn't have noticed them that's a good point actually pretend I didn't mention them please that's true let's talk about the Scotland Brazil game that we just watched two colossal mistakes in the first half i mean one which yeah eventually was was chalked off but i mean what a horrible horrible way to start and poor old mckenna as well coming in and that in your first 10 minutes that was tough it's tough it was tough to watch it was always going to be tough against brazil let's let's be honest uh they are one of the favorites to win the tournament you've got the added heat and humidity of Miami.

8:01There's so many things that I felt were stacked against Scotland for this game that they were going to need a monumental performance to get something from the game. But I think any team will always think, just don't give them anything. Make them earn it. I was always of the opinion, I hated losing, but as long as you give everything and you're not handing them anything, then you could accept it better than if it happened like that. You mentioned the conditions. I mean, we noticed that even the Brazilians were drenched through. Everyone looked absolutely goosed. And I don't know, and that's obviously going to affect the way the game goes.

8:37Well, it is. I mean, I remember playing both in Qatar and even in Russia, the World Cup in Russia. We played in, where was it, Samara and Saransk. And I was the keeper. But I was absolutely drenched. I mean, I do remember times when I've played in, even when I played like in south of France, you know, having 38, 40 degree heat there, thinking, how are these outfielders doing it? Like, because I'm absolutely wet through here, just standing here. But there's no question that the conditions, they play a massive part. And particularly when you play a tournament like this, that is across so many vast areas and you've got places like Mexico, you know, six, I think seven and a half thousand feet above sea level.

9:20you know the the air is thinner there and then you go to Miami and you have the the humidity and the heat that there's so many things that can affect that and then you go and play in like for example you play in Dallas and and uh yeah I was in Dallas uh last for the England game and inside it was lovely and cool we actually had wearing jackets because it was it was not it was a bit chilly and you go outside and it's like there's no way you could play a football game in in in that heat so there are teams that are more suited players that are used to playing in that kind of heat compared I mean it's not exactly Scottish weather in Miami is it so it is definitely more difficult I think it's a cliche isn't it as well to say oh you know can the Scots deal with the heat it's not exactly Paisley or you know Fife but there was a few of the Scottish lads and their faces were just red they were bright red from the off bright red they look like cartoons and you just think well how are you dealing with obviously the Brazilians you know you expect they've grown up with it but you could just see the Scottish lads be like this is a bit much quite a lot in it I'm just in awe a lot of the time of the level of fitness that players have these days and how they can keep going.

10:22The intensity that they do is really, really impressive. And then on top of that, you add altitude, you add heat, you add humidity, all those things. It just becomes even more impressive, I think. Just going back to the mistakes, psychologically, particularly when you make a mistake early in the game, how do you get your head right? How do you not let that affect you? for the rest of the day? It is really difficult. It is a skill and it is something that you need to learn, which is why all the way through your youth years, if you've had a good upbringing through academies, you'll have been subjected to failure and you'll have been subjected to having to deal with things that are out of your control sometimes and you have to accept them.

11:11And those learnings from an early age, as long as you keep having them, and you're exposed to the fact that you can fail and failure isn't the end of the world through your career you'll learn that you're never going to play a perfect game and mistakes will happen if you're a goalkeeper and a defender if you make mistakes more than likely it's going to lead to a chance or a goal you just got to put that to one side but you can only do that having experienced it before so i think someone as experienced as again don't get me wrong the first two or three minutes after it will be in your head. But yeah, it will.

11:48But you don't want to follow up with another one. You know what I mean? So I always find in any sport or in any elite profession, it's not about making a mistake. It's about how do you react after the mistake. And I think the ones that react the best, they're the ones who actually have the ability to not care in the moment. Don't get me wrong. After the game, you'll have all those feelings. But in the moment, you've just got to move on. Psychologically, I was just thinking, it's got them 3-0 down. chasing the game really, although knackered, so not able to chase it that hard, and then Neymar comes on.

12:21You must just think, oh come on, give it a rest lads. Well, I mean, this is the thing sometimes with these massive nations that just have huge strength and depth, you know. I remember we played a game in Moscow against France where we needed a draw and they were already through and they'd rested quite a few players and then 15 minutes ago you see Mbappe warming up you think come on oh come on but that's the thing about these nations and you know you have nations like Scotland like Denmark of 5 million people coming up against nations of 300 million people but that's international football and the challenge with any sport is that can you rise above those things so you see different ways of approaching the game we saw England yesterday come up against Ghana you know was it pretty?

13:09No. But what do you expect them to do? Do you want them to come and be expansive and just be open to England's attacks? Of course not. So you've got to find other ways. So the smaller teams or the smaller countries can compete against the bigger countries. We're not always going to be able to do it but you've got to find different ways. We were saying, weirdly, for a game that you've lost 3-0, Angus Gunn had a really good game. He did. Sometimes they are the games keepers you have good games even though you lose and it means nothing at the end of the day to you when you come off the pitch you know you'd rather never touch the ball at all and nick the 1-0 win but sometimes that's the life of a goalie I mean and even having said all that you know Alisson makes two really good saves yeah I like the fact they kept going because that makes a difference in the in the in the standing for the best threes it's not great to lose 3-0 in that in that sense but I like the fact that they kept going and you're up against a very good goalkeeper though It's worth knowing Angus Gunn hadn't played a game all season.

14:09He played one game, I think, for Nottingham Forest. And I was looking at the stats of the other goalkeepers in the Scottish national team and all three goalkeepers, I think they've got a handful of games between them this whole season. So, I mean, fair play to Angus Gunn for coming in, having not really played and the next thing you have to do is play in a World Cup when you're against, you know, Neymar. Is it worrying, though, for the Scottish national team that actually they haven't really got depth in the goalkeeping department? The thing about goalkeeping sometimes is that as long as you've played a lot of games in your younger years, that experience, that can get you through certain situations.

14:43Now, don't get me wrong, it's not ideal going into a World Cup, but you can get through it. I mean, we had examples of Craig Gordon, for example. Craig Gordon, he came in for hearts a couple of times. I mean, Craig Gordon made save of the season. I mean, it was the most ridiculous against Dundee. But again, he hasn't played all season, but he's still able to do that. And you see Angus today still able to do those things. But I think that maybe goalkeeper is the one department where you can get away with it. So match fitness is not such an issue for goalkeepers? I think with goalkeepers, I wouldn't call it match fitness.

15:14I'd call it match sharpness. It's match sharpness. There's no question that there are elements of games, if you aren't playing regularly, that will need tuning up and fine tuning. Because you can train all day long and training is great. But it's nowhere near match tempo. It's nowhere near match situation. and the thing about goalkeeping is it's about decisions and it's mental. It's not physical in the same way. So all those little decisions you have to make constantly, you can make them in training because there's no consequence. But once there's a consequence on, do you freeze or are you able to do that?

15:44And that's where the experience then kicks in. There's quite a few goalkeepers in this World Cup that are world-class that we're just not going to see. David Rea, Lemons, who I called Lemons earlier, Yeah, if I would say. Edison, you know, three incredible goalkeepers all at the top of their game that we're just not going to see. How do they keep themselves sharp? And also, how do you not get annoyed, especially in Raya's situation? If I'm Raya, I'm absolutely fuming. You say Raya? Yeah. I say Raya. That's just... You say Lemons and he's got Lemons. Yeah, that's true, yeah. Probably go with me.

16:13But he's had an unbelievable season, hasn't he? Like, with what he's done at Arsenal. And then Unai Simons, I mean, just had an average season. But again, are you looking for consistency with the Spanish team? I think if I'm the Spanish coach, you know, he's probably thinking he's got a lot of headaches. Does he need the headache of swapping goalkeepers now? You know, if it's not broke, don't fix it. I mean, don't forget when I see him on one of the Euros with Spain, you know, so it's not like you've got, you know, a complete novice in there. You've got a European champion in your goal. And also they have a history.

16:42He was his coach from a young age. And I think particularly the manager-goalkeeper relationship, in my experience, managers, they don't want to think about the goal. They just want to know he'll do his job. I've got 10 players and plus the bet. I've got a lot to think about. I just need you to do your job. Is that why so many goalkeepers are nuts? Because you're just left to your own devices. They're just like you over there on your own. Well, no, because that's not how we train. People say goalkeepers are crazy. And I'll agree with that. Because you are crazy if you accept that level of responsibility.

17:14Right. Then you're crazy. That's that pressure on you. Then you're crazy. If you thrive on knowing any mistake can cost your entire country, then yes. then you're crazy. But that is why there's only one of us on the pitch. But then surely you flip it, the buzz, when you're the last line of defense. And you just save the... You thrive on it. That pressure, that is the best pressure I've ever known. There's no better feeling in the world than standing in the goal in a World Cup, wherever you are in the world, and knowing that everyone at home in your country is watching this game. Everyone's up at whatever time it is.

17:54Everyone is sat there. Every person you know, everyone you've gone to school with, every teacher you've ever had, anyone you've ever had, they're all watching. They're all watching that game, and everyone is together wanting us to win. That feeling is the absolute pinnacle of football for me. One of the things that we know about goalkeepers, and you've just mentioned, is so much of it is mental. And Alisson, I think, was a really good example of that today because basically he had nothing to do until then suddenly he had something to do. And to keep that sharp for 90 minutes in a game that is relatively easy for you, it's tough, right?

18:30There's no easy games. There are no easy games. Do you know what? They're actually the hardest ones. You mentioned Angus Gunn there. The ones where you have a lot to do, you're just in it. It's a bit like a training session in the sense there's constant, constant work. The ones where you have, you'll say nothing to do, for me, that's the ones where the top keepers, they separate themselves from the elite. That's kind of what I mean. because he's got nothing to do and yet somehow he still maintains that level. But that's what he's conditioned and coached to do. And again, I'll go back to what I said before about the mistake for McKenna.

19:03Can you get to a point where you don't feel consequence anymore? You don't feel the consequences of mistakes anymore. You just go and make decisions and do what you do and you're not scared of what's going to happen. The second you become scared as a goalkeeper of the consequences, then you become tentative. And then you become tentative and uptight, then you cause yourself problems. And the other side of it is, can you accept that you don't have anything to do? Because you'll have goalkeepers that will go looking for work. They need to get involved in the game. They need to feel involved in the game.

19:34So you've got to devise strategies in your own head, whatever you need to do to feel like you're involved in the game. Now, people probably won't realize how much running some keepers actually do, but they do it to stay involved, to feel like they're in the game. We might have the ball up the other end. obviously nobody's watching the keeper there but he'll be moving with the team and he'll be doing that one to potentially be in the right position if they need it but also he'll be doing it to stay involved in the game because if you just stood there then yeah but that's when the mind can wander and again you're alone with your thoughts if you've made a mistake after 10 minutes as a keeper and you're alone with your thoughts there that's a dangerous place to be because what will then happen is you'll want to rectify the mistake but as a keeper you can't do that You can't rectify a mistake.

20:20Now an outfielder, if he's having a bad game, he can run around or he can tackle or he can try and make something happen. As a keeper, you have to wait for something and you have to accept. You might not be able to do anything about what's coming to you. And that's a skill to accept in your own mind. I've had a few people, a few goalkeepers that I've interviewed in the past, talk about the line where they basically just follow the ball, like the whole way, wherever it goes, just to keep them in the game. I need to be connected to that ball the whole time, so I'll just move. So I just know that wherever that ball goes, I'm going, and I'm just ready for it.

20:52Because, I mean, I'll be thinking about dinner, what I'm having tonight. But again, like I say, everyone finds their own way. I mean, if you take the example, for example, my dad. My dad used to shout a lot. If you ask Gary Pallister or Steve Bruce what he was shouting, I don't think he'll know what he was shouting. Is that it again? No, but what I mean, that was for him to stay involved in the game. That was his way of staying involved in the game. I played with David Seaman. David Seaman was the complete opposite. He would just stand and he had a completely different zen about him. He was just cool, calm and collected.

21:21And, you know, you have keepers doing all sorts of things, but it's to stay involved and to stay focused, to stay sharp. And particularly the other thing about that is if you are playing in different climates, when you're playing in the cold, for example, it can be cold being a keeper, so you also got to keep moving. You've got your gloves on. That helps. They're wet, so they're freezing. David Seaman told me a lovely story. He said the only distraction he used to get was, because he's a keen fisherman, like sometimes if the turf was torn up, he'd see worms and be like, oh, that's a good bit of bait.

21:50Which I thought was funny. What's semen doing down there? Just putting him in his glove bag, a glove bag of worms. Love that.

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23:10Five lights for... Hello, I'm Alistair Bruce Ball, and I'll be commentating on the World Cup for the BBC this summer. There's a commentator favorite World Cup moment. France 4, Argentina 3 in Russia 2018. Amazing goal from Benjamin Pavard in that game on the half volley. Pavard with the right hand. Unbelievable! Unbelievable goal! What makes the World Cup such a special tournament? It's its exotic nature. I think particularly as a kid, it just seemed to happen in far off lands that you'd only ever dreamt about or heard about. The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds. The Football Day at the People World Cup 2026.

23:53with Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith, live from LA.

23:59You will have spent time at Celtic, just thinking back to Scotland, with Kieran Tierney and Roustan. Have they told you stuff about the Scotland group, the Scotland team, and how confident they were going into this tournament? No, because they'd be us. They refused to tell me anything. They refused to tell me. I was trying to probe and everything, but they weren't letting anything out. No, I mean, I know a lot of the players in the Scotland squad, I think that their biggest strength is their collective. They're just good, honest professionals. And what they have is they have a togetherness and they have that with the fans.