John McGinn unscrews the world | 2026 FIFA World Cup

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3:36Run up your ribs, Scotland victorious, Brazil as shit Welcome to the Football Ramble, it's Sunday 4 in the June I'm Pete Donaldson I'm Jim Campbell And I'm the douche of the Hunter Archer

3:58I think we've said it every single show this week but now we're up and running Brazil have started playing football come on a home nation is doing their businesses absolutely and Vish is wearing New York New York knickers I know are you wearing New York knickers I am wearing my New York knickerbockers yeah they won for the first time in 30 years 60 years 50 50 years somewhere in the middle congratulations thank you I did my bit in typical fashion much like a lot of people not a lot of people some of the people you might have seen at the Arsenal Parade I don't actually support the New York Knicks I just fucking love this jumper that's for all of you who jump in on the bandwagon all of you Scotland fans

4:38Jim Campbell: who've been looking forward to hearing about your first World Cup victory since 1990 what's Vish found in a charity shop is taking taking the headlines steady steady steady a charity shop in Manchester. Thank you. Authentic. Hello to the regions. If you've been thinking about joining our pitch and then now is the perfect time to get involved with running a 75 % discount on your first month's membership right now. What? I've not been informed about this. People have mouths to feed. So you have the authority to do this or are you just making it up? Yeah, I'm just saying it. I'm just saying it now.

5:13It has to be happening from now on. You can't bootleg your own show. Exactly. so you get ad-free rambles for only$1.25 throughout the whole World Cup you'll also get episodes to our exclusive Ramblin' Cut episodes every single week as well as early access to tickets and merchandise all for a little over a dollar this month so just head to pitching.com forward slash football ramble become a friend of the ramble and remember use the code World Cup 26 that's World Cup 26 at checkout so gentlemen at 2am in old money and new money I'm sure you've stood on your sofas belling out Flower of Scotland which was amazing it is a banger it is a banger amazing God Save the King sucks ass I thought you were just

5:56Jim Campbell: just sneaking that in there like what would Marcus do right now God Save the King moving on you're sat in the the cursed chair the cursed chair of nationalism yeah Haiti vs Scotland both sides were properly going for this Jim Campbell in a perfect world they probably would have liked things all and run away at Scotland. But Haiti weren't having any of it, were they? Yeah, I mean, Luke was saying recently, he wasn't here, that Haiti actually looked pretty good and that proved to be the case. They were very, very up for it, very physical. They asked a lot of questions of Scotland. Couldn't get their heads together in front of Gaul Law.

6:29No, that was it, wasn't it?

6:30Jim Campbell: They did so much good work. It was a bit nosebleedy, but that chance at the end that Haiti had, every letter of my surname was rattling with anxiety at that moment. I felt the Scottish DNA inside me going, No! Me too. And obviously it wasn't to be for Haiti, but a fantastic, fantastic moment for Scotland, a fantastic win. We were talking about it in the WhatsApp group the whole time, obviously, and the general feeling was that Scotland have those players that have got a moment in them, like Scott McTominay or John McGinn. And obviously John McGinn's goal itself was actually, you know, it took a big deflection, but there were some moments of quality in it.

7:09Jim Campbell: Chad Adams' touch and Ben Ganondoke's work as well was really, really good. It was enough of a moment of quality in that move that Scotland got what they needed. And then they were good to keep Haiti out. When John McGinn plants his feet, nothing's moving him. You're going to need a JCB to just dig up the earth underneath him. You're not getting his feet out of that pitch. To fell him. He almost has that. When he roots himself, it's like a corkscrew. You know when the man's hands go up as you twist it? Yes, yeah. It's a little bit like that. that's the way to if you want to uncork the world just get John McGinn to plant his feet and be just spinning like that or a pig during copulation I believe they have to unscrew them tell us to get out I had to bring it up because Corkscoe wasn't dirty enough because otherwise we would have got comments saying well why haven't you mentioned the pig's penis Corks the pig's curved penis John McGinn over Ryan Christie was a big shout but you'd probably say that he like you say he was good he was important McGinn's one of your big players isn't he I think you need to have him there in the opener as good as Ryan Christie is and I think that this World Cup is going to be much like the league is now where people people use the bench you know you can change half your team so just because someone isn't going to start doesn't mean there isn't a plan for them to make an impact I think and Christie was good when he came on in terms of keeping it together it was there was some really kind of blood and thundery defending at the end there wasn't there well I mean I think the big chance for a hit he was Isidore probably should have drawn his team level in the first half Gun spilled the ball Yeah He was ready Hit it but they managed To sort of clear it away It was Yeah I was the same as you I was like Oh this could get messy Well Piro's header At the end of the second half That was the big one He was busy Because he had so much He had so much time And You also had like a little Scrappy chance Just after the header as well But I feel like the The Ryan Christie thing Yeah like You know fine Go with John McGinn This game Go with him for the next games as well But I feel like you need a bit more In midfield because they're not going to, they didn't really keep the ball against Haiti.

9:14They're not going to do that against Morocco and Brazil. And actually, like, when you, I appreciate Scotland were sitting off them, but Haiti was so much quicker on the ball. Yeah. And there were moments where they were just going the long way around players to make space. And, you know, it's fine. Scotland had done a lot of running by that point. Like, we're talking about 80 odd minutes into the game. But, yeah, with a bit, you've kind of, you've basically said it, Jim, but a bit more thrust and composure in the final third and they're probably getting something from this game which is a credit to Haiti not necessarily a diss on Scotland but yeah it's a shame because it was it was exciting to see new players like experience left back had a good game and like just wouldn't stop running really fuck you off if you're if you were the right back there you know obviously we know Bellegarde it's probably quite disappointing but yeah they're definitely a team that in a different group you'd be able to really root for them yeah But I was kind of wanting Scotland to win.

10:12I was a bit like, just back off. I mean, against Morocco, you'd imagine Haiti would probably find it quite difficult because they're also quite quick in transition. Brazil? I mean, Haiti-Brazil? I mean, that's a great shout. That is a great shout. What's Castaneda and Firmino thinking, looking at that?

10:27Jim Campbell: They were pretty slow in midfield, weren't they? As you say, we'll come on to that. That might be a little upset. A little tot. Because as well, they are... God, when Brazil concede. the existential crisis is immediate isn't it they concede hard I mean what would you Jim what would you change if you were Steve Clark before Morocco just fewer tired legs I don't know where you're going to get this impetus from they were very dependent on the right hand side they were commentary in the first half didn't they but I don't think that's a bad thing because I think Ganondoke's a really good outlet and I thought he performed really really well he was very passionate he was honestly I don't think I would change much I think the approach will be different I think they will be trying, they'll be more about trying to nick a chance rather than going toe-to-toe, which I think they absolutely did in this game.

11:14Jim Campbell: I think that was the right approach and it was clearly proven to be the case. I think you know that you're an underdog going into a game like that against Brazil or Morocco if you're Scotland. So it's about really just kind of, I suppose, staying in the game early on, getting the lay of the land a little bit and trying to make it difficult for the opposition because every time we mentioned this game going into the tournament, everybody was saying the same thing, which is that Scotland have got to beat Haiti. It being Haiti, it being the first game, they'd be in this situation where that alone might be enough for you to qualify.

11:47Jim Campbell: They did that, and that's massive. Now, the scoreline wasn't massive, so that could be a problem later on, depending on how other teams do. But they've got the job done, and I think they did it well. They're acclimatised a little bit now. I think getting the opener out of the way is a big thing in terms of how you feel settled at a World Cup as well. So I think, to be honest, they've got to go into these games knowing they're the underdog with nothing to fear and just be hard to play against. Be horrible. Be bastards, you know? I mean, speaking of absolute bastards, Scotland, one of the first teams I've seen being punished for taking too long over a throw-in at the World Cup.

12:24That's already happened. Oh, was it? Right, OK. I must have missed it. They had a reversed throw. Right, OK. I think that it's coming it's coming to the Premier League it's coming to the leagues around the world are you for this Jim? yeah I think so keep the ball moving

12:40Jim Campbell: I support a team they've won their title do what you want with the Lord honestly though even as an Arsenal fan it's infuriating to see players taking so long and sometimes even getting booked it's like just come on I know that you're doing this for a way that benefits us that I can't see but chuck it come on this cost me 90 quid lads there's also the thing of very quickly like we've seen like the throw gets overturned doesn't happen again yeah it solves itself yeah people know that the referee is watching for it and you can sort of see you can see him counting as well which is very enjoyable yeah he shouldn't have been doing it on his hands though he should be a bit more right there wish he had a little little board yes exactly yeah no that's going to be that's going to be the biggest pocket watch now that you've said that.

13:30People are going to time it at home and be like, well, actually, it was four seconds when we were able to turn the throw. Yeah. I think it was, it definitely was this much. Because of these weird sort of time, different sort of late starts, I'm kind of worried that I'm blending sort of one match into another. But I think it was the Haiti Scotland match. A lot of windows behind the goal. A lot of like UPVC windows behind the goal. I do not care for that. If I was a striker going in on goal, I'd be scared I'd be smashing a window and having to pay 50 quid for a repain. No, but actually, you're looking at that all wrong

14:02Jim Campbell: because you're finally allowed to do that. Oh, right, yes. I mean, I used to play over a park where that was an issue and it was annoying, particularly for the person whose window we'd hit all the time and they'd come out and go, stop doing that. We were like, ah, fuck off, you nerd. Move your windows, nerd. Yeah, exactly. Knock. And obviously that person was in the right. But now you can do that, you know, with no consequences. That would free me, I think. that'd be really funny if one of them shot hit the window and all the players just ran off shit ran down the tunnel just after the impulse never to be seen again I saw that conditioning as a child but I mean in the stand I mean it was obviously two teams that haven't been in the World Cup for quite a while and just emotional scenes the state that their country is in so massive Haitian diaspora in the US and also Scotland just having an absolutely lovely time.

14:56It was the very best of the World Cup, wasn't it? Yeah, 100%. And I thought the football itself was a reflection of that. It's a meeting of styles. It's what it's about. I think my reticence to broadening the World Cup, more teams, was that we'd lower the floor. But actually, I feel like we've broadened the pool a bit. We're getting more of everything, if that makes sense. Certainly, obviously, it's still very early to call. there might end up being quite a few dead rubbers and in fact I expect there will be even with the you know the the passage for third place teams to get through but so far and we are only what four or five days into it it's been very enjoyable and when we we've had a meeting of styles and other groups as well you know South Korea and Czech Republic be another game yeah I don't think

15:44Jim Campbell: there's been apart from the Qatar Switzerland game that we'll come on to which and even that had kind of talking points in it not really been a truly bad game yet which is something people were worried about and as you say we're not too far in yet but there are also a decent number of games look at me when I say this Jim you wait till Wednesday

16:05Jim Campbell: what was your sleep strategy the pair of you I was making sure that the rest of the people on the WhatsApp knew that I'd made the effort I took a picture of myself in a Yucata dressing gown with Sammy the dog behind me. And yeah, so it was just kind of, it was setting alarms for me. I can go to sleep. I could go to sleep right now. I've had three coffees and a monster. And I could go to sleep right now and I'm fine with that. People, I don't think, you find it a bit harder to get to sleep, don't you? So you just sort of, you white-knuckled it right the way through. Yeah, because I figured having, I wanted to watch the Brazil-Morocco game.

16:43Jim Campbell: Oh shit, from then? Yeah, yeah. Did you watch the eight o 'clock game? Yeah. Oh, Jim. Wild. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to. We should have fun with this. We'll just keep going. Let's try and lend some money off him. I've had four hours sleep. Don't give him money. No, he means borrow. Sorry, borrow some money off me. I am an oik, guys. I am an oik. We should leverage against Jim to a bang, is what he says. Did you see that the, well, did you see, did you read about the East Renfrewshire Council? Yes. where Andy Roadsden grew up, has renamed itself East Robosher Council for the duration of the tournament.

17:23I love the idea of this because it's charming, but I hope they went really hard on it so that there are confused elderly people trying to access the URL for East Renfrewshire Council. Yeah, I hope so too. To sort the bins out, but you've got to type in eastroboshercouncil.org, whatever.

17:40Jim Campbell: Within a month's time, there'll be loads of legal stuff that just doesn't stand up anywhere. Sorry, that's... What is it? East Robbershire Council? It's like the purge up there. You can do whatever you want because it's a new council I've just made. Yeah, absolutely wild. Obviously, you mentioned this on the show yesterday, but Scotland fans took over Boston yesterday, including some who arrived at an Airbnb and started playing the bagpipes at 6.30am. Nice. Unwelcome. But they did manage to... There was that guy who was getting off the plane with a bottle of nice whiskey in a duty-free bag and said, I'm going to my digs digs and then I'm going out.

18:14I'm going to try and find Cheers the Bar, which is very enjoyable. Have you been to Cheers the Bar in Boston? No. Very underwhelming. I went to the one that was open in central London. Do you remember that? No. Awful. Awful. I don't remember that.

18:26Jim Campbell: Did they have people playing characters from it? No. It's just called Cheers Bar. It had the same signage. It's basically like central central London. I think it's kind of near Trocadero. Right. Or where that was. So tourist trappy. Yeah, very tourist trappy. What year was this? It would have been about, like, we're talking mid-2000s here. Yeah. Like early 2000s, yeah. Well, I mean, amazing. Amazing that they thought that that was acceptable in the year 2000s. Some of the Scottish fans managed to find the cop slide. There was that meme video going around where a children's slide. Residents had complained about it.

19:01Some police attacked. Why are the police again? I don't know. It seems to be like a council municipal matter to me. but police attended the scene and had a go to see how quick and violent this child's slide was that people complained about and they come this one guy just comes down like a fucking exocent missile absolutely smashing down the slide had they greased it or something? I don't know I think there was a rumour that they had when the police attended is that true? surely not but the other issue is I think they just do that all the time which is why police just attend slide issues Well, that as well.

19:37Jim Campbell: Just make up crimes to have a go on a slide. But there's like a real, it's sort of funny, but it's also like, just leave a playground alone. But there's just like various hazardous things they do in playgrounds. Right. Just to fuck up other people, other kids, essentially. Oh, right. Okay. But then greasing a slide is one of them, especially because that one's quite long. Long and tall. Yeah. Someone said about it that the slide is sentient and it determines whether your soul is pure. And it speeds it up. For the police, probably not. But for the bagpiper, pipist. Yeah, he was coming down very slowly.

20:16Billy Bagpiper, he had a lovely little... He had a lovely little slide.

20:20Jim Campbell: Yeah, the slide approved, clearly. Exactly, yeah. Maybe it was his buttocks that were kind of slowing him down because they obviously don't wear pants. I mean, it's just great to see. and I think video clips of policemen filming the Scotland fans, not for crowd safety reasons, just for, look at the fucking station! Look at this! We mentioned yesterday that a load of equipment, kit and boots were stolen from the England football team. Well, now it's been reported that the team chef triggered a security alert at a train station last week. He was carrying his chef knives and he was stopped before getting on the train to Orlando for England's friendly with Costa Rica.

20:57The squad also ordered to stay inside last night because of a tornado warning in Kansas City. If this was like, I don't know, like a less fancied kind of like South American or African team, we'd be like, oh, isn't that adorable? You know what I mean? They haven't got their shit together. No. But it feels like England haven't got their shit together. No, I think this is because, you know, the whole country,

21:18Jim Campbell: all three countries, FIFA, everyone's just running scared of us. They're nicking our equipment. They're not letting our chefs cut up the food. Harry Kane's controlling the weather. A chicken, which is just by himself. Bare hands. Isn't this the start of The Wizard of Oz? Basically, yeah. I see what they're doing. What do you mean? The tornado and stuff. In Kansas. Yeah. Oh, true. That's a good point, actually. They're trying to rattle us with The Wizard of Oz. Yeah, but we don't have any shoes to click our heels together. We'll fuck them up with Poppins, then. Exactly, yeah. Have you seen how big this bag is?

21:50Jim Campbell: Exactly. Have you seen how many of you have got all the equipment I need in here? Yeah. Steal as much as you like. All right, then. Well, coming up after this, Don Carlo and Brazil get underway and Australia pull off an unbelievable upset.

22:08Stop whistling, Vish.

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24:55Surda contra el ángulo! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my gosh. I don't believe it. What is this? What is this? There's nothing better than hearing someone swear in their second language. That's how you do it, Alexi Lallas. Exactly. Exactly. That was mixing commentators on Florian Ballack and single for the U.S. men's national team against Paraguay. Beautiful. Oh my fucking God. Welcome back to the Football Ramble. The biggest result of yesterday, Jim, actually came on YouTube. We spoke about them on yesterday's podcast and we asked who you would want in the trenches with you, either Jason Cundey or Jamie O 'Hara.

25:40It's astonishing that we're even talking about this. It is. And this is all down to Cundey and what a season he's had with his masks. It's generational. It's generational. The uplift, it's like a... I can't think of many players who late in their careers have had such an... McTominay. He's McTominay-ed it.

25:59Jim Campbell: I think it's more like Toto Scalacci at the 1990 World Cup. and was like, this has come out of nowhere. It's incredible. Obviously, Jason Cundey's been around for a long time, but I never expected to kind of find myself going, is he a national treasure? I think he might be. I think this is why people were so annoyed about the Henderson selection because it should have been Cundey. It should have been Cundey. I mean, who was better as a football player? They both had limited matches, you'd say. Jason Cundey was probably edging it. I would say it would be doing the World Cup down for us to be discussing who was a better player.

26:32Jamie O 'Hara or Jason Cundey. All right, fine. The results was that 66 % of you would rather Jason Cundey in the trenches with you. Jamie O 'Hara would just bring too many hair products.

26:44Jim Campbell: And he would simply do your head in. He would simply do your head in. Completely agree. Well, let's go to Group C. C for New Jersey clams. Brazil. Brazil, much like Richard Keyes, they allowed the World Cup to begin proper by sharing a 1-0 with Morocco. Schrodinger's Afghan winner in Morocco. really putting it to Brazil in the early exchanges. But you're Gabriel getting them out of trouble, Jim. Yeah, sort of. Sort of. I suppose he was involved, wasn't he? I mean, this to me felt like a Champions League knockout game at times. The quality on display here was really, really markedly different from a lot of what we've seen so far.

27:25Jim Campbell: And I was hoping that this would happen when we got to a fixture of this quality. Obviously, Morocco are a very, very good team. but you know Brazil are Brazil and you're hoping that those teams are going to turn up and they really did but I think Morocco probably had the better of it overall absolutely incredible goal from Sobari that lift over Alisson he makes that look easy but it is not he couldn't walk until 2 he had to wear a brace and he's become the same footballer on the world stage it's very Grinchia yeah well Guy Mowbray hilariously in my opinion went with on the commentary Brazil unzipped opened right up I was like alright someone on your mind guy they do say that air travel makes you horny because of the vibrations and the anxiety the anxiety of possibly dying sorry the vibrations and the anxiety yeah the anxiety of possibly dying oh so your body's like impregnate someone yeah that's why people continue your legacy that's why people crack on in the toilets also New Jersey's just a horny place it's just absolutely horny the the goal like the finish was great it was made a little easier by Alisson making himself smaller by coming out of the box he lost his head a little bit there didn't he that was very who was the Arsenal was it Aronson the Arsenal goalkeeper Arneson run out of goal Alex Runison Alex Runison or Duna Runison but it reminded me of that running out of goal and just forgetting where he was no it was Neto yeah sorry we've had a lot of weird goalkeepers sure right fine but yeah it's a Nick Pork special that's the one yeah all that sorry to say Nick Pork there something on my mind Marbury's got me but yeah a massive error from Alisson although in hindsight I suppose with the way he's finished that even if he'd stayed in his box he still would have been cleared but Morocco with a better technical team yeah and they look fresher and fitter as well 100 % they look like they know each other, which is quite a big thing.

29:30In a similar way, teams like Scotland look like they've just met, Brazil look like they've just met, and I think that's why Alisson makes those kind of decisions, because you're like, I don't trust anybody. We look a bit wonky. It was a great ball from Brian Diaz, and even the set-up into that play, the way they were transitioning, they just, I feel like at times, I feel like if they were playing against teams with different shirts, they would make better decisions. I think there's something of you're playing a legacy team when you play Brazil that's interesting to me because it struck me that

30:01Jim Campbell: it feels like Morocco don't fear anyone they don't care about reputation but maybe you're right there because I suppose there is a sense that when you go 1-0 up it's a really precious thing to hold on to not that they tried to do that but the feeling in the second half was like okay we've got so far up this mountain perhaps we should kind of make camp here the goal from Vinicius the timing of that was absolutely massive because they weren't really in the game and it was starting to feel angsty and anxious in the crowd the commentators are starting to talk about it which I know the players can't hear but the feeling of that narrative is like at the World Cup when something like this happens it's like are Morocco going to score another six?

30:41Jim Campbell: Is it happening again? Is it happening again? Because they did look more likely to score again they look the better team as we've spoken about so that's a massive massive moment from Vinicius Yeah and it didn't look like it was much on, like you said, like he just, the player just gave him a little bit of space, but I mean, that finish was absolutely delicious. So you spoke about the transition vision. For me, that was the key because like you had Bruno, Casemiro, Pacqueta, two, like three players that are just really, really slow in transition. And three players that you specifically hate. I may have had objections about, you know, my club team keeping hold of.

31:15But Ancelotti did try to fix that by bringing on 32-year-old Fabinho at halftime. I mean, Fabinho, yeah. It's good stuff, isn't it, really? they did look very sort of slow in the middle

31:24Jim Campbell: yeah I mean if he'd got injured would Cleberson have come on we can only hope yeah I mean you've got to remember that Argentina did lose to Saudi Arabia in Qatar four years ago and they went on to win the whole thing but it didn't look great that'll please Brazil don't worry mate when Argentina won it as you'll remember but Neymar the tabarded spectre at the feast on the touchline there were a lot of shots of him I think it's funny how quickly things move on, isn't it? Because he's basically playing the role of Spectre at the Feast, having been picked in the squad, and on the field, that Moroccan midfielder Bouillardie, 18 year old, had a brilliant game.

32:08Unbelievable. He's going to be somewhere, isn't he? But everyone's talking about him in that way, that they used to talk about Neymar as just like precocious talent. and yeah, he's not going to be, you know, he's not a problem for Morocco. But I mean, the fact that he, I didn't realise he's only 18. He's one of those names you see like in transfer gossip columns all the time. And it's like X, Y and Z are monitoring. And then you see him in person and you're like, oh, fair. Yeah, that's upsetting.

32:35Jim Campbell: And then you learn how to pronounce it as well. Yeah, exactly. It's all upside, isn't it? You know, speaking of the transfer market or, you know, transfer window, you know, there's always a couple of players where they move and you're like, oh, I didn't realise he'd gone there. I got the same feeling from Issa Diop being Moroccan now. Yes! There have been a lot of late changes. A lot of the Haitians have switched quite late on and stuff. It's quite an interesting... Oh, cool! I like it. So was Issa Diop Senegalese? Is that a thing? Is that something that I thought... No, I mean, French, straight out.

33:12So, yeah. It's happening. It's happening, for crying out loud. People are making smart decisions. He's eligible for Senegal through his father, and his mother's Moroccan, so that's what that is. But he played age group international football for France. Right. Either way, a difficult Christmas, if indeed they observe, after the AFCON business. Famously Muslim countries. Or a difficult Eid. Difficult Eid dinner. Oh, for crying out loud.

33:46Jim Campbell: Buardi's midfield partner, Neil El-Ainoua, had a really good game as well. And he's a Moroccan man called Neil. Yeah, he had their first chance, I think, didn't he? He snuffed that shot into the ground and I think it was cleared on the line. I was really rooting for him. Always good to have a Neil in there. Apparently so. I felt sorry for Roger, Roger Ibanez at full back. He looks rubbish. You cannot have a Brazilian called Roger. They've tried it before. He certainly can't have a centre-back that's playing out wide. In the pretty much commentary, Guy Mowry was saying, there's a couple of surprises with both Brazilian full-backs.

34:21Jim Campbell: I was like, here we go. Nice. Nice. I mean, in their green track suits, they do look a little bit like the Pakistani cricket team. Vish, like Pakistan, do Brazil need to move on from established stars like Baba Azam? What are you doing? I'm helping. I'm bringing you in. Thank you. It's more relatable now. Weirdly, that's absolutely right Yeah! Because I suppose in this example, Baba Azam is the Neymar type character So less problematic, but on the field a bit of a problem That's really annoying, that It shouldn't have worked Is this in the picture? Yeah, it's funny that you mention that Because my girlfriend has basically missed Neymar In the time that she's been into football Right Via my indoctrination of it what's explain Neymar to me I obviously started with the sister stuff you forget you forget how weird it is do you not think that he's been he seems to sort of he's been sort of very very injured for years injured and missing for 10 years and just no one's gone come on now because like apparently like Carlo had to talk to like some political figures about how to deal with the Neymar situation because he's such a big story but it just seems like he's trying to capture King Kong yes exactly just work on the Paco Taro bicycle kick problem you can't do them yes elsewhere what a niche criticism I suppose he is a Brazilian yeah you should be able you should be able to do two things what they used to call a banana shot yeah because that was in every video game of the 90s players doing special moves the banana shot and also you need to do a proper bicycle kick not a shinned one like Wayne Rooney not a shinned one like Wayne Rooney he's not Brazilian that's not nice

36:09Jim Campbell: This next part of the podcast is brought to you by icons.com, the world's leading signed sports memorabilia company. Icons.com is home to authentic signed memorabilia from football's greatest names, including Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Pele, Zinedine Zidane, R9, Gaza, Jude Bellingham, and many, many more. And every last signature on the icons.com website is guaranteed genuine, so you can be sure you're getting the real deal. Icons.com CEO Dan Jameson joins us now. Dan, you go to some extraordinary lengths to serve the fans and get these pieces of memorabilia signed. What's the most memorable trip that you've had to make?

36:50Oh, man, I mean, we chase footballers all over the globe. So it's a great job to have. We got the license for the Ballon d 'Or and you have to start collecting all the Ballon d 'Or players like we had most of them. So the greatest person we had to track down was George Ware. Oh, my goodness. the reason no one had done it was because he was being the president of Liberia. And also because they couldn't tackle him because he was just taking the ball around people all the time.

37:15Jim Campbell: Yeah, that's it. He was still dribbling. It was just going on forever. So, yeah, he invited us. He'd just lost his election. So he invited us to Liberia. So we jumped on a plane, took two days to get there, landed in a random airport and were escorted by a gun-toting security man into a compound. So yeah, so we signed sort of Liberian shirts and AC Milan photos of the classic goal. And yeah, and then we kind of flew back, got stuck in Morocco on the way home and eventually collapsed with a Ballon d 'Or signed and a full authenticated product. So that was pretty cool. And speaking of travel, you recently had to do some pretty incredible traveling, I understand, to get both Lionel Messi and Drew Bellingham's signatures inside the same 24 hours, right?

38:00So we are the exclusive worldwide partner of Leo Messi, which is pretty good. We've been working with him since he was 17. So it's been a long sort of 20-year journey. I hear he's quite good. So that's been an excellent pick there. That was a horse worth backing down there. Yeah, exactly. And he basically says, I need you in Fort Lauderdale. I've got an hour. We need to sign things. So you jump on a plane. You rush to Fort Lauderdale. You hire a hotel. And we do our authentication and signing and witnessing and all the great stuff that we do. but at the same time Jude Bellingham becomes an icon for the first time first ever signing with anyone and he's like I need you in Madrid on Thursday afternoon so you jump on a plane you fly overnight but only after there's been a thunderstorm in the area which prevents us from getting on in in the air on time we get diverted to Milan we have then miss our connection and then jump on the plane to get back to Madrid, only to have missed the signing.

39:01So my fantastically professional team who came from England managed to get there on time. So they're the ones with all the Instagram selfies to prove that we met Jude. What is it like then? I mean, it must be quite something when you get the nod. Well, the classic story is pretty much one of my first ever stories. So it's 2009. We're in Buenos Aires. Oh, now you're talking. Diego Maradona. is saying, I can't see you tonight. So what do you do? You go out into Palermo in Argentina and you have a few beers. Midnight, you get a call that Diego will see you now. Ha, nice. You have to drop everything, including your pint, rush back to the hotel, grab the stuff, drive across town and go to his mum's house because they've just finished watching their telenovela and it's now over.

39:54you go into this little house and Diego is in the back room and he goes to one of those beaded curtains and he sort of emerges this is about quarter to one and um he's got a big smile on his face and yeah he sits down and starts signing everything.

40:09Jim Campbell: Dan a pleasure talking to you I'm sure we could have talked a lot longer about so many stories you've got but thank you for sharing those ones that you did with us. Absolute pleasure thanks fellas and enjoy the World Cup it's going to be iconic. Indeed it is. So Jude Bellingham is the latest player to join the collection and to mark this worldwide exclusive icons.com are running a special competition where you can win a 2026 England shirt signed by Jude Bellingham himself. Just head to icons.com forward slash win that's icons.com forward slash win and follow the instructions. All you need to do is answer one question for your chance to win this amazing prize.

40:45Jim Campbell: Entries close at the end of June so don't delay. Head to icons.com forward slash win and get involved.

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42:44Elsewhere in the Big Cup a very young Australia team beat Turkey 2-0 What are they doing? 5am What are you doing? I'm not having this But they're on the other side of the world I know It's technically Perfect It was technically next week when it kicked off for them Yes, exactly Well, obviously Turkey fancied quietly fancied by quite a few brassley men and non-brassley men in this tournament but a hell of a goal to Sucker Punch from Nestori Irinkunda from Watford naturally I do not agree with any sort of Tim Cahill celebration no it was a hell of a goal it's an homage to you know their last World Cup goal their last significant World Cup moment I just hate Tim Cahill yeah this has always confused me

43:26Jim Campbell: is there a database of your grudges anywhere I'd love to have access to that it's important to have big opinions about small players the football ramble big opinions about small players. I think so. But it was a beautiful goal, wasn't it? Really, really clinical finish. He's a quality operator, yeah. He's been playing, you know, top-line football for a long time now. And he just kind of gets the position of being that wide and having to do that role. Like, Toure had a bit of a thankless task up front, but honestly, he's so good. Yeah. And also, just the way he's finished that, it's such a, you know, it's such a thing to have so much be able to think so much in that short space of time to put it in the near post let's see the gap and be like just go with the eyes put it in the near post being chased by two or three other players it's a quality finish it's a sort of goal that original Ronaldo would score back in the day he'd be like he does that every week yeah exactly they were also Australia were good for it I know they something I saw online from an Australia fan it might be Harambo but it's our Harambo I don't think there's a lot to be said for that but actually like there was a point in the second half actually even the first half where the commentator said something along the lines of well you know they're restricting Turkey to shots from range and it's like yeah but it's Cananoglu Ardegula you don't want them shooting from range too often yeah but it worked yeah I mean Turkey were disappointing really weren't they in the way they didn't really manage to fashion much given the quality of the players they've got on the pitch Patrick Beach was on form to be fair yeah he was he made a string a very very good serve a big call as well he plays for Melbourne City FC it was a massive call to get him in and like Australia take their football properly seriously to the point that it sounded like a national scandal when the when the team was dropped because Matt Ryan wasn't playing but then yeah they were they were good for it I don't know if you saw in the lead up but I think it was Channanoglu was talking about basically like the stereotype of Australia that they're really physical that they'll be good from set pieces and it sounds like a few of them took that personally.

45:37Because as you said, it's a young team. It's a very, very different Australia team. Football in Australia is very, very different now, full stop. But yeah, they generally deserve to win that. Yeah, well, it was so good. And where did Turkey go from here? Because they're obviously fancied by a lot of people, but I just can't see it happening now.

45:57Jim Campbell: Yeah, I mean, it depends on the old third place finish, doesn't it, and how that falls from. but they need to get at least four points now, don't they, from those other two games. And obviously the United States started really strongly. You'd fancy Turkey against Paraguay. But their goal difference obviously isn't great now as well. So, yeah, they have to wake up. Wake up, for crying out loud. Wake up, Turkey. Qatar earned their first ever World Cup point with a 95th minute equaliser against Switzerland. This was... Boring. This was boring. and it was almost quite annoying because I was like, I could try and get to sleep now to make the later matches easier to stomach, to be quite frank.

46:41But I did. It's just football's on the TV. You're like, oh, but if I leave now, something good's going to happen. Yeah, exactly. It was all a bit of a shame, really. Obviously, Qatar, a fine 95th-minute equaliser against Switzerland, but there was an offside decision in the first half which was very confusing.

47:02Jim Campbell: The one that broke Gary Neville. Yeah, Gary Neville was not having any of it. He went full on conspiracy, didn't he? He did, yeah. And it's actually a fairly simple explanation, isn't it? It was the case that as FIFA explained, they had some sort of technical outage so they didn't display the imagery to support the decision. Display it now. Gary Neville reacted to that by saying that FIFA were like a dictatorship, which they are, but not necessarily for that reason. just because they didn't show him some offside camera angles. Yeah. So did FIFA say that the decision was right, we just couldn't show you what it was right?

47:37Basically, yeah. Okay, right. Because it looked, it was one of those ones,

47:40Jim Campbell: it looked very offside from the angle we saw, but the angle that we saw isn't the one that I'm actually taking from. I've seen decisions. They have since released it, and it's like, oh yeah, he's in line. Yeah, that's what I mean. I've seen kind of decisions like that where you are a bit like, that does look offside. And you get a shot with the lines sort of drawn, and you kind of understand why it was drawn on. I suppose, to be fair to Gary Never, we didn't have that information at the time, but he was probably angry about having to watch such a boring game, like we all were, and like Lee Dixon was.

48:09Lee Dixon is just waiting to die, isn't he?

48:13Jim Campbell: He hates football. He was slitting ref cam at one point, and I was like, that's one of the big changes that has brought the World Cup closer to the... I'm a big fan of that ref cam, and I hate it being slagged off, But he's not even a company man He's not even doing the job That he's supposed to do He was slagging Mexican waves As well on point Right yeah Why doesn't he like things That's it in a nutshell Why doesn't he like things Why doesn't he like things And it's okay For people to not like things But not necessarily When they're supposed to be A cheerleader for the thing itself 100 % yeah It's like Mark Lawrenson All over again But Lee Dixon's been like this For such a long time I'm like am I going to be like that When I'm 62 If I get there I don't know Dixon used to be a really good pundit Do you remember He was brilliant on Match of the Day.

48:56Yeah. And then I think he left because he got frustrated that the window, or certainly the window he was given to analyze was so small. So he moved to ITV. Yeah. And I think, I don't know if it's bitterness. We're extrapolating here, but no, but I wonder if like the whole thing's moved past. Do you think he gets tired? Because there's more space to play in. Maybe. Yeah, because he can't pass back to the goalkeeper. Yes. They changed the law, didn't they? Love that. We should give a shout out to Mahmoud Abunada in the Qatar goal. Gave away the penalty, got kicked in the bonce, and then stayed on and actually had a brilliant game.

49:32And obviously, you know, hope he's all right today. These kind of things can have a knock-on effect, but genuinely outstanding for the rest of the year.

49:40Jim Campbell: Presumably he passed some sort of concussion protocol. And I mean, Switzerland were fairly wasteful in front of goal, but he obviously played his part in that. they will be absolutely fuming with themselves for letting that go away. It's the silliest result of the World Cup so far, really. They were really dominant without really having any quality up front. But even so, the amount of chances they generated, they should have put something away there. But again, as you were talking about earlier, Vish, with the expanded tournament and also this kind of route into the knockout through that third-place finish, I suppose this is an example of where that actually becomes quite interesting, right?

50:18Jim Campbell: because Qatar are in this now. Yeah, yeah. There's also the thing with Switzerland that A, they were playing with their food and B, maybe they were also spooked by the presence of Ricardo Rodriguez at left back. Yeah. But how's he still there? Is Enzo Schifo coming on? Where's the power cube? Yeah. Yeah, I missed the power cube. Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's a shame that. I do think that kind of Sunderland players being at the World Cup the new kind of Fulham or the new Wolves where they'll pop up at weird times and weird places and you're like oh yeah sure Bellegarde at Haiti who looked furious the whole game he's like have you seen the season I've just had come on lads completely agree did you see it was Bradley Wright Phillips and Ian Wright just having a chat having a lovely dad and son chat on the sofa that was my highlight of yesterday's footage it was really nice and I love Ian Wright and I lament my younger self for hating him right because he played for Arsenal but just give your son a call and like meet up with him you don't do it on telly yeah yeah is that mental someone said he was dead

51:34Bradley Bradley Bradley he says I'm dead Bradley said I was dead someone said he was dead dad I'm very much alive daddy I'm very much alive yeah I've just got a new number

51:48Jim Campbell: I put it into your phone I showed you how to call me It's the plus 44 that confuses me You've got to hold the phone away from your face Today in World Cup football Confusingly, Japan are playing again What's happened? I don't know I don't bloody know Kurosawa playing Germany Netherlands vs Japan Ivory Coast vs Ecuador And Sweden vs Tunisia Yeah. We're up and running. Ivory Coast versus Ecuador, you little midnight bastard. That's another decision to make, isn't it? If you're on the show tomorrow like I am. That's a siren singing to ruin the week, isn't it? Come over to these rocks and football with us.

52:31I'm absolutely gagging for Netherlands, Japan. Yes. I think that's the meeting. I don't know if we said it before recording or on the show. Everything's blown into one, as you said before. but I think it's the meeting of everyone's underachievers against everyone's overachievers yeah big fan big fan of what might be happening in that one but Marcus, Luke and Jim we'll be back tomorrow to review it all thank you for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Aircast Creator Network follow us on X, TikTok YouTube and Instagram at Football Ramble and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts say goodbye Jim goodnight say goodbye Vish goodnight Jim he's putting his little wee willy winky hat on that's almost pyjama top I do look like I'm wearing pyjamas actually don't I And it's goodbye from Sleepy Me.

53:13Bye-bye.

53:22The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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