Australia stun Türkiye and Day of the Dark Horses Preview | Morning Cupdate, Presented by The Home Depot

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1:16Yes, yes, yes. A massive shout out to our sponsor Visa, who's made this guide possible. Visa gives local business owners the tools and support to be ready for moments exactly like this one, welcoming you to enjoy the games this summer. Start planning your journey at meninblazers.com backslash cityguides. A word from our friends at 1440. The 2022 World Cup final drew 1.5 billion viewers. It's 11 times this year's Super Bowl. To understand how football became the world's game and what drove it, listen to 1440 Explores with Financial Times journalist Simon Kuiper, who will give you the inside scoop into the depths of the tournament.

1:57Listen to 1440 Explores wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome to LA and your morning cup day after Scotland just enjoyed one of their best moments of footballing history, winning their first World Cup game in 28 years. is but there's plenty more where all of that came from we have got a stacked day ahead the dark horses they're out in action the smallest nation to grace the world cup they're in action and serial winners germany as well what can they do this is your ultimate guide to day four of the world cup let's get straight into it then hello and good morning welcome to morning cup date brought to you by the Home Depot.

2:38The Home Depot is your winning assist to host the ultimate watch party with fast free delivery to get your backyard match ready subject to availability. We will start today with Australia's game against Turkey Air in Vancouver because the Socceroos produced potentially the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 2-0 win. Nestor Irenkunda of Watford opened the scoring to send Fed Square and Melbourne into absolute raptures.

3:10Oh, look at those scenes down under. That goal means that four times as many championship players have scored at the World Cup than the Premier League, which is a mad stat when you think about it, isn't it? Big respect to Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach, best name, by the way, at the World Cup so far, who on his third cap made a stunning eight saves to protect the win for the Socceroos. The result means that the USA top group D on goal difference, yep, you heard that right, US fans, Drink it in. Undoubtedly, the heavyweight match of the day, though, was Brazil against Morocco. Ismail Saibari gave Morocco the lead after 21 minutes with a beautiful run and chip over the onrushing Alisson.

3:49The PSV striker is on the radar of German champions Bayern Munich. And you can absolutely see why, can't you, from that finish. Brazil looked laboured. They struggled to get into the game. But a bit of moment of magic from Vinicius Junior managed to pull them back level. and the match ended in that 1-1 draw, a result that both teams will probably settle for at this stage. In the other group C clash in Boston, the Scotland fans were out in full force. Oh, the Scots know how to sing a national anthem, don't they? Oh, flower of Scotland. It was belted out at full volume in Boston as Scotland took on Haiti.

4:35The Scots hadn't been in the World Cup in 28 years. So it is pretty apt. It is perfect, isn't it? That after 28 minutes, they scored their first goal here in North America. Fans in Glasgow at 2.30am absolutely loved it.

4:59That, my friends, is dedication. 2.30 in the morning. Amazing. Super John McGinn was the hero for the Scots. as he scored the winning goal. My fiancé, by the way, is Scottish and he loves John so much that we've named our dog McGinn after him, which is a little bit weird and a little bit embarrassing, to be honest. I don't know why I've just told you that. Anyway, to be fully honest, it wasn't the best performance from Scotland, but as this Scotland fan that we met in LA can testify, they don't care one bit. My uncle just flew in from Australia, stopped in LA, went to Boston. he has not seen a World Cup for 28 years.

5:40He sent me a picture of him crying. So the emotions are f***ing high. Excuse my French. So that result leaves Scotland top of Group C above both Brazil and Morocco. Can you believe it? Scotland fans, print screen that bad boy. We could just end the group stage now, couldn't we? Scotland fans, I think you'd like that. In the early game, Qatar scored a dramatic late equaliser to clinch a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. That's Qatar's first ever point at a World Cup. Absolute scenes there as well. The Swiss took the lead in slightly controversial circumstances. They were awarded a penalty in the first half, but it looked like Remo Freuler, who was fouled, was offside in the build-up.

6:21On the TV coverage, no image of the offside was broadcast, leading to a lot of chat online. But a few hours later, FIFA did eventually release an image that appeared to back up the decision. Let's dive into today's matches then as another eight nations make their entrance onto the world stage. Oh, it is a big day. Everyone strap yourselves in. First of all, we have our earliest game of the tournament so far, which pits hungry giants Germany. They have a lot to prove as well against Tiny Island Nation and debutants Curacao. That's a groupie clash in Houston at 1pm Eastern Time. This couldn't be any more David against Goliath if it tried.

7:00Germany are immortalised in the famous quote by Gary Lineker, football is a simple game, 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win. But in recent years, that hasn't been quite as true. After winning Brazil 2014, they've had two consecutive group stage exits. They've also not been great at the Euros either, even failing to reach the semi-finals in their home tournament in 2024. They take on Curaçao, the smallest nation in terms of population and landmass, to ever participate. And it is safe to say they're definitely bringing the vibe.

7:42That is definitely my favourite clip of the entire tournament so far. The Curaçao team on a rickety old school bus busting some serious moves. We should invite them on this bus, guys. They'll liven this place up. The story of Curaçao's qualification is incredible, by the way. They went undefeated during their 10 games and put in some impressive displays while they were at it. They have been prolific at recruiting talent from outside of their island as well. In fact, only former Manchester United youth player Tahith Chong was actually born there. The other 25 were born in the Netherlands. So, as you can imagine, their style of play has a lot of Dutch influence to it.

8:20Their tiny size is not the only way they're breaking records as well. At 78 years of age, their head coach, Dick Advocat, will become the oldest ever coach in a World Cup finals. I'm not sure that's the mantle that he wants, but there we go. We've given it to him anyway. He had stepped down before the tournament due to his daughter's ill health, but he was persuaded to rejoin after she got better. Now, the team are known as the Blue Wave and estimates suggest that more than 3 ,000 of their fans will travel to the opening match against Germany. They'll be turning Houston blue, while over in Dallas, the colour is very much going to be orange.

8:59Arlington,

9:05Texas, watch out, because that is going to be taken over by the Dutch and their orange bus, which has been shipped over by the Netherlands all the way to the USA. And yesterday, it was even spotted at a Buc-ee's. I don't know what that is, really, as a Brit, but I'm going to get to know it because apparently it's amazing. Now, they should have just asked to borrow our Men in Blazers orange bus built by the Home Depot, really, because it looks exactly the same from the outside. The Netherlands take on Japan at 4pm Eastern in Group F, and this may be one of the tastiest match-ups of the World Cup so far because everyone, and I mean everyone, is saying that Japan are a certain shade of horse.

9:42Which country will surprise us? Japan. They're actually my dark horse. I am absolutely convinced Japan are going to be a serious dark horse. I think you get the picture now. They're going to be a dark horse. The Samurai Blue feel like many people's tips to go far here in North America and with good reason as well. They have an abundance of talent up and down the field, especially in attack. They're currently on a run of six straight victories, including wins over Brazil, Ghana, Scotland and England in that run. Not half bad. Leading the line is Feyenoid's Ayase Ueda, who won the Dutch Golden Boot last season, scoring an impressive 25 goals.

10:18And their other attacking spark is Take Kubo, who was famously signed by Real Madrid at the age of 18. Despite no longer being at Los Blancos, he's still dubbed as Japanese Messi by fans. Next, let's cross over to Philly, and I'm not sure the Rocky statue has ever seen scenes like this.

10:44What a magnificent sight to see, right? An ocean of yellow as Ecuador have taken over the centre of Philadelphia. They take on Ivory Coast and this is quite the contest. Ecuador are unbeaten in nearly two years, whilst their African opponents basically won AFCON, basically, and even beat France in pre-tournament warm-up. This match is today's drill down.

11:11Yep, this is the drill down brought to you by Makita. Now, you might think that the winner of Group E is a foregone conclusion, given Germany's involvement, but write these two nations off at your peril. We're predicting that this match could be an absolute physical battle, possibly one of the feistiest bouts of the group stage. I love that buzzer. Ecuador's strongest asset is its defence, spearheaded by some of the world's best defensive talents, including Chelsea's Moises Caicedo, Arsenal's Piero Hincapié and PSG's Willian Pacho. They conceded only five goals in 18 South American qualifying matches, an absolute insane defensive run.

11:49Their issue, though, is that they struggle to score. Quite a problem. Meanwhile, one of Ivory Coast's biggest strengths is its midfield of Seco Fafana, Frank Kessie and Ibrahim Sangare. All three, they're stacked. They're six feet tall. Caicedo and Sangare both love a tackle and love a foul as well, with Caicedo in particular putting in more tackles per 90 than any other player in South American qualifying. So maybe don't expect a classic, but it is fitting that in the city of Rocky, we can expect a blood and guts fight in Philly. And the final match of the day is the Group E clash in Monterey between Sweden and Tunisia.

12:28And one Sweden fan enjoying the local Mexican nightlife had a very bold score prediction.

12:38I think it's safe to say they definitely had a few beers. A 3-0 win and a Jokoras hat-trick would be quite the result for Sweden against an extremely resolute Tunisia side that didn't concede a single goal during African qualifying. Sweden, meanwhile, and I think we can say this, it is a little bit of a joke that they're at the World Cup. There I said it. They didn't win any of their six qualifying matches, but were given a backdoor to the playoffs through the UEFA Nations League. Former Chelsea manager Graham Potter was appointed as boss in November and, to be fair, guided his side to two playoff wins against Ukraine and Poland that saw them book their spot in North America.

13:16The Swedes boast a ridiculous strike force of Viktor Jokerez and Alexander Izak, but behind them, the quality isn't as great. We do like this fact, though, that their centre-back, Gustav Lagerbjelka, is 254th in line to the Swedish throne. If I can get my words out. Their opponents, Tunisia, have sort of the opposite problem. They love clean sheets but find goals hard to come by. Kick-off in that one is at 10pm Eastern. Has cruel fate smashed your dreams of footballing glory during this FIFA World Cup? Fear not. You're now a sporting free agent. With your choice of squads, the opportunity to pick someone new.

13:53The teams were the catchier songs. The country you studied abroad in. The goalkeeper with the magnificent hair. When your team's gone, fun doesn't have to be, because on the Leys bandwagon, every match is another excuse to grab a snack and pick a new favourite. There are no wrong answers, only good times and tasty snacks. So jump on and enjoy the rest of the tournament, because Leys keeps the party going and the bandwagon has never tasted better. Leys, official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. And as the world arrives in the United States for the biggest spectacle in sports, we're going coast to coast, host city to host city to meet the world with the Men in Blazers Match Day Live Tour.

14:35These are free college game day style live events taking place just before kickoff at some of the biggest games of the summer. But we'll be taking the stage with celebrity guests in front of thousands of fans. It's going to be amazing. Come and be with us in person or from afar on YouTube. but let's celebrate this some other way. It's meant to be celebrated. Just head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details. To the football, to more together courage. Get that Amex Gold card ready. I'm too tired to cook. We feeling five guys or the Cheesecake Factory? Both. Earn up to$120 a year in statement credits of participating partners.

15:12Up to$10 each month when you pay with the Amex Gold card. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash explore-gold. Enrollment required. Terms apply. Well tonight after Sweden against Tunisia you can head back to the Men in Blazers YouTube for another spin of Night Cup our nightly recap show where Rog and Rory will be joined by Rafa Huenstein and tallest man in Wrexham, Humphrey Kerr to break down the day's four matches Throughout the tournament I'm going head to head with a prediction challenge against one of the Night Cup team and I am delighted to say that I've got my first win of the tournament Let's go!

15:46Come on! Yay! I swack that buzzer. Carl did take a lead by predicting a Brazil against Morocco draw, but I managed to get a perfect score by predicting Scotland's 1-0 win over Haiti. Bang odd. Which means, morning cup date, we're back in it, guys. We're back in it. We've levelled the series against the night cup. Today, I took on the NBA legend that is Larry Nance Jr. Larry, it's prediction time, OK? Been waiting. Two big fixtures that I'm going to ask you about. Let's go with Germany Curacao first. What are you saying? This is an obvious one. I've got to go with the Germans in this one, but that's only out of love for my guy Anton Stag.

16:27Okay. Also, I think they're obviously the favourites going into it. I think it's fair to say, isn't it? But Curacao, they're bringing the vibe. So I'm going to say Germany. I'm going to have to go Germany 3-0. 3-0.

16:43I'll give Curacao some joy. Let's go 3-1. Oh, okay. Let them party. Let the people have fun. I like it. Okay, next one. Netherlands, Japan. What are you saying? Now, see, again, I was biased on the last one, and I'm a little biased on this one, too. I got to go with Japan because we have Aotanaka. Aotanaka, and he's going to be running their midfield. I think Japan could be dark horses in this, you know. I think they're going to go far. They're so well drilled. They're a really good team, and I'm excited to watch them. Give us the scoreline. That one's going to be a lot closer. That one's going to be a lot closer.

17:17I'm going to go 2-1. 2-1 Japan. I am going to say 3-2 Japan. Nice. All right. You're going with the Japanese as well. I like it. I like it. Thank you very much. Of course. Thank you. Now it's time for today's finishing touch, brought to you by Bare Paint. And we hear that New York absolutely popped off last night. New York! New York! New York! Oh, what scenes. After 53 long old years, the Knicks finally won the NBA championship by beating the San Antonio Spurs in five. Producer George has never watched the NBA, by the way, but he's fully on board. Adding to that the fact that you had thousands of Morocco and Brazil fans rattling around after their draw earlier today.

18:09It made a pretty hectic night to be in the Big Apple. The USMNT got the night off to watch the game and I think it is safe to say huge Knicks fan Tyler Adams thoroughly enjoyed himself.

18:27What an unbelievable week that he has had. A 4-1 win against Paraguay on Friday, 4-1 NBA final series win on Saturday. His reaction was actually a little bit more subdued than his celebration following their crazy comeback win on Wednesday.

18:46I mean, it's lucky he didn't injure himself there, isn't it? He goes absolutely flying over that sofa, credit where credit's due. Anyway, comedian Trevor Nowett joined Rog from New York on yesterday's Night Cup and he could not believe his eyes either. New York tonight. I've never heard happy sirens from the police before. I don't know how they made it happy, but they did. Happy sirens. Who'd have thought it? The newfound love between football fans out here in the US and basketball fans feels like a blossoming relationship. I absolutely love it. New York was definitely the city that never slept last night.

19:23Well, thank you very much for joining us. That is it for your Morning Cup update today, brought to you by The Home Depot. The Home Depot is your winning assist to host the ultimate watch party with fast free delivery to get your backyard match day ready, subject to availability. The American vibes are still very much flying high since Friday's result and the Men in Blazers Go Go USA apparel line is full of red, white and blue goodies. So get your hands on them. Check it all out at the Men in Blazers shop linked in the notes below. We'll be back tomorrow. But until then, enjoy day four of the World Cup.

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