Opening Day Preview: Mexico vs South Africa and South Korea vs Czechia|Morning Cupdate, Presented by Home Depot

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1:12We are delighted to bring you the Men in Blazers City Guides presented by Visa. A joyously assembled guide to the best places to eat, drink and explore and watch the beautiful game across the country. It's a guide aimed at helping fans experience the city as a local. It's built by you, our listeners, recommending some of the best small businesses in your communities. Like the finest Viet Cajun in Houston. Yes. The best burrito in San Francisco. Yes. Where to savour lemon pepper wet in Atlanta. Yes, 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.

2:01Start planning your journey at meninblazers.com backslash cityguides. Good morning from Santa Monica. I am Betty Glover. And everyone, the wait is finally over. The World Cup is here. And every morning we are going to be bringing you all of the latest news, all of the drama and all of the biggest stories, as well as previewing the biggest games, all coming from this, the Men in Blazers bus. It is travelling around seven different cities. You are not going to miss a thing with us. This is Morning Cup Day, built by the Home Depot.

2:38It has been almost 3 ,000 days since this moment. Canada, Mexico and USA have been selected by the FIFA Congress to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But ladies and gentlemen, that wait is finally over. You've probably heard this a lot by now, but we need to say it again. It is the biggest World Cup in history. 48 teams, three host nations, 104 matches in total. That is 9 ,360 minutes of glorious football. In that time, you could fly from LA to Sydney 10 times. You could watch the whole of Breaking Bad three times over. Or, if Harry Potter is your thing, you could watch the entire series seven times over.

3:24I think I personally will stick to the football myself. Less Potter, more Kane. But who does everyone think is going to win, by the way? England! England. So biased. So biased. I'm not having that. Spain? Yeah, Spain. France? France, surely. Who's the Dark Horses? Brazil. I don't think you can call Brazil dark horses. Norway. Norway? I like that. I back Norway as well. Interesting. We've had some hot takes as well from you guys. Hot takes? Maybe just takes. Alex is backing France. He got in touch on social media. But Norway is the dark horse. Tidi La Rosa is backing Spain with Morocco. That's the dark horse.

4:04I like it. Whilst Hannah has backed Portugal with Ghana as the dark horse. Come on, Antoine Semenyo. I like it. Let us know in the comments on YouTube who you think all get in touch on the free Men in Blazers Discord. Link is in the description. Well, of course, we have to wait to find out who comes out victorious. The final takes place in New Jersey on July the 19th. But that, everyone, is a long, long way away. Let's get into what is in store on day one. OK, co-host Mexico kick off the tournament against South Africa at the newly renovated Mexico City Stadium. Kick-off is at 3pm Eastern. Over 80 ,000 fans, mostly Mexican of course, will grace that iconic stadium.

4:47And we know from previous experience that so many Mexican fans celebrating at once can be a dangerous event. And in Mexico, fans celebrated so hard they caused a man-made earthquake. Yeah, their celebrations from their victory over Germany at the 2018 World Cup measured on the Richter scale. People genuinely, that happened. Expect similar shakes if El Tri win tomorrow's opener. but don't get us wrong, South Africa's contingent of fans, they're not holding back either.

5:17All the vibes on a bus yesterday, a bit like here this morning. Of course, hearing Mexico against South Africa as the opening game has got to give you these vibes. Sweet memories of 2010 when then-host South Africa played Mexico in the opener. A banger of a goal from Shabalaba, followed by an iconic celebration. Mexico made it to the last 16 in 2010, but their recent history has been a massive roller coaster. The 2022 World Cup group stage exit was a national disaster. Fans crying in the streets. They have, though, picked up a little bit of momentum recently, unbeaten in seven games. You'll see pragmatism over aesthetics, playing with intensity and aggressive pressure.

6:01In fact, boss Javier Aguirre was quoted saying at a World Cup, the team that plays the prettiest football does not compete. I think maybe France and Spain might have something to say about that, maybe. Here's Reynoso from the Give and Go podcast giving his prediction with where he thinks Mexico can get to. Well, my mind says round of 16. My mind says round of 16. But my heart, I believe we're going to do something special. Yeah? I think we're going to do something special, man. I think we're topping our group. I think we win the round of 32 matchup. I think we go up against England or whoever in that round of 16, and I think we take it to them.

6:35If we make it to that point, brother, we're World Cup contenders. Mexico, contenders for the World Cup. Big talk, big talk. OK, interesting. They're likely to be spearheaded, of course, by 35-year-old Raul Jimenez, who will be at Wolves next season, by the way, guys, in the championship. He is a poster boy for Mexico, though, and very much loved. A tale of resurgence as well from his horrific head injury in 2020. But, but, I think the name we will be talking about when all of this is over is 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, who is set to be the youngest player at the tournament. He's even nicknamed the Mexican Pedri.

7:11A lot of people absolutely love him. No pressure, by the way, over there, including our very own Hurt Gomez. Let me tell you about Gilberto Mora. This is a player who's bound to explode, and it could be this World Cup. He's the youngest player in this World Cup this summer in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. And if he has a good World Cup, If you see him do what Gilberto Mora does, dazzle you with the ball at his feet. He's diminutive, but he is so physical in how he plays, so direct, so intentional. In those tight spaces, he delivers. And with the right foot or the left, he can come through.

7:49Under the radar, maybe to some, but those of you who know, you know he's the next one. You can catch more from Herc on Jewel Nats on the Vamos Network. Mexico will be favourites to win on home soil. But everybody, you cannot underestimate South Africa. This is Bufana Bufana's first World Cup since they hosted it back in 2010. And they will be looking to go one better than that tournament by making it out of the group stages. Preparation hasn't been ideal. They had their visa issues, which delayed their travel to Mexico. But once the team arrived at their hotel, they were given a proper traditional Mexican welcome.

8:32That is some welcome. That is cool. And that welcome is going to help with their style of play because it's all about high intensity, high press system, where 100 % work rate is mandatory. This has led them to two consecutive strong AFCON performances and a 27-match unbeaten run that spanned for most of 2024 and 2025. Anyway, all of that leads us nicely on for today's Drill Down.

9:00Each day we will do the drill down brought to you by Makita where we dive into a different tactical matchup for you to watch out for and today we're looking at a very interesting battle if Mexico are awarded a penalty because it is very much the unstoppable force against an immovable object. Firstly for Mexico you've got Raul Jimenez the Premier League's sharpest penalty taker, don't just take my word for it, he now holds the all-time Premier League record for the most penalties taken with a perfect 100 % conversion rate. But if he steps up for a penalty in this game, he will face South Africa goalkeeper and brick wall captain Ronwyn Williams.

9:38He became the first keeper to save four penalties in a single AFCON penalty shootout in 2023. That was against Cape Verde. And in that famous shootout, Ronwyn could be seen looking at the sky before each penalty as if he was taking advice from somebody and it turns out that he actually was it was his brother Marvin who died in a car accident when Ron Wynn was 18 he said afterwards that sometimes I ask him to take control and show me which way to go he's like my guardian angel it was such a touching story uh but that's not it for today's matches game two includes one of the games global football stars the one and only Son Hyun Min there I think he needs to go to drama school and work on that accent, to be honest.

10:20But he will probably be the most recognisable name as South Korea take on Czechia in Guadalajara at 10pm Eastern and 7pm Pacific. Sonny's South Korea are making their 12th World Cup appearance. They breeze through qualifying, but the mood amongst fans is probably not as high as you might expect. They've lost three of their last seven, including a 4-0 defeat to the Ivory Coast, a 5-0 thrashing to Brazil and a 1-0 defeat against Austria. They have some decent players, though. Kim Min-Jae is a centre-back for Bayern, and Kangin Lee has won two consecutive Champions League titles at PSG. Not bad. However, neither really have had that much game time, so that could be a little bit of an issue.

10:59Their opponents Czechia secured qualification in the most dramatic way possible, though. The passion! Don't you love it? At Czechia, won not one, but two penalty shootouts against Republic of Ireland and Denmark to book their spot for the first time in 20 years. Their qualifying was a bit of a nightmare, though, losing to the lowly Faroe Islands along the way. So they changed head coach, as you would, appointing 74-year-old Miroslav Kubek, who was going to be the oldest coach ever at a World Cup. That was until 78-year-old Dick Advocat was reappointed as the Curacao boss and took that mantle away from him.

11:38I'm sure he's gutted. The Czechs are very strong at set pieces and have an experienced spine of the team, including West Ham's Thomas Suchek and Patrick Schick up front, who scored nine goals in his last eight Bundesliga games. However, as Rog and Rory discussed in their Cup of Cups preview, not everyone in the Czech squad is such a household name. They've called up a 17-year-old kid called Hudo Socherec from Sparta, Prague, who I will admit I have never heard of. I don't feel bad about that, Rog, because he's played six times in the Czech league. You know, you could have bluffed it and just be like, the one I've been watching a lot of game tape of.

12:11Respect to you, for honesty. No one's been watching a lot of game tape of him. There's not a lot of game tape. In one sense, that is probably a sign of weakness, that the resources are relatively thin. He's a central midfielder, that they don't have a huge amount of quality there. But in the other, there's that, because it's a World Cup, there is this slim possibility that he might be the greatest footballer in the world. And we're going to find out over the next six weeks. I think it's probably not that, but you never know. Hugo Soturek, you literally heard it here first on Men in Blazers. Czechia haven't reached the knockout stages since 1990, but their experience and direct style of play may serve them well in the harsh heat of Mexico.

12:50They'll fancy their chances of getting out of what's going to be a very competitive Group A. Tonight, after those games, you've got to make sure that you lock in tonight, Cup, the new Men in Blazers nightly recap show where Roger and Rory are joined by some celebrity guests to break down all of the World Cup action from that day, pint in hand. I'm very jealous. Tonight's debut episode will feature a special segment with New York City mayor, an absolute football-mad individual, Zoran Mandani. Tune in to the Men in Blazers YouTube right after the games. I've also decided, by the way, that throughout the tournament, I am going to test the Night Cup team.

13:27See what they're made of in a prediction challenge. It is literally going to be me against them. And today I had to start by taking on the one and only Rog. Right, Rog. Betty. It's me against you? Yeah, always. Are you feeling okay? I feel like it's messy against Ronaldo, but without the talent. I'd rather be messy, to be honest. Me too, to be honest. Of the two of us. Ronaldo, right? Yeah, so Ronaldo. Anyway, right, we need predictions for tomorrow's games. The opener. They can't take place. We've got Mexico. We've got Mexico against South Africa. Get it right. And then we've got South Korea against Czechia.

14:04Tried professional. Yeah. Right. Give me your prediction for the first one. Mexico will edge it. It's going to be 2-1. That's what I was going to say. Was it really? Yeah, I'm going to go through. You're a free person. No, no, because we're battling. Are we really? Yeah. So you have to change what you believe in your own mind and heart. I'm going to say 3-1. Yeah. And then what's your prediction for South Korea against Czechia? What a riveting game that is going to be. It's got Thomas Suchek bumming one in to open up the scoring. And I think it's going to be 2-1 also, but to South Korea. I think Sonny, little camera, little tears, little joy.

14:42The World Cup's off to a flyer. I'm going to go 1-0 to South Korea. What did you really, were you going to do 2-1 as well? No, I was going to go 1-0. You're going down, Betty Glover. You're going down. 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. It will give you the inside scoop into the depths of the tournament. Listen to 1440 Explores wherever you get your podcasts. Has cruel fate smashed your dreams of footballing glory during this FIFA World Cup?

15:21fear not you're now a sporting free agent with your choice of squads the opportunity to pick someone new the teams with the catcher 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 Lay's 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 Lay's keeps the party going and the bandwagon has never tasted better. Leyes, 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.

16:10These are free college game day style live events taking place just before kickoff at some of the biggest games of the summer where 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 and 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.

16:40Before the tournament gets going, there's of course been a lot of different news stories popping up, so let's run through some of them. Firstly, FIFA president Gianni Infantino spoke at a press conference in Mexico City on Wednesday after Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the USA. Gianni was asked if he's losing control of the tournament and he answered in typical Gianni style. Chill, relax. We work on everything. We try to solve everything. Yeah, guys, chill. No big deal that a referee couldn't enter the country. Elsewhere, and a big boost for USMNT fans as Chris Richards will be clear to play without a minute's restriction for their match against Paraguay on Friday in LA.

17:23For me personally, I feel good right now, so I'm ready to go. Excellent news there. And also, by the way, I don't know if you guys saw the reaction from the USMNT team as they watched the Knicks' mad win in the NBA Finals against the Spurs.

17:50Absolute scenes. Let's see if the boys can replicate the miracle of the MSG on Friday. Last night, there were more friendlies as well as teams go through last-minute preparations. England's friendly against Costa Rica was delayed by two hours after thunderstorms in Orlando, but they ended up winning 3-0. Meanwhile, Portugal beat Nigeria 2-1, and probably the most notable and funny moment of the evening was a miss from Cristiano Ronaldo, which can be summed up by this commentary. Ronaldo. Oh, dear. With Ronaldo still chasing 1 ,000 career goals, he'll be gutted that he didn't gobble up a free shot inside the box, which went so high it probably cleared the stadium.

18:32That will not shut up his critics, will they, who think he's going to hold Portugal back, doing him no favours.

18:42Finally, it is time for the finishing touch, Brought to you by Bear, where we will bring you some of the colour from the tournament here on the ground. We flew here from the UK on Monday. And you know what? It's quite the shock to the system. Going from the grainy grey Manchester to the wonderful blue skies in LA. It's such hard work for me, to be honest, guys. The coffee here is also brilliant, which is a massive win. And I am not burnt yet, unlike England's Declan Rice. Go and Google that picture of him that England released. Now, I don't know about you, but one of my favourite things about World Cups is watching fans from all over the globe arrive and sample the cultural delights that the hosts have to offer.

19:20My fiancé, he's Scottish, he arrived in Boston ahead of their opener against Haiti alongside these lads. I'm really excited to go into the Scotland-Haiti game. And should you not be at school? Erm, nah. I suspect their parents will be receiving a letter from the headteacher in the morning. As expected, the Tartan army is bringing the party.

19:56Super John McGuin, always him, isn't it? However, it doesn't quite seem like the Boston locals have been matching their energy just yet. The pubs are brilliant, but I don't think MD knows that there's a World Cup on. It'll heat up, lads, don't worry. The Norwegians are also making some noise in New York City.

20:20Love it. Norway actually have the best chance. Get a load of this.

20:33For those who don't speak Norwegian, probably quite a few of you, This translates as not afraid of Englishmen, Germans, come on, all of Norway. Sing it, guys. Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la. Producer George there, absolutely on point. You heard it here first. That is going to be the chant of the tournament. But they're buzzing for their first World Cup since 1998. And with stars like Erling Haaland, you know, probably heard of him, and Martin Odegaard, they're tipped by a few to be dark horses in the tournament, like we said at the beginning of this. Elsewhere, the Algerian team have also been treated to some of that world-famous North American hospitality.

21:09Thank you to Team Algeria for choosing our hometown, Lawrence, Kansas, to come here. So welcome. Welcome to the United States. Welcome to Kansas. I think that is possibly the sweetest thing that I have seen yet. I know it's day one, but you know. With excitement ramping up, one fan has definitely captured the attention of our host, Germany fan Freddie LA7 has gone viral for documenting his American road trip on X. Alongside sampling local favourites such as Bucky's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, he's been a fish out of water in the US. One review of the Waffle House has gone particularly viral. It reads, Just had our first Waffle House experience at 1am.

21:52Great food, great prices and friendly stuff. 10 out of 10, we will be coming back. I haven't been. Have any of you guys been? No, no, no. Well, our showrunner, Thomas, described it as not always clean, but you get huge portions for$10. Freddy doing it at 1am is doing it right. OK, we'll bear that in mind. Alongside the fast food, his mind's been particularly blown by the spectacle of a college football game at the Jordan-Hare Stadium in Alabama, home to the Auburn Tigers.

22:39Swag surfing actually blew my mind as well. I can't see it, you know, catching on in the Premier League. But if anyone wants to give it a go, I will give you my full support and I will be there. In the spirit of Freddie, we want to hear from you guys as well, though. If there's a local joint that you think we've got to try, let us know in the comments or on the Men in Blazers Discord channel. There's a link in the description below. We're in LA currently, but we're going to be travelling to Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas and New York as well. So if you've got any recommendations, hit us up and we will definitely do it within reason.

23:14That is it for your first morning cup date today, brought to you by The Home Depot. For anyone tuning in from LA, it is not too late to RSVP for free to the first Men in Blazers match day live show. That's tomorrow, June the 12th on the Santa Monica Pier. It looks incredible, by the way. Ahead of USA against Paraguay, Rog and Rory will be joined on stage by actor and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney, NBA star and Leeds United part owner Larry Nance Jr. and former US men's national team player Carl Beckerman to break down the match and get the crowd up for the biggest kickoff in years. The link is in the notes below.

23:52You can RSVP. Be there, guys. We'll see you there. We'll be back tomorrow, but until then, enjoy the first day of the World Cup. Woohoo! Let's go!