SPAIN DEFEAT ARGENTINA TO BECOME WORLD CHAMPIONS: Night Cup 07/19/26

23:28it was nice for her to sing one of her big hits from 25 years ago for the kids it was amazing, we got young stuff young children there, we got this for the old people in the villages look, as we were this whole thing was wrapped up with quite a, I would say a dystopian message from FIFA when they spelled out love on the field with lots of little children who they probably own now, it just felt, it did feel a bit at the end, I don't know how it played in the stadium, but it felt a bit Panem in the Hunger Games.

24:02Roger Bennett:Do you know what? Obviously, as a European, I have to, I'm contractually obliged to hate half-time shows. The two things that I thought, well, if you're going to do it, you should at least do it well. And I didn't think they did it well. It didn't make any sense. The stage was massive. They didn't use most of it. Each of the, so the Madonna... Stagecraft. The Madonna-Ronaldo-Rolandino thing was baffling because it appeared in the stadium on the big screens but they were never on the pitch so i don't think anyone knew that they were here they kind of appeared i'm in the north tribune of metlife and they appeared beneath me but i don't think anyone knew that they were there and obviously i get you can't drive a car on the pitch even ronaldo is not allowed to drive a car on the pitch but it that was nonsense won't not the water rt got hold of the world cup half-time show so that made no sense and then And the main bit for me was Bieber.

24:53Roger Bennett:So Bieber has got a beautiful voice. But I would say, Justin, is that the time for a haunting ballad? I'm not sure it is. It really kind of sucked the air from the stadium. He should have done like a cover of Waka Waka. Or Macarena. Yeah. Something that's like well-known and much-loved. Bieber's Macarena would have been unbelievable. They played last catch-up's Aserje for the first hydration break, Rog. And let me tell you, people were bopping. People loved that. I mean, people lose their mind. They've worked out how to handle that in the stadium. It's electric, the water breaks in the stadium.

25:26Look, I will say, nice thing. Shakira's now appeared in more finals of the World Cup than Gerard Piquet, which must feel nice. When she was doing a little hip dancing thing, I did think poor Jelly Roll. I did think about him. Given the chance to write the first World Cup anthem, failing with the great lighter, looking at Shakira, stealing his anthem opportunity, I imagine like a real tear falling upon the tattoo tear. Yes, it is just too poignant. And don't think about it. It's heartbreaking. I think he was body rolling at home. Could have been. Yeah, it could have been me. Just like you. Can you imagine Jerry rolled?

26:04Jerry rolled, body rolled. I will say, Jerry rolled, I bet your hips don't lie either. And I felt sad for you in that moment. I was glad for the world, but halftime shows are strange. I want to be clear, I'm not anti them. I do understand there's like a non-football audience that they can bring in and engage you. I just don't understand how much bigger than 2 billion people can the viewing audience be for a World Cup. You know what I mean? Yes, and is what adds to that the Ronaldo Ronaldinho taxi service? Does that top it out? It was. You think they were just driving an Uber?

26:42Roger Bennett:I got one text from my wife during this World Cup final. and all it said in all caps was Shakira, three estimation marks. So I think it's fair enough to try and appeal to a different audience. But as I say... Does your wife tweet like Shaggy's voice? Shakira! Shakira! Yeah, it's Pitbull, isn't it? It's Pitbull. In Hips Don't Lie, is it not Whitelift John? Shakira, Shakira, it is indeed. Whitelift John, yeah. My friend Francesca texted me as well saying, God, Shakira's hot. So I think that it did perhaps reach an audience who had not texted anything about Spain's pressing in the first half. I think she's intellectually interesting.

27:20Roger Bennett:My wife was deeply uninterested in my text about Leandro Paredes' absence from the first 11. Sure. Conspicuously silent. Yeah. Conspicuously silent about the three changes for Argentina. I mean, the last word on this. Poll in the chat. Did you like the halftime show? No. 68%. Yes. 32%. I do wonder for the footballers from a performance perspective, how their body's used to this much time, like the cool-down period, having double the time almost is a choice. I'll just leave the last word to Wayne Rooney, who spoke, I think, for all of us as a philosopher and the theatre critic that he is, when he spoke like this on English television.

27:59Let's take a look. I like a lot of the maths, but I thought it was cut. So beautiful. He's spinning. He's spinning. I'm spinning. Oh, we can't get Wayne. Wayne said something like, I like them artists, but I thought it was crap. That's what he said live on television, which is just unbelievable. Better out of Wayne's mouth. Yeah, we couldn't possibly say that, but we can report on him saying it. Halftime show, people, it's not going anywhere. It will get bigger and bigger. It is the future. I'd just like to suggest we all embrace it. Let someone really incredible program it next time, like Tracy Chapman.

28:37Yes. I mean, to be fair, again, you talk about Bad Bunny and all these incredible Super Bowl halftime shows. Maybe it was a bit too bitty. We perhaps bounced around too much. Should we have had one artist just deliver a real banger show? Just let Bad Bunny do all... Oh, my God. I don't want to be constantly Bad Bunny. Oh, I'd love... I know Raw loves Bad Bunny. Let's show the Liam Gallagher tweet as the proper last word. Look away, children. Humphrey is a cohesive narrative kind of guy on halftime shows. Is that your philosophy? I mean, maybe. I'm just wondering whether, you know, you do often people come and do these halftime shows and they kill.

29:17And you think, right, okay, well, there is a methodology to do it in a way that is culturally a big water cooler moment. Like, will we be discussing Ronaldo and Ronaldinho saying, five stars, please, remember to give me five stars. I have no idea who you're going with them all. Well, yes, I wonder what that would have been like. She's wondering why there's two Uber drivers. There's only any one of you. I called an Uber, you know, an Uber Lux or whatever it is. I did not call for one of those Uber pools. You're going to have to split the tip. Second off, Argentina started to play with more bodies in the middle with Paredes on again.

29:53Their defending couldn't have been more robust if they pulled prison ships out there and put them between their teeth and just attack Spain. We're really reduced to long shots for all of their possession. Emi Martinez, a final record, 11 saves. None of them really, really extraordinary after that first one, but maybe the Spanish knew this in the back of their heads. Argentina had a minus three goal difference between minutes one to 67, and after that, a plus eight goal difference. The strain, the stress, the everything must have been quite maniacal, but Spain weren't falling on it. they wouldn't take the lead because they didn't want to cough it up.

30:30Meanwhile, Lomine getting more frustrated, trying to do more and more. Messi, this is incredible. Barely touched the ball. Argentina had zero shots of any kind in 90 minutes. 0.0. These are the defending champions. We saw what they did last final against France. It was extraordinary. I mean, I wondered what Thomas Tuchel was thinking as he watched this. Was he like, England shoulda, coulda, if I would have only done it differently? But God, Argentina couldn't move forward. and watching Messi just as consequential to this game as like a six-month-old Lamin-Yemal in the bath. Roar, you said he was the best thing at doing the best thing in the best thing in the world.

31:06This game, he was almost a non-entity.

31:10Roger Bennett:Yeah, Spain completely cancelled him out. I think it was partly, as I say, because Spain had the ball and Messi obviously isn't going to track back. He's not going to story around trying to win it back. And Argentina just couldn't get close enough to get those moments where they can spring on Spain. And as much as Argentina don't have any real pace in attack, they have shown through this tournament that once they get the ball, they can start to cause problems. They can do that shoehorning thing on the edge of the box. They do have ways to hurt teams. But because they couldn't get close to possession, Messi did spend a lot of his time, not 63 % of it, walking around.

31:46Roger Bennett:He spent quite a lot of it in the 25 % zone where he was standing still, waiting for something to happen. because I guess, and I don't want it to be that you're kind of backtracking on everything we've said throughout the tournament, but I guess he does rely on his teammates to get the ball back so that he can then go and do stuff. And between them, Paredes, Alexis McAllister, Enzo Fernandez. Enzo was a bit better at kind of the snapping into tackles, as we'll discuss in a moment, Rog. But they looked like they were always half a second behind the Spanics. They move in so fast, even when they're going nowhere.

32:20Roger Bennett:it's that death by a thousand cuts then they are they are tiring out their opponents yeah and it really felt like any time Argentina did get on the ball suddenly there's three or four red shirts around them and their system they're so as we've said many times and this is not backtracking this is only reinforcing what's been said on this august podcast on many an occasion there's a podcast can I say podcast um you know their system is they're so well drilled they're so clear you know it's probably you can count on one hand the number of times Spain were caught out of position in this tournament, let alone this game.

32:55And they just never worked. There was never a moment really where the Spanish turned the ball over on the edge of their box or where, you know, there were a couple of times where you were like, oh, hello, what's, oh, okay, that's over in very short order. Hence the 0.0 XG until, you know, they gained a 0.4 XG in the last minute. Well, I don't know what the numbers are, but it was, it's nothing. There was a late McFlurry. Look, down the stretch, it was fascinating. Spain brought Mikel Moreno on. It was a balance between his inevitability and Argentina throwing up the fours and trying to create diabolical magic.

33:28And I think the two forces neutered each other. It looked like the game was going to peter out just into nothingness. But Enzo Fernandes said, no, no, no, not so fast, my friend. Kubarsi about to take possession. Enzo decided to strain every single sinew so that he could dive in, catch him with his trailing leg, like with the power of a Yellowstone Bison, hitting him up in the air. It seemed like such an insane, kind of a drained, mentally exhausted kind of decision. It was not necessary. But my favorite bit was when he got up, Enzo, just like, no, no, no, it's not a yellow card, my friend. That was just classic.

34:08What are you on about? I think Enzo believed it wasn't a yellow card because Kubarsi's head was still on his shoulders. what was really stupid about it

34:16Roger Bennett:I actually thought that the second one that he got sent off for the ball was kind of there to be won and you could see it coming where I'm sitting is kind of directly I'm at the end of the pitch so you could see him running towards it and you thought yeah that ball is bouncing it's hard to gauge the depth obviously but the ball was bouncing and you thought he's got a right to go for that he will be tempted and he misjudges it you can make a case that he maybe isn't upset that he catches Kubasi on the shin the way that Cubasi sort of vaults made it look an awful lot worse than I think it was. What's really stupid, his first yellow card was for descent, which is such a waste.

34:52Roger Bennett:It's such a stupid way to get sent off in a World Cup final. He clapped right afterwards, which could have been the second. Yeah, and especially for a player who's a lot of his game is built on that dirty engine room. You know, you can pretty much guarantee he's going to get a yellow card in this game. Don't give one away. and he was arguing over something that was totally pointless. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was like another situation where he was losing his rag with the referee for giving a free kick to Spain that was definitely a free kick to Spain. Yeah. It was not getting a free kick for throwing himself.

35:24He threw himself to the ground. He went shoulder to shoulder with someone, threw himself to the ground trying to win a free kick. A free kick. Didn't get it and then went berserk. Lived by the Enzo, died by the Enzo. Lamina had the free kick at the death. Fell at one for the ages. Another Emmy save. Into extra time. Ten men Argentina. Pressure unrelenting, tightening, tightening. Spain had the ball in the back of the net. Mikel Moreno twirled in a box, tapped the ball on backwards, spinning to shoot. Ball smothered by Martinez again, squirted out to Nico Williams, who just kind of passed it into the back of the net.

35:55Martinez stayed down injured. Narrator's voice, he wasn't injured, but the referee called it back for, I think, a phantom foul by Moreno on Otamendi. I'll admit I didn't see it, but VAR did. upheld the no goal decision. Did either of you see a decision that should be taken away? This felt very, I'm not, I'm not a suspicious man. Conspiracy theorist, will karate roar? This did feel like home cooking.

36:22Roger Bennett:It was, I will, I'll admit, it was at the opposite end of the pitch to me. This is why the media should sit in the middle. And yeah, it wasn't clear to me on first view and why it would have been ruled out. On watching the replay, I'm still not sold. But this is the thing with VAR. I think a lot of the conspiracy around Argentina can actually be explained by fairly humdrum, like run-of-the-mill VAR pernickety-ness. I think that's basically what the problem is. There might have been a minor foul in there, but there was nothing really glaring to me. Clear and obvious, they say. I'll tell you what was clear and obvious.

36:57The Argentina crowd, even with 10 men, felt like it ratcheted up. Did sound amazing. Am I right? The sound of hope and passion and blind belief.

37:05Roger Bennett:They seem to sing more as the prospect of them winning got more and more distant. In those urgent moments, those emergency moments, the noise from that end really grew. And you saw the shirts waving and the sun start to boom out. I think there was a sense among the Argentine fans that they were probably needed. Rog? I just wrote in my game notes the following. The football is chronic. It's a bad day to be an American who loves football and finally convince the rest of the family to give soccer a chance. You can imagine, like, the soccer kid being like, open wide for some soccer, Smith family. And I just felt for all of you at home, we were like, this is the one that you're like, hey, this is going to turn you on.

37:49It was hard. It was a grind.

37:52Roger Bennett:It was, but this sounds like self-justification, Rog, but I think that's important. This is sport. It's not entertainment. it doesn't oh this is a banner home free this is entertainment the bit this really isn't the bit beforehand is genie wijnaldum exactly the um that's what rog sings as well now the bit before i don't know where he is is uh champions league winning midfielder rog sport isn't entertainment it doesn't owe you a good time as i put in the men in blazers whatsapp earlier like you're it's some we find it entertaining but it the player's job is not to be entertaining it is to win a football match you guys got a whatsapp huh you guys got a whatsapp yeah it's the one this is raw it's the one behind his back whatsapp it's the um it's the no humphreys whatsapp yeah yeah oh my god no we don't this is i'm just learning about this in real time no we don't we don't we email we telegraph telegraph come on we all tell it no i think i think it's important to remember that this was the the climax to fifa's luxury world cup it was the ten thousand dollar a ticket world cup it was like the hydration break world cup yeah it was a halftime show world cup it is a world cup that has been treated as entertainment but sport is not entertainment and you can tell it's not entertainment because unlike the films of ryan reynolds sometimes it's not entertaining that's yeah there's no guarantee with the price of admission the players are there to win they're not there to to give you a good time and i think but jerry roll apart from jelly roll i think a part i think it's important we remember that that there is no i'm sure we'd know you both yeah you should i'm really sorry i interrupted you making such a good point earlier and i started to do my joke about what's happening i'm interrupting you again now i just i just think there's a bit of a universal truth to remember that you don't walk into a football stadium or an nfl stadium or a baseball stadium or whatever with a guarantee that what you see will be beautiful.

39:49Roger Bennett:This was. World Cup finals, as a rule, are not good to watch. Thousands of Jets fans. Thousands of Jets fans nodding in agreement. I also think... Sorry, no, go ahead, Rob. So one final line was, yeah, loads of Jets fans come to MetLife and don't have a nice time. They're used to it. Yeah, that's how it works. I mean, honestly, I think it's really strengthening the case. I mean, a lot of people online were already calling the bronze final the people's final. Like, that was the most entertaining game in the World Cup. And so in many ways, England sort of won the people's World Cup. Right, guys?

40:19Yeah, I don't know. I think the real winners... There's loads of people that high-fiving me off the screen. The real winners were the ones that invoked Article 27 in this one. Apparently, I just called Jelly Roll Jerry Roll. Yeah, I didn't want to correct you. He said you're combining Jerry Curls and Jelly Roll. It's a real... Yeah, yeah. You should have corrected me, man. But I was nervous that that was someone cool that I didn't know about. It's a Jerry Jones Jelly Roll mashup. Oh, my God. Jerry Roll. It's like Rory Smith and Jay-Z just perfects it. Oh, my God. And I was like so angry and so frustrated and so disappointed in this blown opportunity to mesmerize America when it happened.

41:0039 seconds into the second period of extra time. Pedro Porro, who I want to say is such a baller when he's not wearing a Spurs jersey, just knocked in a delicious deep cross. Nico Williams, I will not tire of watching him get goal side. I think it was of a very tired Molina. The way he knocked it back just so brilliantly, intelligently, artfully. That header, watch it again. That is team play. That is unselfishness. That is an understanding of space. That is an understanding of a moment. And he headed it to Torres. That unfathomably, unfathomably handsome Torres who proceeded to just smash it home.

41:44A goal. that was both ecstatic and it also felt like a euthaniser because it'll put us all out of our misery.

41:51Roger Bennett:I think it's a really important thing that after all we've been through in this World Cup, Rog, what better ending could there be than the hottest man in it scoring the winner? That is the way it should work. Is he not unfathomably beautiful? He's insanely pretty. I mean... Ridiculous. Stunning. I mean, stunning. And now in this moment, I mean, look at him. Oh, my God. I mean, can we just stare at him for a little while in silence. Should we do that? I can't do anything in silence because it's very noisy, but I really want to make a point, Rog. This is urgent. The playlist that they're playing after the game at MetLife is basically my Spotify.

42:26Roger Bennett:I think they've hacked it. It's loads of Bad Bunny. We've had Danny Ocean. I'm staying here. This is amazing. Does it include the Macarena? They played the Macarena in the second hydration break, Rog. It was a Sedeche. Then it was Macarena. People love that stuff. That is, I tell you what, They should replace the Spanish national anthem with last ketchup and a serraje. People would love it. James Horncastle calls him for ransom, which I just love. Oh, my God. He is. I've got a strange stirring in my loins. Do we know what this was all about? That's his standard. Does he always do that? Yeah, yeah.

42:59He loves geese. Right. So he's doing his two geese, like the devil, the angel goose and the devil goose. It's a standard. It is a standard. One is like, bite that child. The other one's like, break its arm with your wing. Tell us in the chat if you know exactly why he does that. He does do that after every goal. And in that moment, it was just cry for me. Argentina, brilliant. Thinking from Spain, is that not Goldfinch said in the Men in Blazers Discord? Spain's strategy is very solid. If you never take the lead, you can't fall victim to a late Argentina comeback. It's the opposite of scored too early.

43:37By the way, first shot for Argentina, as I said, up top, 170th minute, right into Mikel Moreno's mush. Late flurry, inevitably, Kubasi cleared quite brilliantly. Simeone then fell backwards when he had a chance to blast that ball, spooned it over the bar. Couldn't have happened to an ice a fella, could it? No. And that was that. Spain, world champions for a second time. That back line, just one goal conceded the entire tournament. And who scored it? The world football's premier, a yachtsman, Charles de Tellara. Yeah, that young investment banker scored it. Unbelievable. A testament, really. I mean, you should just essentially just eulogise what Spain have done.

44:25Systems, just a deeply, deeply ingrained DNA in their nation's football. By the way, on the men's and the women's side, these players have known their coach, Dele Fuente, forever. He took the senior job after leading the youth team. He was the under-21 coach. He knows so many of them so profoundly, so intimately. He knows their mental reality. To be honest, stark difference to your big-name coaches, your Ancelottis, your Tuchols, your Pochettinos, who are like, you know, parachuted in late and are deeply kind of alien to the culture and the system. He's deeply, intimately kind of family. and with that mentality and with their kind of like almost like a club team mentality they've delivered victory

45:12Roger Bennett:Yeah I think what this victory is testament to is they've thrown a helicopter into the mix now is quite the soundscape of MetLife I think it's testament to a really complete football culture and the only flaw in that argument is that Spain have been so dreadful at World Cup since 2010 you know they knocked out the group stage in 2014 I think they made the first knockout rounds in 2018 and 2022 and lost on penalties. But they have throughout it all. They've not really veered away from the principles of play that were established probably 25 years ago now that brought us that great Guardiola Barcelona team, that brought us the 2010 World Cup win and the 2008 and 2012 Euros.

45:53Roger Bennett:You can make the case that that international team, that Spain team, is the best international side of all time. They were utterly dominant. and they kind of redesigned how we thought about football. Those principles have remained the same, and I think what you see now is that all of these players are drawn from different clubs. A lot of them play outside Spain. Luis de la Fuente, as you say, is not a big-name coach. He is of the system. But everyone feels at home in the basic idea of play. When they come back to the national team, they all know exactly what they're meant to be doing, and that gives them a massive head start against international sides that are, by definition, a kind of amalgam of different ideas and thoughts and players and influences.

46:33Roger Bennett:Spain feel really coherent. And I think what this victory has been is a victory for that cohesion. That's their superpower. It's not always been thrilling to watch. It's not always been exciting or even objectively beautiful. A lot of it is boring. We talked about this before. Tiki Taka, when it was first coined, was an insult. But they are more together. They are more unified. They make more sense than any other team. and I think that is what has led them to this point. I mean, look, there are so many remarkable things. Unai Simon, seven clean sheets in eight World Cup games. Golden glove winner.

47:09Somehow, a bit weird. Very weird. Didn't try and hunt the trophy. Yeah, and then what were you thinking? I mean, it's an extraordinary thing because, well, what's crazy is that he's won that, you know, the World Cup's best goalkeeper, and he has to be. He only conceded one goal in seven games, but he didn't actually have that much to do in a lot of them because of the way the system works. This is what's amazing. Emi Martinez made more saves in the final, 11, than Unai Seaman made all tournament, 10. That is profound. That is a testament to the system, to just the immense, I guess the word is girth, you're all shouting at the pod radio.

47:49But it was amazing to watch them in victory. Luminium Alston, not the greatest World Cup, just one goal, But to be 19, a European and a world champion, it is, as we said in the previews, to be as close as you can come to die-hards, misarticulation of Alexander Great, saying that he wept because there were no more worlds left to conquer. Dude is the first player in world history to win the World Cup while wearing braces. Yeah, and that's a stat that may never be broken. At Steph Lennon says, we should treasure Jamal. He may only have five World Cups in him. Incidentally, Cucurea won the club and country World Cups.

48:29Give that man the ballon d 'or now. Argentina, meek performance. I think the grind of the journey, the two games and extra time, the old legs, the true sheer terrifying power of Spain. Messi's tears post-game are what Prince really meant when he wrote, This is what it sounds like when doves cry. Age 39, a World Cup of Wonder. Real wonder. Brought so much joy to the world. Not you, Egypt. Fall short. The question now is, will he ever play? Seemingly answered to me by the profound emotions at the trophy ceremony, the greatest to ever do it. But what do you guys think?

49:10Roger Bennett:My instinct would be that he will probably play for Argentina at least once more. I think he'll want his final appearance to be at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. I think he will want to say goodbye properly. there was a really nice moment after the Argentina players had got their runners-up medals where they all went to stand in front of their fans who had not moved which I think, first of all we should take it, you know as British people, we should tip the cap to the sportsmanship there because that is not something you see very often It's the correct choice They all hung around to watch, which I think is really important and they started singing with the players We said yesterday, Roger, I think that Argentina were playing with house money they've already won the World Cup as Emiliano Martinez has said what they have done is legendary they have won the World Cup they have they have brought them to another final the country to another final and to be honest I think the emotional high point of this tournament for them would always have been beating England I think that will be the thing they remember I think the fact that they could commune with Messi and with this team even in defeat was really powerful but my guess is Messi will want to have one more game probably in Buenos Aires It would be lovely if it was in Rosario, his hometown, to say goodbye to his country.

50:21Roger Bennett:Whether that happens or not, I don't know. I don't know whether he might just decide that this is the way you kind of have to say goodbye. And we've said a million times, haven't we? Football does not let you choose how you say farewell. It chooses for you. Life does not let you choose when you say goodbye. Look, this Spanish team may not get the credit they deserve. I do think they should go down, not as the most aesthetically pleasing, but as one of the most dominant teams in World Cup history. to give up just 10 shots all tournament. To let in just one goal is cold-blooded efficiency. One quick note, Kylian Mbappe won the Golden Boot, scoring twice, providing that assist against England in a very good, very meaningful.

50:59The people's final. Yeah, is that what it is? A lot of people are slightly angry that we dissed that game. He may have won it. I will say, it still feels like Messi won the spotlight. I mean, we can now say who won this World Cup from the commercial kind of spotlight perspective. Messi won that to me. Erling Haaland is probably the people's golden boot. Vizinha, the heart of the tournament. We had him live on stage today. My God. People went crazy. People were losing their minds. He's almost like a deity. I did a show with David Beckham this morning, and he was talking about, wow, I met Vizinha last night.

51:35David Beckham was like, wow, I met him. You know, it's really, there's something very special, almost a holy nature to him. Rodri, though, probably the most influential player. What do you guys think?

51:47Roger Bennett:I think it's never a sign of a really thrilling tournament if Rodri's the best player in it, but it's absolutely fair. I wonder to what extent, I think Messi's been the best player of the tournament. I wonder to what extent there was an element of humanity in that decision to make him the player of the tournament. I'm not sure Rodri shone throughout. He's always very good, obviously. Messi, I think, was very clearly kind of the defining player of the tournament but do you want to make Lionel Messi stand up there and collect a trophy in defeat probably not so whether whether there was a decision made that the player of the tournament should come from the winning team I don't know but it sure felt like it yeah it's often often that way where you sometimes you will see you know in a regular Premier League game or a championship game where you have one player who has an absolutely extraordinary game but they do not finish on the winning team.

52:35And very often that influences that man-of-the-match decision. You know, it sets the humanity of the situation to one side. But, you know, I think Rodri, he was sensational in the final. Ultimately, you know, he set the tempo. He pulled all the strings. He made all the choices. This is because you picked Rodri as your man-of-the-match before the game. That's why you're pushing this real hard. I don't know. I just don't know. I do see the future, man. It's not always pretty. It's often mostly dark, but in this case, I'm really, really sad, as I am to credit the new Spanish FA president who managed to win a tournament and resist the urge to kiss one of his star players on the mouth.

53:16That's progress. Rory just wants to nod and not pick that one up. It absolutely is, Roger. It absolutely is progress.

53:24Roger Bennett:I'm saying no more about it. This World Cup's over. A commercial juggernaut, the eyes on it, the commercial heft. predicted to become the world's first$13 billion sporting event. The ultimate moment of, I guess, sporting prosperity. It's now done. I always feel like it's an agony when the World Cup final is over. The World Cup just finishes like that. I mean, it's incredible. Tomorrow, no one will be talking about it. It just falls off a cliff. Tomorrow, we'll all be like, Premier League is starting in, you know, 22 days. Oh, yeah. But I do want to revel in the positives with both of you. give you a last word to kind of eulogize this incredible 39 days we've shared, you know, in which so much beauty happened, so many, you know, big names delivered, so many new names were revealed to us, so many English speakers tuned into Telemundo for the excitement and the passion, and even more Americans learned the true secret, the true joy of football, which is to have to stand with thousands of strangers, throw your beers in the air and just get soaked in human emotion and Roger Loaves.

54:39Yeah, absolutely. I mean, as I say, I've said this many times on the show, I've lived in the States for 13 years. I've been a big football evangelist in that time. And I've been delighted by the small number of my friends that I've slowly chivvied into caring about football one way or the other. So it has been such a joy to see, you know, at a time when I think America has been perhaps a bit more isolated on the world stage than it has been for a while. To see, you know, arms reaching out across the ocean, united by the love of the beautiful game, has been a wonderful thing. And I think it's been great to see different cultures come here.

55:15It's great to see the culture of this place leaving a lasting, brilliant mark on so many people, including, as we know, our friend Erling Haaland with his brand new Taxidermy collection. I think it has been a huge success and I think there was a lot of talk beforehand about was America going to embrace this to the degree that a World Cup deserves and I think that has been answered with a resounding yes

55:37Roger Bennett:Rory, yeah I think if you look at the TV figures they've been astonishing we obviously don't know what they are for the final but I think you can say pretty clearly that America's embraced the tournament I think the thing that will last most of all even with all those big star performances you know Haaland, Mbappe, Messi all delivering Jude Bellingham of course I think it is the stuff that happened off the pitch that will leave that leave the truest mark I I think like you do Rog that American sporting culture will have a little bit of a of a football tinge for a little bit from from now on really that you know once they've seen the Argentines making Jerry World shake and the Ecuadorians on the on the rocky steps and the Tartan army all that stuff does have an impact because it changes in some tiny way the way that millions of people see the world and I think that's genuinely well I hope it's genuinely important I think if it's not important then that's quite depressing I think that's where I actually land like if that if it is the case that this happens then we all go home and everything just turns back to normal I think that would be quite sad I don't want to live my life like that particularly and I think it's inevitable that lots and lots of kids in the US and around the world will have been watching this for the first time you know it's always someone's first World Cup and there is something magical about it and as much as you know you can You can quibble about the format and about whether some of those early games in the group phases, whether they had lasting nourishment or not.

56:58Roger Bennett:That is a genuine debate. I don't know whether the standard of play has been as high as some of the World Cups. Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't. I don't think the standard of play is especially important. But we've had loads of great moments. There's been loads of great stories to follow. There's been romance. There's been drama. There's been all the stuff that makes us love football. And that will help. It will be the case that in 20 years' time, someone is playing for the US. who Lionel Messi gave a bath to at some point, saying my first exposure to football was at the 2026 World Cup. And that matters.

57:29God, I'm desperate to get Lionel Messi to give me a bath, by the way. I've been working on this. Just a little bath, Lionel. You'll do well to find a commercial partner for it, Rog. No, I think I can get it on Cameo, I think.

57:43Roger Bennett:You might need a different site. Yeah. I mean, I tell you what, it's a great way to launch the old OnlyFans. Yeah, get in there. Who wants to bath the rog? That's a horrible idea. Let's be candid. I love your thinking about that. This is many, many millions first World Cup. I wrote that book, We Are the World Cup. It starts in 1978, watching my first World Cup. It blew my mind. I hope young viewers for whom this was their first World Cup, you feel just as electric, just as motivated, just utterly, utterly ecstatic as I did. and may you act on that. May it be wonderful. I want to say, the Women's World Cup is just 341 days away.

58:29That's just what it is and I'm excited for that now. That's what we're turning towards. The US are not bad in that one. Look, it's been so much fun this summer making and seeing the responses to our merch. We tried to capture the joyous moments, the feelings, designs inspired from everything from Mexico's duck to Norway's famous row. Head to the shop, grab your World Cup memories, link below. Celebrate accordingly. We'll keep this going as the club seasons kick off. And I do want to say for all of you new fans, stay with us because we will be covering every kickable ball everywhere in the world.

59:02Men's and women's, we are here for you.

59:08But for the last time, Graw, it's time for the food. Let's play The Sting.

59:17Roger Bennett:The European mind cannot comprehend

59:25I don't have any food, Rog. I know, we're not doing... I was going to say, if you've somehow Postmates-ed food to Rory in the press box at the stadium, you'll be very impressed. I mean, look, this is you in an undisclosed location near, let's just say, the New York, New Jersey metro area. So it's time to crown. That's what we're doing tonight. your official winner of the European Mind Cannot Comprehend Tour of America in which you've eaten all of the carbohydrates we could throw at you and huge, huge love. Let's look at the table one last time. It's Hutchins Barbecue in Dallas is the Rory Smith winner.

1:00:02Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

1:00:04Roger Bennett:But look, Rog, there were a lot of great contenders. There were a lot of, this is now, I think, we've gone into Mike Towers, I think. This is extraordinary. It's an extraordinary playlist. But yeah, there was a lot of great contenders. Not a surprise to see two barbecues up at the top. But great for JR Critics to get Champions League plays. Lucia Pizza. Jim Southstreet gets it because of the league coefficient. It's been a delight. It's just really nice for little Busy Bee to get into the Conference League. It's quite cool. And also a huge result for Atlanta as well. They've really kind of dominated in many respects.

1:00:40to have three entrants on the list. That's not to be sniffed out. I think we have to look at the competitive balance. Where is my 404 chain? Yeah. It's a real issue. Yeah, it is. Atlanta is the Premier League of food. Roar, do me two favours when you get home. Get some rest. Get your cholesterol checked. I think you're now 90 % made up for room temperature hamburger meat, which is, you know what I mean. Acra's chick 1979 says, who's on the coffee? who's on the beers has become a rally cry in my house. If that is the gift that we leave you with this World Cup, Griscik, that makes me so happy. Last but not least, we've got the final fan letter of this World Cup.

1:01:23Do not forget, we want to keep hearing from you. We will keep being in your life. You will keep being in ours. We love hearing your stories. It's what we're for. We're not going anywhere. Drop us a line in the Men in Blazers Discord. Link in the chat. Send us an email. meninblazers at gmail.com tag us on socials we love hearing from you today we've got a letter from the quite famous sculptor jacob who wrote rog thanks for your encouragement i've been sculpting all game my finest work yes enjoy some well-deserved rest and some bubbles courage jacob what do you think of that lads that is very that is very flattering to me yeah equally for me but rod who is that in your stead what what it really looks like someone but that someone is in some ways not necessarily you i want to know how my erection has taken itself off my body and it looks like squirrel you're wearing little shorts that's all that's all right am i wearing shorts or is it just artfully positioned to hide my modesty whatever it is.

1:02:28I want that made for real, Jacob. If you did sculpt that, and I'd like to believe you are a great sculptor, please mail it to me at the address on the Men in Blazers newsletter. I want that fountain. By the way, Tommy Vitor, I don't know if we got this tweet. He just tweeted this, which is very, very kind. And now you can finally sleep at Rog Bennett. You go to your eternal rest. 39 days on, I'm in a post-sleep world, baby. I don't mind. Valhalla, I'm coming. My job here is done. Prepare a seat at the table at the halls of your ancestors. Jacob, why did he give me varicose veins, by the way? I'm a bit worried about my health at this point.

1:03:08Look, this tournament has been one of the experiences of my lifetime, sharing it with you both, sharing it with all of you, sharing it with you two, Squirrel. It's been a joy. It's been a challenge. We've had many wonderful moments. We've had many moments of profound, I'd say mental challenge, but hearing from all of you. has been the driving force for all of us. This is not a goodbye. Rory and I will be back in your loving arms at least twice a week in our pod feed, on our YouTube. Premier League season just around the corner. I'm about to go off to England to spend time with all the big Premier League clubs, bring their stories, their narrative, their managers, their players into your hearts.

1:03:47Rory, my World Cup wife, will become my Premier League main squeeze. And don't worry, Hump, you'll always be our side piece. Championship side piece. I'll take that. You'll always be the Madonna to our... Why do you never introduce me to your friends, I'll say. It's coming. Please just give me a minute to organize my affairs. Stay tuned. We've got some massive stuff coming your way this football season. Football never sleep. For all of you who are new to the Men in Blazers Media Network, thank you for being with us this summer. It's been the ride of a lifetime across this nation in this crazy, this cocoon.

1:04:23It's felt like a womb, this orange bus. We love it. We hate it. we've reached our final destination point we started there, we went there we've gone across, we've looped around and we're finally here it's the end of our World Cup journey but stay with us sign up to our social, sign up for the newsletter which I think is the best of it we cover it all every week speak to the biggest celebrity fans the biggest footballers in the world we're just trying to bring joy, do good things with great people, you are great people football does not sleep and neither do we. Only thing left for us is to have a bare-knuckle brawl to determine who gets to take Scrivelling Helen though.

1:05:05But before we do, last word from both of you. Oh, well, thank you. I'm going to say to you, Rog, because this has been a real joy for me. And thank you to all the team that are hidden on the other side of that wall over there that have also crisscrossed the country, done incredible work, produced this brilliant show for everybody at home. And as a traditional, thank you to everybody at home for watching. I mean, it's not really my responsibility. You're not watching for me. You're watching for him and Vazenia. They're all watching to pause the video on Raw because he's very good looking. Because he's an absolute snack.

1:05:34He's a hunk. He's an absolute vending machine snack.

1:05:38Roger Bennett:He is. Vending machine snack. 73.12. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's been amazing. It has been, yeah, it's been so much fun. It's been slightly deranged at times. But it's been a real privilege to spend all this time with you, Rog. With you, Humphrey. with everyone on the MIB team who's amazing. There's so many people who are so amazing, who've done such incredible work over the last 40 days. Let's do it again in 2030, but let's not do it again before that, is what I would say. I need to build up my energy levels again. Women's World Cup, it's coming. 341 days. Let's drive around Brazil. Who's with me? I love that.

1:06:14I'm with you. Listen, number one, I want to thank you. I want to thank you, all of you at home. I want to thank you two and the whole team here. It is unbelievable. We have been on the road for nearly seven weeks. We have had so many challenges keeping this bus going. It's like we don't know about buses. We've kept it rolling. It's been magnificent. It's been, I mean, the numbers, the engagement, the joy, but bloody hell, so many people have worked so hard. And the fact that we're all still getting on is humanly remarkable. Great testament to all of you, man. And the football has been so unbelievably moving.

1:06:56It's the honor of our lifetime to be with you. I read this line from the Brazilian poet Sergio Vaz, who wrote, one doesn't watch football, one feels it. It's the connection. Oh, it's my wife again. God bless her. It's the only one that who's arrived in my silence. Hang on, my Sergio Vaz alarm has gone off. He's reading Sergio Vaz. She doesn't like Sergio Vaz's poetry, Vanessa. Yes, one doesn't watch football. One feels it. It's a connection football provides. It's the feeling things. Look, I've said this in the beginning. We've all shared this. It is. The football's great. Spain, huge, huge love to you.

1:07:31Spain will be going mad tonight, but it's the memories we've all made. It's the memories we share, the contrasting emotions that we feel. That's the most important thing. It makes us feel connected. It makes us feel alive. And as always, let's not take a second for this granted. That's what the World Cup was. Memory making, feeling connected to the world. And I hope some of that positive vibe stays because it is so much of a gift. Producer JayJub says, my wife isn't calling for me. She's calling for Squirreling Harland in his little cute cowboy hat. We'll leave you with a look back on this whole tournament this summer.

1:08:06A video that should probably be accompanied by Sarah McLachlan Music, but we couldn't afford the rights. We spent it all on stings. There's been no bloody worm burners over the past week, and that's what's annoying me. We're not being able to use it one bloody time. But the World Cup may be over. The football will never stop. Really, it's just beginning. We'll see you soon. This is Rog saying thank you from the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of my bus. Big, big love. Up the effing toffees and courage. Slap those headphones on, baby.

1:08:43How you doing? USA! USA! USA! I love America! Oh my God! No! Run, run, run, run, run, run! Who's your daddy now? You feel me though? That's how you translate? I love this. It's just bringing everybody together.

1:09:01Roger Bennett:What we've seen is a country awaken to what football does. And I think it's infectious. Who is on the coffee? Who is on the beer? This crowd is phenomenal. People are freaking pumped. I think that love for the game is just going to grow. Game time. Horn Dressel will say anything to anyone to make them like him. It's pathetic. How do you like them, Cowboys? Literally, the first thing he did was how they push out. ATL! I'm loving the ATL! 2.84 is a lot of percent. This is like 90 Super Bowl.

1:09:33You're getting the final, baby! That was amazing. Good job, baby. It was so romantic.

1:09:38Roger Bennett:The love is in the air. You're waiting. There will be a bond between Boston and Scotland for a long, long time. We knew there would be some kilts. It's all about passion. Underdogs. Nobody saw coming. Everyone will know who is covered and where is covered. That's the guy! We're amazing. Give it up for Dr. Kongo, man. You gotta believe. Never let her put off the gas. A warm burner. You gotta get your eight-hour sweat ring. You know what I'm talking about? We got swirling Harlem with us. The smell of Mario Baratelli. He did smell amazing. Is that guy behind you holding a chicken wing? Teamwork makes the dream.

1:10:09Word. Generational. You heard us. Something that unifies people and glues them together. We all have the same passion today. And they had the best time of their life. Isn't this a privilege? Incredible to be a part of it. This is Ruggs. Say big, big love. I'm coming!