USA's gutsy win over Bosnia & Herzegovina LIVE reactions: Night Cup 07/01/26

20:50This is not, as you can see, viewers, this is not really the refereeing half hour. Like, his foot, no, it was there.

20:56Roger Bennett:But I think the speed that that's actually happening at in real time, you can't, I mean, I know they're like a different type of fumes. They do know how to rake. They do know how to rake. That's the problem. That's so fast. They train at raking. If you look at, I think, To me, it's so often about where the player is looking at any given time. I think he's looking for the ball. He literally goes to control the ball, and there's just some bloke's leg there. Yeah. And that can be, I still think that as a foul. It can be a penalty. It can be any number of things. For it to be a red card for dangerous play.

21:27You want men's rea. As I say, this is coming from me, the enemy of America. Did you do a law degree? You did a law degree. I did a law degree. Actress rea, men's rea. Don't drag me into that. I want men's rea for red cards. He wants intention, is what he's saying in fancy lad language. Fancy boy language. Hashtag free Ballot. The image that was haunting to me, to be candid from this whole show, was Ballot pulling his shirt off in agony, and Christian Pulisic just hugged a distraught Ballot. What do you think he was saying here?

22:01Roger Bennett:Actually, to be honest, I don't think he said anything, did he? He just gave him a hug. He didn't need to say anything. We'll see you in the courts. I think he said, play you for the ultras. Wells Fargo. He said, he gave me a yellow card once. That might well be Christian saying, look, follow in. This is tough, but I can get you a really competitive rate on a credit card. I can't get you one free, but I can give you. I'll do your mate's rate. Yeah. I can do your friends and family. One credit card would be an amazing interest.

22:37Cheer-ups, not all bad. You're really competitive APR.

22:43And so Greater America was introduced to the idea of squeaky bum time. You're welcome, America. It was a grinding experience from that moment on. I mean, I honestly think this is where retrospectively and campaigns are journeys, and journeys teach you different lessons at different times. I felt grateful for that second half against Australia, which was bloody frustrating to live through. But that's kind of where we began to learn tenacity and grind and fight and suffer. It did us a world of good. And credit the United States. I've got to tell you, the thing I love most about this, well, I love many things, but I loved in this moment, we had elite shithousing instincts.

23:27We really worked out how to both slow the game down, run the clock out and piss the Bosnians off something wicked. I mean, that was really remarkable. In the past, you've not watched a lot of us, but we kind of overdo it. We're kind of like, how do you fight? You show them we're in the fight. Here, it was like more in their heads. It was more winding up the manager, winding up the players. I thought it was, that's a new level of USMNT gamesmanship.

23:58Roger Bennett:You need a bit of snide. Yes. You need a bit of snide. And it thrilled me. Not as much. But, Rog, to be fair, as well as the snide, they kept possession brilliantly. Yeah. The way they kind of worked the little triangles just to take the spin out of the game often didn't go anywhere. But they kept the ball away from Bosnia. They stopped them kind of pushing forward. There was real maturity in that ball. Yeah, you didn't get that. I mean, there were times when the US was a bit under the cosh, but you didn't have that sort of sustained 10, 12, 15-minute long period of post-descending off, or even post-spoiler alert, the second goal, where it was just Bosnia camping in the US's half and just cross after cross after cross is coming in.

24:42And then the free kick. I mean, just a stunning moment. We were watching it together. The free kick lined up. Tillman stepped up. What did I say as he lined it up? You said he thinks he's going to score. He's never going to score. What? they always diminish my meager contribution you said Malik who? has he just come on? no he's been on the whole game he can't take free kicks and then he scored a free kick

25:08Roger Bennett:then you said you hope he misses I said does he speak to his dad? I wish the commentator would keep telling this in this moment of glory we'll have to explain that a lot of people will have been celebrating immediately after the goal the commentator went into a slightly overly long account of Malik Tillman's troubled family life which felt unnecessary in that moment it did seem a bit extra He scored a great goal, but his dad wasn't part of his life. It was a bit of a shame. I felt like I felt an agony in a moment of glory. I really, really did. Way to bum us out. Birth of his first child. It's like, shame your dad's not here.

25:41Oh, my God. Just let me have this moment. Just let me reintroduce myself. I will tell you, I said he thinks he's going to score. If you look at that again, look at it again and enjoy it again. Look at it many times and enjoy it, especially kids. Go and look at this. This is a man who has practiced and practiced and practiced. I imagine Malik Tillman in Germany, like late at night, still grinding away basketball courts, just popping it in, popping it in and hitting targets, hitting targets, you know, under eight games, under nine games, under 10 games, grinding away hours, hours, probably in this training camp, working on it.

26:21This was a man who knew that this was, as they say, very much in his locker. He was going to score. He knew he was going to score. He'd practiced this. He knew how to get it up and down. And he knew he knew how to get it up and down. And you watched him just kind of try and push out that pressure. And then there's something in his eyes before he took it. It just clicked. He knew. He pushed out doubt. He locked in his execution. The foot shape when it struck the ball. I won't watch that again. He kind of hit it with three different parts of his foot at the same time. And in that moment, as it hit the back of the net, I just felt this incredible.

26:55I don't know what you felt at home and what you boys did, but it was just an ecstasy of relief and the soaring wonder of fleetingly feeling that everything's possible for this team. It's the coolest thing. As you say, that you can sort of trace, you can go back from that moment all through a player's career and development and all those things. and yeah, you think of all those moments, as you say, when he was growing up in Germany where sort of cool teenage girls with asymmetric haircuts were like, Malik, let's go smoke cigarettes behind the supermarket. Let's go and listen to Peter Schilling in the disco deck.

27:29And he's like, I'll be right there. And then he stays and does his 10 ,000 hours. Yeah, he's just thump.

27:36Roger Bennett:Ding, thump, hitting the target over and over again. His court shape is insane. I think your ankle shouldn't do that. I'm worried about Malik Tillman. Rod, you can show off about it you think he's in a store. who said he'd be the most important, be the superior player of the match this morning. Who said that? Live on stage in Atlanta. With my close personal friend, Larry Nance Jr. Yeah, you said that. I said that, didn't I? You said that. I said that to Big Boy. Yeah. And Big Boy wasn't really sure what I was talking about. And Big Boy said, I've got a new collection of t-shirts coming out with Waffle House.

28:05He did. He would always be selling. Those were flying off the shelves at Waffle House this morning. Oh, have you been to the Waffle House? I did, yeah. Well, they're all gone. I got some. You got some. I did get some. I'll wear them tomorrow. This is just perfect for the heat of the bus. I've got to say, I think I'm losing about 25 pounds. This is a personal schvitz. This is sacrifice and suffering. I went t-shirt. I'm absolutely dolder. I may take all my shirts off and just go tops off. Do you want me tops off? Should we do a poll? Rog tops on tops off? Please vote no. Can we just say, very quickly, I mean, it's beautiful.

28:38And as he ran away, I just hope he didn't hear the commentator talking about his dad. if we're going to talk about it if I took him to the corner flag and he looked up at the stands and there's his dad maybe that's what wiping a tear away what Pulisic was saying to Balin hold up a sign please can I have$500 what what what an incredible what what an incredible what an incredible moment for that guy that guy who by the way Malik Tillman came into the team in the weird in-between period when you know the big players decided not to play Malik Tillman made it his team but during the goal cut when it felt lesser and then they all came back and he kind of fell down the pecking order watching this man so confident so joyous so assertive that is the difference maker for this u.s team him as the heartbeat of everything i wish i'd

29:22Roger Bennett:said this before he scored a vital goal because now it just looks like i'm bandwagon jump sure yeah but i think he kind of completes the u.s because like you complete me like we complete each other yeah yeah it's all three of us yeah no it's a it's a triangle it's a triangle it's a It's a love Eiffel Tower. Busboys. We're just three busboys sitting on a bus asking Malik Tillman to love us. He's tactically really smart. I think you can make a case that he's probably the American forward player who's had the best season in Europe this season. He's been really good for Lavergues. He kind of fills in the gaps around the others.

30:02Roger Bennett:He's really tactically intelligent. And yeah, they definitely look a lot better when Tillman is on it. And I think he's been the understated key cog in this World Cup so far. Amen. Long may it's, we're going to need him is what I would say. Cause down the stretch, small notes, Matt Freeze, I don't think did himself too many favors. Does look like there's a, there's a, the script writers have a, have an awful moment for him in store, but Chris Richards was everywhere. Absolutely. In the moment when you, I think you can tell a lot in life about people, how they operate in times of challenge. Chris Richards stepped up.

30:40He was everywhere, especially when there was doubt surrounding him. He just took control, took over. And this performance, to be a man down for over 30 minutes, to dig deep, you know, the U.S. did it with swag. It thrilled us. I want to be clear. This game, we won with fight against a team that wanted to fight, against a team that wanted to drag us into their battlefield to suffer. And we went there and we battered them with tenacity, with perseverance. this team has different ways to win. That's what we learned tonight. And it felt magnificent. Belgium now away. By the way, one thing, we beat a European team.

31:16Can we just raise that together? We've got rid of this awful, awful statistic. This is massive. This is what? Sorry, I pulled a face,

31:24Roger Bennett:but it's actually because my neck hurts. As Europeans, we'd like you to be sensitive in our difficult times. We've lost 10 times on the run. Tonight, we beat two. We're on a two-team winning run. We beat Bosnia and Herzegovina. we face another European team with the knowledge we can face a European team and believe in ourselves which is magnificent but we have to do it with no Balogun so let me ask you like in a meet the press style did we win the battle and now have to find a new way of entering the next phase of the war without hashtag free Balogun I mean it's a big it's a big lost as he's on he's in great form he is score a goal from sort of nothing yeah and he is he's kind of on it and that's difficult Pepe came on ran around a bit put himself about, which is nice.

32:08Roger Bennett:He's not Balogun. It will be a loss. But then you don't get through a World Cup without having to meet these challenges. Yes, exactly. It happens. Yeah, and I think that the... As you were talking about, the history of America runs at the World Cup and the way I think everybody who's a fan of their national team has those kind of... remembers those sequences of games or those moments. And it's so important to create that national sort of mythos about your football team. and like this could be this could be an amazing opportunity that Ricardo Pepe comes in scores you know gets two and all of a sudden it's like you know he has then woven himself into that tapestry you were talking about the other day I've never used that word before I'm going to say it for the first time in my life mythos oh yeah it sounds like a public access television documentary where the guy the toast is talking about the mythos I think it sounds like an off-brand shower gel by the way either way I love it and I love that idea this is we're building we're building myth here and this is another step in along that journey but i think we we've talked a few times before about you know we are collectively football evangelists we want people in america to be more into football it's it's so exciting and that again i think all this is so important like winning as you say you have paraguay that's great it's flashy it's exciting it's cool it was exactly what we wanted for the first game of the competition to give to give everybody in America that thrill, but there is a real joy in grinding out a horrid win.

33:35This is how you win. By the way, this is how you do. What we did today, this is how you do go far in a World Cup. Just open up a can of whoop-ass on the team that are not very good. Okay, they beat Germany. Maybe we are good. This, what we did today to grind out, to find a way to problem solve on the site of believing ourselves to keep that collective, to smite back. I do believe Mythos is the scent Mario Balotelli was wearing. Could be, sure. I still smell Mythos on my fingers. Jack O 'Lantern984 says, Hump already halfway to tops off. Yeah, I know. There's quite a lot of hairy chest going on.

34:13I know, I like it. By the way, it's like he's got Landon Donovan stuff down the front of his shirt. Chas asks, Hump. just um which American is Wrexham signing why just singular guys well yeah why just singular I mean look it's it's there's a lot of good I mean there's a lot of good American players in the championship I would say Hadji Wright for example yeah oh he's in the he's in the Premier League now um but yeah I mean look I would there's where to start where I mean I will say we love a big man if Ricardo Pepe hadn't just gone to Fulham we'd love a gigantic striker I will say for my Wrexham, I was going to say to mention Wrexham because I'm contractually obliged to do so every time we talk.

34:55Yep. This is Wrexham Corner. For those people that aren't familiar with Wrexham, which is the football club that I work for, we've been promoted three times in a row in the last five years. And so often it was built on wins like tonight. Right? I think a lot of people watch documentary or, you know, don't follow us that closely. But they know the mythos. They know the mythos. But the mythos they maybe think of but with Rexham this is a team that's won a lot they cruise past people they do this and they're so time and time and time again it was all about horrible 1-0 wins or like two late winners sneaky punch to the down below exactly doing a little actually we're quite well behaved as a team we very rarely get our discipline is pretty good but what they were so so good at Rexham what have been so good at for years is just never saying die and and it's I think it's as part of, again, the monomyth.

35:53I'm going to use a different myth thing. This is amazing. Of the US World Cup, US Men's National Team World Cup 2026. Yeah. You want all these little ingredients. You're going to have some people that are watching that at home that just love the stress and the tension, the excitement, and that is, it's addictive. I feel better about the US after this performance. Oh, yeah, 100%.

36:14Roger Bennett:It shows that they don't need everything to go their way to succeed. They're not just flat-track bullies. I mean, this gets your places, and I love it. By the way, the answer to your question, it is... It's Grinter. That's what that is. Just to tell you what Grinter is. Grinter is the kind of Argentine concept of fight and grit and drizzle, which Pochettino, Cochipoche, bounds on about the whole time. That's what the US showed in that last half hour. They showed Grinter. I did the first interview with Poch when he became the US manager. Spent most of his time, answered to every question. I don't think he knew that much about us, to be honest, back then.

36:43Didn't even have this on his mind. Oh, come on. I don't mean my breasts. I mean my shirt I'm wearing a bit I mean maybe he did the chairman Rod Scherzer maybe he did how do we not have

36:56Roger Bennett:this I thought he was what if he'd only taken the job I will get to see the man with the glasses yes I thought he was listening to my questions I've just looked at

37:13he's an American milkshake built a body I don't know I don't know what that accent is. It's normal. I don't know. I thought he was listening to me. But anyway, I did now realize he wasn't listening to a word I was saying. He was just looking through. He just let me answer to every question. I was just like, Grinta! I was like, can we just explain Grinta for the audience? And he's like, Grinta is Grinta. I was like, that's it. It was like Grinta's fight. It's tenacity. It's doing whatever. It's a little bit of shithouse in Grinta. In fact, they love, they love, they love. It's part of the game.

37:42Roger Bennett:All the South American nations have got their own word for it. The Eurogans called it Garra. It's the same thing. is getting yourself into the game, fighting, strapping. Which is why I've never understood Americans. When I started to play soccer over here with you guys, a lot of my bad, like that thing. I find American football. The Americans are the opposite. Me too. Yeah. The most aggro people have ever played football. I love it. I love a bit of aggro. I love a bit of aggro. Oh, yes, okay. We've talked about this before, Humphrey. We've forgotten about that. The American amateur players are very strappy.

38:07Roger Bennett:Can we just tap this? Let's just kind of wait for the Belgian game. I think Belgium were a very good team. I'm just saying this because I'm trying to gas them up. we're going to go. This is an exciting night. It's an amazing night to be an American football fan. We've waited for a night like this. Look, it's a weird one. We've won one knockout game in the Men's World Cup in our nation's history. We've now doubled that too. But remember, they've given like a new basement the round of 32. We laughed last night about Mexico being like, oh, we've got the fifth. Yeah, they had to give you the kind of playing game to do it.

38:41We're now where we should be round of 16. And the question is, can we go deeper? And I do believe this is me cynical dark pessimistic I watched tonight with absolute adoration admiration huge respect this is the kind of performance there's a platform for the kind of stuff that I know so many of you and I know I have dreamt about it poll from the chat if Ballot can't play against Belgium who'd you start Ricardo Pepe 50 % Hadjou right 37 other 13 % Potch doesn't really trust the substitutes anymore by the way the answer for him who's going to play at Wrexham next season And Gio Reyna, since he was a child, wanted to play at Wrexham.

39:19Make it happen. 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. These 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.

39:59To the football, to more together, courage. To Atlanta, a game we all went to in person. England 2. Oh, rip Dr. Congo 1. Churchill famously said, as you know, there's no better feeling in life to be shot at without result. That's what we live through. I think in the bends, we were told Congo would bunker down. We were told WhatsApp group after WhatsApp group fretted about the low block and how we were going to break it down. But instead, Congo opened with a fearlessness and a wash business desire to maim. I think they'd seen something in our video that none of our defenders knew what the hell to do.

40:45If you dribbled directly at them, they would crap their pants. And so it went down seven minutes, English back line. I think the English back line in this, if you look at it, is as disorganized as the American stereotype of English teeth. It's just like utterly, just completely everywhere, nowhere near the arc diagonal cross from deep. Jed Spence just seems to be overrunning it rather than heading it clear. and in steps, Brian Sipenga, the number nine left winger. And he just thrashed that ball high enough to prevent us using our very expensive worm burner graphic, which I'm a bit annoyed about.

41:21Jordan Pickford will not love the way it went, kind of threw his gloves, but Sipenga was a surprise call up from Castellon in Spain, second division. But he's assisted now two key winners in World Cup, qualifying now as his big boy goal. He said on Instagram, my country also has a right to happiness, which I love. I was sitting right by the Kongan fans and to watch them pop off in this moment, it's exactly what he gave them.

41:45Roger Bennett:They were brilliant. Yeah. Certainly in the first quarter, they were absolutely brilliant, Kongo. I think, Roger, you're totally right. I think they decided they wanted to kind of, whatever the opposite of rope-a-dope England is, I think they knew England would be expecting them to sit back, absorb pressure. And they were like, actually, we can do this. Yeah. They're like what my dad would call combination play, which is passing to each other. But that's what they used to call it in the 50s. I would say for 75 minutes was much better than England's. They looked like really the footballers. And the two winners, Sipenda and I think it was Mwapu, were amazing.

42:20Roger Bennett:They kept running at the fullbacks and the English fullbacks looked completely bamboozled, like baffled by the idea. What are you doing? Why are you not getting the ball, turning and laying it back off to a midfielder, which is what happens at home. What decent men do. What you're the resident Englishman here. What did it feel like? I was talking to a friend of mine earlier who was saying that Premier League fullbacks not used to wingers running at them anymore. This is Rory about 20 minutes ago. Before we start, I'm stealing his idea. Just pass the idea off. I think... No, but you made, as a characteristic of you, a very good point.

42:53Mythos. About the English, the current English mythos, which is... No, but I mean, you were saying so much for Premier League football these days. You see it's people... And we see it in games. I mean, this is what was happening a lot in the first half for England, was they were getting into positions where you're like, well, hang on, you're basically sort of one-on-one with the fullback here. Why don't you have a go at him? And instead it was coming back into midfield, being recycled around the edge of the box and sort of shifted to the other side and shifted back the other way. And Congo just felt like when they got the ball in those positions, they're like, I'm just going to run at you as fast as I possibly can, try and knock it past you and see what happens.

43:25And they couldn't deal with it. They were not used to it. Hello. This is getting too erotic.

43:31Roger Bennett:Topps off. I've got to take this off. They looked really baffled by the idea that that was an option. Yes. And just because, you know, the quality footballers, after a while, they got used to it and they dealt with it. Okay. And the Condoleez winners, the decision making wasn't, you know, they are not playing for elite teams. They're good footballers. Yeah. You know, they're not the absolute top of the top. Yeah. I mean, we'll talk about that. It was Congo's first ever knockout goal. Came 10 years to the week that England were humiliated. Iceland won, England nil. And that kind of like echoed in the background, crackled in the background.

44:00Looking down the barrel again of the darkest timeline. Even worse, historians know. You can't use that. I'm not a very sweaty man.

44:09Roger Bennett:By the way, I don't know how Potch does it. That is a very expensive A-Town sweat rag. What? Yeah, we learned about that today. Whenever you said A-Town sweat, big boy just kept going, yeah. And the crowd would go wild. It's amazing. I'm just like in love with that man. Kongo's first ever knockout goal. Even worse, historians know. England had only come from behind after conceding first to win one World Cup match in their history. That was the 1966 final, which is kind of unbelievable. But they never talk about it. No, they don't. I mean, it crackled everywhere. Everyone knew it. And you just suddenly saw the heaviness of the jersey.

44:43The shirt swam that entire team. The back line suddenly felt stung, apprehensive. Every time a Kong and forward went forward, they were skittish. Rashford and Jude Bellingham, their reaction was fascinating. It started to fly into tackles recklessly. I mean, that Jude yellow card, watch it again. it's like his whole body language afterwards like going up to the referee he's fascinating to watch play live he's so self-aware he's got such like what they call main character energy um as if he's constantly he's not playing football he's more like a streamer like i show speed and the world cup's just his side quest he's very conscious of his own sort of

45:21Roger Bennett:self-iconography is i think he's yes continually aware of how of the fact that there are eyes on him some players you you kind of sense don't they get into like a zone where they maybe forget that they're playing in front of people whereas bellingham i don't think ever does i think bellingham is aware that he's been looked at by millions at all times you mean the the yellow card tackle i would say was an act of performative englishness it was it was somewhat some brilliant some bulldog spirit yeah someone's ready to show some bulldog spirit it was it felt it was totally unnecessary it was quite wild if he misjudges it a little bit more it's probably a red and then the Game state, it helped not a job, but the reaction to it is like chess out in every regard.

46:00I love that performative Englishness. There was so much in that game. At Bear Assembly 939 says, yellow card to Rog for shirt removal. Honestly, I'm sweating through my pants. You're getting a great angle here through your shirt, the way it's bowing. Podge wishes. Podge wishes. He wishes. Oh. He wishes, believe me. Do you want it all? He's just thinking about this all of the time. I don't know. I wish I'd not done that. I feel, I'm so sorry, America. Irrespective. He's very tired. He's very tired. Oh my God. How many hours sleep have we had in the past three days? I had 30 minutes sleep last night.

46:34You did? Yeah. You boasted? No, I'm not boasting. I wish I had had something by your arm off for 30 minutes. I went to bed at 3.30 and set my alarm clock for 3.53.

46:44Roger Bennett:I'm so sad I am. But this is not about me. It's about England. England. Yeah, I mean, the frustration of the English players with a thrill conge. I mean, it really, I don't mean to be like playing on a joke, but it's exactly what the doctor ordered. They were so energized. So many of them fringe players on their squads, their club squads. That's what's fascinating about them. I sit right by their fans. A couple of thousand mass sea of English, red and white, all around them. And when England attacked, I love the Congo fans. They instinctively all rose, put an arm in the air, and just waved their finger collectively.

47:19It was so beautiful. Yeah, the Kenbe Mutombo style. It was really delighting as the squad reacted by scrapping for every ball, every inch, every jaw brace. England lacked. It was really evident. The lock to pick, whatever the hell the thing is. Tuchel's bold squad. We agonized. Were they bold squad selections? Were they sensible? Were they pragmatic? Suddenly felt reckless. The absence of creativity in that midfield. It felt like there was a void on that field. and the void screamed Adam Wharton, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer,

47:53Roger Bennett:all these players who weren't there. There was definitely a point watching Jed Spence where he thought it'd be really good if Real Madrid's right back was English. Yes, yeah. Yeah, and actually, weirdly, it felt like, not to bag on Jed Spence because I think that, I'll say, it seems he is being sort of scapegoated for a lot of England's failings in that game. I'm not 100 % sure that's entirely fair. I mean, I think that first goal, as you say, the whole defence is all yanked right out of place. And he's the central defenders. Yes, exactly. And it takes a village to make a shit defense. But yes.

48:28It takes a village to make an idiot. Yes, exactly. Very nice. Very nice. Oh, I like that. Yeah, but Jed Spence from that point on, I mean, it was like Sipenga realized that he could just race past him on repeat. You only normally see that much cooking on MasterChef. Rashford thrashed a shot off Aaron Bissaka's knees. That was a great moment when he kind of blocked it like a goalie on the line. you looked at Aaron Wan-Bissaka, born in Croydon, in the English youth system. I think he only switched to play for Congo, was it, a year ago? Yeah, last year. I mean, you'd kind of think, he might have flotted in really well at right back for England, given the inch.

49:01He had an incredible game. Fox commentator, is it Darren Fletcher said, if he'd chosen a different sport, he'd be the best corner in the NFL. I mean, he was just utterly magnificent. I think thriving in that moment. At the other end, Weiser hit a post. But we've got to talk about the Kongen goalkeeper, Mpasi. At least three stunning saves, I think he made. Saves that created a sense of disbelief they were that good. Saves that sap confidence, including one with his down below. Yeah, sap more than your confidence. Yeah, I know. It's a really, God, we're going to be talking about testicles a lot today.

49:34Roger Bennett:That one, this sounds a bit harsh, that one was straight at him. It was a good save, but straight at him. The two before it were genuinely astonishing. Where I was sat was like second tier. Yeah. at the opposite end so you're staring right that far goal and the ball looks in and then suddenly this arm just appears and they were I'm not sure I've ever seen two saves as good as that in succession and saves that completely changed the narrative of the game because you if those go and we know football doesn't work like this but you're not going to have the same sequences if the first goal goes in I agree with that by the way but you're suddenly like oh okay England have sorted themselves out they've worked the ball well they've done this that and the other and they've carved out these chances and inevitably Harry Kane has scored one and whoever it was, Bellingham or...

50:18Two snap headers from Bellingham. Yeah. And it goes, it's two one at half time and maybe you can then go up a gear or maybe they don't, but it's a very... Don't be hypothetical about history. No, of course, of course. I mean, if the plot against Hiller would work, would the war have ended quicker? We'll never know. We'll never know the Schafferberg plot. Yeah, same way. Jude Bellingham, snap headers didn't go in. It was like Buffon reborn in a Kongan jersey. I love this quote after the game. I offered my body to science. I love football. I really, really do. But he's one of many Kongo players who are just not starters for the club.

50:51So there were at least seven who were kind of down the depth chart. But to soar for the Democratic Republic of Kongo must have felt unbelievable in this moment. French-born, he's a backup at Liga and Strugglers-Larve. Came through the PSG youth system. Had to dip into the second division with Rodez to start to get minutes. Before this, his apex moment came at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations. He converted the decisive penalty against Egypt. He just strolled up grinning as he went there. That is the way to do it. It gave him kind of like a cult hero status amongst Congolese fans. There's a beauty in all of this.

51:29He'd never been to Congo before his first cap. I think like a lot of dual nationals, he's kind of rediscovered his own connection to the country of his origin, his parents' origin through football. and it's amazing to see him become one of his nation's most beloved figures.

51:44Roger Bennett:This has been a World Cup of kind of unexpected cult hero goalkeepers. Vizinha is Vizinha, it's Ilo Room and now it's Impassi. I mean, yeah, he was extraordinary and what was actually kind of sad was that the goal that eventually broke the resistance A, came after England had stopped creating anything and B, was a bit shit. Yeah, I mean, we'll talk about it. The midfield on, so vanilla, couldn't play through the middle at all. If I was an England fan, that would drive me crazy You said that France are just playing down the sides, through the middle at will. We just kind of rumble down the right on that.

52:14I want to ask you before we get to the goal, is Elliot Anderson good at football? Because he reminds me, body lingo-wise, when he's not on the ball, but watching him shout at the other players and how he can... Reminds me of like a mini Jordan Henderson.

52:26Roger Bennett:I saw him play for Forrest at Anfield in November and he was amazing. Yeah. I mean, he is a really good footballer. I don't know if I'd have paid£130 million for him like City have, but he is excellent. I'm not sure that he had the skill set that England required in that situation today. Today, yeah. I mean, I will say that, yeah, Cooch Tooch, with the changes that he made. You like that one? Yeah. A bit of fun. Took me a minute to get my mythos straight. Get your myth, the English mythos of Cooch Tooch. Cooch Tooch. I think the changes he made and the moving of Rice to right back to try and basically delivering the ball better from deeper quite quickly.

53:13So I see that starts to kind of unsettle things a little bit. And then I think that my real observation and my tip of the cap go to when Saka, Eza and Gordon came on, they played with a patience that was starting to evaporate. You're starting to get that sense of what I would see happen a lot when I used to play football with all my friends and we were all crap, that the two or three good guys would start trying to win the game. When things weren't going very well, your two best players would be like, right, I've got to beat three men and stick it in the top corner from 30 yards out. And that was always a recipe for disaster.

53:50Like inevitably, even at the crappest level of football imaginable, which is a bunch of sort of deadbeat dads playing in a park. Oh, amen. The best kind of football. As well, indeed. I mean, one of the most obvious examples of that was like Stephen Gerrard at Liverpool during the sort of Roy Hodgson era. Just taking everything. He was like, God, I've got to score from 40 yards all the time because otherwise I've got to pass to Paul Konczewski and I'm not doing that. And you could just see the whole system started to collapse. And I feel like it was heading in that direction for England a little bit.

54:19Roger Bennett:You mentioned Iceland before, Rog. And two things started appearing in my WhatsApp groups during that game. One was some people texting, can you spell Iceland as level 1-0 down? Does that mean losing to DRC would have been similar? And the other, this is a bit more niche of a reference, was Jan Tomaszewski, who was this legendary Polish goalkeeper in 1973 who the commentators on British TV called a clown who then proceeded to make even more saves than Tim Howard. It was an incredible shutout performance. It shattered British hearts. We didn't get into the World Cup. Yeah, I missed out on the World Cup because of it.

54:49Roger Bennett:And so you have these kind of, that's part of the English mythos of these things. And Pasi seemed to be kind of on the road to that. And I started to see the little bits that I'd seen, because I won't remember that Iceland game, and I've never seen a team forget how to play football against Iceland. Wayne Rooney could not play football for 45 minutes because they were so terrified of what was about to happen. And I think Humph is right that bringing on Saka and Eze saved that. They came on and they controlled things. And Gordon. I mean, Gordon was the game changer. You write Rice to write back.

55:22But also, you know, in a more blunt way, the chances that were being magically repelled in the first half were not in the second. I think Darren Fletcher, the commentator, really gets an assist on this. He shouted, It feels like desperation from the English coach. And then everything changes. Proof that desperation is one of the great man motivators. Specifically, that reluctant superstar, Harry Kane. It was actually Anthony Gordon, I think. Wafted it. Finally, a good cross into a congested box. Somehow, after 75 minutes of utterly flawless marking, Harry Kane was left alone like a little latchkey child.

55:57With one of those aesthetically soothing, full torso-powered snap headers. charged off with a roar that was honestly audible in the nosebleed seats at the bends. It was so loud. One of the things the American mind cannot comprehend, you know, these new minds getting into football now, is how in our game, a player like Harlan or here, Harry Kane, who I think touched the ball maybe three times in the first 26 minutes, didn't have a shot until like the 36 or whatever, can do very little for 70, 80 minutes, apart from try and draw a penalty very badly, only to come alive and then be the irresistible force that changes the game.

56:36Roger Bennett:Yeah, I think until the goal, Kane actually hadn't played very well, is the reality of it. Kane is a player who can drop deep and link play and kind of play that creative role. And he just hadn't done it. And that's why Maduweke and Rashford in the team, so they've got runners beyond him, so he can drop and they kind of fill in. He looked quite leaden. But then, yeah, like you say, Rog, the marking broke. because they'd been Chancellor and Bemba the Condolee centre half had been amazing all lunchtime and they'd just switched off and suddenly a total vibe shift the hunted became the hunter England started to just park around the Congo box wouldn't let them get out Congo suddenly looked gassed human beings who touched the clouds were now crashing into a world of I actually felt for them Wieser was on his hands and his knees because you're a cool bastard see you in hell Congo here's what I send all love and respect to the fine people.

57:27Oh my God. So many Konga men in blazers fans are so on the way out the bends, just to love only pure love for what you've achieved and what you brought to this world cup, man. But if you watch England training video complete compilations, you've seen Harry Kane score the winning goal over and over again. It's like what we were talking about with Tillman. Like it's just what he does, the confidence, the body twist, the drive, the signature muscle memory. It's been hailed instantly, the winning goal, as one of the greatest England goals in World Cup history, which kind of feels like a bit of recency bias to me.

58:01So I'm prepared to throw it out there, but I'm prepared to say it was the greatest England goal in World Cup history. Scored off a pair of sketches.

58:10Roger Bennett:Definitely the best goal scored off a pair of sketches ever, I would say. You're prepared to agree? It was a genuinely brilliant finish. Yeah. The second one was amazing. The way he worked the space and then to get that power with that looking back lift into the near post. Outstanding. He roared off to the corner flag. Anthony Gordon approached him. If you watch it, with like a reverent awe, didn't want to touch him. It was like a beautiful, beautiful moment. Declan Rice just charges on in and just puts his little head against Harry Kane's chest and just hugs him with an outpouring of relief and gratitude.

58:41It was like seeing some little kind of Declan Rice, mighty Declan, just turn into some little cute cuddly care bear. Humph? Yeah. Stay silent until I name a Brit and that Harry Kane is less than a. Okay. Shakespeare. Warrant of Arabia. You've got to put these in a better order. Piers Morgan. Okay, Harry Kane. Can't lead off with... How many goals did Shakespeare score for England? Very prolific. Was he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me, honestly. You think Shakespeare could have done that? Shakespeare wouldn't have needed to have done that. He'd have sorted it out in the first half. He would have done that.

59:21Shakespeare would have... Boy George. Shakespeare would have sold that penalty dive a lot better. He would. I think he probably would have done. He would have done. He would have, yeah. He would have, like, he would have come out of a line. He would have risen and gone to the referee and just fired out in iambic pentameter. He would have said a foul is a foul by any other name. He would have said, we are but warriors for the working day. Our gayness and our guilt are all besmirched with rainy marching in the painful field. But by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. And the referee would have been like, eh?

59:50Give us a penalty. referee would have gone yellow card for being a total poncy arsehole put his hand over his mouth and then he would have been sent off yeah I think that's doing a race by the way I think squeaky bum time is a line from Macbeth I do want to be clear can't confirm with that Boy George yeah I'd prefer Harry Kane to Boy George I think I'd probably go Boy George

1:00:09Roger Bennett:what come on that's just crass that's just John Lennon that's tough isn't it it is John Lennon Phil Parkinson I've got to say Phil Parkinson yes you do don't you that was the one I thought I thought you'd like Churchill you got the like he's a bit dodgy in history now complicated yeah complicated I think I thought Phil Parkinson was the one we love you Phil in every regard Harry Kane what must it feel like for him two years ago he was the problem everyone wanted him to retire from international football after the Euro seemed injured and slow the flip-flop the entire team the entire World Cup now revolves around him depends on him now he's the only solution he's not central to our hopes he feels like he is your entire hope he is the hope he's the plan the plan is Harry Kane and that's why Foden's not here it's why Palmer's not here it's because they need Kane it has never been especially quick what Kane does brilliantly apart from finish is drop deep so you need runners which is why he's going with Madueke presumably the sack is not fully fit yeah and then either Jordan or Rashford I think we can say pretty safely now that Tuchel Coochie Toochie Coochie Toochie has not is catching on Humphrey has not made his mind up on Rashford or Gordon I don't think he knows I think he ultimately doesn't know which one he likes he's built the side to get the best out of Kane the plan is Harry Kane Caleb6745 says Roger's somehow losing a game of strip poker and he's the only one playing let me ask you one more question about Harry Kane this is the World Cup of Goats Mbappe Harlan Messi Flo Roligan and Harry Kane Years ago, he's right up there with them.

1:01:49We don't often admit it. We don't talk about it. But those goals today, this blew my mind. Harry Kane just passed Pelé with 13 goals on the all-time World Cup scoring charts. That is a mind-blowing. That's extraordinary. Anthony Gordon, after the game, said Harry Kane should be compared to Lionel Messi, which felt like a slight stretch, but only slight. We've talked about it. It's the fact that he carries himself so ordinarily, you know that we don't put him in that category is that what it is that he's not youtubing raw milk he's not doing you know he's not putting himself harry kane is it's like peter parker doing spider-man things but doing them just with the peter parker persona yeah i think listen i think of the obvious uh uh handicap to harry kane's you know legendary status is probably spending all that time at spurs and i don't see that as a as a burn on spurs it's just I think it's a player that you might put him in the same category as someone like Robin Lewandowski.

1:02:46If he, you know, if he'd done the sort of Lewandowski career path, I think you would see so many more trophies. And, you know, his exploits for England are extraordinary. And what he's done for Bayern over the last couple of years is bananas. And, but I really admire him for, you know, he played for his boyhood club for as long as he possibly could. And then at a certain point was like, you know, I am, I want to, you know. you're taking the piss a bit yes first has been run in a difficult way um for him to thrive so you know i think if if he was someone who you know there was there was a talk at various points of like oh will he get you know will he go to match united or will he go you know wherever it may be and perhaps if he had you know then then he would be someone who you would go like well actually putting him in the same conversations mess he's not that bonkers because he's won eight titles at various different clubs and he's done this and done that.

1:03:40But no, I mean, he's an extraordinary player. And that's such an interesting observation about it. I had sort of forgotten the degree to which he was decried.

1:03:49Roger Bennett:I think he got distraught. I agree with Jordan. You can compare him to Messi in the sense that you can say Harry Kane is not as good as Lionel Messi. Did he get distraught by the Wokarata? He got distraught by the Wokarata. No, in fact, probably by the opposite of the Wokarata. I think basically Harry Kane, Humph is totally right. because he was at Spurs, he became a player, a bit like Trent, who we had to kind of continually assess, like, is he good? How good is he? And once that conversation takes hold, you forget that at the heart is a player who's doing stuff. So everything is sort of refracted through this lens of how, what does this mean for where Harry Kane, what you call his weight class, Rog?

1:04:23Roger Bennett:And I think that's stopped us actually looking at him in the round and saying he's probably the greatest footballer England's ever produced. Yeah. God, amen in every regard. But how do you think Harry Kane celebrates such a dominant performance like that? What do you think he does when he gets back to the hotel? A couple of pinas. Yeah, just probably goes back to his room and watches a sketches commercial again. You think? Yeah. He probably watches Reacher season two on binge now. Yeah. I think he's more M.O.R. than that. You think? Yeah. Is Reacher not M.O.R.? I think he wants something a little bit softer.

1:04:57Jingy allows himself to have a packet of salt and vinegar Walker's chips and washes it down with a fan to something naughty. No. No. I think I'm almost certain that he is exactly as professional as you expect. Can you crack open a new thousand piece jigsaw? Cracks is no. That might be possible. Bottle of fuel straight to bed. Yeah.

1:05:18Special sleep mask. No, those mad red light. The red light. You've got one. You've got one. Of course I do. I didn't get this fucking red hot sweaty face. Absolutely. how do I keep being a wreck of a human being? I'm working with us, man. We're in a post-sleep reality here and all the better for it, not at all young children. If you look on Amazon, you can get them for 20 twid.

1:05:42Roger Bennett:I bet they worked really well. Can you read that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's amazing. I'm going to get one. I think you should. We might both need one. For our post-sleep reality, for our PSR, what was left for Siri play Wonderwall, Deep, Deep Exhale. It was a Wonderwall of relief. It was a Wonderwall of shock. It was a Wonderwall of a bullet dodged. It was a Declan Rice beaming. Man, it's so red. Mexico get a really F of his skin. Told the story at the beginning of the World Cup to you, how in 1990, England went to play Cameroon with a surprise package of that World Cup. First African team to go deep in a World Cup.

1:06:14And after winning, they just won. They were behind 2-1 and they came back to win late 3-2. The English manager, the legend Sir Bobby Robson, was asked if he'd underestimated Cameroon. And he just looked at the camera and said, we didn't underestimate Cameroon. We just didn't think they'd be that good. And I felt like that, ultimately, that was the feeling of today, going in with England. I want to understand where it leaves Tommy Tuchel, really, a man who was hired to lift us to new levels, to be a master of knockout games. He almost crapped the bed on his first attempt. Well, I think no matter how good you are as a knockout competition coach, there is the England weight of expectation that you have to contend with.

1:06:57And it feels like that's always been, when England's had its golden generation or it's had all these, you know, these teams and squads and managers and things. And I don't know how much of this is like, you know, every country feels this way to a certain extent. Like they go into every World Cup and like, do you know what? Actually, I think we're better than everyone thinks we are. And we're going to really surprise everyone. I think it's been such a weird World Cup because the Croatia game, when the sort of handbrake came off in the Croatia game, I think everyone in England was like, whoa, is this it?

1:07:27Has someone worked out how to get these guys out of their own heads and just have them play and enjoy themselves? And then that has in no way been replicated in any of the games since. And, you know, there's been a lot of discourse around low blocks and, well, you know, let's see when England come up against Mexico, you know, Mexico aren't going to sit back. Mexico aren't going to do this, that, that. Well, today we saw a team that started off, it did not sit back and England absolutely shit their pants for a solid chunk of that first half. And as I said, I do think that there were, you know, there is a sliding doors moment where rather than that reaching Jude Bellingham in the center of the goal, that flick header was Gwyneth Paltrow to continue the sliding doors analogy.

1:08:11And she flicks that header into the corner and, and suddenly it's, it suddenly looks a bit better. and Paltrow, yeah. She's the star of sliding doors. Yeah, she's good in the air. Very good in the air. You know, and you see England suddenly come out of their shell. You don't have that sustained period. You can feel it as well. Paltrow's not an American family member, didn't she? She's American. Yeah, but I think she replaced ballet. Oh, maybe. Could she do a job?

1:08:37Roger Bennett:Target woman. It's the Belgians. The Belgians is probably the healthiest person on the face of the planet. The Belgians would fear Paltrow. Yeah, she will absolutely, yeah. She'll drag them all over the shop. yeah this is good what are we doing where are we I don't know where do we stand on Wonderwall oh I quite like it as we've established and as my t-shirt is I hope making clear my loyalties in all things like north of Hadrian's Wall but I love I was in the stadium when they sang it and when they did Don't Look Back in Anger the superior song yes that has a for anyone who's never been to a British wedding but is watching this this is what happens at the end of British weddings no matter class in Liverpool They always think you'll never walk away.

1:09:18Did I shoot this? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's quite beautiful, man. It's really nice. I mean, it's a very lovely moment. Part of the mythos. It is part of the mythos. It's expected. I'll tell you what was amazing to me about it. It's how many Americans support England. Yeah, it's really interesting. How many Americans were wearing England jerseys in the... I spend the whole game, people come up and be like, hey, Rog, are you feeling good about this? I'd be like, I'm neutral. Like, I'm Rob Lowe. I'm like wearing an NFL hat. and they're like, hey, no, you're England. I'm about to support America now.

1:09:49You know what I mean? And these were Americans. And they're like, you know, I looked behind me when they won. They sang Wonderwall. A couple of women in front of me started crying during Wonderwall, American human beings. And you realize in that moment just the heavy pull of the Premier League. I mean, it's incredible, man.

1:10:08Roger Bennett:It's a really good point. I saw loads of people wearing club shirts. Yes. Yes. That's been all through this. I'm not mobbed. To be clear, I'm not mocking or demeaning it in any way. It's just like genuinely this incredible force, the force ray that's just dragging American fans towards, I thought like, you know, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester. Not just that though. It's like even penetrating the international game, which is a new thing to contemplate in every regard. Tommy Tuchel, last one on this. I mean, what was different about this? To me, it looked like Southgate 2018 football, where the football style is not always great, but the outcome is the deep reward in its own right.

1:10:53I mean, you're going to go, I'm having problems with my pronouns, you're going to go to the Azteca. I mean, that bottle between Beria and beer is just going to be epic. England at high altitude is going to be a bit bonkers. 7 ,200 feet, I think, above sea level. We looked up the highest city in England altitude wise. You know when it is? Is it somewhere in the peak district? It's Sheffield. That's amazing. What's wrong? This man is a brain in the bottle. Yeah, it's 1 ,798 above sea level. Is Sheffield that high up? Yeah, man. That's amazing. You go up that windy road. It's kind of a nightmare.

1:11:28I mean, when that adrenaline filled Mexican attack, we can talk about, we've got time to talk about that game. I'm just fascinated by what you feel is different about this under Tuchel who is meant to change things, make them sharper, make them winner, make them more, more, what?

1:11:42Roger Bennett:I mean, thus far, nothing really. I think it's the theoretical, hypothetical idea that Thomas Tuchel, when he comes up against a superior opponent, will come up with a plan. We have not yet seen that plan. That is my view. Yeah, I suppose so. Yes, I think that's probably what everyone is hoping in England is it will be the case. They've done what they've needed to do to go through. And so graded on that curve, it's, you know, it's an A minus. But to an extent, I'm not going to explore this thought because we don't have time. But Southgate, to an extent, got Keir Starmer. It was just like, we don't like him anymore.

1:12:12Roger Bennett:Get rid of him. There was no actual reason to do it. So just to recap for Raw, Kane got discourse. Yeah. Southgate got... Keir Starmer. Keir Starmer. Just like, we don't know. Lots of people in England are being impacted by nouns that become verbs. It's happening a lot. It's an epidemic. Danger. It's an epidemic of nouns becoming verbs. But I think Tukle, as yet, hasn't actually done anything to suggest that he's Tukled us. Yeah. Yeah. The idea is that that comes later. We haven't had a tuchel tuch. That doesn't sound very good. It feels like a bit like this. Chris Voss in the chat says, turns out that Dr.

1:12:46Kongo was just that friend who's a chiropractor who makes you call him doctor, but he's not actually a doctor. Can I say, Kongo, leave with your head held high. The fans were amazing. Your team were amazing. The idea of football was amazing. The leadership was amazing. I admire so much about what you have achieved and against the background of Ebola and quarantine and the war in the east of Congo. I just salute you. You are, to me, the best of football and will always be woven into this World Cup in my memory with every single regard. IMGR457 says, night before the game in the Azteca, Mexico going to make sure that England gets levels of Roger and Rory sleep.

1:13:27They wouldn't be able to cope with these pampered athletes. They wouldn't spoil baby men. I've had so much more sleep than these two. I know. I can't tell you. You told me last night I was worried about him. We finished at like 2.45 and I thought it was done. And he goes, Roger, what do you call yourself? A fancy boy. I'm a fancy boy. I know, I loved it. I just loved it. It's like, know yourself, people. This man knows himself. Belgium 3, Senegal 2. A game that was like late career Scorsese. It was like meandering through characters, musing on hubris, mortality, heroism, devastation. It even began with a master and protege storyline.

1:14:04We had Belgium coach Rudy Garcia, Senegal's Pop Chow, exchanging compliments and pretty much Garcia been one of the coaching team who scouted, signed and gave a professional debut to the Senegalese coach as a young player at Saint-Etienne in 1998. It's really beautiful. Look into it. Garcia described it as a special story. Chow credited Garcia for making a contribution. He said, very rare that a coach would go out to do something for a player like him in that moment. That's where the sweet sentiment ended. Chow handed beautiful Skillerman and Dye a start on the wing. The Sar-Mane and Dye combination was too much for Belgium's onks to deal with.

1:14:3924 minutes in, Senegal had Belgium pushback and they drifted across, rolled it to Mane, his cross headed off the post, but Habib Diara there to strike it. I'm bringing this one up because, you know, Sunderland scored the third most goals at this World Cup to me. Only PSG and Real Madrid have scored what? So has Brobby's done the heavy lifting? Yeah.

1:14:59Roger Bennett:And who else? I think scored one. Who sort of counts? Yeah, I think they've got their own... Lutonin? Lutonin? No. No, he's not here. He's always here. He's always here. He's always just chippily running around on the subs. Xhaka scored a goal? Maybe. Palace have done quite well as well. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing, man. The English football. Just waiting for the Sunderland announcement that they've signed Mbappe. The hydration break. Rudy Garcia took a sprinkler spray straight to the face. LOLs, which felt like symbolism. Belgium was always a step behind. One ball over the top. Launched by Nia Kate in his own half.

1:15:34Just after halftime. Dropped onto this goal. It was beautiful. What a take. SARS, yeah, do you love it? It was a chest and then thrashing. Cortez, one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He couldn't even move. It was hit that, I mean, did it not feel like, and by the way, SARS four goals in four games equal Roger Miller's account for most goals scored by an African in a single tournament. Did it not feel like KDB was hooked 56 minutes, felt dark, I felt the Keegan-Michael key. He wanted a golden goodbye, was not going. I mean, but Belgium, by the time the fourth quarter came around, felt dead and buried.

1:16:07Oh, yeah, they were done. They were absolutely done. I stopped watching. I went to have a shower. Came back out. Did you really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You did it. What? Did you do it? I mean, it was like, I thought Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, all in the departures terminal. But then they kind of sleepwalked themselves back into the game. There was less intention, more kind of like 11 sleepwalkers in football boots. Senegal just lost focus. Belgian substitutions kicked in. Big Rom, Lukaku, Mounier, Luca Bacchio, Nico Raskin all kind of played their roles. And in the 86th minute, big rom, jumped on the ball, back post, real neat flick, drag one back.

1:16:45Alarm should have been blaring for Senegal, but they just kept going. Trossard then hooked across into the box. Ciao. In for the injured Mendy, came out to claim whiffed. Tillman's got his little nog into it. Bless Belgium, equalized. Senegal scrambling. All that control that we praised evaporated. Distant memory. It's like seeing an ultra-marathonist get to the tape and have someone little run under their arm. Game was heading to penalties. 170-minute cross-fired in by Diego Moreira. Van Luka back, Keogh, who rattled the crossbar. Senegal thought they'd survived, but VAR came back to review the tackle on Tillmans, who was caught as a ball passed him.

1:17:24Referee took the monitor. I didn't know why Senegal didn't do their AFCON trick and just walk off the field. Because there's a specific rule about it.

1:17:31Roger Bennett:It was a very soft penalty. Do you think? Yeah. I think it was a very, I mean, it probably was just on balance, but it felt very, it was an unsatisfying, I think in the 119th minute, so you're in extra time, if it's borderline, just stop the game and make them do a penalty shootout. That's the fairest, that's the fairest way to settle things. Trust it. I would have had a right egg if that had been not given against my team. Decision penalty, Tillman's came up and struck a penalty that both seemed to go way over the bar and just fly into the corner of the net. At the same time, it was erotic. And at the same time, against all odds, Belgium's World Cup journey continues.

1:18:07Lukaku was asked after the game to explain what happened. And he said the following, we had a huge pair of balls. And that's what you need in matches like this. It's just testicles. At the end of the day, we're just watching testicles.

1:18:20Roger Bennett:There would be a drag factor. But yes, I agree. That is what happened. You could stick it in goal. It was muscle memory. And now that's what we're up against. We will break that down in the days to come. But a quick word from our friends at Michelob Ultra, the makers of Roger Loeb's, they've done something incredible. They've tracked down the match stewards from the 1994 World Cup. The guys who stand backwards face the crowd instead of watching the game. And they've repaid them for their incredible work at the first World Cup. They've given them seats at the last US group stage match. It's really beautiful to see them experience these memories as opposed to just hearing them.

1:18:57you can go to Ultra's Instagram for more on this story. But Raw, we've reached a part of the night where we figure out what everybody suddenly believes. We take a look at cash percentages to peek into the brains of football fans around the world. Tonight, we're in preview mode. USA, Belgium, round of 16. Stop me if you've heard this before, Raw. USA, 55 % to advance. I love this. Belgium, 48%. Raw, what do you really read? I don't like Belgium.

1:19:25Roger Bennett:I don't like Leonidas chocolates. I don't like Tintin he's complicated I don't like the mannequin piss I love the mannequin piss I think it's vulgar you think yeah I think it's dreadful they're disgusting people no I don't like Brussels Zaud I love Belgium because I love Poirot so much yes you do like Poirot I know I'm Belgium I love Strumay Belgium's there I love Strumay I love Plastique Bertrand there's a lot about Belgium I admire I love the design in Antwerp yeah Antwerp's very nice more importantly I don't think Belgium are very good I think for the US, that improbable Belgian comeback was probably quite good news because I think Senegal were a better team.

1:20:04Yes, right. I can see where you're coming from. No, I don't think that's a bad thing for the US at all because especially if there is this hunger to take, you know, not to diminish, as we said, it's a fantastic performance tonight and it's great to have that second victory in a knockout game. But albeit diminished Belgium remain a bigger scalp than Bosnia. and I think that that will represent you know the belief that that can send into the US team I think it's like a better team to beat for the US if we're going back to mythos

1:20:35Roger Bennett:you want to have the big name that you fell I think that is a legitimate thing we just did Bosnia and Herzegovina massive name massive massive slap that on a scrabble board and you're winning the game Bosnia and Herzegovina slapping on the triple words you'd be cheating not too many letters you'd be cheating Would he really? What if Hertha Gavin was already in there for some reason? Oh, yeah. Then you could just like, whoa, Jan did in there. I don't know how Scrabble works anymore.

1:21:07Never-ending spigot football continues. Begin the dance of earth. Spain versus Austria. Despite drawing a Vizinha-filled Cape Verde in the opening game, Spain are riding a 33-match unbeaten streak and have yet to concede at this bloody tournament. in their goalkeeper Unai Simon has gone 429 minutes since last letting one go past him. But the style of football, a really lack of style, seems to have pissed off a lot of people at home. Midfield struggled to find any kind of rhythm or control. The coach La Fuente has shuffled players to partner Rodri and Pedri, all the E's in the team's group matches.

1:21:41Kukurea said this today, when there's no other football and only the national team is playing, people have to talk about it. When we play well, everyone speaks highly. When we're not at our usual level, I understand it. It's better that it happened in the group phase. Now we'll be at our best and tomorrow you'll see a good version of the team. Will we, Will?

1:22:01Roger Bennett:I'm not sure. I don't know how I feel about Spain at this stage. I don't think they've been especially convincing against high quality opposition, even in a relatively easy group. So I think they'll beat Austria. Austria will give them a few problems, but they're not great at the back. Spain need Lamine to step up. That's the thing. Come on, Lamine. Come on, you've had enough time. Come on. Wandering around Walmart. Stop it. Go into Target. Yeah. Step up. Get back to playing football. Lamin. Yeah, we've had Sebastian Berhal to step up. It's time. Yeah. It's time you do your thing. We'll be live streaming that game live on Twitch tomorrow with incredible guests, super chef Jose Andres, who's just touched down in Venezuela today.

1:22:41He's going to take time to broadcast with us. I cannot wait. One of the most fascinating characters in the NFL, Cameron Dicker, Dicker the Kicker, will join us. He's football mad. Also, Fabrizio Romano is going to answer all your questions about exactly where is Balogun going to end up. Here we go. Yeah, here we go. Balogun is a nice project. He wants the project. In what surely must amount to elder abuse, one of 41-year-old Cristiano or 40-year-old Luka Modric will have to play one more game at this World Cup after Portugal play Croatia in Toronto. I'm old enough to remember when Croatia were cute, cuddly, somehow punched above their weight.

1:23:20Now, with Cape Verde, with one-seventh the population of Croatia, that's our new thing. We're like the boyfriend looking back, leaving old Croatia behind. Croats, they're just a traditional big boy now. Portugal, they are a giant. I think Toronto's little Portugal will be hopping and praying that Ronaldo's going to have another I'm back game rule and not another I've gone away again.

1:23:42Roger Bennett:Well, he's due one. Are Croatia better than Uzbekistan, which appears to be his current level? That's the question. Yeah. I think this will be a good game. I'm back do you like it when footballers announce that they're back love it I liked it when Arnold Schwarzenegger did it I liked it when he did it I'm back he didn't announce he would be back yeah but then you have to assume at one time or another he said and now I'm back I warned you I would be back and now I'm here and yet you have not produced enough canapes for me when you are back do you not have to stay or is it like you're allowed to go again you are yeah I suppose I think he's earned the right to come and go at will like a house cat but I do think I do think I have a cat flap yeah I have a little cat flap where is he he's over at the neighbours I think if you he's being fed somewhere else he's being fed at the neighbours and they call him Christian I think his name's slightly wrong yeah spelling it wrong I think if you announce your back on the camera I do think after a game in which it doesn't go well you have to you have to look into the camera and say I've gone away again Yes.

1:24:51Cam Go says, I'm old enough to remember when Ronaldo was in his mid-30s. Wow. Woof, that's some time ago. Also in Canada, Switzerland and Algeria. In Vancouver, big Canada day tomorrow for the late slot. Algeria's manager, Vladimir Pekovic, sent seven years in charge of the Swiss national team. It's the biggest difference since then. A cunning Swiss stiker, Bril Mbrulo. He says, I look different now than I did six years ago. I love that. God bless you. Don't we all, Bril? Don't we all? that tomorrow we will come on out live after the Croatia Portugal game come be with us because we want to go and get some beers after that you know what I mean but we'll come on after the Ron Ron the back game there's officially more football to play America and this summer celebration just got longer I know if you want to dress like a star spangled I can head over to the men in blazers shop it's linked below you can look like one of these fine here tonight there was our why not us scarves on the television.

1:25:43I almost cried with joy. Go and grab whatever you want. I may put on my Coach Pot shirt, my Coach Poach shirt and whatever you can buy with the sweaty pits. It's very breathable. Okay, it's time for the food. It's the European Mind. Cannot comprehend. Yay! There we go. And this time we've gone to the off-requested one of the great places in Atlanta. It's Fox Brothers. I love this place. I met the Fox Brothers once. We've gotten a lot of word. This is the best barbecue in Atlanta. Look at that. I can't quite work out to show you what I'm doing. You move cameras on me. Look at that. A lot of plastic with a lot of meat, which is how I like my life.

1:26:21By the way, it's hot because this bus is hot. This looks unbelievable. Yes, it looks amazing. This is the warmest food we've had, but it's just ambient. I'm going to eat a little bit because I don't want Mesopotamia, but we've got brisket sandwiches, frito pie, for all of the essence. Enjoy a frito pie. It's quite literally chili dumped in a frito bag. That's great. What could be more American than that? You both know the rules. three simple steps eat ponder score that's a new line here we go oh oh that's so good being a bit slow you're very you're very fancy in the way you're setting yourself up there my fancy boy raw let's go we're going to move this along I'm sweating down I want to go to JR Cricket in a row

1:27:06that's so good by the way I love the would you like to do some scoring

1:27:09Roger Bennett:room. Yeah, if I got, you don't have a score. Oh, you do. Everyone's got one apart for me. I would give this an 8.95. Yeah, sorry. I'm waiting for Humphrey. Don't wait. We want to close this show. I'm so tired. I'm going to fall over. Genuinely going to fall over. I said 8.95 for me. Oh, look at that. That's a huge score. That's amazing. That's a massive score. That's a massive. Unassailable score. That's a massive. That's a new PB. You wait. You wait until they give me some food that's warm. Where's the Guinness Book of World Records? That is unbelievable. If there's one American food that never disappoints, it's barbecue.

1:27:52The Fox Brothers is the greatest. I mean, really, I love that place in every regard. Last, as always, we invite you. Dear listeners, move your mic up, you rude, upper-class tough. As always. I'm so sorry. As we always invite you, Dillis, tell us your World Cup journeys. I want to hear from you. Tell us about your World Cup journeys, experienced memories, and you could be featured on this very show. If we feature you, send us your postal address. We will send you a Men in Blazers patch via the Men in Blazers Discord or meninblazersgmail.com. Tonight, it's another entry on our US chance competition.

1:28:26We're still working on it. They're playing fine without our crap chance. This is more a sweeping epic poem. It comes from the great AJ Piano. What a great name. We don't have AJ Pianos in England, do we? You think? You think he invented Mr. Fistulator? I think he knows Mr. Fistulator. They meet at the Illuminati meeting. Bro, are we going to do the honors? I'm going to do it as a chant. Is that right? Yeah, and by the way, if you come on our Twitch tomorrow, we're going to talk a lot about Freddy LA7.

1:28:53Roger Bennett:Yeah, we're going dark. You know what I mean? We're going dark on Freddy LA7. Who was close to getting right about Freddy LA7? So you're going to start off with a whoa. So the first thing I want to make clear is that the first three words of this, two of them are human meat. That is not a choice I would make artistically. Interesting. Human meat's the same. We're all just food for a rance. We've come here for the football and we've come here for the bants. So when you see a story, we all get up and dance while the Europeans mock us for our glaring lack of chance. Well, I thought you were going right with France.

1:29:26And at a certain point,

1:29:27Roger Bennett:we all lose to France. That would be nice. Yeah, yeah. You need a third verse. You need a thing. You need a kind of, what do you call it? Is it another stanza? Wouldn't it be amazing if we beat Belgium and we can start singing in American accents, we've conquered all of Europe. That would be a great one. We say, we beat Bosnia. We beat Herzegovina because we need to pad a little bit. We beat Belgium, both the Walloon side and the Flemish. And then we played the Spanish. And that was a little scary. So I've done some research on this, Rog. You know the Palace song they do? Yeah. We support the Palace.

1:30:08Roger Bennett:The Palace. The Palace. And that's why you like it. Like it. Like it. Yeah. But it sounds a bit... So the US do it. And they've been accused of ripping it off from Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace ripped it off from St. Pauli. Did they really? It's a St. Pauli song. Yeah. So take that hypocrite. Come on. Yeah. Don't you judge. Be judged. That's journalism. You know what? I'm scared of the Palace fans. They can claim any song. They're effing magic as far as I'm here. Listen. It's happening, America. a great chance of coming. I still think you should do our chance of shite and we don't care. Just own it.

1:30:40We move beyond that, Rog. Have we really? I'm never going to get over it. I like to be a one-note Charlie like the Vikings with their rowing and the Dutch with the bus. Final note, here tomorrow. We're back. Third official Twitch watch along presented by Google. We'll be live as Austria captain by four-time Champions League winner David Alaba. That's a really good sell. Try to fight off Lamin, Jamal and his mighty Spain. Come on, man. We'll be joined by the special guest I've already mentioned, the king of cars, Humphrey, the man with the highest field goal percentage in NFL history. Is that you?

1:31:11I think the punctuation's in the wrong point. Is that you? No, it could be LA Chargers, Cameron Dicker, one or the other, and then Super Jeff and Spain Superfan. I love this man. He's such a human inspiration. Jose Andres, the one and only football. Oh, man. Fabrizio Romano. I mean, what a lineup. Come be with us. Let's experience this match as ever. It's very lovely. We're going to do a lot of Freddie LA 7 talk. Let's be candid. That's it from us. We're back tomorrow night. NBME's night after Portugal-Croatia game. Find us here on YouTube channel for now. We're going to leave you with a clip from our interview with Keegan-Michael Key, a.k.a.

1:31:45Mr. Garvey, dedicated to our sweet prince of the night, Free Flow. Ah, Flow Balogun, goal-scoring hero, so unceremonially sent off in an injustice against democracy. We'll see you in the quarterfinals, baby. It's Rod saying go, go USA. Encourage. Roll tape. you're talking about well fullerun is a regular name i mean i know at least four fullerun's in my neighborhood right now but if your last name ain't pronounced belugan then don't don't if it ain't what's your last name is your last name belugan then say belugan