World Cup superfans

14:22Craig:The RealReal.

14:26Craig:pricing. So you can just sit back, get paid and make room for things that actually feel like you. And with 10 ,000 plus new arrivals every single day from top designers like Prada, Celine, Louis Vuitton and Loewe, all for up to 90 % off retail, you're bound to find something perfectly on brand to fill that extra closet space with. Plus, right now you can get an extra$100 to shop when you sell for the first time. Make room for what feels like you. Go to therealreal.com to start selling and get your extra hundred dollars to keep shopping at therealreal.com that's therealreal.com terms apply leaders aren't born they're made and they're made like everything else through hard work well a chevy silverado was made for hard work and designed to handle the big jobs with over 13 000 pounds of towing capacity and trailering sway control chevy silverado can haul the biggest loads on the roughest roads.

15:20Craig:It's a true workhorse. Right now, get 0 % APR financing on a Silverado 1500 pickup. It doesn't get any lower than zero. See your Chicago land at Northwest Indiana Chevy dealers for details. Chevy drives Chicago.

15:33Unnamed fan from Uzbekistan:Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. Ever Google a money question and end up 12 tabs deep with 12 different answers. This podcast is your shortcut back to clarity. NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast breaks down financial decisions with a team of trusted journalists. They explain the why behind decisions like investing, home buying, and choosing credit cards with clear research-backed insights. No jargon, no misinformation. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast on your favorite podcast app.

16:13Unnamed fan from Jordan:As we mentioned earlier, one of the biggest criticisms among fans of this World Cup has been the high cost of tickets. But that has not put off our next guests. This is Andy's 10th World Cup. He's an England supporter and he's become something of a cult figure here in the UK. For Chris, a Brazil fan who lives in the US, this is World Cup number five. And Craig's team, Scotland, has qualified again after a gap of 28 years. He wants to mark the event, so he's done so with quite the journey.

16:45Unnamed fan from Curacao:Doing things the Scottish way, we never make it easy for ourselves and I decided to kind of take that to its logical extreme with my walk from LA to Boston. So I decided to walk across the entirety of the USA. I've been walking for about 105 days and I do it all to try and raise as much awareness and funds as possible for mental health. But of course the reward at the end of it is getting to see Scotland at the World Cup. Some view that as a reward, I guess.

17:11Unnamed fan from Jordan:He'd better hurry up because if he's watching Scotland, he hasn't got much time left, has he?

17:16Unnamed fan from Curacao:No, not long left, mate. There's three to four days left until I make it in time. So I'd better get a move on, I guess. But no, I'm really looking forward to it.

17:25Craig:It's not very often you see people walking across the US, but I'm sure he's met a lot of people along the way. And I've developed lifelong friendships with people I've met, you know, in different continents. Beyond the game, I mean, it's really people connecting and coming together.

17:39Unnamed fan from Jordan:It's about the people, it's about the places, it's about your interactions. And you'll be all over that now. You'll have met a lot of amazing people on your walk over here. But when you get here, you'll be able to settle down and immerse yourself in the culture of the state that you're in. You will strike up friendships that will last a lifetime.

17:54Unnamed fan from Curacao:No, he's absolutely spot on. It's the people you meet along the way. It's the fun memories that you make. That's what makes it so special. And yeah, obviously, football is the reward. And every single one of us wants our nation to do as well as possible. we all have different expectations for the tournament but no, the World Cup's so special and obviously not being there as a fan of my own nation I've been there as a football fan supporting anyone that England's been playing for the past 20 years so I kind of get that sense of it

18:25Craig:Alright, let's go to Andy first It is important that your team does well, isn't it? So what's been your favourite World Cup you've been to and which is the one that you want to forget about?

18:35Unnamed fan from Jordan:If we're talking about favourite moment, then I guess my very, very first World Cup in Spain in 1982. I made a real spur-of-the-moment decision to hitchhike over to Spain to watch that. I'd never been abroad before. It was a really exotic thing to have done. And I packed a huge yellow rucksack with a tent, all those things you had in those days, like a radio, a camera, an autograph book, cooking stuff, etc. got to Spain, found a little bar, went inside with some English, came outside and everything had been stolen. So I'm there for a month on my own with just my money belt. And I went in to watch the first England match the following day, wondering if I'd made the right decision against France it was.

19:19Unnamed fan from Jordan:And after 27 seconds, Brian Robson scored for England and I realized I had made the right decision and I was hooked for life after that.

19:27Craig:I would say my most memorable World Cup was the first one. I mean, 2010 in South Africa, what I decided was, I'll go a month before the Cup and kind of backpack around. And so I decided, I was like, I'll do Kilimanjaro. And actually, it was funny, on the trek up to Kili, the summit, I ran into David Seaman, of all people. Oh, the former England goalkeeper? Yeah. He was also on the same itinerary. And so I got to talk to him for a couple minutes there. Basically, I plan world trips around World Cups. Your life's planned around it, basically, every four years. because you know with Brazil that you're probably going to be there.

20:02Craig:Craig, you don't know that. And so was it a bit of a no-braining when Scotland qualified? You just went, I'm going.

20:08Unnamed fan from Curacao:Oh, absolutely. And I think that, you know, me and tens of thousands of other Scots, and obviously you can go into details with the sort of organisation of this tournament, and especially with the other two lads who have been to so many. It's the top of the discourse of how the US and North America have always managed it. But, yeah, I mean, nothing's been stopping fans, and that's the thing is, you know, tens of thousands of Scotland fans doing absolutely everything they can to get out there. Yeah, obviously I took the less conventional route of wanting to get out there, but that historic night at Hampden on the 18th of November last year, from the minute that Kenny was playing the ball left his foot for the halfway line, I think that me and every other person in that stadium was like, flights to America, how are we getting this done?

20:50Craig:There is a lot of criticism though of this World Cup. I know that you're a Brazilian fan, but you live in the US as well, about how expensive the tickets are. I was making a program on this last week. They are staggeringly expensive. Is this the most expensive World Cup for you? Oh, for sure. I mean, there's been a huge jump just from the last World Cup. I mean, the prices are absurd. I mean, I have friends in Brazil that basically the last time they said, well, I'm going to skip Qatar and I'll come to the U.S. one. And here we are, you know, four years later, and they've been priced out. I have a lot of friends from Europe also that are just like, you know what?

21:24Craig:I'm just going to stay home and watch it from here. So it's really, really sad because this has been the most unfan-friendly World Cup that I've experienced.

21:32Unnamed fan from Curacao:I think that is the sad reality around the discourse about this tournament. The beating heart, the Tartan Army and Scotland fans are working class people who owe their hard-earned money and to go into all of these places all around Europe and the world to support Scotland. And then it comes to the main event, you know, the first World Cup in 28 years. And like you said, they're just being completely priced out of it. It's such a shame, but I think that so many people have almost had to take that attitude of like, well, we're going to need to do it anyways and just kind of almost pay through gritted teeth.

22:03Unnamed fan from Curacao:But that's exactly what FIFA and the organisers want, which is a real shame, to be honest with you, mate. But yeah, I mean, I don't really know what else to say other than the fans are going to do it because they care that much and that's what FIFA know and that's why they're doing it.

22:15Craig:Scotland are going to play Brazil, aren't they, during this work? I think you two should catch up before the game. Yeah, we definitely should. Craig, tell Chris why Scotland are going to win that match

22:29Unnamed fan from Curacao:I absolutely love Brazil as well If Scotland do end up going out early which going off our historical record would be the case Brazil would be one of the teams I would hope to go far but I think there's a different sort of vibe about Scotland this time round we've almost got that monkey off our back of being at major tournaments with the Euros and there seems to be a very, very different sort of atmosphere going into this. So I think we're going to be playing without fear and having the backing of the Tartan Army. I really think that people are overlooking Scotland to be the dark horses and yeah, I could see a wee victory on Miami Beach.

23:06Craig:I'm actually looking forward to meeting the Tartan Army, so looking forward to meeting you in Miami, Craig. Although I don't know how much McTominay is going to be able to withstand the heat there down in Miami.

23:18Unnamed fan from Curacao:mean well that's the thing isn't it i think they'll need to try and try and deal with the heat but i mean hopefully we can get a big downpour of rain on that day maybe and then we would maybe have the way up our advantage but look i can't wait to meet the brazil fans i genuinely think it's going to having traveled to brazil many times in my life it's one of my favorite countries and i know for a fact that the scotland and brazil fans are going to get on like a house on fire it's going to be

23:41Craig:amazing yeah and your portuguese is really good actually oh thank you man thank you what is it about football do you think in particular that makes you do what you all do that you are super fancy you give up your hard-earned money your time to go and and follow your teams it's not just about the team it's about the sport as well isn't it Andy?

24:02Unnamed fan from Jordan:Football it's such a simple sport isn't it if you have a footballer and on your own you can you can play around with the footballer there's two of you you can have a little game together if there's five a side ten a side thirty a side you can play the game you don't need a referee you don't need someone to tell you whether you've gone eight yards or seven yards. You don't need an umpire. It's just a very, very simple game that is played all, because it's simple, it's played all over the world. So everybody understands the same language, the language of football. When you meet on the terraces, whether you're talking to somebody or you just stood next to them, you share the same passion, you share the same gasps when there's a moment of brilliance or when there's a moment of craziness on the pitch.

24:44Unnamed fan from Jordan:everybody understands the game.

24:45Craig:As Andy said, it's just a simple game. I mean, you can go anywhere and jump into a game. I've gone, I mean, just in Africa, I was in Zanzibar and a bunch of kids were playing and I just approached and jumped in. They invited me and within an hour, we were sharing a beer after that. It's just a very inviting sport. It's so simple to just touch a ball. It's not something, you know, like any other sport, if you were to pass the ball to somebody, it would be kind of intimidating because throwing a ball at somebody is not very, you know, it's not a peace offering. Whereas, you know, if you're rolling a ball towards somebody at their feet, it's not a threatening activity.

25:21Craig:And really, I think instinctually, when we're born, if there's a ball at your feet, you're going to kick it before you're going to pick it up.

25:29Unnamed fan from Curacao:I think just to build off what the two guys have said is football is the universal language of the world. And that is just fact. No matter where you travel, no matter where you go, people know about football. people play football and it connects everyone I have stories similar to the both of you's but to tie it back into my nation and why it means so much it does run deeper than sport, it really does it's that way, it's the outlet to celebrate that national pride and identity and take that to the world and mix with different cultures and different fans from all walks of life and being able to do that with the heart of it being the biggest tournament in sport in history with the World Cup I think that it's just there's nothing more special than that and being able to take that sort of national pride onto the world stage through the medium of football, it's the perfect opportunity to do so.

26:18Craig:I think, yeah, if FIFA just steps out of the way and just allows the passion to flow, then this will be a really amazing World Cup.

26:26Unnamed fan from Jordan:World Cup superfans Chris, Andy and Craig. Our thanks to them and to all of our guests this week. We wish them the very best of luck. I'm James Reynolds. You've been listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

27:08Craig:Now get 0 % APR financing on a Silverado 1500 pickup. It doesn't get any lower than zero. See your Chicago land and Northwest Indiana Chevy dealers for details. Chevy drives Chicago.