WORLD CUP 2026 - Are you ready!?

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1:07Hello and welcome to the Game Football Podcast from The Times and Sunday Times. The World Cup is here. The biggest tournament ever kicks off tonight with Mexico against South Africa. But how are we feeling? We've had games delayed by mad weather and leading referees denied entry to the US. But we've also got 48 teams, four debut nations and even Scotland are feeling confident. Can we be sceptical and excited at the same time? Maybe both things really can be true. On today's show, we'll debate all that, discuss England's final warm-up game, remember our favourite tournament openers and make some final predictions.

1:42I'm Tom Clarke and joining me today, we have the senior sports writer and Sunday Times columnist Alison Rudd and the former footballer turned journalist Gregor Robinson is here as usual. And if you are watching on YouTube, you will see, after weeks and weeks of abuse for my Lincoln City kits on this show. Gregor Robertson has finally lost the plot and come in wearing what is quite frankly a beautiful Scotland shirt. It's lovely.

2:05Gregor Robertson: It's a cracker, isn't it? I'm excited. Bought new? Yeah, new retro. New retro. 1990 second or third kit. Love it. We should say as well, he sent me and producer Neil a picture of two new shirts being like, which one should I wear? You'll see them all, don't worry. He's bought two new kits And bear in mind, this is a man who literally played for Scotland. He has former kits. And then when I put it to him, why aren't you wearing your under-21 shirts? It's because they're not trendy enough, right? Yeah, that was back in the day when they were big baggy numbers, you know? Big baggy numbers. It's been a little bit good.

2:35I mean, it says a lot about his physique, doesn't it, Alison? That he's too big for him, the kits that he wore. I don't want to think about Gregor's physique. Why not? Why not? I mean, what a handsome man he looks. Fantastic. Yeah, let's move on. Fantastic in that Scotland shirt. Go and check it out on YouTube at Timesport. Team, we've got loads and loads to discuss. Let's start with England. And that bizarre game last night. I mean, it's not a good sign for Scotland, isn't it, Alison? The amount of rain that we might be getting at this tournament. Sorry, easy gag there. But I am from Manchester, so let me off.

3:03But yeah, I mean, anyone... I'd mentioned there's some scepticism. We've obviously had that story about the Somalian referee sent home. Where are we at on the scepticism to excitement levels of this tournament? Because we are going to get quite a lot of stories off the field, I think. There's no doubt about it. Martin Samuel's written a column about it recently. I wrote the Times' football newsletter about that saying, echoing your words, Gregor, that you always say football always wins in the end. The football always wins. But where are we at on the sceptical to excitement scale, Alison? I'm more on the excitement end because I know through long experience that if you have too much scepticism before a World Cup, you're always proven wrong.

3:43I was in Russia. And I think actually the contrast between Russia and the US is quite significant because Russia is a closed society. and there was a lot of, should they be awarded a World Cup? And Russia just changed personality for the World Cup. I went to museums and places where little old ladies would be sat behind the desk saying, no, no, no, she's here for the World Cup. We don't need to see her passport. Because they were trying very hard to be different for the World Cup, whereas America seems to be doubling down and making sure they're as nasty in America, as you will get. And part of the point is FIFA is supposed to go in and make sure a country is host ready and America are sort of deliberately ignoring that element of it and making it difficult and worrying for participants and fans.

4:36So there is a slight worry that I have that that might seep through to the tournament. Russia just went back to being Russia when the world was over. It didn't really help anybody. And you could say the same about Qatar as well. it put on a front but America are not putting on a front so I think we'll probably get quirkiness and oddity throughout but the football should be fantastic yeah absolutely Gregor football always wins right

5:02Gregor Robertson: yeah I mean look Gianni Infantino sort of fairly brazen appearance yesterday saying tell everyone just to chill out and relax when all these things are raised just reminds you of the kind of state of affairs you know the context the background to this World Cup but yeah when the football starts it always has and I think it probably will again in this tournament the football just comes to the fore and all those things will rumble on in the background but the excitement is well and truly here now yeah we are going to keep you up to date with all matters off the field we've got a great journalist like Martin Ziegler out on the ground covering those matters but this is a football podcast so let's talk about some football and let's talk about England's game a 3-0 win against Costa Rica last night Gregor just a couple of factors I wanted to pick up on.

5:49Just a very quick one to start with. Anthony Gordon or Marcus Rashford on the left. Because they're both in pretty good form, aren't they? It's a good place to be for England. It's always been Anthony Gordon. Always? Yeah. Oh, I think you can make a case for Marcus Rashford. Good season at Barcelona. A lot of people are. Experience.

6:04Gregor Robertson: A lot of people are, yeah. But I mean, you know, Barcelona, I've signed one of them. Yeah. And from the start, I've always thought that Anthony Gordon was almost a better fit, a kind of profile of winger for the type of team Thomas Tuchel wants England to be. This team can be said about Madueke. Saka's obviously the star boy and you want him fit, but I don't think he'll be too worried about having to play Madueke because even if his final product and his game-changing moments aren't quite the same, the threat and the danger he offers him behind sort of alters the opposition's mindset. So the same is true of Gordon.

6:46Gregor Robertson: He's very, very direct and more direct sort of down the outside i think as well than yeah than rashford um and look you're playing against costa rica and a right back who was i don't know awful awful not sure he was up too much was he yeah tough yeah tough day but confidence booster for him yeah absolutely allison interesting on that as well and johnny northcroft of course writing his match report on the big debate the big conversation jude bellingham will he start will he start yeah wearing number 10 he looked quite good didn't he jude bellingham this guy i think he might be I don't. I think Tuchel has known all along he was going to put his money on Bellingham.

7:24You think this has been a big ruse? No, I think the only problem, if he had a problem, I'm not sure it's correct to phrase it as a problem, it would have been squad vibes and integration. For example, Bellingham allowed Gordon to take the penalty and got some praise for handing the ball to him. Wearing the captain's armband as well. Yeah, but do you really need to congratulate a player for doing what they were meant to do all along? It's as though he has an ego that there is a fear in the England camp that might just be slightly too big. There was a fine line between really liking his will to win, his personality on the pitch.

8:02He definitely has that. He has a swagger about him. The danger is, of course, that that tips over into arrogance and not thinking about the team, but thinking about what's best for Jude Bellingham. I know a lot of football fans find his demeanor a bit off-putting actually. So you want someone who gives everything but gives it in a selfless fashion. So I'm slightly concerned by the fact that the England backroom staff feel they had to congratulate Berlin for doing the right thing. It does point to... But if you can contain that and it gets focused in the right way for the team, then I think you've got someone there who will, has the capability of dominating a match.

8:46The other problem that Tuchel has had is where do you put him? I personally think those sort of characteristics that Bellingham has, he's better playing deeper than in number 10 role. I just feel it's almost too claustrophobic for him in that position. He showed some pretty good twinkle toes though to get out of tight spots. He did, he did, he did. I'm not doubting his expertise, but I think, to go back to the point, I don't think there was any doubt, really, that Bellingham was going to be an important part of the England set-up. Poor old Morgan Rodgers. He's just been a faint the whole time, Gregor, for the last nine months.

9:23It's always coming back to Jude. Would you agree slightly that we thought we saw, I think as well, his interest?

9:29Gregor Robertson: I don't agree about the faint, no. I think Morgan Rodgers is still very much at the forefront of Tuchel's thinking. and I think Bellingham being the type of character he has barged his way to the front of the queue again, as he always has and will. Alison's right, the most important thing, and Tuchel's alluded to it, is channeling his almost Roy of the Rover spirit in the right way to focus on the team and the collective. And there were moments in the game, there was a moment in the first half where he collected the ball from Rhys James, I think, He exchanged a one-two, played out wide to Gordon, and he raced all the way around to the left flank to try and overlap him and get played in.

10:11Gregor Robertson: And you're like, sometimes you think he's doing things. I'm not sure you need to do that. But that's who he is. And it's about channeling it in the right way. And he's such a big game player and such a talent, and he has a presence about him. I just feel England's team will always be better with him. Yeah, it was quite interesting to watch as well, speaking about Anthony Gordon and Madueke I thought Madueke had a quite bright game again don't want to get carried away, opposition and all that but I think it'll be quite a simple game plan from Thomas Tuchel for this tournament won't it? You wink, get wide get high and players like Bellingham Anderson, Rice and Kane dropping deep find you and then get forward and get in and around the box I don't think it's going to be fancy football is it?

10:55Gregor Robertson: No I mean Johnny wrote a really good preview piece about this about the choice between between Bellingham and Rodgers and how he feels that almost Declan Rice and Kane are the two most important players and the 10 in a slightly different way to how a lot of coaches will view a number 10, it's like almost a facilitator between those two. So that's one aspect, it's almost like a conduit trying to play through that middle area of the pitch really quickly and you're right, having width so they have space is really important to that. The other thing that struck me watching this in the first half was how you've got in Nico O 'Reilly and Rhys James you've got two such like multi-talented fullbacks guys who can go on the outside who can overlap who can step into midfield and combine like you have some real talent in attacking areas and sort of pace and energy yeah yeah you're right it's about pace and directness and athleticism and he's spoken about that and it's how how that kind of shows up in the in the in the environment and the heat.

11:59Yeah. I also think it'll be a World Cup of set pieces, definitely. And I think it'll be a World Cup of people trying to win penalties. England trying to win penalties. I think we saw it a lot. I've been watching back highlights late at night of particularly the 2018 World Cup and Gareth Southgate's side with that kind of train tactic at corners and then kind of getting the wrestle and the grapple and like, ref, ref, ref. I wonder whether we'll see Mark Knight see a little bit of that as well. Speaking of Harry Kane, I just wanted to mention, uh stub editor head of production glenn who i often mention on this show who had a brilliant moment last night because he went viral he's a tottenham fan very proud advocate of harry kane he always has been but he he shared a post on x of harry kane playing a brilliant clip ball through from a deep angle i think maybe for bellingham or for gordon yeah and uh posted the rather sarcastic note absolutely sick of harry kane dropping deep unfortunately the bright people on X thought he was being serious and then he just got absolute dogs of these and poor old Glenn just goes to show do not do sarcastic football analysis on X.

12:58Alison just to wrap up the England section myself and Tony Cascarino and Gregor talked about how far you think they will go firstly very quickly what should be the minimum expectation for success and then how far do you think they'll go? Given what's gone before success has to be winning it. Winning it? Yes that anything else it has never post analysis been considered successful it really hasn't but i don't think they will i just think the heat the changes in what's allowed and not allowed the fact that tuchel is trying to do something impose his personality on the team probably doing it quite late in the day i i i just think there are teams with more passion and more innate ability on the ball that will go further than England will so I'm predicting quarterfinals as I think a lot of people are quarterfinals that's the one that keeps coming back to isn't it and very interesting stuff we'll have loads more on England throughout the tournament with our daily shows talking to Matt Lawton Hamza Kalikluna and Johnny Northcroft the team inside the England camp team I wanted to move on we've talked about so many different nations but 48 teams is impossible to cover and preview but I just wanted to pick out some other sides and some of the interesting groups and Alison And the big question I think regular listeners will have, how are you coping with no Denmark at this tournament?

14:19Yeah, it's tricky. Yeah, it's tough. It's a tough blow, especially sitting next to the man whose side we're responsible for them not being there, of course, on that favourite night. So I think listeners would want to know, who are your Denmark this time? Well, I've actually picked Norway to win it. Norway to win it. Not just to be your team. My team, to win it. Honestly, when you think, Gregor, about Tom Allnott a few weeks ago saying I'm done with hot takes in football podcasts. No more big sweeping hot takes, just let's have some considered analysis. In comes Alison Rudd. Norway are going to win the World Cup.

14:52The narrative is compelling. Okay. That's the key. That's the key to any football prediction. A compelling narrative. Well, it is 28 years. Gregor will know about the 28 years. 28-year way to do it. They've got attacking prowess. They've got Haaland, Serloff, Odegaard. They've also got Julian Ryerson, who's the right back from Dortmund, who's got 18 assists this season, just gone. Antonio Nusa, who's known as the Norwegian Neymar. I mean, anyone who's got the... Norwegian Neymar, yeah. A bit of alliteration always helps you. Lovely, lovely, lovely. And then you've got the sort of backbone is Bodo Glimt.

15:34Three players from Bodo Glimt. And we all know how well they did in the Champions League. And they did well with nobodies in the team, but they did it with, you know, Viking effort. Yeah. And you've got their team photo, which is them all lined up as Vikings. It is a stunner. A Ponzi photographer, famous photographer doing it, not CGI done properly. Yeah. And they looked the part. There's something about them bursting onto the world stage with that. I just love a mix of flair and guts. And I think, yes, why not? Why not? That's what you want, isn't it? You don't want a team full of trickery. You want a team that's got a bit of the Viking spirit, but also that beautiful touch from Odegaard.

16:23You've got a world-famous striker in Haaland. I mean, come on. The more I think about it, the more it's a slam dunk, actually. I mean, it's a compelling narrative. She's right, Gregor. I don't know whether she's right about them going to win it, but I'm now fully on board with them. They've got lovely kits as well. Lovely kits. Home kits and that all black, very classy. If you were to ask me later, one of my favourite kits, it's up there. It's coming in the second half of the show.

16:46Gregor Robertson: Apparently they have the joint tallest squad alongside Bosnia. Joint tallest squad. I mean, Sorloff and Haaland are a big part of that, but they've got Christopher Ayer as well at the back. I've got to say, I do think the Haaland factor, he's such a great character. I am so excited for him to be at a World Cup because we talk about big personalities, Jude Bellingham, blah, blah. He is going to be absolutely chomping at the bit to score a boatload of goals. And he has been scoring boatloads of goals in the qualification process. Tricky group, though. France, Iraq and Senegal in their group. I think Senegal are going to be really interesting.

17:20That's the group of death, undoubtedly. You think that's a group of death? Because we had it the other day that Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Tunisia. I think that's more... That's the group of serious illness. so group of death france norway senegal but with three going through i think you can get away with it but i am fascinated to watch senegal as well i think that they are could be really really great i remember loving watching them against england i know it was in a um a kind of friendly match uh all those months ago that's group i isn't it i thought they were fantastic in that group now iraq okay iraq they're going to the semi-finals no no well they they play 4-4-2 and and they don't want to be pretty.

17:57They're just going to make life very difficult for all the other teams in that group.

17:59Gregor Robertson: Interesting. Graham Arnold, the former Australia coach, managed to get a mastermind. That's a great story, yeah. Do you think we'll see a bit more 4-4? Scotland are going to go 4-4-2, we've decided, at least against Haiti. Iraq, you talked about Solov and Haaland. I don't necessarily know whether Norway will go with both. They'll play 4-3-3. Right, okay. But do you think we'll see a bit more big guys up front? I think there'll be some of that, yeah. And I think, again, when you come back to this, the heat and the environment that some of the games have been taking part in, playing direct won't be a bad idea.

18:34Gregor Robertson: I think there's going to be a lot of variety. It's going to be when there's 48 teams. And I'm with you. Some of the African nations are fascinating. Senegal, when you go through the players, Smilas Sar, Nicholas Jackson, Sarri Omani, Elman Ndai, Papi Matasar, Koulibaly is getting on a bit, but he's still a big presence at the back. they've got a really young Amara Duf a winger who's like just turned 18 he debuted at 15 he's the only player who plays in Senegal but he's someone they're really excited about so and obviously they had the whole controversy at AFCON but they ultimately won it so they're I think that's one of the another good narrative is I'll be keeping a special eye out on Senegal and Morocco because it's like a way of deciding it isn't it the team that won it and the team that won it the team that won AFCON and the team that won AFCON Morocco are fascinating too.

19:24Gregor Robertson: I mean, I'll be more interested once Scotland have qualified from that group. Once he's got his gritty, horrible nil-nil draw against Morocco, he'll be happy. But they just sacked the manager, Righraoui, with Mohamed Ouhabi in March. He led Morocco's under-20s to their first World Cup title last year. His under-20s World Cup title. He's brought a few of those players into the squad. they're young and sort of a lot of people who know a lot about Morocco are saying that they're better than four years ago and they've still got stars like Brian Diaz and Hakimi so they're going to be really interesting too and then there's Egypt with Salah and Marmouche up front and you know still some real talent in that team as well yeah Ivory Coast even Ivory Coast are the ones I was going to bring up one of the early games that I'm really excited about on my mission to watch every game through the night and the one that I'm like, I'd watch this if it was at three o 'clock in the morning, Ivory Coast, Ecuador at midnight on June 15th.

20:25I think that has got early contender for the one that I will be banging on about when we wake up to do the podcast in the morning. I'll be desperate to tell you all about it. I mean, Ivory Coast, Yandiamande, widely linked with Liverpool, but lots of other clubs as well, 19 years old on one wing, Ahmad Diallo on another wing. That's got potential. You know, Kessie in midfield, Sangara, you know, None of these players that are superstars, but I think a World Cup can be really solid and really effective.

20:52Gregor Robertson: Nicolas Pepe had a really good season at Villarreal. Involved in 18 goals in La Liga. Obviously, he didn't have a good time at Arsenal, but he's been a really good player for them recently and he's been good for the country too. Evan Gesson back in the life. A lot of these African nations have players who have dipped their toe in the Premier League or have been solid players in the Premier League. or others who have been there in the past and moved on. But they're like, you know, a solid standard of player. But a lot of them, they're a really good standard in the African nations now. But still a lot to discover as well, which is what's so magical about the world.

21:29There's also a lot of those players that you mentioned that fit into that wonderful category of where we have a familiarity with them with the Premier League. And because of the fevered nature of kind of analysis from fans, you kind of dismiss these players and then you see them for their national team at an international tournament, you're like, Christ, they're great. What a brilliant player. The brilliant example from the last Euros was Radu Dragasin. I remember watching him in a game against Romania sitting next to my colleague Nick, who's a Tottenham fan, going, Christ, Dragasin's good, isn't he?

21:55And he's like, no, he's not. No, he's absolutely not. Have you done dietary research? Dietary research? What, for myself? Hang on, Tony Cascarino called me fat the other week. I don't need you buying in now as well. You know, if you're watching games at two and three in the morning, yeah have you done research on whether you should be eating with those games or not yeah just like haribo loads and loads of sweets and cups of tea we must not do that okay if you want to do me a dietary plan for my evening alison that would be fantastic yeah i think i'm going to have to you know rejig things but i mean it's going to be chaos isn't it but it'll be fine it'll be fine it'll be fine it'll be fine um we'll worry about it these people who think they can climb everest without help aren't you uh yes i have done i have done several times i've never told you about that anyway back to the football um greg i wanted to mention croatia in england's group of course absolutely fascinating you are in the process of writing a piece from a trip that you made over there to discover the birthplace of luca modric tell us a little bit about that tease a little bit of the article and what who you met over there and how they're feeling about the world cup yeah

23:03Gregor Robertson: yeah I was out there last week was it visited Zadar which is the place where he was born close to Zadar and then kind of grew up in a hotel there as a refugee I think a lot of people know his story he's been a huge player for two decades both internationally and in the European game but it's kind of just a reminder of some of the the story that kind of has brought him to another World Cup yeah yeah approaching 41 and the sort of incredible resilience he and actually a lot of Croatian players, a lot of players in this team have, you think about as I say he's close to 41, Kovacic is 32, Ivan Perisic is 37, Andri Kramaric is turning 35 this month, Dalic has been there a long time as a manager so there's still, it feels like this is one last hurrah perhaps for this remarkable generation who kind of projected Croatia as a new country after the war of independence like three decades ago more than any anyone created you know in that nation did before so yeah i visited zadar visited the zagreb as well where he kind of made his name in at dinamo zagreb uh visited a lot of the places that were kind of uh associated with his career the hotel as i say he spent it's called the hotel colivari where he he grew up for four or five years I kind of I went to Zagreb and spoke to some of his former teammates and coaches and visited Dinamo Zagreb as well and yeah I think there's enormous pride about what he's done and it's a strange you know you talk about he's right up there with Ronaldo and Messi and these guys the only guy who kind of split them in the door for so many years there's a bit more of a different attitude towards they're stars in that country what they love about him is how humble he is and how just dedicated he's been to his craft and to football and to making the best of himself for his entire adult life Would you say there's more love than admiration or more admiration than love what's the feeling?

25:16I think

25:17Gregor Robertson: it's pretty equal he's widely admired but he's loved as well and as I say there's a funny, it's a former kind of communist place and they're not big about symbolism and stuff like that so you can you know I went to his former school to school and there's no sign of Luke and Mordert Street's former school but actually I held a piece of his homework a teacher a teacher gave me that was it's in his book it's a a story that came to came to the fore when he he grew up with and almost lived with on the mountains outside Zagreb. He was tragically shot and killed at the start of the war when he was six and a half.

26:03Gregor Robertson: And he wrote a piece of homework at his school. That kind of, he was asked to write about something that made him feel fear. And he wrote about that and kind of dismay for that this happened to him. And yeah, I held that piece, it was like holding an Asian artifact. in fact, it was amazing. And I spoke to his teachers and they remember someone who was just, who was really like always focused, strangely focused for someone so young. He would always absorb everything around them. And it was just had an enormous sort of sense of focus, even at a young age. And I think you can, that and a determination that was, I spoke to another, one of his teammates who would visit Zadar in the holidays, come back from Zagreb.

26:50Gregor Robertson: he's a team of Zagreb he came to stay with him and every morning Modric would get up and say come on let's go running and it got to after a few days his teammate was going out partying with Modric's friends while he got up in the morning to go out running so like he was so dedicated as well from the very start and so competitive and driven and I think ultimately that's taken him to to where he is today yeah but if that makes him sound boring I was very lucky enough to interview Modric and he is a giggler I did make him giggle quite a lot he's a giggler and incredibly dedicated I can't wait to see him play at the World Cup I can't wait to read Gregor Robertson's article either, Gregor you've also got a piece meeting one of your heroes another fun part of your trip to Croatia you managed to track down Mark Viduka Mark Viduka yeah Mark Viduka in his cafe in the hills outside Zagreb yeah Mark Viduka was obviously a player for Celtic who I really loved him when I was younger and I once played against him actually when he was at Middlesbrough in a pre-season friendly I minded him of that I didn't tell him that but I did remind him of that yeah yeah it was great to reminisce with him about his career his time at Leeds I remember he spearheaded that fearless young Leeds team that made it to the Champions League semi-final just talk about some stories and also his reflections of he led Australia to the first World Cup in I think it was in 32 years in 2006.

28:22Gregor Robertson: So yeah, that's a joy. Spent a couple of hours with him on the terrace in his cafe, drinking coffee and talking football. Amazing. You can read that interview on the Times website later today and then the Luke Modric article will be out later next week. Alison Rudd has also got pieces on Uzbekistan and Antoine Semenya as well. So keep your eyes peeled. For those, team, time for a quick break. Time for a little quiz question. Alison, you mentioned the 2018 World Cup. We're going to talk about some of our favourite opening matches from previous tournaments. At that tournament on the 14th of June, Russia played Saudi Arabia.

28:54But what was the score? Find out after the break.

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29:45welcome back to the game football podcast from the times and sunday times i'm tom clark and i've got alison rudd and gregor robertson with me can anyone remember the score russia saudi arabia five nil five nil did he look it up in the break that's always i can i i checked for him and it was correct 5-0 well done uh grego well with that in mind obviously got the opening game tonight mexico south africa a rerun of the opening game from 2010 just thought we'd have a little fun favorite opening games from down the years allison what would yours be 2002 france senegal yeah i i it's an opening game that i think was one of the in itself one of the sexier opening games yeah of any World Cup and the fact that there was an upset and there's something about, I don't know, it's terrible, should I admit this, there's something about the World Cup that makes me feel like, I don't know, you really want the underdogs to do well.

30:39And so all respect for France when out the window. We're all rooting in my living room for Senegal and they won and Papa Bouba Diop, may he rest in peace. I mean, he died age 42. It's tragic. Anyway, he scores the goal and he takes his shirt off and they all dance around his shirt and it's proper like, they're the sort of scenes you want to see from a World Cup. France were disjointed in that. France the holders as well, of course. You sort of think, wow, this is going to be a World Cup of upsets. I mean, on a Liverpool fan point of view, we then signed El Hadjouf, who I can't say he was a resounding success for the club.

31:19although it started well enough but uh it doesn't matter that doesn't take away from the fact in that game he played really really well that tournament was another great example of i think these days with transfers and player discovery there's so much put out there and so much beforehand but those were the days where you would have a tournament and then you would suddenly see premier league club sign them because you know manchester united signed klebberson the brazilian midfielder again another one that didn't necessarily go brilliantly but i mean he was at the tournament remember being like oh they've got brilliant players but no kleberson is like the key you know the metronome he's everything in midfield and like it was just a simpler time it was a simpler time you know no endless relentless transfer updates all the time you just watch a brilliant player emerge at a tournament and then you'd see them sign for a good club you had surprises yeah now We know everybody.

32:13Anytime, day or night, you can watch whatever football you want to watch from any league in any country and any international game you want to watch. It's really easy. But, you know, it wasn't that long ago where you would get this plethora of individuals you'd never seen before. And you think, oh, my God, oh, my God, I had no idea they had someone as tricksy on the wing as they had to do. This is amazing. He's coming to Liverpool. This is amazing. This doesn't happen anymore. Yeah. Gregor, favourite opening game?

32:39Gregor Robertson: I mean it's probably obvious but it was Scotland when they played Brazil Scotland Brazil in 98 which is the last time so you know I look at us at school and remember everyone leaving early to rush home and watch because I think it was like early afternoon we got warned not to leave the school but we all left anyway and we it was 2-1 it was a close close thing Tom Boyd's own goal sort of broke hearts at the end so that's that's my biggest memory but I actually think back to the Brazil-Croatia in 2014 as well, just because of how the sense that that was going to be such a World Cup in Brazil. Like the colour, the anthem, you remember them singing the anthem.

33:23Gregor Robertson: You just knew that was going to be special. They won 3-1. I think Neymar got a couple. And obviously it all came crashing down, but that was a great opening to what I felt was going to be a special World Cup. I kind of vaguely remember 1992. Cameroon. Really? Cameroon beat Argentina in Italy. I've got flashes of that, but I don't remember it in detail. But those were my two sort of Italia 90 and 1998 formative World Cup. I've got a very funny memory of the 1998 World Cup. That was like the kind of one where I really latched on and was obsessed by football. There were years before, so it was the big tournament.

33:59I remember taking the dogs for a walk with my dad and I had my David Beckham England shirt on and walked past some girls in Manchester. as I walked past him they're like yeah Beckham he's fit and I I thought they were talking about whether he was injured or not I was like oh my god David Beckham's injured I didn't realise anything oh my gosh oh my gosh my favourite opening game 2006 Germany 4 Costa Rica 2 just a crackers display of football Philipp Lahm scored a screamer Paolo Wanchop got 2 Costa Rica at a World Cup Germany showing their strength like I'm not one of these English people that like oh I don't like Germany I love Germany at a World Cup I think their kit's brilliant i think they play so brilliantly so often find a way to win that was one of my favorites and moving on talking about so many different nations alison i think the next question as well as you know who is your denmark we've established that in the first half of the show regular listeners will want to know how are you coping at the rud mansion with the flag situation for any new listeners any new viewers on youtube alison rud decks her house out in the flags of nations at major tournaments it's a sight to behold she charges people to stand on the street and take pictures with her outside i might be joking about that part who knows how are you approaching this we've got four new nations where do they go we had to have a logistical nightmare to have a family summit meeting involving the cat who helps to choose um he's famous the cat yeah um and we have had to change the rules because of the 48 nations and only eight windows What can you do?

35:33I mean, it's...

35:38Each flag is five foot by three. It's not like loads of little bunting. This is big flags.

35:44Gregor Robertson: Well, you could go little flags. So what's the rotation? No, but you can't see who they are, can you? It's hard enough anyway. There's a rotation there. There will be. Unfortunately, the windows are really old and difficult to navigate. It's a listed building.

36:00So we've had to put the flags most likely to need rotating on the easier to deal with windows. Don't want to pull a wall down. We haven't got all... We would have normally... In a normal year, we would have put up all four debutantes, but there aren't enough windows to comply with the other rules. It's tough. What's your opening eight, then? We've got Brazil and Scotland together because my youngest son is going out with a... half-Scott, half-Brazilian girl. Well done him. Good combo. And also, we had a big argument about the Brazil thing because they're up every time. But I think they sort of sum up what the World Cup's out.

36:38They absolutely do. I think the people who come to view the house, and some of them travel quite a long way, I think they expect to see Brazil. Yeah, absolutely. If I made it all the way out into the beautiful countryside of West London, I would expect to see a Brazilian flag. So you've got Brazil and Scotland. Who are the other six? We've got Uzbekistan. Yeah. Because they're a debutante. And it's a nice flag. It's different. Yeah. Sky blue in there. Yeah, love it. It's fun. Yeah, on board. Then it's England. Then Cabo Verde, because again, interesting flag. Mm-hmm. A bit different. And also you want flags that make people who walk past.

37:13It's lovely listening to people walk past. I've said this before. You get dads who will refuse to admit they don't know when their children are asking them what the flags are and they make it up. Do you have microphones in the hedges or something? how do you hear the conversation slightly open for the flags yeah yeah um and then we've got uh senegal because it's an amazing flag and then uh you have to have the hosts well there's three hosts and only eight windows again it's very difficult it's tough i'm not flying the american flag from my house thank you very much i was just thinking i did see that coming yeah couldn't couldn't find the mexico flag oh so it's canada i've got the host flag and we always have the uh the holders so Argentina are out there as well and it looks really beautiful I'm sure it does please do share a picture on it and when I post this podcast play me follow up with a picture of the house and if there are any Mexico fans listening willing to donate a flag to Alison Rudd for her house for the latter stages of course we're obviously hoping you do really well so maybe you could factor that in deliver it to the News UK building just leave my name drop it at the desk that'll be fine that'd be fantastic and speaking of flags I've got a little gift for all of you courtesy of my mother-in-law who has sent me some chocolate brownies with flags on for the start of the World Cup.

38:27Gregor, you'll be delighted to see that there is a Scotland brownie in there.

38:30Gregor Robertson: It's tasty as well. Alison, which one are you after? We've got Ghana that I thought might take you a fancy. No Norway, though, I'm afraid. Croatia? What do we think? Ghana. I'll take Ghana. Ghana. Ghana and Scotland. Sold. Fantastic. Thank you very much. Thanks, Marge. Always hyping me up before the tournament begins. There you go. There's my diet, Alison. That's posher than my house. Definitely not. Nothing's boshed in your house. There you go. There's my diet sorted for early hours. Just chocolate brownies. No, you can't. We'll keep up to date with Tom Clark's diet as discussed by Alison Rudd.

38:59How are you going to stay awake? How am I going to stay awake? Cups of tea. Rampant enthusiasm. Chocolate brownies. Okay. Bags of sweets. Listen. Crying baby. You know the bit in The Last Dance where Michael Jordan just talks about all the people that wound him up and motivated him. Just keep the doubt coming. Just keep it coming. I've got a list of doubters that I'm going to pin next to my computer. Just keep it coming. If anyone out there thinks I can't do it either, email me in. Tom.Clark at thetimes.co.uk. If you've got any tips for staying up through the night, any dietary recommendations, to keep Alison Rudd satisfied as well, email me in as well.

39:35Let's just finish with a couple of other little fun bits. Favourite kit? Favourite kits? Right. I had my say on the Times website picking my top ten. That was a very nice piece, Tom. Thank you very much. I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised that it caused a lot of anger in the common but they always do with these these pieces i mean obviously the scotland away gets a

39:51Gregor Robertson: beauty yeah but um i love some of the kind of old school adidas original ones like the mexico away yeah curacao japan's well somewhere they're like they're they're class all three mexican kits are great all three kits the ghana home strip as well white with a sort of riot of like almost spider webby color on it beautiful and i love the argentina wake as well it's like dark blue with these swirls and a big chunky ribbed neck. Love it. Well, it was my nephew's 16th birthday so on last weekend and I went up to see him and I said, you know, show me some of your presents and he came down with the Uruguay Away kit.

40:26Oh, it's a beauty. And he just, he was so in love with it and who am I to argue, it's very, it's black with blue chain mail in a scoop on it and I've heard some people say it's the worst kit at the world. No, it's cracker. I like it a lot. If it appeals to a 16-year-old, this is what it's about, isn't it? Box ticked. And the other great kit is the Norway kit, simply because it looks like they are just wrapped in their flag. It's so bold. Another reason why they're going to win it. They're saying we're going to win it. If there's anyone out there who can get Alison Rudd a Norway kit, again, let's make this happen.

41:01She needs a Mexico flag and a Norway kit. Come on, there's some sponsors out there. The Game Podcast, we are right behind you. Let's wrap up the show then. I think I'm really excited now. I'm even more excited now. And hopefully you are too, listeners and viewers out there. Final predictions and hopes. Gregor, we had a few of these with Tony Castellino the other day. We did some with Scotland. Actually, do you know what? As you're in your Scotland kit, Gregor, let's get a final little verdict for the Haiti game as well, because we're going to be talking about it again with the guys and with Michael Grant.

41:32But just here now, other than winning, what's the most important thing for this game? Is it the convincing win? Is it the formation? Which play is going to be vital? What do you think the most important thing is for Scotland going into this Haiti game?

41:46Gregor Robertson: The approach. Just being bold, going for it. Because as I said, the way that the draw has thrown up Haiti first and then two enormous challenges to follow, we shouldn't really have any choice in the matter. But we're so used to going into major tournaments and being conservative and try not to lose, that this is a kind of break from the mould. It's like we know this is a great opportunity, but there's still somehow a question about are we going to grasp it? Probably a nagging fear as well. So I just want us to go for it. We have a better team. We have some really good players, some players that are shining in the Premier League.

42:33Gregor Robertson: Go for it. Be bold. Be bold and go for it. Are you going to be singing the anthem at two o 'clock in the morning in your living room? More than likely, yeah. Yeah, I think. Why not? Quietly, though. Not to waste other questions. Yeah, quietly. It's an absolutely brilliant anthem. But yeah, so let's finish with some final predictions and hopes then, Alison. We've got some as well. We've already had some. I think one of my predictions is that I do think, as I said with England, this might be the tournament of quite simple tactics. I'm not necessarily saying Hamza will be upset that it's all corners and throw-ins, but I do think it might be quite simple.

43:00Balls wide, balls into the box, set pieces, teams winning penalties. I'm not necessarily as much as I'd love to. I don't know if we're going to see a lot of three threes and four threes and three twos and things like that. I think we might see a lot of one nils, one alls and two ones. No, I think you're right. I think amidst all that set piece drama, and I think it might be one reason why Norway win it. I think we'll also see as a nice textural contrast to that, We will see teams like Spain and Japan who make the ball, do the work, have great technical ability. I'd love Japan to... I feel like they're ripe and ready, Japan.

43:43They've looked good in the warm-up games, they really have. But they don't have height, so they're going to have to play pretty football to its extreme. I'd love that approach to also be successful so we see them deeper into the tournament. So you want a Japan-Norway final, the tallest team against one of the shorter teams, playing two different types of football. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I wonder what odds you could get on a Japan-Norway final. It's surely worth the 50p. Gregor, any other thoughts as we progress through this week? Predictions for either teams, players or what we might see on the pitch?

44:17Gregor Robertson: First thing is, I think it's going to be even more than ever. Despite what we just said about in the past, you know, there wasn't as much information readily available and it felt like you always discovered players. that's going to be the case this year because there's more teams there's nations that have never been there before I think it will be a World Cup of Discovery and that's exciting I think one team that may be working of a lot of people are sleeping on is Holland I think they've had a couple of injuries they lost Xavi Siemens De Lecht some players have come back from injury De Jong Depay Demfries but I still look at their team they've still got Reinders and Gravenberch and Van de Ven and Gakpo and Van Hecke who's been heavily coveted just now.

45:05Gregor Robertson: Malin who's had a really good half season after going back to Roma. Van Dijk, like they still, every year we do this. At some point I think Holland are going to, Holland have got the players to go far and to win it. So I think maybe Holland are a team we're sleeping on a lot. They are in the group of serious illness though, as Alison would say earlier on. so we'll have to see how they get on. We will leave it there. Alison Rudd and Gregor Robertson, thank you very much for joining me. Thank you too for listening. We are off and running. These are our World Cup daily shows. We will be with you every morning with a daily briefing.

45:37I'll be speaking to our journalists on the ground at the tournament and to Alison and Gregor back home as well. So make sure you keep with us throughout the tournament. Make sure you're subscribed. Make sure you keep checking the Times website as well for those brilliant articles I mentioned already on Luca Modric, Mark Verduka, Antoine Semenyu, Uzbekistan. We've also got the latest from the Premier League as well with the sackings of Rob Edwards and Kieran McKenna stepping down at Ipswich. We'll keep you across everything, I promise. Stay with the times for the whole of the World Cup and we'll see you very, very soon.

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