WORLD CUP DAY 16: Cape Verde heroics, now England expects

0:00Hey, Pablo Torre here. As a sports journalist, I've covered global sports for many years now. And there is one thing that I can promise you. Nothing compares to the World Cup. And this time it is even better thanks to McDonald's. You have the chance to take home one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal. The cups feature some of the biggest legends in football like David Beckham, Terry Henry and Ronaldinho, Christian Pulisic, Lamine Yamal and Alfonso Davies. Right now, get one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal only at McDonald's. At participating McDonald's, only for a limited time, while supplies last.

0:36All rights reserved. Copyright 2026. McDonald's at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Hey, Yetis. This is Nick and Jack from the Best One Yet podcast. Now, the last company we worked at, they used Paylocity and everything just worked. It wasn't until launching our own media business, this show, that we realized how rare that is. Because Paylocity is one delicious burrito of operational needs. They roll up HR, finance, and IT seamlessly into one delicious bite. When everything wraps together like that all at once, your workforce, your tech stack, your business, you don't need more tools. You don't even need cilantro.

1:09You need one solution. And that is why Paylocity built a single platform to connect HR, finance, and IT with AI-driven insights and automated workflows that simplify the complex and power what's next. Or as we call it, a delicious operational burrito. Yes, we do. So experience a one place for all your HCM needs, besties. So start now at paylossity.com slash one. Paylossity.com slash O-N-E.

1:40Hello and welcome to the game football podcast from the Times and Sunday Times. These are our daily World Cup shows. This is Day 16. I'm Tom Clark and I'm delighted to tell you that Cape Verde are through to the knockout stages of this year's tournament. A 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia was enough to secure second place in Group H. They will face Argentina in the round of 32. No pressure then lads, but hey, listen, if anyone can stop Lionel Messi, maybe Pico Lopez can. In part two, we'll catch up with the Times team at that game and the other matches that took place overnight. but first it is the England preview day a huge game against Panama tonight for Thomas Tuchel and his side earlier I spoke to our chief sports correspondent Matt Lawton to get the latest from the England camp Matt great to have you back on the pod you're joining us from New Jersey with a nice view of Manhattan from your hotel room and we obviously heard from you from the game the Ghana draw straight after the game with that voice note but when we spoke in more detail on a previous pod you know the mood in the england camp was slightly different to what it is now that ghana draws changed things slightly hasn't it in terms of the tournament for england it was a little bit of reality check wasn't it what's what's the kind of mood in the camp what's the noises that you've been hearing from the england camp since i think it's still positive i think um the message overall coming from thomas tuchel is that look it's one game it's not just suddenly panic and and suddenly start questioning the sort of decisions around the squad and whether people like Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold and other players like that, you know, obviously Cole Palmer should be here.

3:22I think he finds that kind of response, if you like, knee-jerk response, slightly ludicrous, bit of a sort of English disease probably. And it's actually something that Phil Neville said in his most recent column with us was that he's, being German, he's almost free of those kind of overreactions, if you like. So no, I think it's still positive. I think they accept that Garner under Kiroz played a very disciplined, defensive style that, yes, was difficult to prove, to break down. but sometimes you can get those kind of games in group stages and when it gets to the more serious business at the end of the day unless you really are playing for penalties you've got to try and win it so so I think they see it as a bit of a one-off and hope to do a lot better against Panama yeah you mentioned the Phil Neville column I was going to bring it in a little bit later but in terms of some of the things he said to you he's feeling fairly confident about what England might produce now, made some comparisons with Thomas Tuchel and Sir Alex Ferguson in terms of a kind of ruthless streak that you might see from a manager after a frustrating game.

4:36Yeah, I think Phil was talking more about culture and the fact that you don't let a performance like that and a result like that, and let's face it, they're still top of the group with four points. You don't let something like that make you question yourself. And what was interesting about what Phil said, because he does have this perspective as a former United player who played under Fergie, is the way that they responded to poor performances or runs of bad results. And it was always in Fergie's mind to go forward again, to keep stepping forward, to keep going on the front foot. And his view is that Tuchel has the same attitude and it's clearly what he's tried to instil.

5:18Now, it's interesting because the one thing that Phil does recognise, and he says this as a former head coach of the England women's team, it's much harder to create that culture when you are an international manager. You obviously get years to build a team or sometimes obviously not years, but Fergie obviously had years to build a team and a culture at Manchester United. And of course, you get to choose the players you have from all over the world. As an international coach, you get what you're given. but the fact of the matter is Tuchel is trying to create something similar to what Fergie had at United he does want the the team to take the handbrake off the whole time and attack attack attack and Phil also was very dismissive of this argument that really surfaced the moment that the final whistle came in Boston where people were suddenly questioning as I said at the start the exclusion of certain players and he's basically you know certainly in his opinion looks at that squad looks at those 26 players looks at the creativity and the attacking flair that is in it and says that's complete nonsense you know there is more than enough ability in in that squad to unlock any defense absolutely i mean phil neville's column is brilliant uh listeners make sure you go and check it out on the times website he's writing for us throughout this tournament uh matt i talked about vibes earlier and kind of mood in the camp and things you got a little bit of a departure from the england camp but definitely got some mood and some vibes when you attended the darts it seems the darts phenomena that has taken over this this country uh when it rolls around normally around christmas time has taken over manhattan as well yeah i've never actually been to the darts before so i've never never had the uh opportunity to cover it when it's been at alexandra palace or or wherever else i've always watched darts like you know my my dad was into darts so i you know i was watching darts when it was eric bristow and john lowe and and jockey wilson and i still remember vividly keith keith delawen in the world title with his funny sprung darts i had you know i think my dad really frowned upon that you had these weirdly sprung darts that always used to shake when they hit the board um so i've always loved darts um but i'd never covered such an event and it was brilliant.

7:40They occupied the theatre that is next to the main Madison Square Garden Arena that's obviously had all these incredible events only the other week and the other day that New York Knicks playing in the NBA finals. But obviously some of the greatest fights ever. People always talk about the first Ali Fraser fight as one of the greatest fights of all time. But it was it was the turn of um yeah the two loops littler and humphries um i did meet luke littler uh at spotty uh i can't remember which year it was but he was it was just hardly anybody went um uh journalists journalist wise so i think it was sort of me and the sort of hardcore darts fraternity but it was great getting in getting in this little room with with with littler and talking about how he's into these cards, these football trading cards.

8:38Tom Brady clearly got into this business as well because he was in Kansas City opening a store, selling this kind of thing last weekend before he went down to see the England guys. But lit this into it, and he was telling us how he dropped 1 ,400 quid in this shop in Manhattan yesterday buying a Zidane autograph card, whatever that is. I don't actually know if that means that Zinedine Zidane has signed it. I assume it does. And it, because he was going, it's worth quite a lot of money that. But no, it was, it was great fun. I think the Americans were probably slightly horrified by, by the sort of 10 German bomber stuff that sadly did materialize during it.

9:20But generally the England fans that were there made it fantastic. And, and it, and it, for me, it was just great, great, great to see it. I saw all my top sport colleagues who were sort of world working, were just enjoying it. Alex Crook in a cowboy hat. That was interesting. It suited him, actually. Bumped into David Bentley, who was in a sort of flower power suit. And I said, I like the suit. And to be fair, as I said in the pieces, he's annoyingly good looking, David Bentley. He always has been. And at 42, he still looks like he could be running around a football pitch. and I said you know you carry it well David and um and then he started to tell me about how he'd had to pay 52 bucks for a gin and tonic although I did question that it wasn't a single um he wouldn't tell me how many measures were in it but yeah it cost him 52 dollars um no it was a blast and uh and fun to write about yeah it sounds like great fun although you wouldn't be getting me paying 52 dollars for a gin and tonic even if it was a triple uh that's outrageous prices and I live in london so um let's get back to the football matt just to wrap things up two questions um firstly what's the latest on team news and things yourself and hamza and johnny have been reporting about reese james fitness concerns uh declan rice uh we believe with a dead leg how are we looking you know 24 hours out from england kicking off against panama yeah everyone trained today and i only know this from my colleagues back in kansas city who'll be joining me for dinner in manhattan And later, that's a sentence that will terrify the accounts department, particularly as we're taking some contacts out.

11:02So they tell me that everyone trained except Rhys James. He was doing stuff on his own. I'm sure he's out of this game. The worry, of course, with Rhys James is that he is prone to these hamstring injuries and we're in a tournament and the games are coming thick and fast. I wouldn't be surprised if it's more than one game. So that forces a bit of a reshuffle. We had some information earlier this week, which we reported, is that he may well look at putting Esri Konza at right back, despite the fact that Konza's look good. I know there was the sort of storm around the potential penalty, but he has generally looked very solid.

11:45But he might push Konza across. I assume that would mean Stones comes back in with Mark Gay a point that Phil Neville made and I agree with him I do think because I think England suffered in his absence against Ghana I think he's got to bring Nico O 'Reilly back so I think we're going to see a different looking back four third different back four I know there's been some constants there but essentially a third different back four in three games Tuchel I'm not convinced he'll make too many other changes is Rice, yeah, he was training today. He's fine. He had some strapping on his calf the other night, but apparently it's something that he suffers from as games wear on.

12:28And we could see he was limping a bit, but he's pretty robust, Eclan Rice. So I don't envisage any issues with him. Elliot Anderson should be walking on air after agreeing a£130 million transfer, which I imagine covers a quite good pay rise. so he should be getting the he should be getting the beers in tomorrow night I was actually asking interestingly about when he's having this medical that's imminent but I did check in with Man City they said there's no rush there they're certainly not going to be from what I understand asking him to nip down to their the New York branch of the City group before he heads back to Kansas City what gets interesting about all this now is just how thick and fast the games are going to come and how quickly they're going to land back in kansas and then pack off and go again um it's going to get pretty manic from here on in um but um but in fairness the one thing they haven't got to deal with that we do have to deal with and this is not you know this is not me getting out of the world's smallest violin but they obviously have a private plane uh they're not case true they're not they're not weighing a baggage claim every time um i had an interesting one actually the other day my bag flew on a different flight so that was fun when I got to New York I had to go and find my bag that had flown without me there was almost a bit of separation anxiety there but yeah no so look I think they're the changes probably he doesn't tell the team till two or three hours before so we never know any of this for certain till very close to kick off so but we'll see I'm really looking forward to it I think because there was that slightly flat display I do think we're going to see a really sort of all singing all dancing England performance tomorrow yeah that's the final question really Matt as you say keep up to date with the latest team news from Matt and Hamza and Johnny from the ground with our live file on the Times website which will be running in the hours up to kick off Matt of course getting the breaking team news for the last game as well to keep you informed but yeah I just wanted to finish Matt by asking you kind of hinted at it there with that final point you're thinking we're going to get an all singing all dancing England display against Panama just in your experience having been to so many of these big tournaments how important is that for England to finish strong?

14:48Yes there's a kind of England are going to get out of this group they've got four points they will progress but after Ghana after that great start how important is it do you think that they make a bit of a statement with this Panama game and get a big win? I think it's really important because I think what I've seen in tournaments and yes look the last few have been you know compared to the early ones I covered you know really positive generally disappointing against France obviously in Qatar but it's been you know so much so much more uplifting but the important thing is finding a rhythm because you know I look back at 06 2010 England never got into any kind of rhythm and then they just they just flop and they go out and it all feels terribly disappointing it was the same in euro 2016 in in uh in france you know they just they never get going and then bang goodbye you know good night vienna um and the thing is i think we saw it against costa rica in orlando we saw it against croatia in that second half they need that that needs to be their norm and they need to get back to that and I'm sure that is all that Tufel is saying to them is get back to that that's the way you play that's your identity that is this England team play like that because then you then take that on and it almost becomes you know more habitual rather than searching for it the way they were against Ghana so I think it's massively important because it will just set it will set the tone for going into these knockout games it's atlanta next if they win the group that's another indoor stadium so no concerns around weather no concerns around energy sapping heat so there's absolutely no reason why they can't play this kind of high octane attacking football and i think it's just really important it's going to be 26 degrees tomorrow max there's there's there's the possibility of rain they're being very lucky at the moment with the conditions we were so worried about the conditions and look we've got Mexico City to come and we'll talk about that as and when we get there but right now there is no reason why they can't put the hammer down.

17:06Yeah absolutely let's be hoping that England set the tone on the pitch Matt Lawton are so often setting the tone for our coverage thank you very much for joining me Matt hopefully we'll send we'll be hearing a short bit of reaction from you on tomorrow's podcast and you can read Matt's updates Hamza's updates Johnny's updates and some analysis from martin samuel at full time after the big game against panama we're just going to take a quick break now i'll be back with some updates on the big night's action just after this stick with us

17:43frustrated with spending hours on ai outputs that don't feel like your brand Active Intelligence 2.8 from Active Campaign keeps you from sounding like everyone else. Describe your tone, your rules, and your brand once. And Active Intelligence builds every email and campaign for you, with on-brand images and content that sounds like you wrote it. Marketers are saving 10 hours every week and getting campaigns they're proud to put their name on. Import your brand in seconds at ActiveCampaign.com slash AI. Hey, Pablo Torre here. As a sports journalist, I've covered global sports for many years now.

18:19And there is one thing that I can promise you. Nothing compares to the World Cup. And this time, it is even better thanks to McDonald's. You have the chance to take home one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal. The cups feature some of the biggest legends in football, like David Beckham, Terry Henry, and Ronaldinho, Christian Pulisic, Lamine Yamal, and Alphonso Davies. Right now, get one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal only at McDonald's. At participating McDonald's, only for a limited time, while supplies last. All rights reserved. Copyright 2026.

18:52McDonald's at the FIFA World Cup 2026. If you like football, you'll love The Upshot, a podcast about the scandalous antics of the biggest names in sport. Join award-winning journalists Jack and Zach as we spill untold tales of drunken disasters, dressing room scraps, and romantic adventures. From FIFA's threats to sue us to the real reason Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel, if there's drama off the pitch, it's on the Upshot. Just search for the Upshot podcast, your guide to the funniest stories in sport.

19:31Welcome back to the Game Football podcast from the Times and Sunday Times. Now let's talk knockout matches. More round of 32 games decided after last night. France beating Norway comfortably. I mean, they barely left first gear in this one. Still managed to win 4-1 and Usman Dembele getting a hat trick. Lots of people criticising his performances so far at this tournament. Lots of shushing celebrations from him and quite rightly so. Admittedly, Norway did change nearly their entire team. No Erling Haaland in this one. But France finished top of that group and will now face Sweden on Tuesday. And Norway will play Ivory Coast.

20:08That has got such big hipster derby potential, that one. A Senegal thrashed Iraq to boost their chances as it stands they would face England in Atlanta on Wednesday. But back to the biggest story of the night, as I mentioned in my intro, Cape Verde are through. Ian Whittle watched their 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia and he sent me these thoughts from the ground. Well, you may be able to hear the noises are still going on of the celebrations by Cape Verde fans and players after a fairly historic goalless draw. It's not often that a team's been to a tournament, scored two goals in three games, not won a game, and been involved in two goalless draws, but has become so beloved by not only their own fans, of course, but fans from all over the world.

20:53Incredible story. I think we kind of sensed it might be coming, certainly after the Uruguay game, if not the Spain game, that there was something special brewing here. And this was a game they should really have won. There shouldn't have been as much anxiety as there was in the five minutes of added time, at which point if Saudi had scored they would have won the game they would have advanced Cape Verde would have gone home but they were good value for a point today they missed a hatful of chances the very last kick of the game in the 95th minute actually was a missed open goal by Cape Verde so I think the fans most of the fans here are supporting Cape Verde but I think most of them missed the referee's final whistle so it's quite a sort of muted ending a little bit strange change, Cape Verde players grouped together in a tight huddle around the halfway line and eventually word came through of the Spain final score which meant Cape Verde had advanced in second place, the stadium erupted, the Cape Verde players started dancing around and they're still doing it now 10 minutes after the final whistle as you can probably hear in the background they're just coming in front of me in the press box here beneath me.

21:59It was confirmed by the the table, the final table being put up on the screen. And it was a bit surreal to see Spain 1, Cape Verde 2. The reward for all that? Well, a nice easy last 32 draw where they now take on Argentina and Lionel Messi. So that's going to be a heck of a tie. You wouldn't fancy their chances in it, but based on the first three games, who the heck knows? I've given up trying to predict this team or this tournament for that matter. What an amazing story it is. Kate Verde are the first debutant to go unbeaten in their three group stage matches at a World Cup since. Senegal did it in 2002.

22:38Vosinha is the third goalkeeper. I love this stat. Vosinha is the third goalkeeper to keep multiple World Cup clean sheets after turning 40. Peter Shilton managed it with three and Dino's off two. What a wonderful little group he's just joined there. One of the stars of this tournament so far. the other game in that group finished Spain 1 Uruguay nil an ugly but eventful game this one Spain going through as group winners but actually this game largely about Uruguay and Marcelo Bielsa James Gerbrandt was there for the times and he sent me this analysis of what he saw well it was a sad end really here to Marcelo Bielsa's journey with Uruguay and I suppose quite possibly to his World Cup career, which has not really been a happy one.

23:26He was the Argentina manager in 2002 when they were among the favourites and crashed out in the group stage. With Chile, he did a little better in 2010 and reached the round of 16. But again here, Uruguay have been knocked out in the group stage of a group that really seemed like a very navigable one for them, one where they would fully have expected to go through as group runners up. much as they would have done in 2022. And it was a match, I guess, defined really by a really bad error by the keeper Fernando Maslera, the 40-year-old who was invited to come out of international retirement for this tournament.

24:09Just a decision that has proved to be a really poor and costly decision by Bielsa. All the more odd because Sergio Roche, who was the Uruguay goalkeeper and who came on at half-time here to replace Maslera. If you look at his three last games for Uruguay before this World Cup, he kept three clean sheets. And in the two games before that, he conceded only one goal apiece against Argentina and Brazil. So quite why Bielsa decided to dispense with him is a bit mysterious. As for Spain, well, they were not at their best. It was arguably Luminiumau's least effective game in his major tournament career, which is an incredible thing to say about such a young player.

24:54But they go through as group winners and they still haven't conceded a goal, which is huge given that Pau Koubasi is playing his first major tournament. A new nice morning goal has had his detractors. And they will move on and will continue to be among the favourites. Rounding off the night was Group G. And listen, despite it being four o 'clock in the morning, these games were pretty good and packed with drama. Maybe I am losing my marbles a little bit. But Belgium, they finally delivered a 5-1 win against New Zealand, sending them through Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard and Romelu Lukaku. He was off the bench and straight in the goals again.

25:29They finished as group winners, but Egypt and Iran finished one all. What a game this was. Huge drama right at the end. Iran thought they'd won it, but they were denied by a VAR offside call. There was about half a foot in it. and they then hit the bar but it wasn't to be that means egypt takes second spot and guaranteed qualification iran now have to wait to see if three points and a zero goal difference is enough tom allnut was at this thrilling game for us and he sent me this report hi tom um yeah what an amazing match i mean where to start really i mean i guess it was you start with the finish because it was a incredibly dramatic few minutes where iran basically thought they'd won this game which would have been enough to take them from third into second and guaranteed their progress to the knockout stage of a world cup for the first time and the celebrations here in seattle were pretty wild to be honest shojo kalalzade who thought he'd scored the winner was you know wearing a pair of sunglasses and all the players and staff were on the pitch people were kissing the grass and everything and then of course you know the var check comes up and they've spotted an offside so So it was cancelled.

26:42Iran actually even could have won it after that. They hit the crossbar. It was an incredible few minutes. I still think Iran finishing third, it seems like the supercomputer percentages seem to suggest that they've got a good chance of getting through and they're in line to face Switzerland in the round of 32 while Egypt finished second and they'll go through to play against Australia now in the round of 32 and that's a big achievement for them as well first time they've ever made it out of a group stage at a world cup although there was some concern about Salah because he went off in the second half and had an ice pack strapped to his hamstring we asked the Egypt head coach in the press conference afterwards about it and he did seem fairly sort of confident optimistic he said he'd spoken to Salah and he thought it was okay so So Egyptian fans will be obviously crossing their fingers that Salah is fit in time to play that game against Australia.

27:42But so much, you know, other stuff really going around this game, you know, I mean, it was a mad one, really. You know, I mean, it's obviously the pride match that was, you know, circled by the Seattle organisers here. Long before the draw was made, they decided they wanted to have this game as a pride game, which coincided with the pride celebrations here in seattle one of the most kind of progressive liberal cities in the u.s and then of course the draw comes out and it's egypt against iran and you know two countries where um homosexuality is is you know still very much persecuted and and discriminated against so in some ways it was you know i was speaking to a lot of pride campaigners today and even you know some supporters of egypt and iran here you know and it was perhaps even more of a kind of powerful message I guess you know that you had two countries very skeptical about the messages that the pride are very proud of and that it was those countries I think you know created a much anticipated and quite highly charged fixture but actually you know before the game it was you know really good atmosphere outside the ground you know I saw one woman with a kind of rainbow colored pride umbrella sort of dancing with Egyptian fans dressed in pharaoh hats, you know, and I guess it's that thing, isn't it?

29:00You know, it sounds cheesy, but ultimately the football kind of wins in these situations. You know, it's incredibly political and, you know, some really complex issues. But on the ground, outside the stadium, you know, you see the fans all together and you didn't really see many problems. Clearly, you know, the Iran fans once again, you know, protesting very fervently against the the iran regime and that's happened i think throughout the tournament and that was very much again a part of the the pre-match um pre-match scenes here in seattle but overall just a really dramatic finish to what was a pretty wild game to be honest and a pretty unforgettable fixture overall so let's have a run through of the last 32 games that we've got confirmed so far.

29:51Germany against Paraguay is one. France, Sweden is another. South Africa, Canada, that kicks us off on Sunday night at 8pm. Netherlands, Morocco, what an enticing tie that is. United States, Bosnia, Herzegovina is another one that's been confirmed. Brazil, Japan, oh, what a game that'll be. That is already confirmed as well. Ivory Coast against Norway, that's the hipster derby that I mentioned already in this show. Argentina and Cape Verde Australia, Egypt listeners, I'm not sure that should be a World Cup knockout tie having seen every match myself but listen, we'll let them off and we'll wait for them to prove me wrong.

30:28There's a couple still to be decided, lots of as it stands as I mentioned earlier, as it stands, England face Senegal in Atlanta, but there's six more games to go. We'll see you tomorrow.

30:48Hey, Yetis. This is Nick and Jack from the Best One Yet podcast. Now, the last company we worked at, they used Paylocity and everything just worked. It wasn't until launching our own media business, this show, that we realized how rare that is. Because Paylocity is one delicious burrito of operational needs. They roll up HR, finance, and IT seamlessly into one delicious bite. And everything wraps together like that all at once, your workforce, your tech stack, your business. You don't need more tools. You don't even need cilantro. You need one solution. And that is why Paylocity built a single platform to connect HR, finance, and IT with AI-driven insights and automated workflows that simplify the complex and power of what's next.

31:25Or as we call it, a delicious operational burrito. Yes, we do. Experience a one place for all your HCM needs, besties. So start now at paylocity.com slash one. Paylocity.com slash O-N-E. Hey, Pablo Torre here. As a sports journalist, I've covered global sports for many years now. And there is one thing that I can promise you. Nothing compares to the World Cup. And this time, it is even better thanks to McDonald's. You have the chance to take home one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal. The cups feature some of the biggest legends in football, like David Beckham, Terry Henry, and Ronaldinho, Christian Pulisic, Lamine Yamal, and Alfonso Davies.

32:06Right now, get one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal only at McDonald's. At participating McDonald's, only for a limited time, while supplies last. All rights reserved. Copyright 2026. McDonald's at the FIFA World Cup 2026.