Argentina make historic comeback as the quarter-finals are set

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1:01Wear your passion your way and be your own boss at boss.com or at your nearest boss store. From Los Angeles, it's totally at the World Cup.

1:16Ah, Tuesday's papers. Still looking at Monday's US defeat, I see. Sport time's end of the road. The post says red, white and blue it. While in the daily news, Taylor's got married?

1:34Egypt-Argentina sees fierce cheers and wide-open rears and ends with Messi in tears after epic comeback win. Meanwhile, Switzerland's clash with Colombia did not make a good watch despite Swiss traditions, but Jachinsai grinded out with cafeterias for sweet cup success. We'll review those games and look ahead to the quarterfinals. Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles and you know whatever time it is with you hope you're well thanks for joining us here on Totally at the World Cup we have Tom Williams here on the sofa and also Felipe Cardenas Hello James Hi I've had better days Yeah I've had better I'm keeping it together for the show but it was a tough one I was thinking is it worse to lose in penalties or is it worse to get played off the pitch I'm not really sure Okay I'm not really sure I think it's worse to lose penalties, to be honest.

2:23That was pretty bad. We struggled watching that game, and we're not even Colombia fans. Imagine what it was like. Felipe is a Colombia fan, and we just finished watching the last 16 match get decided and the quarterfinal lineup get fully delineated, and Colombia are not in it. We learned a bunch of new Colombian words, didn't we, today, Tom? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, my Colombian vocabulary has expanded many times over. Those are the results from this Tuesday afternoon. Argentina earlier on in an absolutely extraordinary match. Perhaps you saw it. 3-2 Argentina winning despite the fact that 11 minutes from time they were 2-0 down to Egypt.

3:03And that was followed by the somewhat less dramatic Switzerland-Colombia game which was 0-0 after 120 minutes but ended 4-3 on penalties to the Swiss. Seems harsh to ask for a moment of the day after all that. We'll start with Tom. Tom? Leo Messi and his weepy face at the end of the Argentina-Egypt game. It really hit me for six. I mean, it had been this incredible game. Argentina coming back from 2-0 down, Messi leading the way. But I'm not sure I've ever seen him look so emotional at the end of a match, particularly at the end of a match that hasn't ended in him either losing or with a trophy in his hands.

3:43He just seemed so relieved. And he wasn't the only one. And Lionel Scaloni as well. You just feel like the entire Argentinian squad is just awash with emotion. I think a relief is a big thing because one important context on this is that when Egypt had taken the lead, Argentina had the chance to equalise pretty early on. Messi, who previously missed the penalty, of course, in this World Cup, stepped up and saw his shot saved again. He has now seen three of his last six penalties saved. And at that point, for a long stretch of the game, It looked like that could have been what cost Argentina their place and his continuation in what one imagines his last World Cup.

4:21But yeah, as with Haaland's smile, the way that affected us in ways we hadn't expected, I think seeing Leo Messi welling up at the end. And we've seen a lot of players weeping in the last few days. Cristiano. Players crying can provoke contrasting reactions. Sometimes the tears seem more self-serving, shall we say, with others. I mean, tears. Or perhaps reflective of a different kind of emotion. But I think there was something about Messi's tears that felt, you know, very genuine. Cathartic as well. Yeah, Cristiano on Monday crying to see his World Cup run at an end. Leo crying because his will continue and will continue against Switzerland, not Colombia, as it turns out.

5:03Felipe, what do you reckon? Have you got a moment of the day for us? I do. And unfortunately, yeah, it was a Colombian player. Hamilton Campasso came on in the second half. Not quite the miss of the tournament. I think we saw a worse miss, but in that moment, that's something you cannot do. It's almost unforgivable to put that over the bar. He had a chance. Granit Xhaka, who had been very good, not perfect, but had been good enough in that central midfield to command the possession for the Swiss and to just be the guy that he is, sort of that sergeant in the middle. a horrendous giveaway that just popped into Kampas, who comes on.

5:40It always felt like Colombia, their lack of a killer striker was going to come back and bite them. And you almost felt, well, maybe someone off the bench will figure this out. And it falls to Kampas, who scored a big goal against Uzbekistan in stoppage time. It's on his left foot. He's only left-footed, and he puts it over the bar. And I think at that point, me personally, I said, this doesn't feel right. It gave the Swiss, I think, a boost, and then they took the win in penalties. Not a happy campus. No. We'll get on to that game soon enough. We're going to begin, though, with the absolute extraordinary rollercoaster of emotions that was Argentina-Egypt.

6:22Argentina 3, Egypt 2. As mentioned, Egypt were 2-0 up with 11 minutes to play in this one and end up exiting the competition. this is the latest that any team has ever been 2-0 down in a World Cup game and come back to win without going to extra time like ever. How extraordinary was this Tom? I mean it was extraordinary purely in its own right but coming off the back of the match that Argentina had played against Cape Verde which also finished 3-2 it just made it all the more remarkable. I mean in the game against Cape Verde Argentina led twice and were pegged back on each occasion and then finally got the winner an extra time.

7:03Here today against Egypt, yeah, 2-0 down and had to fight back. And Egypt played brilliantly. I mean, you know, they row their luck as you have to when you're playing the defending champions. And were perhaps unlucky. We'll touch on their complaints about the way the game was officiated. But a lot of people calling this a game of the tournament, I made a little list of the various contenders so far. They've all ended 3-2. You had Mexico-England, 3-2. You had Belgium-Senegore. Well, 3-2. And then you have these two Argentina games against relatively unfancied opposition. In both cases, the Argentines scrambling their way through.

7:37How concerned should Scaloni to have these games back to back? Very concerned. I mean, before the kickoff, that was the biggest concern in Argentina. And actually coming into this tournament, if you remember 2022 when they won the World Cup, they lose the first game against Saudi Arabia. every game felt like a cardiac type of game, a rollercoaster of emotions. Will Messi get it done? And they got it done, despite even the final. Obviously, the final against France was probably the best final we have ever seen. Let's not say that now because the way this tournament is going. But going into this tournament, I certainly felt like I wasn't sure if this team is capable of suffering that much again on their way to a final.

8:20So far, they have. They've managed to get out of these wins or get out of these games with wins. You know, today I thought they were out, James. I want to be honest here. Like, I thought they were out. I was shocked because, you know, I did think that Egypt would have, you know, their pacey style of play. I thought would be a problem for Argentina. After Argentina defeated Algeria in the first game, Emiliano Martinez said, that's a tough team, the way they play. Similar style. So, I remember that. and you know you it felt like we were about to watch back to back first Cristiano Ronaldo go out and then Lionel Messi it didn't look like they had the energy the touch the sharpness but we're talking about the tears from Lionel Messi and the emotion you know both Enzo Fernandez and Juliano Alvarez and Mixon both said that this may have been one of the more emotional games they've been a part of they won a World Cup they want to they've already won a World Cup and this game against Egypt is the one that they're hanging on to.

9:18So I think it'll push them through, but I would be concerned about their legs at this point. It was Yasser Ibrahim who headed home early doors to give Egypt the lead. The difference with the Cape Verde game, their Argentina had taken the lead and maybe taken their foot off the gas, coasting a little bit. This time around, after Egypt took the lead, you then had the Messi penalty, which he missed. And after that, for 60 minutes or so, it didn't look like they had a clue, really. They didn't have an idea. He didn't look like it was his day either. Well, we had another inspired goalkeeping performance from Mustafa Shabir in the Egypt goal.

9:52He saves the Messi penalty shortly after, slightly fortuitously leaves a Messi free kick that ends up clanging off the outside of the post, but then produced an absolutely incredible one-handed save to deny Julian Alvarez from a Nicola Tagliafico cutback. And it was one of those where you thought, you know, is this going to be another case of a relatively unheralded goalkeeper, at least outside Egypt, making the headlines. And I thought the way that Egypt defended was really impressive. They were sort of nominally a 4-4-2 on paper, but both of the wide players, Hassem Hassan on the right and Imam Ashour on the left, were dropping in to follow Argentina's full-backs, who both pushed really high.

10:36So at times they had a back five, at times they had a back six, with three in midfield and Mo Salah on his own up front. But they managed to frustrate Argentina for long periods, allied to the heroics and the acrobatics of Shabir between the posts. They think they've got the second goal. It gets chalked off. They carry on going and then eventually do get the second goal. And that's when the match finally pivots in Argentina's favour. But they were this close. Right. Now, both the disallowed second goal and the one that he then scored a couple of minutes later were by this fellow here, Zico. There's a lot of controversy and a lot of upset people on Egypt's side of things about the decision to call this goal back because of a foul on Lissando Martinez right up at the other end of the pitch.

11:23The Athletics' very own refereeing expert, Graham Scott, says it wasn't a foul. We all disagree with that, but, I mean, he is the qualified official. What do you want to say on this, Felipe? No, I thought it was a foul. I don't love going back so far. you know the play was 100 yards away yeah Duncan Alexander by the way tweeting on that good news for Peter Shilton if they're going that far back to check goals I mean that's what it felt like again and it just really also like nullifies a wonderful move by Egypt like one of the most clinical counterattacks we've seen at this World Cup and again now we're back to talking about VAR are they overstepping you know at what point is the referee just going to be completely unnecessary, not needed in a game if every decision is going to be reviewed.

12:08I do think it was a foul, though. It was a foul. It should have been called. But the referee was right there and decided not to call it. I feel like football sometimes should be, we should live with those decisions because we do often. And it's the time when technology intervenes is when we realize that those decisions are slipping away from us. So I do remember after that goal from Zico, speaking about Messi, there was a shot. of him at midfield, he looked so defeated. He just looked so concerned about what he was witnessing. And you said it, James. Argentina were shambolic in transition and defending in one-on-one duels.

12:47They were getting beat all over the field. So that was a huge moment. We didn't know it was coming. Right. Well, they had that goal chalked off. But almost immediately, Zico sweeps down the other end of the field. He's completely unmarked by Argentina as he strikes in the second goal that does stand And at this point, Argentina are exiting the cup. And they were two beautifully constructed goals and two very similar goals. The one that was chalked off and the one that was allowed to stand for the second goal. It's Salah, who played this brilliant counter-attacking role throughout the game, leads the breakaway down the middle of the pitch, plays the ball out to Hassem Hassan on the right.

13:22He cuts it back and Zico charges in. Perfect timing. And the first goal being chalked off felt like such a massive let-off for Argentina. that the fact that, you know, moments later, Egypt come back and score an almost identical goal, you just thought, well, that's it. Like, surely there is no way back from... Right. And at this point in the documentary, Messi says, and I took that personally. Totally. And turns it on. What happens now? So Scaloni made a double change. He sent on Nicolas Gonzalez and Lautaro Martinez for Talia Fico and Rodrigo de Paul. So an attacking substitution. A consequence of that is that Messi gets moved out onto the right-hand side, you know, where we first got used to seeing him with Barcelona.

14:01It's Messi who puts in the cross for Cristian Romero to head in the goal that halves the deficit. And then it's Messi who pops up with the equalizer. The equalizer, Felipe. It's just such a memorable goal. I felt like Romero scored and he was running back, getting the crowd hyped. Something felt different at that point. Suddenly they were back in it. And that's when I texted a friend of mine and said, Messi's going to equalize here. He's going to equalize here. And he did. He did. And the finish, when it pops into the box, there's a bit of a scramble and he arrives. The way he hits that half volley is so clean.

14:36The technique is beautiful, completely roofs it. And at that point, everything that we were thinking perhaps 12 minutes ago that we're seeing the defending champions go out, anyone that thought they were out was crazy because we knew what was going to happen next. Messi celebrating like he had won the World Cup. And you just knew that that emotion was going to carry over into a win at that point. Stunning comeback. Egypt, though, in no way fazed, was sweeping down the other end. We had that incredible Paredes tackle when Egypt were doing, I think, a four on two and looked certain to make it 3-2 for them.

15:15But instead, Paredes steps in and then launches a counterattack for Argentina. One of the moments of the tournament and one that brought to mind immediately the incredible Emiliano Martinez from Randall Colomani right at the death of the 2022 final in the Egypt of flooding forward. Again, Salah is leading the counter-attack, but Omar Marmouche, who's just come on, takes the ball off him, charging downfield. He's got a man spare to his left, tries to get the ball to him, and Paredes just sticks out this go-go gadget leg, intercepts, and Argentina survive. And then the winning goal itself, that stemmed from an Egypt attack as well, because Egypt thought they could have had a penalty.

15:54They thought they had two potential penalty claims. And within seconds, Houdin Alvarez has played the ball out to Lautano Martinez. He puts the cross into the back post. Enzo Fernandes arrives to head it in. And the comeback is complete. An incredible game of football. I would say that Leandro Paredes, in particular, was one of those players that was grouped into Messi and friends. When the 26-man squad was announced, he's playing for Boca Juniors now. He's left Europe. He's been actually very good for Boca, but he's not in Europe. That happens when you go back to Argentina. You are essentially viewed as a semi-retired player, even if you go to a big club.

16:33But he's been very good. And that tackle, Paredes is going to go down as honestly a legend for this team. Very similar to the tackle that he made in the final of the Copa America two years ago in extra time with Colombia sprinting out into a counterattack. He makes a huge tackle that results in Lautaro Martinez's winner in stoppage time. And that tackle was celebrated for over a year, just like highlights of the Paredes tackle. So we're going to see that again. That's the role that he has. He was inserted into the starting 11 today that I think maybe, you know, around the world you're thinking this guy, he's got to be half finished in his career.

17:08But those are the types of players on this Argentina team that are so experienced. They know how to manage these moments. They are very skilled crisis managers. And again, Lautaro Martinez, who has not done well in his career for Argentina, tends to struggle, comes off the bench. The service that he put in, if you go back and watch it, it looks like he's playing in pub football. He's just so chill, looks up. I'm going to put it right on your head. so relaxed, so composed, a beautiful goal that at that point, Bedlam in Atlanta. Indeed, world champions win. It's the first time they've come from behind to win a World Cup match since the last 16 tie with Mexico in 2006.

17:52As I mentioned, Egypt weren't happy, obviously with the result, but also the way that it arrived. Zico, who'd seen one of his goals chalked off, said the referee is unfair. He's wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is being given to Argentina. The Egypt coach, Hossam Hassan, said, I will say what's on my mind regardless of the consequence. This was clearly a rigged match and the whole world saw it. And I want to say one more thing. Thank Hossam. I want to say one more thing. If they want Argentina to win so bad, why call everyone to come and participate? I mean, it's a tough break to be that close to putting out the world champions and then see it all turned around.

18:31But yeah. I mean, they hadn't won a World Cup game coming into this tournament. and they were minutes away from knocking out the defending champions. You know, Hassan was one of the more animated managers at this World Cup. Anyone that watched Egypt, like, he was a huge character. But, you know, in the end, there are a lot of highlights and clips already, you know, going viral on Christian Romero should have been carded. He should have been sent off for this. And, you know, the conspiracies about FIFA and Argentina and Messi are going to continue. I think if you watched the game, though, you saw a team that one of their main strengths has always been they just know how to compete.

19:11They won't stop. Like, you need to put Argentina away and, like, really deep into the ground or they will continue to go at you. And that's what happened. Egypt had never been in that type of position before, and they paid the price. It's been a lot of talk since the game also about Argentina should maybe change things up ahead of their quarterfinal clash, given what's happened to them in their last two matches. One thing that seems obvious is that they might want to look at a different penalty taker because that was nearly disastrous for them, particularly given that they've got Alexis McAllister, who had an astonishing penalty record when he was at Brighton and Liverpool.

19:46Certainly 11 out of 12 he scored. I mean, it's like the one thing that Messi isn't good at. And at the 2022 World Cup, it looked like he'd cracked it. He started to take goalkeeper-dependent penalties with the hesitation, the stutter step, which people suddenly started to find monumentally annoying at this tournament for some reason. Well, when it doesn't work, it looks bad. When it does work, it looks great. But he seems to have stopped doing that. And as a consequence, every time he goes up to take a penalty, you have no real idea what he's going to try and do. And today, the penalty for today was just a really bad penalty.

20:21It was a perfect, savable height for the goalkeeper. That was the same type of miss that he committed against Poland four years ago. Very similar, trying to cross his body. A big goalkeeper is going to get it. He didn't look sure of himself. And to your point, James, like, I mean, Leonel Scaloni has to make a decision here. Like, it's really difficult to take the ball away from Messi because you know that he could potentially go back to being, okay, I'm just going to wait for the goalie to make a move and I'm going to pass it and he's done it. And it makes, he makes it look very easy, but he's missed two now.

20:51like the third could cost this team like it's it's a big decision for the manager well he did also score which means that he's back one ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland on the golden boot tracker and two ahead of Harry Kane of course he also moved past one D Maradona for assists in the World Cup for Argentina he's now on nine Maradona's best was eight it's not the world best though is it Tom? No well Opta only started counting World Cup assists in 1966 not to throw Duncan Alexander in the mud but football did exist before 1966 and stats for that period in time are available the overall record holder for assists pre-Leo Messi at least was the former West Germany captain Fritz Volta he got up to nine and Messi has today equaled him we thought he'd equaled the record against Cape Verde but because the goal that we thought that Christian Romero had scored actually went down quite unfairly I thought was an own goal Messi had an assist removed that night against Cape Verde when we mentioned the record and we went this guy Fritz Walter he went ah yes Fritz Walter Wetter because he's his name lives on in West German football language oh yes German football language yeah so he was the emblematic captain of the the 1954 West Germany team who won the World Cup and there was this kind of mythology around him which was that he tended to play very poorly in warm weather and very well in horrible rainy weather and the explanation was that he had caught malaria during World War II while marching through Southern Europe and consequently really struggled in hot weather but as soon as it was cool and rainy he came into his own and of course the 1954 World Cup final West Germany against Hungary famously the pitch in Bern was turned into a complete quagmire by the rain and Fritz Wolter ran the show the hugely fancied Hungarians uh were surprisingly beaten and that's kind of the foundation stone of you know Germany's modern success as a football nation so now when they have a rainy day in German football it's referred to as Fritz Wolter Wetter like Fritz Wolter weather if he's kind of chucking it down and freezing cold.

23:12Well that's Fritz Walter who now finds his assist record levelled by Leo Messi and who knows if we won't see Leo pull past him in the next game. I found myself looking at Messi today and particularly his reaction at the final whistle and thinking to myself that I think he knows this is it. I mean this will be his last major tournament he's never going to play in the champions league again he may continue to play for inter miami i think he extended his contract he has a contract through 2028 but with all due respect to the mls he's he's winding down he knows that the next few days are his last opportunity to do anything that will help him define his legacy and i think that explains why he was so emotional at the final whistle it wasn't just the relief of having you know slipped through the trap door and avoided an early exit.

24:05It was the knowledge that, you know, with every day, with every game that passes, he's getting closer and closer to the end. I mean, I'm not saying he's necessarily going to announce his international retirement after the tournament, but there was a lot of doubt as to whether he was even going to play at this tournament. I can't see him going on to another Copa America, to another World Cup. And I think that is where some of this emotion comes from. I'll say this quickly. His camp did officially say that his father was ill during the first round, and that when Messi was first emotional after one of Argentina's first wins, the win against Austria, when he scored twice, his camp did come out and say, yes, they've been going through some personal moments, and his father is recovering.

24:48But to Tom's point, you are seeing a player that is dealing with, I think, the magnitude of his greatness, the fact that it's ending, that he knows it's ending. We're all human beings. We have family, and that weighs on us sometimes. So, you know, those who root for Messi, you have another opportunity. He's still alive. And I think this World Cup is going to be much like we saw today. Argentina struggling, struggling, struggling, and Messi being perhaps the lifeline that they need. Okay. Very romantic story. We'll see what the Swiss make of that soon enough. They beat Colombia on penalties a short time ago on Tuesday.

25:28Let's get on to that game next.

25:34Switzerland putting out Colombia on penalties after a tough 120 minutes, especially for Felipe. Wasn't a great watch for the neutrals either. Every tournament does have a bit of a sinker somewhere in there. One as well. The last 16 has been pretty decent up to this point. We'd not had a penalty shootout, so it was probably coming. Previous examples would include England's clash with Algeria from 2010, probably Switzerland-Ukraine from 2006. Remember that one at your peril. Paraguay from two weeks ago. Oh, yeah. Yes. Am I being slightly unfair lumping this game in with those, Philippe? I think so.

26:14I don't know if it's unfair. I mean, personally, my stomach hurt the entire time, so I know that I was living through it. But let's face some facts. Two teams that had the best, two of the best defensive back lines, obviously, in the entire tournament. Two teams that don't concede much. And we talked about it last night, that these two teams matched up very well. Even though Colombia clearly has the more skilled players, the more flair, the more creativity, from back to front, they just felt like they were going to be even. These teams were going to be pretty cagey. And I thought it was very cagey and tactical.

26:49Colombia was not clinical. They had not been clinical enough at this tournament. I don't think Colombia played their best game, clearly. And I don't think the Swiss look like a team that you can see playing in a final. They do look like a team that can frustrate a good team and potentially upset another good team. And so I think the Swiss are a dangerous side because they're so strong and stoic in midfield. And that spine, their goalkeeper is very good. Their central defenders were excellent today. So, no, it wasn't a beautiful watch. but I think you're going to get this type of game at some point in the round of 16.

27:25Okay. And as you say, it did seem like this might be on the card given that both sides defensive proficiencies combined XG for the match. I don't know if you're familiar with these kind of numbers but it was 0.7. That is the lowest for any game at this World Cup. It did liven up a little bit in extra time when we had Colombia hitting the bar. We had Anduni with a big chance denied by Vargas. And then the campers penalty show. Yes. And you asked me off the air if I thought that was a penalty. And my response is like, you know, I've seen softer penalties given even at this World Cup. I was surprised that it wasn't reviewed.

28:03Again, we don't know if perhaps VAR just told the referee, hey, move on. But the referee never felt any inclination in getting going to the monitor or clearly VAR did not think so. But I thought there was quite it was quite a collision, you know, and the Swiss defender was late. He wasn't going to play the ball. Perhaps Campos wasn't going to get to the ball. But, you know, the Colombians, again, the Colombians weren't really upset about it either. It was just like play just continued. So it was kind of a strange moment. All right. Well, we reached eventually the penalty shootout. And that ended with a Vargas versus Vargas, kind of like a divorce court moment at the end of the match.

28:42Rumored Vargas defeating Camillo Vargas. And so it is that Switzerland goes through. So curiously, teams shooting second in penalty shootouts have gone through in 13 of the last 15 occasions. Really? That is surprising. Is it? Did Davinson Sanchez know that when he won the coin toss? I don't know. Why did he pick to go first? I think so. I think so. Maybe the only thing that can counterbalance the benefit of taking the first penalty is when you continually send up centre-backs to take the first penalty. Because we saw this with Australia. we saw this in the Champions League final sorry Arsenal fans bit of a jump scare there but like why are centre-backs being repeatedly asked to do one of the very few jobs on the pitch that they never have to do?

29:27My take is again when I saw Davison Sanchez stepping up my first thought was oh god here we go you know yes you think centre-backs are going to miss I also felt like perhaps this was again we don't know I'm speculating but what we do know is that when Germany went to penalties against Paraguay there were players that were like not me yeah I'm not taking one. And sometimes the next guy is the one that doesn't typically take shots on goal. And so I don't know if that happened here, but yes, it is a chain of events where you're seeing perhaps the wrong player taking a penalty. In this case, Damien Sanchez crashed it off the bar.

30:02But in defense of Damien Sanchez, his penalty hit the bar, bounced on the line and came out. If that had been the 1966 World Cup final, the goal would have stood. So he's just picked the wrong era. It's rotten to go out on penalties, Philippi, and it's a lottery, etc., and so on. But Colombia, who came into this tournament with high hopes, defensively did really well, offensively not so good. 94 shots, five goals, three of which were against Uzbekistan. Of their last 79 shots, one goal scored. And particularly in this match, Switzerland were without their big star, Johan Manzambi. What was Colombia's excuse?

30:40I think they don't have excuses. I think you've told the reality of their situation. They didn't have a center forward that was banging in goals. That's been an issue even throughout World Cup qualifying. There was a dependence on, I think, the excellent form that Luis Diaz has had this season. But again, I talked about it a few shows ago where there's concern that perhaps he played too much football coming into this World Cup. And I didn't see the same explosiveness that he has, that he showed in Europe, that he was almost unplayable. He just didn't have it. Because particularly a team like the Swiss, that's exactly the kind of game that you want someone like a Luis Diaz to unlock for you.

31:19And Lorenzo did put him, started him as a bit of a false nine, which he has tried several times during the qualifiers. And it's been effective because he's a difficult player to track. and he was, you know, Lucho Diaz oftentimes was matched up 1v1 with a fullback, which is what you want. And he was losing the battles. He was losing the duels. His touch wasn't there. He was going out of bounds. He wasn't quick on the dribble. That was a big concern. You know, if your best creative player isn't getting it done, you're going to find yourself in a situation where you may be facing elimination. And in my opinion, that's what happened.

31:51One goal, one goal conceded from Colombia, but to your point, they couldn't score. And that can be a recipe for disaster when it's win or go home. Switzerland against Argentina? Yeah I mean Switzerland are funny like we're used to Switzerland being Switzerland solid lots of experienced players spectacularly unspectacular reach the last 16 go out and at this tournament all of those fundamentals are still in place but the big difference has been Johan Manzambi and Ruben Vargas when those players are in the team Switzerland are a different team Manzambi missed out today through injury unfortunately Vargas was on the bench but comes on ends up scoring the winning penalty and they do give the team a different dynamic and make them a slightly more exciting watch they will take enormous heart from the fact that Argentina have struggled as much as they have against Cape Verde and Egypt and I think you know Switzerland will back themselves to cause the same kind of problems that that Egypt did so yeah I mean obviously Argentina will be favourites But maybe one day Switzerland will become good at football.

33:01I'm not ready to live in a reality where that is the case, but it could happen. They're in the quarterfinals. I have one thing to ask viewers, listeners. Please accuse me of being biased, but I do think that Colombia going out, we're losing some good football. We're losing some of, yeah, I know they haven't scored, but the combination play, the creativity, the passion of the fans, this expectation that Colombia may have been that team that was growing and sort of under the radar and capable of eliminating a team like Argentina. I can tell you right now the Argentines are pretty happy that they're not going to face Colombia that was ready for revenge.

33:40But you've got to beat the teams in front of you. So I think Colombia, ciao. But your question to anyone watching would be, does the World Cup suffer? Because it's essentially going to be resembling a bit of a European championship plus Morocco and Argentina. Yes, yes. I would wonder if the fans feel the same way. If like, yeah, I enjoyed watching Columbia. It would have been nice to see them in the next round. Or, oh, well, that's football. All right. Well, their fans certainly brought a lot. Team, I have to say, I thought didn't live up in any way to the expectations I have, which was maybe based more on history than the current squad.

34:15But it is a shame to see them go because we were always waiting for them to explode into life. Next time, the Corpa in two years' time. which might be back here I believe I think so, I think so, it could be back in the United States good lord let's get on to next a quick preview of what awaits us on the other side of tomorrow's Wednesday's rest day and that is the start of the quarter finals

34:44well if you're watching this as opposed to listening or essentially doing both I thought you could suggest another way A third way. A third way. Feeling it. Having it injected into your bloodstream. This, anyway, is the bracket. Or the bracket reads, on one side, France and Morocco and Spain and Belgium. And on the other side, Norway and England and Argentina and Switzerland. That's six European sides. It's the most European sides we've ever had in a quarterfinal of a World Cup played outside of Europe since, Tom? USA 94, I believe. The last time it was here. Back then there were seven European sides out of eight, but of course it was the non-European side that went on to win it.

35:29Well, we see something similar this time around. Well, the fixtures are Thursday after the rest day, quarterfinals will begin with France-Morocco. On Friday, it'll be Spain against the remarkable Belgium. Saturday as we move on to the other side of the bracket England take on Norway the winner of which will be up against either Argentina or Switzerland depending who wins their clash which is also on the Saturday Now before the tournament began we gathered at the Griffith Observatory a lovely spot Delightful spot Delightful and we made one or two predictions some were more fortunate than others but Tom you said that you thought the ones that were less fortunate than others James for those of us who don't remember Duncan said he thought it was going to be a low scoring tournament I think he went even further than that and said it was going to be the lowest scoring tournament ever alright perhaps he was specifically referring to Colombia, Switzerland I don't know but you said I said that the World Cup would be won by a nation that had never previously won it well four of those nations have never previously won it there's a chance Yeah, which one is it?

36:43Hmm I mean it's a great quarterfinal Line-up in that in each quarterfinal You've kind of got a traditional biggie Right And then more of a smallie Maybe Belgium You've got Belgium to win the World Cup I'm not saying I want Belgium to win the World Cup I thought you were asking me who you thought You think Belgium are going to win the World Cup No, but they might Just in the sense that teams grow into tournaments I can't believe it, he's riding on the high of the successful prediction and then he goes and spats it up with Belgium to win the World Cup. I feel really good about my prediction. I made a prediction the day of the World Cup draw in December.

37:17I was in London and I looked at my colleagues and said, England's winning the World Cup. And I still feel good about it because they're alive, they're playing well, they believe. Also, they'll look at the other teams on their side of the draw, which to remind you is England, Norway and Argentina and Switzerland, and they'll think those are the three teams. We could have those. They can have those teams, yeah. Obviously, a semi-final between England and Argentina would be a pretty epic semi-final. If it's Argentina who goes through. Sure, sure. I mean, England-Switzerland was pretty exciting at the last Euros as well.

37:51And England have just beaten Mexico, a team that's reached two World Cup quarterfinals, albeit none since 1986, and won the CONCACAF Gold Cup a load of times. So who's going to stop them now? We did talk about Norway at dinner last night. We did. Could you imagine Norway winning the World Cup? Well, if you were to pick one, if you had no affiliations and you just wanted a hell of a story. I think I would pick Norway. Right. If we wanted that, yeah. So England against Norway on Saturday, Argentina against Switzerland. And that does look like the, there are no easy fixtures, we don't play cupcakes to borrow your phrase.

38:31Yes, that's true. But the other side of the draw where you got France against Morocco and Spain and Belgium, possibly a bit tougher? Yeah, I think so. I think those ties feel more uncertain. I think they're all really nicely balanced, a clear favourite in each quarterfinal, but also a case to be made for the opponent in each of them as well. Well, you know what? Let's make a case for France's opponent in the next game. France very much, although they were the beaten finalists last time out, the favourites for this year's competition. they will be taking on Morocco. To hear about Morocco's chances, we dialed up a short time ago, our friend Meher Mazahi.

39:10Meher, thank you for joining us. Here we are again with France against Morocco. Four years ago, this is where Morocco's historic run at the Qatar World Cup came to an end when they came up against France and got Deschamps. Exactly. Deschamps, I think, from 2018 to 2022, if he's maybe made a mark on the world of football, it's been sort of going counter to the global trend of holding on to possession of the ball and maybe giving it up and being more vertical. He did that against Morocco in 2022. And they were, it's the first time Morocco had less possession of the ball. And it's the first match that they ended up losing in the World Cup.

39:52Morocco in that match lined up with two players that were reserve players, bench players, due to injuries. Um, one of them was an injury to their, their vice captain, Roman Saiz, uh, the other one to the left back, Muser Masrawi. And so even though they were proud of their participation, even though they were never expected to beat France anyways, I think deep down, they always kind of felt like, what if we gave it a go with our real starting 11 that played the majority of that competition? They'll have that chance. Now the only injury they have is a pretty significant one. It's Ismail Saibari.

40:24Um, he picked up a hamstring injury. He's had an MRI. I believe today they're saying that the injury is not as bad as they were expecting it to be, but I don't think he's going to be playing against France. Broadly speaking, how different is this Morocco side now under Mohamed Awabi to the one that faced France and Qatar? I think they're very different. The one in Qatar had a very set identity. They would always line up in a 4-1-4-1, except for that France match, actually, when they lined up with five defenders. they would give up possession of the ball and they would try to be vertical and direct much like Deschamps actually in 2018 mostly.

41:04This time around it's difficult to actually say they play a specific formation. I mean the way it's presented on the team sheet prior to the match is a 4-2-3-1 and I guess that's kind of correct but when they're on the ball they're shifting it becomes more of a 3-4-3. Mohamed Wahbi rightly calls it a hybrid formation meaning obviously they have one formation in attack and another in defense and he says we try to confuse teams and hurt teams with organized chaos and he gives a lot of freedom to his players and one player is a player that really that has scored a brace against Canada as Dean Unahi if you watch him when he plays in this formation he's supposed to be like a central attacking midfielder like there's two sort of defensive midfielders and he's supposed to be that the eight in front of them or the 10 but if you watch him he'll go all the way to the left side of the pitch all the way to the right side of the pitch he'll switch with the fullbacks whether it's Hakimi or Masrawi and invert there his intelligence and reading of the game has been really a joy to watch and so it's much different to answer your question they're there they play a different formation they like to hang on to the ball I think they're much braver as well and for me it's a logical step to try and move Morocco to that superpower that they aspire to be.

42:13Mahir what about France's most recent game which saw after that run of scoring at least three goals per match, them held to just that one goal penalty by Paraguay. It was a very robust approach that Paraguay employed. But in terms of denying space to, in particular, Michael Alisse, it was interesting how much they shut down what had looked a pretty unstoppable French strike force. Yes, but I don't think France are going to struggle to find as much space in this match, simply because Morocco won't be looking to sit back and just eliminate space for the French players. They'll be looking to get forward as well.

42:48One of the main ways they actually build up their play is as soon as they're on the ball, Ashraf Hakimi joins the midfield line and he sort of becomes a hybrid midfielder. What Brazil did very well in that first match against Morocco was they actually exploited the space that Hakimi left in behind. It was exploited by Vinicius Jr. And that's actually how they scored their one goal in the game. So Morocco are going to have to be very careful with that. Vinicius, when he scored, he was one-on-one against Isa Diop, who's a big, powerful defender, but he's not that quick with his feet. And France, I mean, if Hakimi leaves his place, you can have any one of Mbappe, Dembele, Olisse exploiting that kind of space and they can really hurt you.

43:27So I think this is going to be actually the most critical battle or the thing to watch in this match is when Hakimi bombs forward, can France actually exploit the space in behind? And Hakimi, as we know, very good friends with Mbappe, very good friends with Dembele, teammates with Dembele as well. So I think that it's definitely going to be the thing to watch in this match. Mahé, what do you feel is going to happen? I've been very unfair to Morocco throughout this entire World Cup. I think you called me out on it after the match against Haiti. I think I'm going to continue that streak. I don't know if it's unfair, actually, because France, I think, are the betting favorites.

44:01I think everybody's admitted that they're probably the best team in this World Cup. I don't think Morocco can do it. I don't think they're going to make it easy for France. I think this is going to be a real battle. I just see France nicking it 2-1, 3-2, something like that. Mahé Mazahi is not overly optimistic about Morocco's chances. Certainly the French seem to feel that even though they only narrowly got past Paraguay, that that was the kind of game which builds champions. There was a great quote actually from Guy Stéphane, the assistant manager, who said, playing a game like that at this stage of the competition is rewarding.

44:37It was a day when things could have gone off the rails and nobody lost control. That's a real sign of maturity. And by the way, that's not something that was reflected by certain people back at home in Paraguay who certainly have gone off the rails and lacked maturity. But enough said about that. France, Tom, they come out of this looking even stronger? Yeah, I think in a way winning in that fashion served them better than a breezy 4-0 win would have done. And that they've been tested and they've shown up. They didn't fall into Paraguay's trap. there's been a lot of focus in the French media in the days since about how France prepared for that game and we've learned that in training in the days building up to it Didier Deschamps his coaching staff were deliberately not blowing the whistle for fouls in training to steal their players for the kind of injustices that might befall them in the game against Paraguay Kylian Mbappe has been praised a lot for not you know falling into the the multiple traps that that was set for him by his opponent.

45:37So yeah, I think it's really bolstered them. And yeah, looks like they'll be going into it with the same starting XI. I really ensure many, still a few doubts about his fitness. So yeah, looking pretty steady. All right. Slightly changed starting XI for Morocco who won't have Saibari, but they did score three goals without him and Brahim Dias is really hitting form. And I don't know, Felipe, do you want to make a quick case for Morocco before we leave? Well, I've seen them in person. I like them. Yeah, they're really slick. Obviously, if you haven't seen them in person, if you just watch them play, you know that they can really play.

46:10You know, against Canada, they had to, similar to France against Paraguay, it was just 45 minutes, but they took some punches. They took some jabs from Canada. It got muddy, which was exactly what Canada wanted. Morocco didn't get to put their foot on the ball and roll it around and play slick football. And then they figured out, and we've discussed this on the show, they have another gear. I think they do have the ability of playing in a counterattacking style. I think they have depth at striker. They're a young team. They're a young team. I think they can challenge France. But the thing, to Tom's point, I feel like France also embraces being a bit of a villain.

46:47And that's not what – not every team is comfortable doing that. And the way that Kylian Mbappe reacted to the Paraguayans, the way he talked after the game, that he didn't shake the goalkeeper's hand, And that just creates thicker skin. And it's difficult to me to see France going out at this point in the tournament, even though I like Morocco a lot. Okay. That's the first of the quarterfinals. It'll be coming up on Thursday. In the meantime, would you believe it, tomorrow, Wednesday, is after 27 days of consecutive football, an actual day off. Good Lord. We're all about to go and see the Dodgers now, actually.

47:25Yeah. Shoot some hoops. that's the one right? That's right. Nice. We'll be back though on Thursday night or possibly Friday morning for you with our reaction to the France-Morocca game and a look ahead to the next of the quarterfinals which is not that it matters right now but Spain-Belgium. So do hope you'll be joining us for that and that you enjoy whatever it is you do with your day in between. For now, many, many thanks Tom and Felipe and to Meher before and the production crew will see you in 48 hours. For now, it's goodbye.