Italy’s World Cup dream still alive but it’s Home Nations heartbreak

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1:45The Athletic FC.

2:15Totally Football Show.

2:27Friday 27th of March, a little bit later than usual because of Thursday night things, but joined here by a top, top line-up, Matt Davis-Adams with us. Hello, Matt. Hi, James. Also, Colin Miller. Good morning, Colin. Good morning, James. And on the way, we've got James Horncastle in Bergamo, Jack Lang, exotically in Mexico. and Tom Williams in a bit of a mope. So that's all to come. Matt, I know you're excited because you're going to be hosting Monday. Yeah, really looking forward to it. Great night of action last night. Shame it was kind of all on at the same time, but I certainly enjoyed the game I watched until the very end of it.

3:03What was that game, Matt? That was Wales against Bosnia, in which I have somewhat of a vested interest and it didn't go the way I was hoping it to. All right. Colin, your vested interest lay in Bergamo, of course. And we'll be hearing about that game very, very shortly. I don't know if you caught up with any of the other action overnight, though, as 22 teams essentially tried to jammy their way in through the Tradesman's entrance to the World Cup this summer. Yeah, I agree with Matt that one of the frustrations with this playoff format, I think, is that all the games sort of coincide and you can only choose really one match to watch.

3:41I did try to multi-screen last night as well, but you can never really do that effectively, can you? and we sit through so much inconsequential football matches and yet you have so much then riding all at once on what, seven or eight multiple matches and then obviously the intercontinental playoffs too which of course happened hours later but no, it was an incredible night obviously a lot of drama and from a personal perspective obviously disappointment with Northern Ireland albeit I thought that was always likely to be the case but if you're a Wales fan or a Republic of Ireland fan And I think the pain of going through that penalty shootout is particularly tough to take, I think.

4:20Indeed so. All right, well, six teams were involved in the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico. We'll get on to those later on. But 16 teams from Europe were battling to be in Tuesday's four finals, the winners of which will each receive a place at the World Cup. Italy, in Tuesday's games, will be facing Bosnia-Herzegovina, who knocked out Wales on penalties in Cardiff, Wales having taken the lead through Dan James. But Edin Dzeko with a late equaliser, taking it to extra time. And then the Bosnians went through on spot kicks. Italy, meanwhile, in playoffs for the third straight time in World Cup qualifying, did what they hadn't managed to do in the previous two editions, 2018 and 2022, and that is score a goal and thus win a game.

5:03Two-nil winners indeed over Northern Ireland in Bergen-Mor, Tornali and Moise Kane with the goals. Republic of Ireland also out, as Colin mentioned, on penalties. also after conceding a late-late equaliser, having been 2-0 up away to the Czech Republic. It's the Czechs who will now travel to Denmark on Tuesday, the Danes who were thrilling 4-0 winners against North Macedonia. Tuesday's other two matches, each one, as I say, sending a team to the World Cup, will be Graham Potter's Sweden against Poland. Sweden beat Ukraine 3-1 with a Viktor Jokoriz hat-trick. Poland were 2-1 winners over Albania.

5:41and the other Tuesday game will be Kosovo against Turkey. Turkey beat Romania 1-0 with a goal from Brighton's Ferdi Kalyonglu. Did you see the Arda Guler assist, by the way?

6:03Quite out of keeping with that game, right? I think there was only two shots on target and Romania didn't have either of them. So, yeah, a rare highlight in that one. All right. One highlight, as you say, Nick Miller dedicated an entire article to that one play. Orda Gula, I think, embodies quite a lot of what that Turkish team is in that there's a lot of players who are very fun, right? Because you've got Kenan Yildiz in there as well. You've got Hakan Kalanoglu, players who are capable of really great moments. And I think they're probably one of the nations that would be the best additions from a European side in terms of just a bit fun, a bit chaotic, albeit, as Matt said, Romania probably set up in a way to make last night's match not the most enjoyable from a neutral point of view, but it set up a lovely final, of course.

6:52Sad to see Michele Cescu departing, not sure if we'll see him again on the bench for Romania or elsewhere, 80 years of age, still looking fantastic, despite the fact that he's currently battling a serious illness and had to take time out from hospital indeed to manage this playoff appearance for his nation. Anyway, Turkey hailed by many as the most talented side still in these playoffs. They'll be taking on Kosovo in Kosovo on Tuesday. Kosovo came through a seven-goal thriller away to Slovakia. Crikey, no Northern Ireland, no Republic of Ireland, no Wales then on Tuesday night in the finals. Let's find out what happens to them all, starting off with events in Cardiff.

7:33This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network.

7:45Thursday night in Cardiff, Wales won, Bosnia-Herzegovina also won after extra time and the lottery of penalties once again for the Welsh. Tom Williams was there and he's here now. Tom, two years almost, well actually two years to the day since the penalty shootout against Poland. Wales again, crushed.

8:11Jack Lang: Hello James, yes, a very similar game, very similar outcome. Opposite end of the stadium this time. Wales once again coming up against opposition who I don't think were any better than Wales. They were two very evenly matched teams, as they had been when Wales lost on penalties to Poland in the playoffs to reach the Euros two years ago. And sadly, Bosnia held their nerve in the shootout, more or less, and Wales didn't hold their. And so the World Cup dream has died. What a lovely goal from Dan James to give Wales the lead. What a wonderful save from Carl Darlow to keep Wales ahead. And indeed, they stayed 1-0 up until 86 minutes when a player from second division German football pulled off that equaliser.

9:06Jack Lang: I mean, adding Jaco, he genuinely hadn't touched the ball. He was being marshaled by Joe Rodon of Leeds United, Dilan Lawler, 20-year-old kid playing third-tier football at Cardiff City, who I thought was close to flawless. and Dzeko, I can't think of a single thing that he did in the game prior to the equaliser but of course when the corner comes in there he is at the near post to glance the header past Carl Darlow and Bosnia hadn't created a huge amount up to that point Wales hadn't either really Wales dominated possession tried to assert themselves I think only had three shots on Tulleragate hit the woodwork a couple of times Harry Wilson with a beautiful curler in the first half and then Dan James after his goal had a shot deflected onto the crossbar.

9:56Jack Lang: Dan James' goal, absolute screamer and just further evidence of what a peculiar footballer he is. Exceptional at a very small handful of things, one of which is a Cougan throwing complete worldies and frustratingly inept at a lot of other things. And it was a lovely moment for him. He scored it at the Canton stand end, which was the end where he squandered the fateful penalty against Poland two years ago. It was a lovely thing to have that moment. And yeah, you know, small margins. If that deflected shot is deflected a little bit less firmly, it doesn't hit the bar, it goes in. Dan Jander's got a double and he's the Nero.

10:33Tom, I was just going to ask that you obviously mentioned Edin Dzeko, who has scored in 20 consecutive years, now at international level for Bosnia, which is remarkable, since 2007. And you mentioned him as not really having an impact on the game until he scores, right? and that's kind of what he does at that age. Do you think in a sort of post-Gareth Bale world that Wales maybe need a striker like that more than ever, that there's not really a reliable, consistent goal output in that team? So whilst they might play nice football and the team functions quite well, there's just not enough in the final third?

11:11Jack Lang: Yeah, completely. I mean, that was very clear last night. I mean, you looked at the substitutes bench, there were just very few options. I think a few people were frustrated that Nathan Broadhead, the Wrexham striker, didn't get a chance. You've got some fantastic talent in attacking areas in that Wales team. Harry Wilson's having the season of his life. David Brooks is a fantastic footballer. Dan James does Dan James things. Bernard Johnson was frustrating last night. But he's playing Waking Leaphael Palace at the moment, at least, albeit as a right wing back. I think they really miss Kiefer Moore, also injured, who is the one kind of proven goal scorer they have at centre-forward towards the end of the game.

11:54Jack Lang: And even in extra time, Craig Bellamy threw on Sorbetonis on the left flank. And he just had the Bosnia full-back on totes, beat him every single time without even doing any skills. But there was no one in the box to get on the end of his cross-season. and you thought if Kiefer Moore had been there, those are the kind of chances that he's liable to gobble up. And I think just across the board, Wales' lack of strength in depth was exposed a bit last night. Kiefer Moore was missing. Ben Davis was absent, would have started otherwise. But that was it. That's basically as good as Wales are these days.

12:30Jack Lang: They've got some players playing for kind of middling Premier League clubs. They've got some players who are kind of big part players at Premier League level. You've got championship players, League One players. On that day, you can compete with a team like Bosnia and have things gone slightly differently. They might have, you know, they might well have beaten them. But sadly, that was not the case. Tom, now we've had the serious football questions. I wanted to get your perspective on this. From watching it on telly, this might be totally wrong, but it just felt like the vibe was slightly off.

12:59Like Yamaha O 'Huid, which I absolutely love, was a little bit too early pre-match. The band, I thought, throughout were like way too loud. You had the rogue stadium announcer geeing up the crowd after goals and sub-announcements and stuff, and then the penalties at the Bosnia end, which never feels good. What was the mood like amongst the Welsh supporters in the stadium? Were you expecting to win the game?

13:22Jack Lang: Yeah, I mean, the mood was, I think, as good as it always is. I suppose there's less of a novelty factor now. You know, Wales are kind of used to being in the mix for qualification at major tournaments. you don't have that kind of tingly sense of excitement that there was in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. I mean, you know, there are things that I, you know, you're so kind of used to the routine, the songs that the band starts singing. When Wales beat Belgium in a key Euro 2016 qualifier in the summer of 2015, the crowd spontaneously started singing uh hen live and had i the welsh national anthem with about 20 minutes to go it was kind of a muggy drizzly uh summer night and it just felt really magical and everyone was like oh my god the anthem that what a moment and chris coleman spoke about it and the players all spoke about it last night we sang the anthem about three times you're like lads just it's got special powers this thing don't kind of overdo it um see i know i thought it was it was just kind of you know as kind of good spirited and fun it's the same songs it's the same bits of music zombie nation i mean everyone knows the drill but sadly the drill is now also watching wales uh you know kind of being matched by fairly middling opposition and just not managing to quite get over the line crikey tom you're breaking up a little bit there and so is your connection with us here on the podcast that your voice i cannot imagine what happened to you post-game.

14:59We'll maybe touch on that in a second, but we're joined now by James Horncastle, who, while you were watching the defeat on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina, was watching Italy score goals, win matches in World Cup qualifying playoffs. James?

15:14James Horncastle: Yes, that's right, James. I think Sandro Tonali and Moisey Ken's goals were the first by Italy in a World Cup playoff since the one that you went to, when Italy played Russia before the 1998 World Cup. Here's the cross. Politano versus Teghi. The shot of the head. Tonali! The advantage of the Italy. The goal of Tonali. Under the curve of the fans of Atalanta. And on the 8th of Italy. It was a massive relief for the Italians because they kind of really laboured in the first half. There was something quite basic about how they were set up. It was just put the ball in the channel for one of the strikers to run on to, overload on the right-hand side, get crosses in, you know, hope someone gets in on the end of a Di Marco corner, a Tonali corner.

16:05James Horncastle: and I was sat next to someone who said, this is beginning to remind me a little bit of Inter against Bodo Glimpse at San Siro where Inter didn't get the breakthrough and you just thought that if Northern Ireland did go in front, it might precipitate a collapse. But the collapse didn't come. Who was your neighbour, James? Well, I sat in the Tribuna Donore last night, completely by accident, because I could not get accreditation. And so there were lots of people around me, James. There was Gigi Buffon's wife. There was Martin Durone, the Atalanta captain. so yeah it was good company to spend it in Yeah James Horncastle was there as well I hear somehow had snuck himself in incredible am I right in saying James that amongst the relief you talked in the build up about Italy's greatest opponent being their own fear and for 55 minutes it did look like maybe fear would prove the winner but amongst the relief at the end was the news that Bosnia-Herzegovina had beaten Wales because I think Italy preferred not to face Wales Yeah, this is the controversy late last night was at the end of the state broadcaster broadcast the match director decided to show a group of Italian players and executives watching the penalty shootout in Cardiff and celebrating when Bosnia won as if they wanted Bosnia and one of the commentators for Raya, Lillia Dani, he was pleading with the director, don't show this, please don't show it.

18:01James Horncastle: Oh, you've shown it. Because Italians know this is not what you do. Superstition. Exactly. This invites another apocalypse on Italy in Zenitza next Tuesday. so it does seem like they prefer Bosnia James even though Edin Dzeko has been top scorer in Serie A has played for Roma, has played for Inter was Moisey Ken's teammate until January when he moved to Schalke from Fiorentina so as Gazeta said, curiously like in English this morning in their report be careful what you wish for So true. So true. I was about to wish Tom a safe journey back to London, but maybe that's not such a great idea. Tom, how was the postgame last night?

18:58Postgame was pretty, pretty bleak.

19:00Jack Lang: Walked from the stadium back into town, had a couple of beers and a battered sausage from my preferred chippy lane vendor, Dorothy's. walked back to my hotel and got into bed and that was it there was no right there's much more joviality uh and carousing pre-match than post but that is often the way when you're yeah your national football team breaks your heart tom may things improve dramatically in your near future and have a safe journey back to london thanks james it's actually just started raining here so everything is is going really really well all right all right tom williams there very much in wells james after going through all of that all the tension all the drama tuesday it'll have to go again what do you think about bosnia-hezegovina then well as i mentioned james i think

19:56James Horncastle: My concern is the fates now. Look, I do think for the players last night, it was important to come through just a playoff because four years ago, they didn't even make the final of the playoff. They went out to North Macedonia in Palermo. And so for this group of players to, as they said, they felt like they had all of Italy on their backs and particularly this kind of generation of fans who have never seen Italy win a World Cup or have never seen Italy at a World Cup. Pio Esposito, who came on for Italy last night, was born in 2005. He was barely a year old when Gattuso was lifting the World Cup.

20:52James Horncastle: So I think for them to have that sort of a breakthrough was important. And, you know, the Bergamo crowd played their part as well, because, you know, as you touched on James, when they weren't making that breakthrough in the first half and you wondered whether it was going to come, they didn't boo, they didn't whistle. When the team went off at halftime, they got applauded. applauded. Whereas I think at San Siro, there was a fear that they would be booed, they would be whistled, jeered. I think to some extent, it also helps that the next game is in Bosnia as well for those reasons. So let's see.

21:38James Horncastle: I think you're probably the same as me in this. You don't want to get your hopes too much up having seen them dashed by Italy yeah pretty much since since 2018 yeah well we'll see on Tuesday uh freshly dashed hopes for you Colin but a brave performance from Northern Ireland yeah James I think I think this is always going to be a hugely difficult task and that was before Connor Bradley was ruled out of the match before Dan Ballard was ruled out of the match. Northern Ireland had just one starter, aged over 24 for that game, Paddy McNair. Eight of the starting 11 were 22 or younger. So this is a very inexperienced team.

22:20I think they did well in restricting Italy's sort of midfield trio, getting on the ball and finding time and space. They did that quite well and they closed down the game. But I think the age-old question for Northern Ireland is just not having an attacking threat. And I think it doesn't really matter in many ways how well you play in terms of the midfield or your defensive structure, if you don't have players in the final third that can make a difference, then that's going to be a killer. And I think that's been told throughout this campaign because Isaac Price, who's naturally a midfielder, started up front in the earlier games.

22:54And Jamie Donnelly, who again is naturally a midfielder, started up front for this match. So I think that shows Michael O 'Neill probably doesn't really trust his natural striking options to come in and make a difference. and there's nobody really regularly playing at that level that's hired in League One in England in that respect. So that is difficult. And I think for Northern Ireland, now the question is on Michael O 'Neill himself, who's obviously co-managing Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. His contract there expires this summer and his contract in Northern Ireland runs through to 2028.

23:25But I think he might now have a decision to make on what his long-term future is. I think the Northern Ireland squad is young. It's good. It's developing. It has flaws. but I think Euro 2028 was always, with those 24 qualification spots for European sides, that was always going to be the realistic game and I think this was just one campaign too early for them. All right. Sounds like a fire alarm is going off with you, Colin. So, Matt, let me ask you then, just to kind of finish off this section, Italy struggled a bit to break down Northern Ireland. What kind of game, based on what you saw Thursday night, will Bosnia-Herzegovina offer them?

24:00Well, it'll be something similar because Bosnia, for, I mean, even when they went behind, it was probably another 10 minutes before they really clicked into gear. They spent most of the game, most of the first half, just kicking Dan James and trying to kind of rotate who would do the fouls and get the yellow cards. And it was a pretty canny tactic, to be honest, because it did frustrate Wales and wind them up. But once they went behind, actually for the last half hour of the game, Wales were really clinging on and desperate for extra time because it looked like Bosnia were certain to score more than the one goal that they did.

24:30So even though Dzeko wasn't particularly heavily involved, they've definitely got some attacking threat in their team. So it won't be easy, but obviously Italy didn't have extra time. And from what I saw of the Italy game, it was a case of just waiting for the first goal to come and then they didn't really have to get out third or fourth gear, did they? So that's a huge advantage because Bosnia did have to work really hard for their victory. So yeah, it won't be easy for Italy by any means, but interesting that James thinks it might be slightly better that it's not at home, a bit less pressure.

24:57They've got a good record against Bosnia as well, haven't they? only lost one of six, I believe, and that was a friendly way back in 1996. So you just wonder if Bosnia ever expended too much effort on Thursday. I mean, it's a fairly lengthy turnaround between games, I suppose, isn't it? But do you think that Dzeko can start both games at the age of 40? Came off as soon as it went to extra time on Thursday night. That would be a question, I guess. I'm also interested if Michael O 'Neill does actually show up for this friendly against Wales and what choice he's going to make. Because Blackburn, four points above the relegation zone, one win in six.

25:32What do you want to do? Try and get Northern Ireland to Euro 2028 or be a League One manager potentially next season? It's not much of a choice for him, is it? Could he send Skellen Skarsgård in his place? I'm sure no one would pick up the difference.

25:48James, I was just going to ask quickly on the Italy situation. I know you've covered this slightly before, but the playoff situation against Northern Ireland and Bosnia, those are probably teams from an Italy point of view that might be, those games, I know it sounds a bit strange, but they might be more difficult because of the way those sides set up and the way those teams go, maybe slightly more direct, the way they try to strangle the game. Whereas in major tournaments, you might have games whereby Italy can take more control, certainly with the midfield players and get them on the ball more.

26:20And I think you've seen that pattern with whenever they do get to a major tournament, they tend to do quite well, albeit they struggle slightly more in the qualification phase. Do you think that'll play out again if they do qualify for the World Cup, that they might actually overperform relative to their struggles in the qualification side of things?

26:38James Horncastle: I think so, because as I said on Tuesday's show earlier this week, you have this kind of dissonance between how well Italy have done in the Euros and how badly they've done at the World Cup or not at the World Cup. And I think that has, for the last eight years, largely been psychological, particularly after what happened in 2018, when the Italian Federation really is culpable for appointing an inadequate 68-year-old in Ciampiero Ventura, who the players sort of mutinied against before that Sweden playoff. So I think it has been about sort of lifting a hex on the team. I think if they were to get to the World Cup, and it remains a big if, they have a group which on paper looks good for them with Canada, Switzerland and Qatar.

27:45James Horncastle: although one of the group that Italy went out of in 2010 had New Zealand, Slovakia and Paraguayans so you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself there but you mentioned the style of play Colin again I was talking to James earlier this week on the Euro show and was relaying a conversation I had with a kind of chief executive of a big Italian club who said, as far as he's concerned, Italy have got Donnarumma and he feels one of the best midfields in world football with Tonali, who was outstanding, particularly in the second half last night. Nicola Barella and Manuel Locatelli, who has had a very good season, a low-key season for Juventus, but a very good season with them.

28:39James Horncastle: the thing is is that I think if Spalletti were the coach still and he didn't fall out with these players he would be probably the coach to get the most out of a midfield like that I think a lot of commentary about last night's performance was how basic and sort of bread and butter it was because it was all about sort of putting balls in the channels for the strikers, moving it out wide. There were no kind of complex passing patterns or choreographed moves. It was quite route one and direct and supposed to be about passion.

29:27James Horncastle: Someone next to me said, God, it's very cold here tonight and look, all of the players, all the Italy players are in short sleeves and only Locatelli has gloves on. Do we think that's an edict from Gattuso? And then you had Gattuso sort of taking his jacket off. and it did again feel like this is this is about a bit of machismo here and passion that's what's going to win the day not you know a whiteboard with tactics on it so so yeah let's see I think this Italy team certainly has the potential to do better than it's shown in World Cup qualifying and at World Cups but they still have to get there.

30:12Matt you're not finished talking about events meanwhile in Cardiff are you? Yeah I just thought that penalty shootout was sort of strange obviously Bosnia have their their first effort saved by Carl Darlow and we know the stats of if you take the first penalty you usually win the shootout but if you miss your first one that flips on its head and Wales's penalties apart from a you know standard brilliant one from Harry Wilson were all kind of weird even even the other one that went in was one of the the sort of most poorly struck penalties you'll ever see from Mark Harris and he and his self-blessing kind of a poster boy for the lack of depth in this Welsh squad at the moment you know an Oxford United substitute is what he is basically two goals in 30 championship games I think 20 of those appearances have come off the bench and then obviously the the two misses Brennan Johnson you see that and at first you think it's Waddle-esque.

31:04Actually, I don't think it missed by quite as much as Waddle's, but the technique was all wrong, leaning back as he strikes the ball. And then, you know, my poor boy Nico Williams, whose penalty had put Forrest through in the Europa League shootout against Midgerland a week earlier, with a weak effort, and he's normally absolutely brilliant at penalties, and I thought it was interesting that after the match, Craig Bellamy was at a loss to explain it, because he said, I'm totally bewildered by it, we've been practising penalties all week and then you hear Hal Grimson the island coach saying yeah we didn't practice penalties at all and you think well I mean whichever method you go with I guess it doesn't really matter I also like the quote from Bellamy after the game where he said tomorrow the sun will rise and I'm going to watch that sunrise and I think it's really impressive that you can sound you can say something philosophical and still have a real air of menace about you and that's that's what he brings to international football I'd like to think the sun must have come up with With a slight glance over its shoulder this morning.

32:03I do like the idea of that poster saying, come to Wales, we've got no depth, with Mark Harris there with the kind of thumbs up. But yeah. Colin, tell us about the Republic of Ireland's penalties as they crashed out. Were you able to see any of this heartbreaking game for the Republic away in Prague? Yeah, yeah, James. It's really interesting because obviously the Republic of Ireland penalty shootout and the Wales penalty shootout were essentially happening simultaneously. And on my streams of watching them, it was very well-timed going in between each penalty. It was very dramatic. But the Republic of Ireland, I think even more so than Wales, will feel like this is a real missed opportunity.

32:46The fact that they went 2-0 up in this match away the Czech Republic so early on through a penalty and through a very strange own goal. It was a bit like a pinball machine in the box following a corner. and you kind of think those are the sorts of goals you want in these games. You know, you think, oh, we've got a bit of luck going on here. We're 2-0 up early. This is perfect against a team who probably aren't really stronger than us. But moments after going 2-0 up, Ryan Manning has a bit of a lapse in concentration, I think it's fair to say, and pulls back the shirt of an opponent in the penalty area.

33:22Patrick Schick converts the penalty and all of a sudden it's game on again and Czech Republic's sort of second half and the much better side from what I had on in the background and watching it was sort of wave after wave of pressure. And that finally paid off four minutes from time when they equalised and then it goes all the way to penalties. And just like in the Wales shootout, the Republic government actually get ahead in the shootout. They were 3-2 up and they go on to lose. And this is actually a really interesting thing. I can't remember the exact numbers behind it, but I was speaking to somebody involved in sports psychology a couple of years ago and they were talking about penalty shootouts and they said that actually if the team that you're in misses first in a shootout it can actually benefit you psychologically because the pressure's kind of off the team who are behind because you're not the player that's missed first whereas if you're ahead you're thinking if I miss it's maybe on me and that actually played out in both of these shootouts I think that whenever the momentum swings in a shootout it does sort of carry through and it was the case here where the Republic of Ireland missed two penalties in a row Wales missed two penalties in a row and that essentially did for them both.

34:27But yeah, the Republic of Ireland players speaking to RTE, I think, after the game and they were just so dejected. I mean, you can understand that it's such a heartbreaking way to go out, but I think that they will feel more than anything else that this is an opportunity that's really passed them by. And just very quickly as well, Sammy Schmoddix, who came on quite late in extra time for the Republic of Ireland, who's a forward player and he probably would have taken one of the penalties. He suffered what appeared to be quite a serious concussion quite late on, and he had to be taken off minutes after coming on.

34:58I think there was reports last night that he had regained consciousness in the hospital, but it was some sort of mid-air collision, and then he landed quite awkwardly on his shoulder-neck area. So he again, that's bad luck for the Republic. He could have taken a penalty and maybe scored it. We'll never know. But yeah, these games are pretty ruthless, aren't they? And they'll just be thinking 2-0 up against a team like Czech Republic. We probably should have seen that out. Yeah, not just being 2-0 up a way to pride, but also the way that they turned qualifying around with the four straight wins, Portugal and Hungary too, and then to see it all come to nothing.

35:30Matt? Yeah, I was just going to say that Smoddix has posted there this morning that he's okay, which is good. But this, for me, wasn't like the devastation of the penalty shootout. It was the fact that the goals that Ireland conceded were just atrocious. As Colin mentions, the penalty was so needless to give away. And then the equaliser, just three defenders around Crutchley, none of them get off the ground for a corner. But the timing of the Schick penalty meant that Ireland weren't two goals in front for more than five minutes. And, you know, if that gets to 10, 20 minutes, then Czech Republic get nervous and you think, hmm, this is where we're going to be able to really make this advantage tell.

36:09So horrible time to concede the goal, but poor goals conceded as well. I did wonder about the inevitable Troy Parrott section, if this particular qualifying campaign is going to be enough to get him a move. Because he's been absolutely phenomenal, hasn't he, this season. 28 goals, 10 assists in 41 appearances for club and country. and he's at RZ, you think, I'm surprised that nobody took a chance on him. My Forrest, for instance, he would have been a good fit for us in the winter window or somebody. So, yeah, it'd be interesting to see whether, even though he's not going to be at the World Cup, this disqualifying campaign's been enough to get him an upgrade in terms of his regular gig.

36:47Forrest sounds like a comfortable home for a parrot who's scored six goals now in his last three international games. So, yeah, as you say, on fire. The Czechs, with a pretty remarkable record, that's now 17 matches unbeaten on home soil, which could be important because they will be the hosts on Tuesday for the final game in this path, which sees them pitted against Denmark, who looked very impressive against North Macedonia, but 4-0 winners. Damsgaard, two goals from Isakson of Lancio, and Christian Norgard with the other one as well. Christian Eriksen looking good in that game too. Whoever wins from that final, Czech Republic against Denmark, will find themselves in a World Cup group with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.

37:36The other finals coming up on Tuesday with a path B one will be Sweden against Poland. Sweden, who beat Ukraine with a Viktor Goikaris hat-trick. Sweden, remarkable story this. They finished bottom of their qualifying group, picked up only two points in qualifying. They only reached the playoffs through the Nations League. In fact, through the whole of 2025, they didn't win a single competitive game, but have now brought in Graham Potter. And look at the results. They will take on this Polish side that came from behind to beat Albania 2-1, with goals from big Rob Lewandowski's 89th international goal, and Pieter Selinski.

38:12And their prize for whoever gets through that game, Sweden against Poland, will be a group with Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia. and then the other final on Tuesday will be, as mentioned back at the top, Kosovo against Turkey, who everybody feels are the most talented side in these qualifying matches, but we'll see if that's enough to get them past Kosovo. Anything you want to say about qualifiers before we get on to other things and indeed events in Mexico? Colin? Can I just very quickly say in Kosovo, that story is remarkable, the fact that they only were admitted into FIFA 10 years ago. there's still several nations who they can't be paired with in qualification processes.

38:53There's a lot going on there. There's a lot in terms of the identity of, essentially, their fans were fans of Albania before Kosovo had a team. Their players played for Albania, for Switzerland, Granit Xhaka, Jürgen Shaqiri, Kosovo in descent. And the fact that they are now one match away from a World Cup. And you look at their squad too, for a population that's so small, I know they rely largely on their diaspora, but if they were to make the World Cup, that is an incredible achievement for such a young state and a young team as well. Less impressive achievement, but I noted that it could be the first time ever that Denmark, Sweden and Norway have all qualified for a World Cup, which I was surprised to learn.

39:31Very nice. Meanwhile, over in Mexico, there are more sides, six of them in fact, battling away for two places at this summer's tournament. Jack Lang is out there for the Athletic, bless him, and we'll hear from him, a little bit jet-lagged, next.

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41:42This is the Totally Football Show, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. The Athletic is the only place you can read articles by Daniel Taylor, Amy Lawrence, Phil Hay, James Pearce, Oli Kay and the very best football writers around. All right, Intercontinental play of six teams in Mexico. Four had to play in semifinals on Thursday night, Friday morning to face the two teams, Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, who have a bye to the final. That semifinal action took place in Monterrey and Guadalajara. Guess who was there in Guadalajara to see Jamaica take on tiny plucky New Caledonia? Jack Lang.

42:23Jack Lang joins us now. How are you doing, Jack? Extremely tired, but people don't like journalists complaining, so broadly fine. You're in Mexico watching World Cup preliminary brackets action. How's the atmosphere there? Well, I could only really say the game. Given the size of the teams competing and how far away it is for most people there isn't a a world cup feeling in the city at all but at the stadium today the estadio acron it was great actually 40 000 people uh so two-thirds full something like that three quarters even a decent atmosphere mostly mexican fans and uh some jamaica curious mexican fans There were a few very dubious dreadlock wigs going on.

43:21But the neutrals in the crowd really got behind New Caledonia as it went on. And it did lend a little extra frisson to what was a nervous match rather than a good match. Indeed. An early lead for the Reggae Boys. And a late chance for New Caledonia to equalise in front of the passionate looking crowd. but it is Jamaica who go through. Jamaica were on their third manager of this extended qualifying period. Steve McLaren also featured in there. What should we know about them as they head towards this clash with DR Congo 4, a place at the World Cup? Yeah, McLaren left after they failed to beat Curaçao to qualify outright.

44:05He was replaced by Rudolf Speed, who I think is a qualified accountant. and he proved himself in domestic football so he's come through the the jamaican domestic game and has kind of rung the changes really he's left out a few of the more experienced members of the of the squad on uh he's alluded to kind of disciplinary grounds and he's brought in some fresh players um andre brooks efron mason clark both made their debuts players who are playing in England, by and large. The goalscorer Bailey Canematery plays for Wrexham in Wales. And even the starting line-up showed a kind of move away from the old guard.

44:52So Borby, De Cordova-Reed, Leon Bailey left on the bench for these youngsters. Did it work? No, not really. They weren't very good, I didn't think. They looked nervous. The new Caledonia manager said before the game that the pressure was on Jamaica. and I think you could see that really. Even after taking the lead, they didn't really settle down. They got a lot better when DeCordova Reid came on in the second half and suddenly they had some urgency. Started missing chance after chance and there was just that little thing in the back of your mind saying, oh my God, are they going to manage to not beat tiny New Caledonia?

45:28They did in the end, but I think the reaction looked to be more relief than anything else. Democratic Republic of Congo, I think, will be favourites going into that. And, I mean, based on what I saw today, Jamaica, not great shakes, even with the kind of revised look of the squad. That game, DR Congo, formerly known as Zaire against Jamaica, will be on Tuesday. DR Congo, one of the best place runners-up in a CAF qualification. Jack, Mexico sounds such an exciting place to watch World Cup football. Well, there are going to be, I think, 13 games there split between Guadalajara, where the game was Friday morning that you saw, Monterrey and Mexico City.

46:14Is the atmosphere there already and noticeably World Cup ready? Yeah, I think so. You notice it going through the airports, advertising hoardings, things like this. They are already very World Cup themed. Mexico players, Santi Jimenez on advertising hoardings. players of the past Carlos Vela on one I saw one for the Arsenal fans um and also just a feeling of things being rushed to completion uh Mexico City's airport was chaotic to say the least so this you know I'm not criticizing here this is pretty normal stuff when a a country hosts a World Cup you do have to rush to get stuff ready uh and yeah that was interesting to see I'm going to be at the portugal against mexico game on saturday which will show another batch of renovations to the estadio azteca which is being reopened in that friendly so that would be interesting to see and yeah i think perhaps that will show more of a an excitement in terms of the city center the the fans because as i said there weren't many jamaicans or new caledonians knocking about Guadalajara today.

47:31Well, that sounds amazing, Jack. Enjoy your time there in Mexico and I look forward to seeing you back on this side of the ocean soon. OK, James. Adios.

47:45Jack Lang. The other final in the Intercontinental Playoffs will see Iraq taking on Bolivia. Iraq, who had the bye to the final. Bolivia not playing at altitude this time, or at least not as much altitude. but coming back from a goal down against Suriname, scoring two goals in seven minutes in the second half to win 2-1 and make it through to the final. Then Miguel Terceros, who plays for Santos in Brazil, won to watch. He scored the second goal in this game. Only Lionel Messi scored more goals in combo ball qualifying than Terceros. Very good. Still to come on today's Totally Football show. Ooh, a bit of reaction to the other big news on Tuesday.

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51:23you're listening to the totally football show with James Richardson now we do four times a week keep up to date with us on insta and enjoy us in glorious technicolor on youtube at the totally show there's a totally extra out for you this saturday morning it's all about that most incredible of title wins leicester city 2016 we've snuck in with our 10-year anniversary retrospective before i I think anyone else has, so well done us. Monday afternoon will be the next regular Totally Football show. Matt will be your host. Looking ahead to Tuesday night's playoff finals, and perhaps bringing us an update on the Tottenham manager situation, which apparently is still bubbling on.

52:03Of course, talking about England as well, who will have hosted Uruguay. That's tonight at Wembley, Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay, and will be up against Japan, one of the hardest nations in world football, on Tuesday. Anyway, Matt, looking forward to hearing that with you on Monday. Last thing really for us today is to touch on the news that came through on Tuesday evening when Liverpool and Mo Salah announced that this season will be his last at Anfield. As innumerable articles, podcasts, etc. have listed, he is one of the most important players in Premier League history, one of the best signings that certainly Liverpool have ever made.

52:44The stats I'm sure we're all familiar with, one that you might not be, this from Duncan Alexander, is that including Manchester United's own players, Salah is actually the eighth highest Premier League scorer at Old Trafford in the 2020s. And he's still got one more trip to Old Trafford to make. There you go. Mo Salah, an amazing player, not good enough for Chelsea, but still an amazing player. Did you guys feel a little bit that the announcement was slightly, how can I put this, didn't feel quite as moving as it might have been? I wasn't sure why that was. Was it because it happened in an international break?

53:20Was it because we thought he was maybe going to leave anyway in December? So we kind of said our goodbyes a little bit then. Or was it because the way his form was fallen off rather dramatically, Matt? Yeah, I think it was probably deliberate from Liverpool to make it like that because it had all been pretty tumultuous, hadn't it, around Christmas when all that came out. And I'm sure they were keen to avoid a repeat of that given the delicate state that their season is in and the fact that Arna Slott is coming from an awful lot of criticism from supporters and obviously Mo Salah is a darling of those Liverpool supporters.

53:52I do think it probably makes it a little bit easier for Slott to leave him out now, which is something that seems to have been a requirement for a while given his lack of output. And I think you can make the argument of, well, he's not going to be here next season. Our goal is to qualify for the Champions League. It feels a little underwhelming that this is the way that he's going out, but that will quickly fade. You know, the couple of years time, you won't remember this season. You remember the previous ones. And there's still a chance for him to leave with a couple of trophies, right? As unlikely as it seems, they're still in the Champions League.

54:22They have to qualify again for that competition next season. He might play a big part in that. You never know. And they're still in the FA Cup as well, albeit with a very difficult draw in the quarterfinals. So maybe he'll get to go out with a trophy. but regardless of whether he does or he doesn't, he's got a couple of Premier League titles. He's won the Champions League. He's a multiple winner of Premier League Player of the Year, often the leading scorer. So his legacy is very much assured. Mo Salah leave Liverpool. He's undoubtedly a superstar, undoubtedly one of the greatest players of the Premier League era, I think.

54:54And his departure kind of continues this trend of superstars leaving the Premier League. And this kind of follows on from the Champions League question that English clubs have faced in the past week or two, where we're talking about these squads are very good squads, there's a lot of money being spent on them, but the actual massive, massive player names, there's not too many left in English football now. I was sort of thinking about this, that once Salah goes, there's probably only Erling Haaland, Bruno Fernandes maybe. There's not too many more than that. Whereas if you look at Real Madrid's squad with Mbappe, Vinicius Bellingham, You look at obviously Kevin De Bruyne left in the summer as well when he was there at Manchester City.

55:36But you look at Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, that a lot of the sort of biggest names in world football now play outside of the Premier League. And obviously you mentioned Duncan's stat earlier about Salah's goal scoring record against Manchester United. And I think that's almost why he was such a great player, because you can look at all the stats and the numbers of goals and assists, which are incredible. But he always turned up in the very biggest games. He always turned up with goals and assists. Even when he wasn't playing well, he would do something in the match that turned it in Liverpool's favour.

56:06And I just think that there's so few players who can do that in the biggest games, in the biggest stages regularly as he did. And yeah, his exit is obviously not bad news for Liverpool. I think there's an acceptance that they probably needed to move on. But I think it also shows the sort of trends within football, that those sorts of players maybe aren't as common in English football anymore as they once were. Although I would counter that with two things. One is the fact that Mo Salah, when he leaves, he won't be going to a Paris Saint-Germain or a Bayern Munich or the Spanish giants. Almost certainly, at least the indications are that he'll probably end up somewhere like Al-Ithihad in Saudi Arabia.

56:49And Kevin De Bruyne is similarly moving to Napoli. And that's not because the financial might of a Serie A club can in any way compare with their Premier League counterparts. So I do take your point about players leaving and some of the names that you have at those clubs. A lot of those names are names that have become great, not just through their conquest, but also through the passage of time. And it's the passage of time that's meant that Premier League clubs have been happy to let them move on. But I guess the other thing is, and this is actually a thing in the Premier League's favour, is that those clubs are examples of league setups where there's one super dominant side, or two in the case of Spain, where the imbalance of resources allows them to produce these clusters of players in leagues, whereas in the Premier League you have this extraordinary levelling.

57:37Obviously, there are clubs like Man City who have a far greater depth of talent than others. But you do have players who I think would make their way into sides all over Europe in teams up and down the division. So it is sad to see the big names go that we've got familiar with. And it's an interesting point that you make the way that the Ballon d 'Or contenders are not in the Premier League. But, hmm, yeah, I think the Premier League is not necessarily worse off for it. But that's one to ponder. Anyway, sorry for warbling on at you, listener, because we've come to the end of today's Totally Football show.

58:16As mentioned, Matt will be back on Monday, previewing Tuesday's action, discussing the friendlies Friday night and over the weekend. But many, many thanks for being with us. Colin Miller, Matt Davis-Adams earlier on, Tom Williams, James Horncastle and Jack Lang in Guadalajara. thanks as well to producer Charlie and from all of us here it's goodbye

58:42you've been listening to the Totally Football Show part of the Athletic FC podcast network for other great podcasts just like this one including the Athletic FC and our dedicated club podcasts search for the Athletic in all the usual places we're also at the Totally Show on Insta and at the Totally Show on YouTube the Totally Football Show is an Athletic Media Company production

59:07The Athletic FC.

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