The World Cup is finally here!

0:00Your social media feed delivers plenty of advice, but it doesn't know you. It doesn't ask questions. It doesn't give physical exams or order tests. Doctors do. At the American Medical Association, we believe the best care starts with a real conversation with someone who understands the science and your unique health. So stay curious, ask questions, but when it's time to make decisions, make them with a doctor. Learn more at amahealthvshype.org. That's amahealthvshype.org.

0:33This episode of the Totally Football Show is brought to you by Hotels.com. When you're booking a hotel, here's a simple question. Why wouldn't you use Hotels.com? It really is all in the name. As a member, you save up to 20 % on hundreds of thousands of hotels around the world and earn rewards on every single stay, which means the trips you're taking now help pay for the ones you're already dreaming about. And unlike some other places, there are no blackout dates, so when you want to travel, your rewards are ready to go. So whether you're following your team across North America this summer or planning a well-earned escape to make up for being glued to the football for weeks on end, make sure you book on thehotels.com and start earning rewards.

1:12Because when it comes to hotels, it's simple. Hotels.com. It's all in the name.

1:21Marketers, no matter what pitch you play on, a big win feels the same. Electric. It's that moment when you read the play before the trend even starts Beat the clock on a campaign with a little help from AI And connect with customers in real time like you've trained for it your whole career That's Contentful World-class digital experiences built fast, built beautifully Create and launch personalised content in an instant Across every channel your customers are watching No chaos, no limits, just open field Take your shot at contentful.com Welcome to the Totally Football Show. Well, we did the previews, caught the plane, we even got through immigration, and now here we are in our brand new digs in Los Angeles, ready to have us at World Cup.

2:06Here's what we're talking about today. Tiki Taco. We look ahead to Thursday's Mexican kick-off as El Tri face South Africa at the Azteca. There's a Heung-Min interest story, a South Korea take on the Czech Republic. We get a vital update on England's final friendly against Costa Rica, all the rest of the World Cup news and the increasingly surreal tournament build-up for Iran.

2:32Well, here we are at the Totally Football Show Ranch. We've got new digs, new music, two familiar faces with Tom Williams and Duncan Alexander joining us. Howdy. Hello. Very nice. And with associated knees as well. Sorry for that. But here we are in Los Angeles. Tom, what's been your favourite bit so far? So much.

2:55Jack Lang: We've only been here a couple of days, but we had a nice trip to the Griffith Observatory yesterday for a bit of social media filming. You balance very precariously on a quite wobbly-looking tree root. I'm not saying I saved your life, but other people who saw it might say that. Right. Duncan, that was probably your favourite bit so far. Well, you're almost falling off a mountain. No, it was a very, you know, someone who has watched many films where that destination has featured. The Griffith Observatory? Yeah. Okay. From La La Land to Rebel Without a Cause. There you go. It was good. Okay. That was your favourite bit so far?

3:35Mine was probably one of the spectacular breakfasts we've enjoyed, particularly this fellow. This is, you know French toast, this is tiramisu French toast. if you're in Van Nuys and anywhere near Garcia Brothers that's where you can find one of these

3:48Jack Lang: all month I love the fact that you took that picture using portrait mode yes just as a sign of your respect for the dish yes I mean in a dish that clearly merited such a level of respect I what you're saying because of the air traffic but anyway Duncan I should have asked at this point why Los Angeles it's a good question I mean why not in some respects but also So the old earth, it curves around, doesn't it? We have many, many time zones. And I think it's actually been quite a while, isn't it, since we've had a World Cup where for Europeans it starts so late. And obviously there are plenty of games starting after midnight.

4:26How many? This is an extraordinary start. I think it's more than 40 % of all games kick off after midnight. If you are in the UK, we are very much not. So we thought we'd decamp to Pacific time. so that we could enjoy the games in a reasonable hour, but then more importantly, make a podcast, so that when people wake up across the UK, there we are. Very nice. Well, the opening game is going to be Thursday, excuse me, one o 'clock Mexican time at the Azteca, Mexico against South Africa. Very shortly, we'll be talking to Jack Lang, who's down there for that and other matches in Mexico. Of course, before that, you'll also get one of three opening serenades, there being three host nations, Each one is going to do an opening ceremony.

5:13Curiously, USN Canada will have theirs on day two of the tournament, which is a bit strange. Only Mexico's feature Shakira, which for me makes it official because you can't have a World Cup without Shakira. Or Jordan Henderson. I think they're about level now on World Cup. But how many hit World Cup songs has Jordan Henderson had? I don't know. Tom, can you name the three World Cup songs that Shakira's made so far?

5:37Jack Lang: Well, Wacka Wacka, which obviously everyone remembers, and which has recently been given new life by being worked into various football channels. Look, I have it. Look, I have it. Six million down the drain. There you go. That was 2010. 2010. 2014, she was back. I've forgotten about that one. I know what this year's one is called. Okay, so 2014, la, la, la. So, Waka Waka, la, la, la. That was with Carlina Sprann, of course. What she brought us this time. Die, die. Big friends with... Right, that's not a reflection on her company there. Die Die is the name of the song. Die Die is the name of the song, yeah.

6:12Jack Lang: Right, okay. D-A-I, which to my mind is what we call people, called David in Wales. Right, but unlikely to be the subject of a song. Yeah. Okay, fine. I'm not into it. I mean, we can't rule it out. All right, well, anyway, we'll be hearing Die Die with Shakira and Burner Boy, and then the other nations will have their opening ceremonies with Katy Perry. And the Canadian one, interesting, is a little bit more retro. They've gone with Alanis Morissette and Michael Bublé. so that'll be fun that's on Friday no action has yet taken place loads of open ceremonies when all you need is a game of football really nicely done ahead of the first ball being kicked there's been plenty of news as well and probably the biggest the most discussed story of this week is poor Omar Atan the Somalian referee who was officially part of the officiating cadre here at the tournament but was denied entry after being detained for 11 hours by Border and Customs and sent home, Tom?

7:11Jack Lang: Yeah, and accused of having links with the terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab. And, I mean, you know, it's a disgrace. The fact that a decorated referee who had all of his administrative ducks in a row has been detained and questioned for as long as he was and then sent home. And I think it does kind of, you know, does shine an unforgiving light on the extent to which Gianni Infantino's attempts to mollycoddle Donald Trump. This was Le Keep's front page, what, the Wednesday? That was, yeah, today's. Yeah, OK. Today's front page. Donald Trump with his hand up, Gianni Infantino's... Well, yes, and that's the referee next time, Omar Artan, yeah.

8:00Yeah. Well, poor Chow. I imagine they'll find a substitute. He, as you say, very decorated. He was the African referee of the year for 2025. But yeah, we won't be seeing him in this tournament. We will be seeing England when they get underway. They did have their final friendly today. Duncan, what did we learn? We learned that people being hyped up isn't dead. Because after a few weeks, everyone's been a bit down on England, I think. This game got everyone hepped up again. What was the score? It was 3-0. Who did the scoring? The first goal was... Declan Rice. Declan Rice, yes. And the second one was a penalty from Anthony Gordon after Hurricane had gone off just before.

8:45They must have been quite annoyed about that. Jude Bellingham grabbed the ball, but Anthony Gordon was asked from the bench to take it, and he took it very well. And you were across social media in the aftermath of the game. What did they have to say? Well, Oli Watkins was to make 3-0, we should mention. Noni Maduweki missed what Opta are calling a 0.96 XG chance in the first half. Lovely shimmy to get around the goalkeeper. Probably should have scored into the open net, but, you know, it's a practice match, it's fine. But yeah, I was noticing after the game that there was a lot of Spanish people on social media sort of going, oh, I'd forgotten England have got quite a good team.

9:24So, you know, you can't read much into a pre-tournament friendly. but they did look quite cohesive. I thought, you know, the Rice-Anderson pivot that we've all grown to love looked good. The two full-backs, Nick O 'Reilly and Rhys James, it's like a bit of a cheat code as well. So, yes, I think confidence is rising from a medium ebb.

9:45Jack Lang: Tom? I mean, as a Welshman, I would hate to jinx England, but I think the only conclusion we can draw from today is that England are definitely going to win the World Cup and that nothing is going to go wrong. Right. But no, they were some lovely through balls today. And unfortunately, none of them led to goals. You had the Jude Bellingham through ball for Noni Madueke. That ended up with him squandering a 0.96 XG open goal chance. You had the Ebreche Eze pass for Morgan Rodgers, who shot wide. And Harry Kane played, I think, one of the best passes I've ever seen him play. Through to Anthony Gordon late in the first half.

10:27Jack Lang: which culminated in a penalty being awarded that was then overturned after a VAR review but I think we got a sense of how Thomas Tuchel wants England to play and in particular just the complete positional freedom that Harry Kane is going to be given when you've got Anthony Gordon and players like Maduweki attacking the penalty area that can work very well I think it showed why Tuchel picked the squad that he picked right so that's why yes Maduweki missed that chance but his pace beyond and Gordon's pace beyond is what you can find with Bellingham and with Kane. That's what Tuka wants his team to do.

11:04I think that's the real positive sign from the match.

11:08Jack Lang: I wonder whether there's almost a case for starting Madueke over Bagayo Saka. I don't think that's what he'll do, but if Harry Kane is your chief playmaker, as he is, he needs runners and Saka is not a runner, a runner in behinder, whereas Madueke is. I think he will pick Saka. We had our first glimpse as well of someone saying, well, what's Harry Kane doing about that? He's not normally found there. And it's like, well, actually, he is normally found there. That's where he operates. Miss calls and slow follow-ups are silent killers. That's how businesses leave money on the table without ever even realising it.

11:43And that's why today's episode of the Totally Football Show is brought to you by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. Quo works wherever you are, right from your phone or computer. Keep your existing number, add teammates in minutes, sync your CRM and let the call routing handle itself as you scale. But Quo isn't just a phone system, it's a smart one. AI automatically logs calls, generates summaries and flags next steps so nothing falls through the cracks. And it can even qualify leads or respond after hours so your business stays on even when you're off.

12:14Money's on the line, so always say hello with Quo. Try Quo for free, plus get 20 % off your first six months when you go to quo.com slash totallyfootball. That's q-u-o dot com slash totallyfootball with no spaces. One last time, quo.com slash totallyfootball.

12:36This episode of the Totally Football Show is brought to you by Hotels.com. When you're booking a hotel, here's a simple question. Why wouldn't you use Hotels.com? It really is all in the name. As a member, you save up to 20 % on hundreds of thousands of hotels around the world and earn rewards on every single stay, which means the trips you're taking now help pay for the ones you're already dreaming about. And unlike some other places, there are no blackout dates, so when you want to travel, your rewards are ready to go. So whether you're following your team across North America this summer or planning a well-earned escape to make up for being glued to the football for weeks on end, make sure you book on thehotels.com and start earning rewards.

13:15because when it comes to hotels, it's simple. Hotels.com. It's all in the name.

13:24This episode of The Totally Football Show is sponsored by Men's Warehouse who are here to make you look and feel good no matter the occasion. From formal to casual, dressed up to dressed down, suits, tuxes, sports coats, jeans, shorts, chinos, t-shirts, polos, sandals, underwear, Men's Warehouse has it all. And if you can't find what you're looking for, their in-store experts are on hand to find just the thing you need, while their on-site tailors guarantee your clothes have the right fit for your body. There are over 600 stores nationwide, so get ready to look good and feel good for anything from head to toe by visiting your local men's warehouse today.

13:58Men's Warehouse. Love the way you look.

14:05England, Costa Rica. You can't read too much into a pre-tournament friendly, but you can read a lot, probably not too much, World Cup coverage in The Athletic for free. This is extraordinary news, breaking. All the latest World Cup news with The Athletic is free and unlocked in The Athletic app, and that's going to be all tournament long. Boom. How'd you like that? Anyway, tournament gets underway, lunchtime in Mexico City, on Thursday. Down in Mexico City, ahead of the World Cup 2026 opener, is Jack Lang, and he joins us now. Jack, how are you doing? Yeah, fine. Incredibly tired, but churlish to complain, isn't it?

14:45We're in Mexico. What a place to be watching World Cup. Mexico. What's the atmosphere like down there, Jack? Haven't been very long, but it seems to be pretty good. There are murals everywhere, absolutely everywhere, to the extent that I'm actually staggered by some of the players they've got on these murals. so it's i've seen a marcus rashford mural okay i've seen a javier zanetti mural these all appear to be new murals by the way like this is uh i think someone has wow on a uh some budget for a mural but my favorite one there was a shinsuke nakamura mural for the celtic fans out there but tragically the mural had him shooting with his right foot i hope you daubed over it well i was going to say credit to jack these found the only bare wall in mexico city to actually do today's uh today's little chat with jack you're having a busy time we'll hear about your encounter with infantino in a little bit but the main thing is mexico kicking the tournament off against south africa now we have felipe cardenas on one of our preview shows saying that he thinks that el 3 have the best chance of any of the host nations of making it deep into this tournament what do you think yeah i'm minded to agree with that i think a few months ago i was here in march mainly for the playoffs but i also saw mexico play portugal at the azteca which is a very boring nil nil um i think in the last three months though confidence levels have gone up a bit they've been really good in recent friendlies like against ghana serbia a decent opposition and yeah I don't think a great deal has changed I just think that maybe Javier Guillermo Lange has had a little bit more time there seems to be a little bit of World Cup fever going on maybe clouding people's better judgement who knows it's definitely not a flawless team but yeah they've got some exciting players everyone's been going on about Hibberto Moura the little point size midfielder who does look like a great little player when I saw them I was really impressed by this guy Brian Gutierrez who was kind of a smart winger can play on both sides can play through the middle a bit like a Mexican Anthony Gordon dare I say similar hair similar vibe to him liked him a lot and yeah they've got quite a solid defence I don't think they're going to be particularly thrilling but they've got a really nice opener against South Africa and yeah I would expect them to win that.

17:28OK. You're going along to the game, I imagine, Jack? I will be there, yeah. Good. Today you were at the traditional curtain raiser for a World Cup, and that was Gianni Infantino's press conference, Welcome to the World Cup Affair, four years ago. Legendary scenes when Gianni felt gay, Gianni felt underprivileged, Gianni felt a lot of things. What was he feeling like today, Wednesday, as we record? I think he felt quite tired it was quite a low energy affair I wrote a kind of sketchy piece which is on The Athletic and yet just there was none of the the big ticket Jani Rasmataz I suppose he delved into a few of his key themes later but it was quite an interesting one the Azteca press area this massive cow shed and half of it is dedicated to this press conference here and the other half is just like the cafe a place where 300 photographers are having a chat and there's some like dodgy temporary toilets so like the ambience was not particularly uh it wasn't exactly a crucible so there's all this this noise and infantino's like kind of started off like what's all this noise um it was an interesting one he didn't say anything particularly um not on the level of the speech you mentioned from last time, I think the most in the line most likely to go down was when he was talking about this referee who's been sent back to Somalia.

19:08He said sometimes you've just got to chill, relax. Which didn't sound great. He did clarify it and say, well actually what I mean is there's no point screaming and shouting always. Sometimes you have to work on these things behind the scenes. He may have dug himself out of that particular hole. But I think the most interesting bit was on the tickets. He was just completely unrepentant about this pricing set up for the World Cup and even seemed to suggest that dynamic pricing is part of the beauty of football to get every fan involved, which is just a ludicrous position to take, I think. And yeah, he did kind of touch the little World Cup trophy next to you.

19:50the power of the ball all of its classic infantino stuff albeit not full beam energy levels okay jack lovely to hear from you anything you wanted to ask jack about mexico so far tom duncan any

20:05Jack Lang: nice meals so far jack that you want to share yeah i've just come back actually from probably the nicest meal that i will have um it was a very posh place that mixes mexican and indian food and it was spectacular. What's the name of the place? It's called Masala y Maiz. Masala and Maiz? Enormous spice potential. Fusing those two. You know what? They went very light. It was a very light touch spicing scenario which you know, early on in my jet lag journey, maybe I'm happy about. Excellent. Jack, we're looking forward to speaking to you again soon. and enjoy the game, Mexico-South Africa. I will.

20:52Good to see you. Good to see you too. Mexico-South Africa is a World Cup opener all over again. 2010 called they want their opening fixture back. Of course, that was one of the most iconic games of all time with the Jaboulani, the Vuvuzelas, the Shabalala, the Peter Drury casual ad-lib, a goal for all of Africa. Can Thursday's kick-off live up to that? do you think? Well, I mean,

21:20Jack Lang: I think the fact that it's at the Azteca, that it's, you know, Mexico hosting a World Cup for the third time after 1970, 1986, two of the most iconic World Cups ever. Possibly the two most iconic World Cups ever. So, you know, generally this is a World Cup venue that delivers and we know how intense the Mexican support is. And yeah, you know, Mexico will go into this as pretty strong favourites. I mean, I don't think you're unlikely to have a moment as iconic as that Sofiwe-Shabalale goal. Is that your favourite opening game of all time, Duncan? No, no, I think I've said before that 1990 is by far the best one.

22:07This one? That's the one. What are we seeing? Oman-Biick scoring with an extraordinary leap at the San Siro past Pompidou, who fumbled it in. But I think it's more remembered for the two red cards Cameron picked up, particularly Benjamin Massing's sort of exoset missile attack on Claudio Canegia, where Canegia did try and stay on his feet, but eventually was fouled. But I just think, I mean, you mentioned Mexico T6, but obviously remember the shadow above the pitch and that. And I think this game as well had the sort of newly reconstructed San Siro shadows of the thing. And even before the game, Maradona just volleying the ball up in the sky and catching on his shoulder.

22:45it captures a moment of a tournament that a lot of people don't really like because it was low scoring but I think it has a certain yeah we had we were lucky enough to have Gigi Buffon come and visit us in our old equally glamorous studio in London

23:01Jack Lang: we're never going back maybe we're not I don't know about you but but he said that yeah it was that game that made him fall in love with with the game of Cal well I think you know I'm similar to him in a lot of ways alright who knows Maybe tomorrow is going to inspire a whole new generation. Tom, your favourite opening game ever? I guess the one that comes to mind is France-Senegal, 2002. France, reigning world and European champions getting shown up by Senegal. And the late Papa Bouba Diop sliding in, bundling in the only goal of the game. The reigning champions bundled out of the World Cup by Senegal in their opener.

23:43France who are they playing this time?

23:45Jack Lang: It's only Senegal so you can expect a lot of retrospective talk in the build up to that game but yeah an incredible memory Mexico has had a nightmare not just repeating games it's clearly a bug somewhere interesting actually interesting South Africa who will be taking on Mexico in this year's opening match this is a game which will see their manager Hugo Brous who I imagine runs a tight outfit becoming the oldest manager in World Cup history, but only for three days. Why is that, Duncan? Because then Dick Advocat takes to the stage, and he's older, based on elapsed time alive. Yeah, right. So Hugo Brose, apologies if I'm getting that pronunciation wrong, but he's 74.

24:31Dick Advocat weighs in at a mighty 78. So hats off to them both. Oh, you've got a great stat about Hugo Brose. Yeah, well, he played for Belgium in 86, another mention for 86 and Javier Guerre the Mexico manager played against him so I don't know if there was any needle between them all those years ago but maybe they'll they'll remember and have some sort of scrap on the sidelines or maybe they'll embrace yeah that's the other option that is the other option alright or maybe he's quite old he might not even remember anyway yeah that is the third option Mexico South Africa will be at 1pm Mexican time and I think 8pm in the UK on Thursday evening the other match will be happening we small hours in uk and that is south korea against the knights of the czech republic czech republic who are the set piece kings they got past republic of ireland and then denmark on spot kicks in the playoffs i mean two remarkable games um in that

25:35Jack Lang: against Republic of Ireland they fell 2-0 down inside the opening 23 minutes came back to level then won on penalties and then against Denmark and in both of these games they were at home they got absolutely battered by Denmark got taken to extra time but again prevailed on penalties so you do feel like there is you know there is a real kind of sense of destiny and it's not just spot kicks that they're really good at is it Duncan? No, they scored 11 set-piece goals, which was more than any other European team in qualifying. Yeah, and I think, you know, we live in a set-piece world. It's going to be quite funny, I think, in this tournament to see everyone who's sort of bad-mouthed, poo-pooed set-pieces for the last few months suddenly embracing them as an acceptable way to win narrow games.

26:24Do you think they're going to be particularly effective in this tournament? Yeah, I think so. I mean, generally, international tournaments are lower scoring than domestic leagues. and particularly with the conditions I think we could be looking at a lot of very narrow victories and draws so set pieces we saw with the England game today it's going to be a really important part of the game so weirdly with Czech Republic this is the first time they've been at the World Cup since 2006 which doesn't sound right it feels like they're always there but I think it's just the Euros and that was an

26:56Jack Lang: exceptional generation of players which failed to get out of the group yeah just goes to show Quite a tough group though, weren't they? Poor Son Hyung-min has been sat there on the screen, patiently waiting for us to get on to South Korea. So let's touch on him. An LA resident, of course, these days. How is he getting on? We have such fond memories of him at Spurs. How does he come into this tournament? Well, he very much sort of defined the XG era in the sense that when him and Harry Kane played for Spurs, their finishing was sort of consistently better than XG. They were the best finishers, really, we saw.

27:30this season at LA and MLS not so much, he's got an XG of 3.7 which is quite a lot and zero goals so his magic touch has deserted him there and I think it probably has a little bit generally in the last couple of years but he's still the figurehead of the team, I think he's still got the ability to be a match winner for them but it's, they're a team that they qualified with relative ease but the fans aren't particularly happy with a feeble group as well weren't they qualifying wise and I think the fans were a little bit despondent at the start of play they're trying to play a back three and they don't think that really fits the squad so I think they feel like a team that they kind of need a result in the first game otherwise it could spiral quite quickly

28:16Jack Lang: they were on the end of some whoopings in recent and less recent friendly action 5-0 against Brazil in October 4-0 against Ivory Coast That was just after Japan had beaten Brazil 1-0 as well. As well. So, yeah, not absolutely firing on all cylinders, but I have got some interesting players. I'm a big fan of Lee Kang-in, the PSG attacking midfielder. Real wonder of a left foot. So look out for him. Excellent. A lot to think about there. In a second or two, we'll come back and we'll talk about a team whose build-up has been probably the most surreal of any team at any World Cup ever, and that is Iran.

28:58This episode of the Totally Football Show is brought to you by the FIFA World Cup meal at McDonald's. Right now at McDonald's, you can get one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal. These cups feature some of the biggest legends in football like David Beckham, Hon Alginho and Thierry Henry and current stars such as Laminia Marl, Christian Pulisic and Alphonso Davies. The FIFA World Cup meal is available all tournament long, so see if you can collect all nine cups. that's the FIFA World Cup meal only at McDonald's and participate in McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last all rights reserved 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026 is a copyright and trade

29:40Hi this is Ben Green from the Athletic FC the podcast you're about to listen to is brought to you by Hotels.com as a Hotels.com member you save up to 20 % on hundreds of thousands of hotels and earn rewards on every single stay which means the trips you're taking now help pay for the ones you're already dreaming about. And unlike some other places, there are no blackout dates. So when you want to travel, your rewards are ready to go. So the next time you're planning a work trip or a getaway, make sure to book it at Hotels.com and start earning rewards. Hotels.com. It's all in the name.

30:16This is Robert Mason, The Athletic Football Show. The Men's Warehouse is here to make you look and feel good no matter the occasion. From formal to casual, dressed down to dressed up, their in-store experts will help you find the right outfit for that thing you got on the calendar, and their on-site tailors will make sure the fit is perfect for your body. Suits, tuxes, sport coats, jeans, shorts, chinos, t-shirts, polos, loafers, sneakers, sandals, underwear. Get ready to look and feel good for anything from head to toe by visiting Men's Warehouse today. Men's Warehouse, love the way you look.

30:50You're a pro at running your life, at committing to your workout, at showing up every day. At Bombas, we're pros too. Pros at making socks. Our sport assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to. Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat-wicking yarns, blister-fighting details, and targeted art support. Bombas Sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks. For another pro, you. Go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's Bombas.com and use code audio. 48 nations busy preparing for this World Cup. None in the circumstances that Iran are currently facing above all because they are taking place in a competition which is hosted by a nation that they are currently at war with.

31:38What is that meaning for their preparations? What are the obstacles they are facing? What's their morale like? Earlier on today, I spoke to Iranian journalist Samira Moyadin. in. Samira, first of all, given the situation that Iran's in, a football tournament's not the most important thing at all. But on the other hand, what the national team can achieve in America, I can imagine would never be more keenly felt than now by the nation. I mean, I think, you know, Iran has already been set up to fail. Not many teams are having to get on and off a plane on the day that they are supposed to play. I don't know about you, but going up and down takes a lot out of me.

32:19So I can only imagine what it's doing to them every time they have to play a game. So I think in that respect, they're already set up. And then we found out, I think it was yesterday, that the tickets that were allotted to Iran's fans are no longer being honored. so any fans who I think it's eight percent or something under FIFA's rules that eight percent of home countries gets tickets given to them and those tickets were taken away from Iran so you know there's a lot of pressure on these on these gentlemen I don't envy them right now honestly that's just the latest of the obstacles to Iran's success the the shift from the base in Arizona to Mexico now, which necessitates travel to and from the United States, which they can only do on the day of the game.

33:16The fact that I think is it 13 members of the group have been denied permission to enter the country to attend matches. What's the impact on the team been and the way that they're actually building up for games? For these guys, this isn't just a game. You know, the government itself, Iran is very much politicizing everything. I think it would be very hard for them to focus. And then also FIFA, you know, has brought in this ban on the pre-1979 revolution flag. And so you have this diaspora of Iranians who are mobilizing against this team because they don't like the government in Iran. So they're dealing with a lot.

34:00Given that 13 members of the party have already been excluded from entry, is there any suggestion that each time Team Melly go for a match, they might risk losing further members as they go through. They have to go through immigration each time, no? I mean, that's a good question. You know, one of the reasons for that is also that, you know, the IRGC, which is a portion of Iran's army, it's, you know, Iran has conscription. Like, you have to go and do your one year to two years in the army. So a lot of these young men get swept up in that. And since the U.S. declared the IRGC a terrorist entity, a lot of people can't go into the U.S.

34:46So they may have been part of that. Some of those 13 people may have also been part of that. We just don't know. You know, it's so precarious why people aren't allowed in. So there may be a chance of some of the team, you know, being allowed in once, then maybe not being allowed in again. But I, you know, it's a good four hour trek from Tijuana to Seattle to other parts of the U.S. where the Iranian team is playing. And I just can't imagine doing that and then having to play, you know, a game. I think, as I said, they're being set up in many ways. If they can win a game, I would be really, really surprised.

35:30I would be very happy for them because I don't envy them right now. They're really being put in a bad situation. Samira Moyadin, Iran should be beginning their World Cup campaign this coming Monday against New Zealand. And I'm actually hoping to go along and see them. The Sunday, we'll see them play their second game, the following Sunday. Here in Los Angeles, they're going to be taking on Belgium, which could be a really interesting match. Getting a ticket, because I've not got accreditation for obvious reasons. Getting a ticket, it's an interesting business because you've got all the resale sites and the prices are, I've been following kind of tracker things, The prices have kind of gone down and they're creeping back up again.

36:19But FIFA also run their own resale site, which you access and then you queue for a while and then eventually get your entry. And one day there'll be a bunch of tickets for the game and the next day they're all gone. And then the next day they're all there again. I don't know what's going on with that. Who knows? Who knows? As Jack mentioned, Jani likes the dynamic pricing. You ought to do. You ought to chill and relax. Exactly. Exactly. it all sort itself out it probably will if you have a ticket by the way one other thing we should mention before we go and that is other friendly news from this Wednesday as we record Portugal in action what happened?

37:03they won, they beat Nigeria 2-1 sounds good they gave all their big players a first half one player a man in his 40s He's played up front. He got a bit longer. He played over an hour.

37:16Jack Lang: What an athlete. Wow. Well, yeah. But he also missed three huge chances. So he's not coming into this World Cup in red-hot finishing form, let's say. Do you have any ex-G for us? No, they don't bother on friendly. Do they not? Well, you can get it from... You quoted Maduweki as heavy. Yeah, I had to go to some very secretive sources. The dark web. Yeah. To get your ex-G content. All right. But anyways, Cristiano Ronaldo, big talking point the last time. World Cup could well prove to be this time around. They begin their campaign, I think, next Wednesday against Democratic Republic of Congo. Also in that group, Uzbekistan and Colombia.

37:55Good group, that. That is a good blend. All right. Loads of football coming up. We've got Mexico, South Africa and South Korea against Czech Republic on Thursday. This time tomorrow, we're going to be back here doing another Totally Football show, so Thursday night or Friday morning in the UK. Do hope you're going to be joining us for that. For now, though, it's many, many thanks to Tom, to Duncan, to Jack Lang earlier, and to you. And we'll catch up with you soon on the Totally Football Show at the World Cup.

38:23This episode of the Totally Football Show is brought to you by Hotels.com. When you're booking a hotel, here's a simple question. Why wouldn't you use Hotels.com? It really is all in the name. As a member, you save up to 20 % on hundreds of thousands of hotels around the world and earn rewards on every single stay, which means the trips you're taking now help pay for the ones you're already dreaming about. And unlike some other places there are no blackout dates so when you want to travel your rewards are ready to go. So whether you're following your team across North America this summer or planning a well-earned escape to make up for being glued to the football for weeks on end make sure you book on thehotels.com and start earning rewards because when it comes to hotels it's simple.

39:05Hotels.com. It's all in the name.

39:11Think of a toilet as just an everyday object. Your entire perspective shifts the moment you experience a Kohler smart toilet. Design changes everything, transforming a basic routine into something extraordinary. With standout aesthetics and intuitive controls, these are functional works of art. Stunning design that never sacrifices performance. Enjoy customizable features for elevated comfort and convenience. It's more than a fixture. It's a cleaner routine and a more refined space. Experience the difference of Kohler Smart Toilets. Find more at Kohler.com. This is Kat and Nat from Kat and Nat Unfiltered, and this episode is sponsored by Michaels, your destination for all things birthday parties.

39:56If you've ever planned a birthday celebration, you know it goes from cute idea to full-on chaos real fast. The party shop at Michael's makes life easier with over 4 ,500 party supplies in 60 plus themes like Bluey, Rodeo, Soccer, Rainbow and more. Starting at just 99 cents, you can shop same day delivery or order online for pickup in store. And they even do free helium inflation on SelectBloonStyles. Michael's everything to celebrate anything. Visit Michael's in store or shop online now. I cannot tell a lie. My sinuses are blocked. George, you crossed the Delaware. You can cross congestion. Here, try Clear.

40:40Ah, freedom. Smells like victory. Celebrate 250 years of American independence with better breathing. Use code America250 for 20 % off checkout at clear.com. That's X-L-E-A-R.com. Clear. Breathe in the independence.