Friendly Foes FC
Friendly Foes FC
World Cup Special - Messi Greatness, Mbappe and Haaland Goal Competition and huge GOAT debate
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On today's episode we break down the last two days of the World Cup.
We discuss Messi breaking the all-time goalscoring record in World Cup history, but Mbappe is right behind him (and muuuch younger).
We also preview the Portugal vs Uzbekistan and Colombia vs DR Congo games.
Aaaaand we had a huge GOAT debate towards the end. Be sure to tune in!
The World Cup continues, and the friendly foes are here, back in action, giving you another episode during this World Cup that we have going on 2026 North America, U.S., Mexico, Canada. And what a day of football we had today because this has been the World Cup of records. This has been the World Cup of greatness. And today it all started with Argentina versus Austria winning two names. Messi scoring two goals, becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cup history, surpassing Miroslav Close with 18 goals. Now he did it first, but obviously scored 117, surpassed him, and he said, Not enough. Let me get one more in at the last minute. 18 goals now, leading goal scorer in World Cup history. But following right behind him, we got this little Frenchman, Killian Mbappe, 27-year-old, who already has a World Cup to his name, and also tied Middle's lap closer today with 16 goals in World Cup history. Amazing. And to top it all off, we had this little android, this little robot, Erling Holland over in Norway, participating in his first World Cup and already has four goals to his name. So Messi scored two, Mbappe scored two, Holland scored two. And as the fans, we are loving the greatness that we get to witness in this World Cup.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I cooked up a little parlay on the Hard Rock app. Putting Holland anytime goal scorer, Messi anytime goal scorer, and Mbappe anytime goal scorer. Five dollars to win 30. $5 to win 30. You got 30 bones? 30 bones, baby. 30 bones. 30 bucks caroonies. Dude, I should have spent like 10 bucks and I should have said they they were each gonna score two goals. I would have won like 700 bucks. I should have known. I should have known.
SPEAKER_01Hey, the more you learn, the more you learn, the more you know. Anywho, this is not sponsored by Hard Rock, by the way. But if you guys want to sponsor us, please hit us up.
SPEAKER_02Ronaldo jersey and everything, dude.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, we'll get we'll get to Ronaldo in a second here. But Messi, I mean, it was an amazing day of football because it was just back-to-back greatness, witnessing greatness, and we're so privileged to be watching this right now of these players just going back to back. It looks like they're battling against each other at all times. They they look at what each other's doing and they're like, I gotta, I gotta top that, I gotta top that, I gotta top that. And I love it. It's just it's the greatest sport in the world. This is why we love the beautiful game. I I can't get enough of it. This has been amazing. It's been amazing to watch. But let's start off with the uh the Argentina-Austria match. They win 2-0. It was a pretty convincing win. Austria defended pretty well, but Messi showed up again and that's all you needed. He missed a penalty, too.
SPEAKER_02It's like he didn't want to break the record that way.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. He didn't want to break the record that way. He's like, nah, this is too easy. This is too easy. I don't I don't want people saying, like, oh, I broke the record with a penalty or all these things. Like, I'm gonna miss on purpose. I'm gonna make it. That was a shit PK, too. That was terrible.
SPEAKER_02He carried it pretty bad. Almost as bad as when he skyrocketed it ten years ago in the Copamarica final against Chile. I don't know. He just can't take penalties in the U.S.
SPEAKER_01That's right. It was in the U.S. too. You're right. That's crazy. He cannot take penalties here. Well, apparently he can score other ways, though, because he got two more. He's still the only player of this World Cup to score for Argentina. Five goals for Argentina, five goals for Messi. Argentina's still with both clean sheets in these games against Algeria and against Austria. So playing very well defensively. But I mean, without Messi, I don't want to say there's a dependence on Messi too much because they're obviously a great team, but I mean, some of these players got to step up as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, it's just Messi right now. He's the only one that's scoring. You also have the Messi show. You got Julian Alvarez, you got McAllister, Enzo Fernandez. Enzo Fernandez didn't really do anything today, if I'm being honest with you. Was not doing much. But yeah, it's just it's the Messi show. I I'm I'm curious to see how Argentina's gonna do when Messi is completely gone. I'm sure they're gonna end up playing two strikers with Lautaro and Julian Ávvarez. Those are just gonna be the the top two up there. Julian Alvarez is gonna end up replacing Messi, but still, it's gonna leave a big, big hole in the team.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think Julian Ávvarez should be a starter. I think Lautaro has been a starter because Al Alvarez has been dealing with a bit of an injury, so he hasn't been able to play the full 90 yet, but I think once they start moving on in the later on in the World Cup. Yeah, and last World Cup, too. Yeah, last World Cup too.
SPEAKER_02So La Tato's a monster though. You can't go wrong with him. But Julian Alvarez does have the biggest.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he just hasn't been he hasn't been playing well or that great the past couple of games, in my opinion, Latato. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He was pissed off when he got subbed off today. You see that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, he was. I get it. Like they want to showcase themselves. He wants to score. He's a striker. He gets he gets probably more pissed off at himself that like he wasn't he wasn't scoring. Like he's there to score. And Messi, like you, like you said, missed a penalty, had a pretty quiet game up until that first goal. And then it looked for a little bit like Austria was knocking on the door, and then at the last minute, Messi scores again. A little bit of a moment of brilliance, and Julian Alvarez couldn't score. Messi tried, went off one of the defenders, then he just blasted it past three defenders, goes in, scores his second goal.
SPEAKER_02Wish that last defender could have just stuck, he could have stuck his foot out, and I feel like he was. He could have done a little bit more for sure.
SPEAKER_01He just let it go. Yeah. I think Messi just blasted it. So he he he was like caught off guard, but either way, yeah. Put a foot out. Argentina, Argentina's still looking pretty dangerous with Messi at 39 years old. And I gotta say, I mean, we talked about it last episode. I was not expecting Messi to be moving like that. He's 39 years old, bro. That's crazy. I was not expecting him. When does he turn 39? It's it's sometime this week. Like two days, man. Yeah. The 24th is when he turns 39. And he's still insane. He's still moving like that, bro.
SPEAKER_02He's still moving like that. So showing this young and what it's like.
unknownExactly.
SPEAKER_02Who's the next oldest player in Argentina? After Leo is who Depol? Probably like 31, 32.
SPEAKER_01No, I think it's Otamendi. Oh, you're right. You're right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, Otamendi. You're right.
SPEAKER_01Otamendi's been there for a while. Yeah, so it's Otamendi. Which he came on, Kuti Romero came off at like the 50th minute of the game. I wonder if he had a bit I think he had a bit of an injury. I think I saw some reports that it wasn't too serious.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, just precaution.
SPEAKER_01That was a little that was a little concerning at first because he came off head down. He was dealing with an injury beforehand prior to the World Cup. So I wonder if he's uh dealing with that again right now, this game. So but man, greatness. Yeah. Greatness. Argentina's gonna go as far as Messi wants to take them. Exactly. And they gotta they have a pretty clear path to go to make a deep run. Again, like we talked about last episode, semifinals, I think they could they can make it. Because up until the semis, they'll play. I think if, you know, if the stars align, and according to the bracket that I made, I think I have them facing Brazil in the semis. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Let's see how it stands right now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know how it stands right now. It all changes, but I have all changed. But out there two games, if if things if the stars align and the positions stay the way they are with Brazil topping their group, England topping their group, they're more than likely gonna face either Brazil or England in the semis. They're more than likely gonna face either Colombia or Portugal in the quarterfinals. So up until the quarterfinals, they have a softer path to get there.
SPEAKER_02They'll most likely play. Well, right now they play Uruguay. We'll see how they do against uh you got a must-win game against Spain, which that's gonna be really tough. That's gonna be a tough one. So Uruguay is actually playing for their lives right now. Hold on a second.
SPEAKER_01Let's go through. Let's touch on Uruguay for like two minutes because what a disaster it's been for Uruguay, this World Cup. Because they are a World Cup champion, two-time World Cup champion. If you ask Uruguays, they're a four-time World Cup champion, but whatever, two-time World Cup champion, 15-time Copa America champion, and they come into this World Cup. Last World Cup in 2022, they got grouped, and they're about to get grouped again. And it's not like they've been facing Germany, France, Spain, Argentina. No, they faced the almighty Saudi Arabia, and then they faced the almighty Cape Verde, which, hey man, shout out to Cape Verde, man. Because they came out and they're showing everybody that they didn't they didn't come here just to mess around, they didn't come here just to be a part of the show. They came here to play and show everybody who Cape Verde is and what the Cape Verdeans are about. So shout out to all the Cape Verdeans out there because they are showing out, they are a true legitimate dark horse in this competition who you do not want to go up against. I saw a stat that Mr. Chip put out there that they are the first team that in their first two games in a World Cup they take points away from a World Cup champion. First team to ever do that in their first two World Cup opening matches. Wow. Kurde. That is a crazy stat.
SPEAKER_02How does this guy come up with those stats, bro?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, man.
SPEAKER_00I don't know what I don't know how these who his team is or anything, but that little bald guy, man.
SPEAKER_01He he's got it all like in here, bro. He's he's got all the stats. He's got all the stats.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, I think he like made up his own system, algorithm, everything. He's just he's got how he does it. Mr. Chief.
SPEAKER_01Mr. Chip. Shout out to Mr. Chief. I get a lot of info out of him. So good, good for him. But yeah, Uruguay making Conmewall look bad. Ecuador also making Conmewall look bad. I had equal to the biggest.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm not gonna lie. That keeper from Curaçao was insane.
SPEAKER_01He was most saves. 15 saves most ever in a World Cup match, 90-minute World Cup match, because Tim Howard still holds the record for any World Cup match ever against Belgium back in 2014. But he holds the record for the most saves in a 90-minute match at the World Cup. And this guy, he plays for Miami FC down at USL. Yeah. Miami FC. Isn't that crazy, dude? 37 years old. Eloy Room.
SPEAKER_02Man, what a beautiful dude. He was now I feel like if Ener Valencia was at least, I don't know, six years old. Someone competent? Yeah, he he definitely would have put those in. At least, dude, because I don't know. He had basically like out of those 15 shots, I feel like 10 of those were Ener Valencia's.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Bro, like he could not do it, bro.
SPEAKER_01He just could not go through this guy. Dude, I was talking, I was talking to Ronnie from Soccer View for a little bit because I was like, man, what's going on with Ecuador? Like, I had you guys going dark as a dark horse. And uh he was just saying, he's pissed. He was I know Ecuadorians are pissed, but he was saying, man, like our coach is just not giving us the right system. And he talked about it last time whenever he was on with us. They're really good defensively, but offensively, they struggle, man.
SPEAKER_02And well, that's all they have. They have good center backs and fucking uh what's his name? Moist. And then everybody's Kendrick's dude. Yeah, but then this Kendrick, he's so young, bro. I mean, I know everyone explained them all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, give him an opportunity. I'm saying give him an opportunity, man. Like, how are you gonna keep that guy on the bench? Like, you need a goal, you keep this young talent on the bench. Like, let it give him, like, let him go out there, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So there's a lot of pressure on Sebastian Becassese right now. He's he is not the most liked man right now in Ecuador. Ecuador on the brink of getting grouped as well.
SPEAKER_02That's crazy. He reminds me of uh the Peruvian coach, the old one. What's his name? Oh my goodness. Yes, he looks exactly like him, dude.
SPEAKER_01He does, like a younger version of him. Anyway, so Ecuador looking really bad. Now, Ecuador has to win against Germany, and Uruguay has to win against Spain. Man, it's gonna be really difficult for those two. Marcelo Villas is on the hot seat. Sebastian Becasses is on the hot seat, Uruguay's are pissed off, Ecuadorians are pissed off, they're making South America look bad over here. Yeah. I need a South America.
SPEAKER_02Uruguay's really pissed off, man. Those Uruguaines are pissed out of the hard rock stadium. I saw some interviews. They were like, this is unacceptable. They have no respect for all the fans that traveled all the way over here, spent all this money, and they can't even freaking win. They can't get a win. They're playing in Miami, too, bro.
SPEAKER_01Like it's like home advantage right there. Well, and it's and it's not even, it's it's not like they're playing against an extremely difficult rival. It's not like they're playing against, like I said, not against France, not against Spain, not against England, no Brazil, no Argentina, no nothing. It's against Cape Verde, who is participating in their first World Cup. They have a population of like 500,000 people, and they're playing against Saudi Arabia. Like, no disrespect to these nations, but they're just not powerful nations. We're talking about Uruguay has 150,000. And Curaçao is 150,000, yeah. But I'm talking about Uruguay in particular. Yeah. I'm talking about Uruguay in particular, who's a World Cup champion, two-time World Cup champion. They don't play like it. That's the thing. Like they live a lot in the past. Uruguayans live a lot in the past.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. They won that like what? In the 30s? A hundred years. The first one, yeah. What the hell is that? 100 years ago. Like nobody was alive. No, like nobody here today saw Uruguay win a World Cup. Literally.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Nobody. That's the thing.
SPEAKER_01It's like Uruguay's still living off of their history, man. And listen, man, I root for Uruguay, root for the success of South American teams, but a lot of times, like these Uruguayans, they get a little bit too cocky about their history. And you gotta, you gotta, you gotta start playing like a World Cup champion.
SPEAKER_02Their talent just isn't that good anymore. You used to have Diego Forlan, Luis Suárez, Edison Calani, and now you just have Darwin Nunez. El Loco Aureu. Man.
SPEAKER_01Diego Godin. Diegoin, Lugano. Diego Lugano. Musletta's been there for a long ass time. I feel like I've been watching Musletta play for Uruguay since I was forever, bro. Yeah. So it's like Buffon. Literally. Darwin Nunez was supposed to be the next big thing, the next come up, the best, the next big season. He had one good season in Benfica. That's it. He's just still riding it. Now he's in Saudi Arabia making TikToks for fun.
SPEAKER_02I mean Yeah, dude, he's not even killing it over there. He should be. No, no, no. My goodness, he's just, I don't know. I don't know. That fall off has to be studied. Because yeah, he was supposed to be him and Holland came into the Premier League the same season. That's right, yeah. And everybody was comparing them. Oh, these are going to be the two best strikers. These are going to be the two next strikers that we're going to be comparing in the Premier League. Holland is a good thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, these are going to be like the new two big things. Yeah. Holland is freaking killing it in Man City, scoring four World Cup goals in the first two games. And Darwin Junius is still going to figure out how to braid his own hair. It's freaking insane, dude. Anyway, so that that's a little bit of that. Lamin Yamal scored his first World Cup goal yesterday against Saudi Arabia. Uh becomes, I think he's like in the top ten or youngest goal scorers ever in a World Cup. This was his first World Cup start. He scores Oyarisával, redeemed himself, scored two goals, and then uh an own goal. It was like Cukuraya got involved in there somehow, but there was an own goal, 4-0. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big big win for Spain there. So that was that was comfortable win.
SPEAKER_02Comfortable win. I thought Saudi was gonna give him a little bit more problems, but I think after Cape Verde, they were like, all right, we can't mess this up against Saudi.
SPEAKER_01No, they they couldn't. I mean, they should have had two comfortable wins there for Spain, and Uruguay should have been pretty, you know, easy one and two. And boy, these two teams or Cape Verde specifically gave gave these two teams, these two World Cup winning teams, a heck of a run for their money. And Cape Verde could potentially come out of their group. If they beat Saudi Arabia and Uruguay loses, we're talking about Cape Verde coming in second place. Now, the downside of that is they got to play Argentina more than likely the next round if they come in second.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02But if I'm Argentina, they could also come out as one of the best third plays, too, I think.
SPEAKER_01They could, yeah, potentially, like depending on the result. Uh it all depends. All I'm saying is that if they beat Saudi and Uruguay loses to Spain, Spain beats Uruguay, Cave Verde comes in second.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01That would be a historic achievement. Then they play Argentina, but if I'm Argentina, I'd rather play with Uruguay than Cape Verde. Well, yeah you know exactly where you're gonna get with Uruguay. I would not want to play Kerr Verde, man. These guys, I don't know, man. They're just a very difficult opponent.
SPEAKER_02It feels like Argentina would win 1-0 with a penalty.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Something like that. Or like a free kick or like some like weird owned goal or like a weird, like like that last goal that Messi scored today, that's how they would win. Yeah. Something along those lines. It would have to be a moment of brilliance by Messi just because Kay Verde has shown that they are a very difficult team to play against, man. They're very organized defensively. Again, they're not here to mess around, they're here to play. They're here to show the world who they are and what they're about. And Vocinha, man, he's he's been he's been having a great tournament. But yeah, I'd rather play Uruguay just because you can tell Uruguay the dressing room's falling apart, the players don't have the confidence. Uh Marcelo Yelsa doesn't really have the authority in the dressing room. I would much rather play Uruguay if I'm Argentina than play Cape Verde. Yeah. Because Cape Verde has nothing to lose. Uruguay, on the other hand, they got a lot to lose. But anyway, moving on. Again, we talked about it at the top of the episode. Mbappe scores two more goals again today against Iraq. France won comfortably three to zero, had a huge delay because of the thunderstorms over there in Philly. Almost like that. They thought they were gonna have to. Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, those are the worst. Weather delays are the worst. But the show got to be.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. Iraq. I didn't like that.
SPEAKER_01No, no, it was messing up my messing up my vibe. Yeah, it's like I can't focus on two games in one like this. Exactly. But and but lasso, that's striking. Woo, that first goal was insane. They're so stacked. I mean, the fact that Ryan Cherkey like barely plays, and Ryan Turkey's a baller, man.
SPEAKER_02It's which I don't know. I feel like he should give him some minutes, but he likes Olise in the middle as a number 10. He does.
SPEAKER_01I mean, him and Dembelli kind of switch off. Yeah. And that has proven to work really well. Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02But Francisco switching between Barcolo and Dewey. And Dewey? Dewey. I call him. Yeah, Dewey, yeah. Dewey.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, out on the left. Those seem to be his two options out on the left. I don't think Cherky's a left-winger. I think he's more of a central number 10 type of type of player.
SPEAKER_02I think exactly. I just think he likes right now Dembele and Elise switching off in that number 10.
SPEAKER_01And they linked up for Dembele's first ever World Cup goal today against Iraq. And that worked out perfectly. Dembele also got an insist to Mbappe. That second goal was a bit of a fluke. Huge mistake there in the backboard of Iraq. But overall, France look is still very convincing, very good. Mbappe is a scary player, man. He is he is a scary, scary player. He's so good. And in these big moments, for whatever reason, he was he was like born to play in the World Cup. He was honestly tournament, man.
SPEAKER_02By the time his career ends, he might be the greatest player to play in the World Cup. He might. Who knows? Because I mean, bro, he's he's he's played in this is his third World Cup, his first two finals, he was a top goalscorer for one of them, already won one. He's got at least two other World Cups left. They're those heavy favorites for this world. For this one, them in Spain. I mean, bro, he could easily win at least one more World Cup. He could. And it's like France is a is a team that, okay, like, for example, Griezmann retired. You got Olysse, you got Cherky, you got Dembele, all right there, bro. Griezmann is a Juga Orazo. He leaves, no problem. It's almost like they're better. Same with Pogba. Pogba was like one of the best midfielders in the world. Pogba. All his personal shit that happened to him, no problem. Like, bro, it's just crazy how they can just fill in roles so easily. Fucking Varon and uh Umtiti, they were the the World Cup winners. Umtiti, that was when Umtiti was like at his prime. Varon had just won the Champions League three times in a row. Those two are gone. Who do they have? They have Saliva Nupamekano. No problem. It's just like they just sub him in like it's nothing. Bro. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they got all these players blossoming out of nowhere. No, it's it's really not fair. And I'm sure they probably got more coming up in the pipeline that we don't even know about. I mean, obviously Kitika didn't make it. He's he's uh he was injured. There was probably some players that haven't even made the squad and some other young players that we're we've still yet to know.
SPEAKER_02But maybe Berlan Mendy was not even in there. Berlan Mendi's the best left back defensively in the world. Imagine if he would be in there right now. My goodness.
SPEAKER_01That's right, because I mean he deals with so many injuries, but he is a really, really good left back. Kamavinga.
SPEAKER_02I mean, he didn't have the best season for Madrid, but he's not a scum, bro. He that guy couldn't play.
SPEAKER_01Freaking Benzema, Benzema wasn't even part of the World Cup winning squad.
SPEAKER_02You can afford to not have one of the best strikers of our generation, and you still win the World Cup.
SPEAKER_01Insane.
SPEAKER_02And they went to the European uh final as well without him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, back in 2016, yeah. Yeah. Crazy, bro. Yeah, they're they're a stacked team. So listen, I mean, Mbappe has the potential to make history. I mean, he's still young, he's 27, like you said, is his third World Cup. He's gonna smash that goal scoring record. I mean mash it. Messi's enjoying it right now just for a little bit, but he knows it's not gonna last. No, he could he could overtake Messi like next game. Like, who knows, right? Like, because Messi's at 18 here. It's gonna be fun watching them. It's good. That's what I'm saying. It's gonna be fun watching the back and forth and all these things. And and Mbappe has 16 goals in 16 World Cup games. That's insanity to me. Yeah, no, this is definitely his tournament. This is it. He was born to play in the World Cup, man. Like, whatever it is, and he he shows up, he knows what the crowd wants, and he scores, and he plays well, and he delivers for his country. He's a phenomenal player. He's very, very exciting to watch, especially at these tournaments. And then that leads me to the Android, the robot. Erling Holland himself, Norway appearing in a World Cup for the first time. When was the last time? Finally.
SPEAKER_0228 years ago.
SPEAKER_0128 years ago, man. So this is the first time in 28 years that Norway has been to a World Cup, and what an entrance that they've made. Beating Iraq 4-1, beating Senegal today 3-2, and Erling Holland at 25 years of age making his first World Cup appearance says, I'm here. This is gonna be my tournament as well. Scores four goals in two games. And again, it's beautiful to watch that man like this little competition that the strikers and they they all have with each other. See Mbappe score two, sees Messi score two. I want to score more. And it's beautiful to see. This is why we love the World Cup is we get to watch the best players in the world playing for their nation, representing their nation, and Holland does it again.
SPEAKER_02That dude is literally a robot, bro. He's a machine. He anything he touches, he scores. He literally falls. He scores in his sleep, bro. This guy is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01And he could have had at least one more. There was that one where he stole from the goalkeeper that that hit off the post. Yeah, yeah. He could have had at least one more. Wow, we had plenty of gifts today. Ton of gifts, man. We had a ton of gifts. We were very, very blessed. We were privileged to watch some of the games today. And man, the Norway, Norway fans, bro. We talked about it last episode, but shout out to those Norway fans. I love seeing them row. And at the end, you saw the players getting in it with the fans out on the field. Autograde was hitting the drum while everybody was rowing at once. That's insane. I didn't know that many Norwegians traveled in that pack together, man. There was, I feel like all of Norway's here in the U.S. freaking ridiculous.
SPEAKER_02Dude, did you see them overtake New York City? Yeah, they were doing that. Yeah. They were insane.
SPEAKER_01I've seen a lot of fan bases take over Times Square and it's been pretty cool. I saw Brazilians take over, Algerian fans, Argentinian fans, Colombian fans, now Norway fans, Scottish fans. It's been freaking fantastic.
SPEAKER_02You gotta love to see it, man. No, people definitely know the World Cup's going on here for sure. It's not like it was in '94 where nobody knew what the hell soccer was. Exactly. Everybody knows what's happening, right?
SPEAKER_01People look outside and they started seeing the Tartan Army, the Scottish Tartan Army, shouting their chants and doing all these things and Super John McGinn. And then you got the Norwegians talking about whoosh. And then you look to the left and you got the Dutch going da da da da da da da da da da da da da da.
SPEAKER_04It's everything.
SPEAKER_01And then you look in the back and the USA is like, I believe, I believe. Our chance suck, bro.
SPEAKER_02Our chants are stuck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I do like the ugly that we were when I said that last time.
SPEAKER_01I do I think it's a little corny, but whatever.
SPEAKER_02I like it. We'll work on the chance. You forgot the Japanese fans too, cleaning up the stadiums.
SPEAKER_01The Japanese fans. I mean they're making headlines for beauties, man. And we got the Korean fans down in Mexico chugging tequila with the Mexican fans. We've seen the Mexican fans down in Mexico doing great things. Colombian fans overtaking Mexico City. I think they overtook Freakana again today. Wow. That's pretty badass. Beautiful. This is the beauty of the World Cup, man. It's not even so it's it's both things. It's seeing talent on the field. Yeah. Seeing the talent on the field, but also seeing the entire world come together and being able to appreciate different cultures and seeing all these fans travel and see how much it means to them to watch their country, watch their national team out in the the world's biggest stage and them supporting it like that, it's awesome. It's awesome. So we love to see it, man. We got a little bit of Jordan Algeria going on right now. Uh 0-0 just started about eight minutes in. These two teams, one of them's got to win because Argentina just put on a great performance, and both of these teams lost last time. So they got they're obligated to win here if they want something to happen. But uh Argentina mathematically qualified onto the next round, yet to see what position that they come in, but they're mathematically qualified. Tomorrow we got some big games because we had some superstars showing out today, and tomorrow we got more superstars playing. We got Harry Kane, England versus Ghana, we got Luka Molitic, Croatia versus Panama. We got Cristiano Ronaldo, I see you got the jersey behind him. We got Portugal versus Uzbekistan, and we got Colombia versus Congo, Luis Diaz, Hamas, Cucho Hernandez, and company are playing. Colombia papa. And it could not be more exciting. We'll see how these big stars react. Harry Kane reacted perfectly. He scored two himself. We'll see if Ronaldo wakes up. What's going on with Ronaldo, man? What's going on with Portugal? What do you think is gonna happen with Portugal? Let's talk about that.
SPEAKER_02He's got to join the party, man. He's got to join the party. There's too many stars scoring and he's being left out. He's got FOMO right now. So I think tomorrow El Bicho's gonna wake up. He has to. He has to. He sees everybody scoring. He sees Haaland having a good time. He's seeing Mbappe enjoying himself. He's seeing Messi having a whole nother, what's it called? Another uh Yeah, yeah. He he he he's having a whole nother juventud, basically. Yeah. So he has to, he has to score at least two goals tomorrow. That's it.
SPEAKER_01We'll see. I mean it's a good one. Uzbekistan's gonna give him a hard time. What's your prediction for Portugal Uzbekistan? 3-0 Portugal. 3-0 Portugal. Wow. Yeah. Wow, wow. I think they tie. Two for three. I think they're gonna tie.
SPEAKER_02That actually would be awesome for Colombia.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that would be fantastic for Colombia. I think it's gonna be a draw against Uzbekistan. I think Uzbekistan's gonna give them a really hard time defensively. Offensively, I mean they can't put more than five passes together. But defensively, they're very well organized, and that's what killed Portugal last game against Congo. And it looks like they may be having some problems in the dressing room already with the whole Jaw Nevis thing going on. I don't know if they address it or not, but there may be things going on. I feel like they did internally.
SPEAKER_02I I've heard some good reports from the Portuguese training camp. I've heard Ronaldo's happy he's had a good attitude. He's kind of just put that behind. We'll see.
SPEAKER_01You know, I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be a 1-1. I think it's gonna be a low-scoring game. I think Ronaldo's gonna score off a penalty. I think he will score, but I think he'll score off a penalty, and then you know, he'll be like, I score the penalties, Messi doesn't.
SPEAKER_02That's true. That's true. He he does score the penalties, and Messi doesn't. That is something Ronaldo's better at scoring penalties. Man.
SPEAKER_01So let me let me ask you this. Let me ask you that like for real, for real. Even after the past four years, even after seeing everything that's happened towards the latter stages of their career between Messi and Ronaldo, do you still believe in your heart of hearts that Ronaldo is the greatest of all time and that he's greater than Messi?
SPEAKER_02Dude, there's nobody more complete than Ronaldo. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody's at his prime, nobody was faster than him, nobody was stronger than him, nobody was more skillful than him. His shot, bro, he can shoot it with his left foot, right foot, he can kill you in the air. He's one of the most complete players in history. So, yes, I do think he is the GOAT. I'm not saying that he's gonna be able to do that. Only because of one tournament, I'm not gonna base the GOAT conversation off of one tournament. Off of seven games, bro. Listen, Ronaldo, Ronaldo made Portugal relevant. Ronaldo, yes, I am going there. Ronaldo does not have a lot of things. Don't do the seven game thing. Don't do the seven game thing. I'm not basing it off of seven, I'm doing it, yes. No, it's seven games, bro.
SPEAKER_01It's seven games, bro. It is it's seven games, but it's the greatest seven games in the history of the season.
SPEAKER_02You're right, but we're not gonna we're not gonna base a GOAT conversation off of a World Cup. Okay, Messi's got one.
SPEAKER_01Here's the thing Ronaldo hasn't even played seven games in the World Cup. He hasn't even gotten to that point yet. So it's not even been seven games for him. It's been the most has been what?
SPEAKER_02Uh I think actually he semifinals, and then they play the third place game. Think again. They third place game. You're right, yeah. So he has played seven games. But anyway. Yes. And that was his first World Cup. He killed it. But dude, listen, Ronaldo made Portugal relevant. Portugal was absolutely nothing before Ronaldo came there. And now they got three titles with Cristiano Ronaldo at the helm. I'll give him a lot of people. Argentina's always been something. Argentina has been something before Messi was even born. You know? But yeah, Messi's great. I'll give him that. He's got the World Cup. Cool. Great. Got some help from the refs too. Can't deny that. But I don't care that Ronaldo doesn't have a World Cup. If he doesn't win a World Cup this year, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't. He's still gonna be up there for me. I'm not gonna base the GO conversation off of just the World Cup. Ronaldo is such a complete player. He's won so many trophies with so many different teams. He's done it in the Serie A. He's done it in the Premier League. He's done it in La Liga. He's doing it in Al Nasser, one of the greatest leagues in the world. The SPL. I mean, bro, he's won in his national team. Yeah, he didn't win the biggest one, but that's okay. They had never even won anything before Cristiano Ronaldo came into the picture. So that's all right. Messi's got his World Cup. Congratulations, Messi. We'll see if Ronaldo can finish off his career with a World Cup, too. But it's alright. If he doesn't, it's all right. He doesn't need it. He doesn't need it. His resume really doesn't need it. It will be nice, don't get me wrong. It will be beautiful. It would be great. But I mean, it's it's not gonna determine a GOAT status for me.
SPEAKER_01That's crazy, man. The World Cup is the greatest tournament of all time. It's not just seven games. I know Ronaldo tried saying that it's just seven games or whatever. That's just a bunch of baloney, man. It's where the stars come out to shine, and Ronaldo hasn't been able to shine in particular World Cups, man. Got grouped back in 2014 by the great U.S. team. It's crazy to me. I was thinking about this the other day, that Messi in 2014 got more criticism by taking Argentina to the final and winning the golden ball that tournament than Ronaldo did. Than Ronaldo did, and Ronaldo left in the group stage of that tournament. Messi has never been grouped ever in his career in any tournament that he's played. Has never been grouped.
SPEAKER_02Who do you think has been surrounded? Who do you think has been surrounded better better in their international careers? Messi or Ronaldo?
SPEAKER_01I think it's been on par. I don't think anybody, I don't think Messi, because if we look at the Argentinian team, I think attacking-wise, Argentina had some really, really strong players, right? In Di Maria, Cunagüero, La Vesi, Carlos Teves. But you look at the team that Ronaldo has right now, and that the team that he's had the past probably like four or five years, and it's been a strong team. Like it's like there's there's no debating that. Right now, he's got the best midfield behind him. Yes. He's got some really strong defenders in Rubin Diaz and Gonzalo Inacio, great fullbacks in Joao Cancelo and Nuno Mendes. And the Portuguese golden generation started around the Cristiano Ronaldo era. I mean, he played alongside Figo, he played alongside Deco, he played alongside uh Rui Costa, he played alongside Nani, he played alongside uh Pauleta, he played alongside uh Tiago, Manice. These are all great players. But they didn't win it. I think they've been I think they've been on par. Like, I don't like if you look at the World Cup in 2014, Messi, the the the Argentinian team, it was a it wasn't like the greatest team ever. I mean, it wasn't like Ray and God.
SPEAKER_02They had a better team on paper than Ronald than Portugal and Ronaldo did for sure. Back in 2014?
SPEAKER_01I I would say so, yeah. Maybe a little bit, maybe on paper. But but it's not like it was that much. Like I don't think it's about I don't think it's about the help. I I think that these two players, we saw it today with Messi. I think you saw you see what Argentina is without Messi, and they're there they would have two points, no goals this World Cup so far.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, that's true. It it's it's it's insane. I would I would also say in Argentina there's way more pressure than there is in Portugal.
SPEAKER_01Like, well, because like you said, the history of Portugal, and one thing one thing to give credit to Ronaldo to is that yeah, he has brought Portugal to be a very, very high and respectable nation and comes to when it comes to football. Prior to Ronaldo starting his uh career for Portugal, Portugal had only been to three World Cups ever since he started. They've been to every single one. And like you said, now they have they have a European trophy, they got two Nations League, which like whatever we can talk about how prestigious the Nations League hitters are not. At the end of the day, it's a tournament, they won it, they won it twice. Good for them. He put he's helped put Portugal on the map. And that's what the difference's been was for so long internationally, is that Ronaldo never really had that pressure to produce for Portugal because Portugal had never produced anything. Whereas Messi had that shadow of him being compared to Maralona ever since he was 18.
SPEAKER_02Exactly.
SPEAKER_01And he he it was looming over his head forever to the point where he retired in 2016 because he just couldn't, he almost didn't even want to deal with that pressure anymore. Because he took he went to three finals back to back to back, 2014, 15, and 16, lost every single one. Two of them in a penalty shootout, one of them in overtime. I mean, that's gotta that that's gotta drive you insane.
SPEAKER_02At the prime of his career, too.
SPEAKER_01At the prime of his career. So to have that looming over your head for so long, and you could tell whenever he put on the Argentina jersey, it it was like a mental battle that he had. Because he's obviously proved he was one of the greatest, but he had so much pressure to prove it with Argentina because of Maradona and everybody there. Literally, that the way they would criticize Messi over there was insane. They would tell him to never return, take the jersey off, you're lazy, uh, don't ever put on the Argentinian jersey again. You're more Spanish than you are Argentine, all these things, like crazy things. And to be able to deal with that pressure and to then afterwards, after you turn 30, which typically after a player turns 30, they start declining. It's like Messi went like started going, becoming even better, specifically with the Argentinian team, because right after the 2018 World Cup, a lot of people thought that was his last one. Lost four to three against France in the round of 16. Had a the Argentina had a terrible tournament. They had a lot of locker room drama that that year as well, with Sampauli in charge. They were never gonna go far that tournament. And then Lionel Scaloni gets announced in 2019 as an interim. Everybody hated that hire because he didn't have any experience. And now look at where he's taking them. And to have that mental fortitude for Messi to literally retire internationally and to go on to win back-to-back Copa Mericas and to win a World Cup and to win a finalissima, and now to be doing this at the age of 39 in a World Cup, I mean, that's what I'm talking about. Like I think the the the debate between Ronaldo and Messi made more sense to me 10 years ago. It doesn't make any sense to me now. It it it doesn't. It it genuinely I look at the careers that they both had, and obviously Ronaldo has had a great career, but specifically in the last like five years or so, seeing how Messi just continues to be great and continuing to shut everybody up, whereas Ronaldo is can just continues to decline and decline and decline. It's almost like Ronaldo to me should have retired years ago because now he's making he's just making himself look worse and worse and worse as days go on.
SPEAKER_02No, I don't think he's declined. I mean, well, obviously he's 41 now. Yes. Now he's gonna be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and he's 41. Obviously, he's he's a little bit older. He's still in tip top shape, he's still a great athlete, all these things.
SPEAKER_02But yes, but if you look at his career after 30, he won most of the Balon de Oros after 30. He scored more than half of his goals after he turned 30 years old. Just last year, he beat Lamin Yamal in the Nations League final with Portugal. Just last year, he scored a goal. So I I mean, the last five years, maybe Messi has been a little better. Yeah, he's won the World Cup, obviously. I feel like he's got more spotlight in the MLS than Ronaldo has in Saudi League. Well, obviously, we live here, so we we we see more of what Messi's doing here. But I mean, it it really just comes down to what he's done internationally. Yeah, Messi has got that World Cup. That's that's really all it is. And right now, yeah, I guess these past two game games, Messi has killed it. He has killed it. Obviously, he scored five goals, but we'll see how Ronaldo responds tomorrow. And the SPL, he's still killing it. I know it's the Saudi league, but he's still killing it. Messi's in the MLS. Yeah, he's killing it, but it's the MLS. I mean, really, I I think though the only difference is Messi has a World Cup. That's it. Messi has a World Cup.
SPEAKER_01I don't think that's it, too. I mean, we can talk about like resume, who has a better resume and all these things. I think the only thing that Ronaldo on a resume has better than Messi is that he scored more goals and that he has more Champions Leagues. I think that's it. Messi has more titles, Messi has more individual awards, Messi has more Ballon d'Or, more golden boots, uh, more Pichichis. They, whenever they were playing in the same league against against each other in La Liga, Messi won six, Ronaldo won two. Pichich. No, I'm talking about La Ligas. I'm talking about league titles. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Yes, yes. So they played each other in a Champions League final, Barcelona and Messi won, right? All these things. And then just to me, like aside from all of that, just watching what Messi does with the ball, I it it's I it's something that I can't even explain. Because the things that I've seen Messi do, I've seen nobody else do. Literally no one. Like his goal against Getafe, his goal against Athletic Bilbao, his assist against Croatia in 2022. These things that I see, and I'm like, I've I've never I don't see anything like this. Because not only is he the greatest goal scorer of all time, he's the greatest passer of all time, he's the greatest dribbler of all time, he's all in one. What what literally I'm gonna like I it's like at a loss of words. I don't even know how else to describe him. And to still see him doing this at the age of 39, he was in the last minute of the game, 95th minute, takes the ball from half field, sprints, gives Julian Alvarez a perfect ball, still coming in to the box to try to finish it off and scores the goal. Brother, I mean nobody's denying his greatness.
SPEAKER_02He he's he's ridiculous for sure. But I mean, you you said the past five years, that's when it hasn't made sense to you.
SPEAKER_01And I mean, yeah, maybe I mean it made more sense to me, like whenever, like after Ronaldo won the Euros and like he had like back to back to back champions leagues and all these things. And I like I would understand why people would choose Ronaldo. I'd never I'd never thought of it that way because of what I saw with my own eyes and the way that them two played. But I could understand back then in like 2016, 2017. 2017, 2018. I could I could understand. Whatever since then, it's kind of been pretty lopsided.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, the only thing I I would say Messi has over Ronaldo since then is just the World Cup. Which, yeah, that's the biggest prize of all, obviously. But again, it's not just the World Cup game.
SPEAKER_00He's got more balancers, he's got more golden boots, he's got more titles, he's got more league.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay. He has. Yes. That's all he has over Ronaldo in the past five years, is the World Cup. Because they both play in like pretty much.
SPEAKER_00Well, you say it like it's just like you say like it's a backyard trophy. Like they're like they're going out to play bigger. All he has is the World Cup.
SPEAKER_02You're saying it like the difference is like so big. I don't even understand why people are comparing Messi and Ronaldo anymore. But it's it's not only just the World Cup, it's the way they play.
SPEAKER_01Like you look at him, look at Ronaldo, what he how he played against Congo. Just look at how he played against Congo and look at what Messi's been doing the past couple of games. Like just that. Look at what Messi did in the World Cup in 2022.
SPEAKER_02Different playing styles. Ronaldo's not always getting involved like how Messi is. Ronaldo right now is just trying to play like Holland. I think that's my point. Give me the ball and I'm gonna fucking score it. Yeah, it's completely different. That's my point. Ronaldo is like another Ronaldo's a machine, bro. Ronaldo, just give me the ball and I'm gonna just fucking score every single time. Yes, Messi likes to dribble more, create more. I get it. Yes, it it's all just personal preference. It's all it's all what you Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01At the end of the day, it is it is personal preference. But that I think that that's my point, is that nowadays Ronaldo is like, give me the ball and I'll score. Whereas Messi's like, let me go get the ball and I'll either make you score or I'll score myself. Like we saw it today. He gave the ball perfectly to Julián Alvarez, he couldn't score, and he was like, you know what? Let me show you how it's done.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I mean, we'll see how Ronaldo responds tomorrow. I think he's gonna want to join the party and he's got major FOMO. We'll see what he does. He he wants people talking about him too. They're talking about all the big stars except him.
SPEAKER_01So people are talking about him, but they're saying he should get off the team. It's not talking about them positively. Slots on Terry on Reed, they're all talking about him to get off. The people in Television podcast.
SPEAKER_02Ronaldo has ever had. And I think it's so funny that those two are the biggest haters because those are the two they've always wanted to be where Ronaldo is. Always. And they never were that. And they are so mad, it kills them inside every freaking day, especially Ibrahimovich. But both of them, they it keeps them up at night that Ronaldo has five Ballon de Oros and they have none. It really does. I know it does. When they asked Speed again in the USA versus in the USA versus Paraguay match, they asked Speed, they were like, What do you think is gonna win the World Cup? Obviously, Speed was like Ronaldo and Portugal, and then they both looked at each other and then just dropped the mic and they're just like, bro, get out of here. Like anybody, if Speed would have said anybody else, they would have been like, oh yeah, yeah, cool, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Oh, Messi, oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Messi, Messi is gonna win it. But no, since it's Ronaldo, they gotta be the biggest Ronaldo haters, man. They cannot stand him. They just can't. Those are the two biggest Ronaldo haters I've ever met in my life. Thierry Henry and Slatan Ibrahimovic. Every time they talk about him, they got no zest in them. Nothing. It's just like you can just sense how much hatred that they have towards Ronaldo. And it's all because they could never be what Ronaldo is right now. Especially that fucker Slatin, bro. Slatan Ibrahimovich, I know it keeps him up at night, bro. I know it does. I know it really does. He even had an anecdote one time in uh what was it? I think in Inter Milan, I forgot who it was with, but they were sleeping in a hotel room, and then he woke him up and was like, dude, I just had a dream that Ronaldo was better than me. And whoever it was that he told that dream to, he was like, dude, relax. You're better than Ronaldo, you're the best. Just go back to sleep. But it keeps him up at night, bro. It keeps him up at night. If he was thinking about that back when you heard that Inter Milan, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just I can't remember who the teammate it was. But yeah, if he was thinking about that back in Inter Milan, I know it still keeps him up at night today, bro.
SPEAKER_01It probably does. Zlatan is one of those guys that has a lot of confidence in him and he doesn't like to admit that people are better than him.
SPEAKER_02He'll admit that Messi's better than him, but he will not admit Ronaldo's better than him. And Ronaldo beat him too in the playoffs in 2013 to go to the World Cup in 2014.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Ronaldo scored, I think it was 2-0 the first game and then 1-0, something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no, wait, no, no, no. Hold up. No, Slothan scored like two in there. It was 1-1 in the 1-0 and then 2-2. Slatan scored two goals, Ronaldo scored two goals, and then I think the next game, it was 1-0 and Ronaldo scored the only goal. That was crazy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, probably Slotton is a little bit uh jealous. They probably are. And they I mean they both also played with Messi. So they saw they saw both Messi do some nasty things in training.
SPEAKER_02100%, but their egos are so big, they know that they were one of the best players in the world when they were playing. And the fact that Ronaldo has five Balandoros and they have zero just makes their skin crawl.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they're probably like, this makes no sense.
SPEAKER_02I was just as good at this guy. Like they think so, but they were nowhere near as good. Neither of them. They they might think so, but no. Nowhere near as good.
SPEAKER_01Man. Anyway, that was a bit of a diversion of uh a discussion, but Colombia, Congo, who's gonna win this game? It's obviously Colombia. What's gonna be what's gonna be your your score prediction? I gave they gave Portugal a pretty tough time.
SPEAKER_02I want to say 2-0.
SPEAKER_01I think it's gonna be a low-scoring game too. I I also think it's gonna be 2-0. Hopefully we can keep a clean sheet. It's gonna be tough. I think the only thing that we got going for us is that we we're basically the home team wherever we go, especially down in Mexico. I mean, you you look out on that stadium and it's gonna be filled with yellow jerseys. So it's gonna be super exciting. I hope that the boys come out and they play well. We need it. We need this win. We get that W and we're on to the next round. That's it. That's all we gotta think about.
SPEAKER_02And if Portugal and Uzbekistan tie, that would be so best case scenario. Best case scenario. I feel bad for my boy Ronaldo, but hey man.
SPEAKER_01For Colombia, that would be beautiful. Chef's kiss. Chef's kiss. It would be amazing. So, and we'll be here to break it all down afterwards as well. And we're gonna we'll put some content out there afterwards, after the game, and all these things, but man, World Cup's heating up. The group stages are starting to. It's crazy that we're already in the second round of the group stage. We got one more game, that we already got teams qualifying, and first already teams going on to the next round, all these things. Teams are already eliminated.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What do you think has been the biggest surprise so far?
SPEAKER_01The biggest surprise in general? Ooh, Jordan just scored. One nil up against Algeria. Uh the biggest surprise. I'm ahead of you. The biggest surprise, I think the biggest surprise to me so far, I think the obvious one is how good Cape Verde has been. I don't think anybody expected that out of them. So on the positive side, Cape Verde has been amazing, has been a huge surprise for the World Cup and has been a great addition. On the flip side of that, who has been the biggest failures, I mean Turkey, man. Turkey was, I think, a lot of people's dark horse. That was a huge surprise. I mean, you had them winning the group. I know a lot of people had them winning the group. I thought they were going to be a team that was going to surprise people, especially with the young talent that they have. Yeah, and they did it. Kenny Gildius and Arda Guler, veteran players and uh Chalingoglu, however the fuck you say his name. And yeah, they didn't do anything, man. 60 shots on 60 shots between the two games.
SPEAKER_0462.
SPEAKER_0162 shots and zero goals. That's embarrassing, man. I've seen some Turkish fans online. They're going nuts. I don't understand what the fuck they're saying, but I know for a fact they're cussing everybody out, bro. I know they're cussing everybody out, man. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_02Ardal already said that he's gonna do everything in his power to make all the Turkish people forget this tournament ever happen.
SPEAKER_01People have to do a lot, man, because this is their first World Cup in 24 years. Their last World Cup was in 2002, where they made a pretty deep run. And people had a lot of big expectations. They have a lot of big names, a lot of big players that are playing in big teams, and they were super, super disappointing so far. Yeah. Two teams that are on fraud watch right now, we talked about it earlier, but Ecuador and Uruguay, they're on fraud watch because I I legit had Ecuador being a dark horse.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but honestly, they just really don't have a good attack. They really don't.
SPEAKER_00But they finished second in qualifying for Conme Ball. That's the crazy thing. It makes no sense. It makes no sense. It makes no sense. They finished second in Conme Wall. Like they were they have good players. They have really good players. Like offensively, they're not the best, but it's not like they don't have a bunch of scrubs, man. I mean, look at Cape Verde. Like, Cape Verde doesn't have the type of players like Ecuador has. Curaçao doesn't have the type of players Ecuador has.
SPEAKER_01And I don't know, man. That that's been disappointing. And again, with Uruguay, they gotta do something, man. Because it's really disappointing to watch a two-time World Cup champion play that the way they are. They gotta, they gotta stop relying so much on their history and they gotta change something. Because at at this rate, that's gonna be their only two World Cups they ever won, is in 1930 and 1950. But who do you think? Who do you think is win the biggest failure or surprise?
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, no, Turkey was definitely a a surprise for me. I I mean I almost feel like I blinked and they were gone. Literally, it was just so weird. Like I didn't see anything from them. Nothing. Nothing. I was expecting some sort of spark from like the yeah, from the players that you said Ardaguler, Yaldis, nothing, dude. Those are the type of players that should be shining in the World Cup, especially their first World Cup, you know? Literally. England surprised me, I'm not gonna lie. Playing against Croatia, I thought that was gonna be a closer game. And it looks like England is here to play. We'll see how they do tomorrow, but they look good. I was kind of surprised with with how good they look. My boy Jude killed it. I think if Jude has a really good tournament if Jude and Harry Kane have a really good tournament, I think England can go very, very far. Maybe with a little bit of help from like Declan Rice, some good saves here and there from Pickford. But as long as Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane have a phenomenal tournament, I think England can go pretty far in this tournament.
SPEAKER_01I think so too. I think though they can make a deep run, but they could they also have the history behind them of being a very disappointing team.
SPEAKER_02So for sure. For sure. We'll see what happens. But I know I do. I'm surprised. That's why I'm saying I'm surprised that they started off really. No, it is surprising. A decent team like Croatia. You know? So for me, for me, that's a surprise.
SPEAKER_01You know who else has been has surprised me though? And we talked about it a little bit last episode, but the U.S. has surprised me. And I think it's surprised. I was not expecting that out of the U.S. Wait, you want to talk about surprising? Did you hear what happened with the Tunisian manager? They fired him after the first game.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I've never seen that in a World Cup. Yeah. The only one that comes to mind is when Julian Lopateghi back in 2018, before the World Cup even started. Yeah, I know. But and then uh Raymond Dominic in 2010 with France. But he got fired. I think it was was it during the World Cup or was it after?
SPEAKER_02I think after, bro. I I have never seen anybody get fired during the World Cup. That is pretty crazy. And then they hired that one crazy coach, Lehar.
SPEAKER_01So he was the coach of Saudi Arabia. He took him to the he qualified with Saudi Arabia to the World Cup and then they fired him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's crazy. He he beat Argentina in the World Cup four years ago.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they beat Argentina in the World Cup. That's their claim to fame. That was their claim to fame. But I was looking it up, but Tunisia had actually the best uh World Cup record because they they never got scored on during World Cup qualifying. They're the only team during the qualifying rounds in 2026 that did not let up a single goal.
SPEAKER_02And they let nine goals in two games.
SPEAKER_01And they let up nine goals in two games.
SPEAKER_02So that was like their biggest strength was their defense. And now it's their defense.
SPEAKER_01And they just had a new, they just got a new coach. Like this coach that got fired, he was brand new. After AFCON, they fired the coach before because they got they lost in like quarterfinals or something like that. So they fired him. They got this new guy, and then after the first game, they fired him. So they've had three coaches in the last six months. They got something going on in that Federation that is surprising as hell.
SPEAKER_02We can see it at this World Cup. Probably one of the worst teams.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they they they've been tough to watch. But I will say, man, I so far I have liked the 48 team thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I like it. It's not, I mean, I I like seeing all these other teams too that we've never seen before. They get to showcase themselves. Like Curaçao, Cape Verde, that's pretty cool. And it's not like they're I mean, I g I guess Germany did give them an ass whooping, but they they're not.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but it hasn't been like the biggest. I thought like Germany was gonna put 10 past him, if we're being real.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like I thought I I thought Portugal was gonna blow Congo out of the water. Right? I thought Spain was gonna destroy Cape Verde.
SPEAKER_02My biggest concern coming into the World Cup was I I didn't know how competitive the group stages was gonna be. Because having three out of four teams qualify as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's the that's the only thing. It's like 32 teams at a 48 qualifying.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they do the they have kind of like the same format. And I don't like it. When I when I watch the Euros, I don't like it. Yeah, like the best third place team or whatever.
SPEAKER_01Like that, that's always like kind of weird. Yeah, that's when it's gonna that's when it's gonna start feeling very fun.
SPEAKER_02Yes. But I mean, it's been competitive. I I thought it would have been a little bit less competitive. But no, teams teams are fighting it out. At the end of the day, it's the World Cup.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, man, it's late. It's halftime. Jordan against Algeria. Jordan's still up one nil up again. That's surprising to me. We'll see how it all ends up. Got some big games tomorrow. We'll break it all down after what happens there. Round two is wrapped up after tomorrow. We got round three starting up. Uh, what's that, Wednesday? And that'll be the final round of the group stage. And then we got knockouts starting very soon. Guys, let's go. Be sure to follow us, man, at Friendly Foes FC on all socials. Uh, again, we're starting this YouTube channel thing here pretty soon. We gotta get it ramped up and running. It's a lot of work to do this stuff, man. It's a lot of work, especially when you got full-time job, kids, and all these things, and you gotta be like an active father and like a husband and all this shit, you know. Like you can't be just a freaking um Hey, bro, we're hustlers.
SPEAKER_02We're hustlers.
SPEAKER_01We're hustlers. We're out here hustling, man. Not we don't want any praise, but like we're out here hustling, right? It's like it's midnight and we're we're out here recording, right? But no, listen, I'm just saying, like, we're not, you know, but I appreciate the love. All right, we appreciate it. That's when champions are built. We appreciate all the love, man. Be sure to follow us on all socials at friendly foes FC. Be sure to tell your friends, uh your lovers, your partners, whatever it is, your neighbors, your cousins.
SPEAKER_02Auelito, abuelita, everybody. Yeah, everybody. Tell them to tune into the friendly foes.
SPEAKER_01Everybody, bro. We're we're breaking out the World Cup here in the U.S. in 2026. We're gonna see who wins the World Cup. Is it gonna be Argentina retaining? Is Colombia gonna add their first ever star? Is Ronaldo finally gonna get the World Cup? Is Namor gonna do it? Is Spain? Is La Miña Ma? Who is it gonna be? Who the hell knows? We've had a phenomenal tournament thus far. Is it gonna be Bozinha and Cape Verde? Hey, man. Hey, Cape Verde versus the U.S. in the final. That'd be crazy.
SPEAKER_02Oof. Can you imagine? That'd be crazy.
SPEAKER_01We ain't putting shit on Passport Senior. Anyway, man, it's been great breaking it down with you again, but we'll be back in we'll be back in a few short days. So tune in again, guys. Take care. Much love. Peace.