The World Cup: Crash Course with Mark Lenert

The World Cup is about to get bigger than it has ever been, and a lot of American sports fans are realizing they do not actually know how the tournament works. We sit down with Mark Leonard, a lifelong soccer player and diehard World Cup traveler, to break the whole thing down in plain English: the history, the 48-team format, how the group stage feeds the knockout rounds, and why a few tiny moments can decide a nation’s legacy.

We also talk about the storylines that make FIFA World Cup 2026 appointment viewing. Mark runs through the small list of countries that have dominated the trophy case, then hits the gut punch for traditionalists: Italy is out, again. From there we zoom out to the global scale, including why the World Cup final pulls a staggering worldwide audience, and how stars like Lionel Messi change what fans watch and how they watch it.

Then we get real about the modern fan experience. Ticket lotteries, dynamic pricing, the secondary market, and the costs of traveling to matches all shape who gets to be in the stadium. Mark shares why he still chases those moments anyway, what he looks for in great soccer beyond just goals, and which players and teams he believes can define the tournament, from USMNT standouts like Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic to a France squad that looks loaded top to bottom.

If you’re getting ready to follow the World Cup and want to sound like you know what you’re talking about, hit play, then subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Mark Leonard

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Sports Live with Steve and Justin.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Please like and subscribe.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Talking to the rabbis.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

We're gonna talk a little bit about the World Cup. And we're gonna let Mark Leonard come in and Justin give you a little intro when I hit it.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Oh, here you are. My man. Can you hear us? I can hear you. Very good. And we can hear you. You're watching Sports Live with Steve and Justin here on YouTube and XLive and all those other places you get your podcast from. Please like, subscribe, subscribe, and share with your friends. Our next guest hails from Virginia, good friend of mine from the Lycea, Mark Leonard. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Uh thank you for having me. Are you are am I a good volume for all of you? Yeah, you're great.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

I can hear you just fine. You look great and you sound great. What is that, a D15 in Becky?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

A D35? What is that? It's not a D15 or a 35, but I've got an inherited classical from my aunt Linda. And the other one is not is not a Martin. I will keep that one uh uh uh under wraps, but it we'll we'll own one of those at some point.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

So I just sold my D-41.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

I gotta start out. I'm disappointed that the rabbi is taking off and running on me. I mean, after that entrance. Because he would have just water would absolutely love him because he sounds like the guy that will absolutely not the truth, uh, not let the truth come between him and a good story.

unknown 1:44

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

Sometimes he gets so off topic, and I bite in and and Justin tries to bring us back, and I just don't let it happen usually. But so uh I I have to admit soccer is not my first subject. I do have a friend that was a professional soccer player for I want to say Portugal or Spain or something, but I don't think he would really like to talk on on the on the podcast. So we're glad to have you because you can tell us a little bit. Well, I know that listen, I know that they're groups, and I know that it's start the World Cup starts on Thursday, right? That's right. So maybe you can give us a little background of what the heck, you know, like what because our we never talk about soccer. Of course, Americans are idiots and they don't know anything about soccer on the whole.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

I mean World Cup soccer is a different animal altogether.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Right. So you can maybe s explain to us a little bit about the process here and work from there. Can you do that? Sure.

World Cup History And New Format

SPEAKER_00 2:50

I thought I'd jump in a little bit and just say, first of all, so the World Cup goes back to 1930 and and things have changed a little bit since then. The the process of of getting there and and how that functions and works changed many, many times. But but ultimately, it's uh this version is going to be the largest version of the World Cup. There's gonna be 48 teams that play, and um, they're all divided into groups of four, so there's 12 groups of four, and each one of those groups of four will play each other. And after they play each other, the part that me as a purist doesn't love so much is that there's gonna be 32 teams that make it through that. So only 16 are eliminated after three games. After 16 are eliminated, now we have a 32-game tournament. Win your game, move on, lose your game, go home. And so that's kind of the structure of it. There's always very good teams from South America. There's always very, very good teams from Europe. I'd say that the rest of the world seems to be catching up somewhat. Morocco, four years ago, made it to the semifinals. Turkey has been pretty successful in some other tournaments. Um, but the United States had kind of uh maybe some of our best tournaments in '94 when it was in the United States. But there's a lot, it's a different, it's a different situation. I love it, not only because it's the world coming to play. And so the U.S. hosted its first tournament in 1994. We'll host again this year. But it's amazing. You have all these countries, these different storylines. They play different styles of soccer, you know, the way the game is played. I mean, one of the things that you were all talking basketball is there's a few teams, world teams, and I think the U.S. team, I kind of have share this idea this time around for us. We've got some decent players. And we came out, uh, we just played last weekend against Germany, which is there's only eight different teams that have won the World Cup, all those World Cups. So Brazil has five championships, Italy has four, Germany has four, Argentina was the winner of the last tournament. Um, in Qatar, it was held actually in the wintertime. France has two, Uruguay has two, England and Spain each have won. So even though there's been so many tournaments, those are literally the countries that have have

The Giants Who Usually Win

SPEAKER_00 5:20

won the World Cup. You know, and my one friend, I told him I was going to be on this YouTube show, and and he's a big Italian fan. I know Justin is an Italy, a big Italian team Italy all the way. He loves, and I know Justin loves you know, the beautiful game, the world game of soccer. But this tournament maybe is about the teams that are here, but there's one team, unfortunately, that's won four

Italy’s Shocking Absence Explained

SPEAKER_00 5:45

world championships in the World Cup that's not here. And that's Italy. And it's a very unfortunate situation because they're have great soccer players. They always put out a great product on the field, which is exciting to watch, except maybe back in 1990, 94, the game would seem a little bit different, but there's been a playoff in Europe, and Italy has been ousted the last three times in their final game. They needed to beat Sweden eight years ago, four years ago, they needed to beat North Macedonia or Macedonia. And then this time they got ousted by Bosnia-Herzegovina. And so Italy is not going to be in the cup, which to me is upsetting. But my friend has said to me, Oh, but their under-17 teams have been in eight championships in the last. I mean, they're gonna they're coming, they're up and coming. You know, but this is a guy that says he's six foot and he's five nine.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

So I mean, I'm not sure what to compete for those those let those or first 48 spots in this tournament?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Oh, wow. Wow. You're stomping me on that one. I would say, I mean, I would think that there's probably, you know, over 150 countries that are under 180 countries that are competing in the opportunity to play. How long is the tournament at this South America's one region, you know, North America and in in uh Central America is another region. Europe is kind of its own region, Africa is another one. So I'm very, very excited about it. I went to nine games in 1994. I'm scheduled right now to go to six. My two daughters are playing in a tournament in Portugal, right in the middle of the tournament. So I will kind of be away in the middle of the tournament, come back. But I'm super excited. It starts this Thursday night with a game in Mexico. North America's hosted Canada has some games, Mexico has some games, and then there's venues in the U.S. One of my very good friends is going to see the U.S. open against Paraguay in California on Friday night. Should be an unbelievable situation. Paraguay hasn't been in the tournament for 16 years. My friend sent me a video. Their entire national stadium was completely packed with the craziest fireworks show just to send their team off. Wow. It is a big deal. I'm very excited that that team's back in the tournament. I'm I'm a U.S. fan, I'm hoping for a U.S. victory, but that team's a uh talk about fighters and a lot of grit. They will never give up. You were talking about the Knicks, I love that. And I think my favorite play that you guys didn't talk about was in the, you know, when we were up, I think, by like nine or ten, and the clock was running down, but we had players driving into the lane, kicking out, driving in the lane, kicking it out. And every single player touched the ball, made that fifth pass, I think, sixth pass, and nailed a three-pointer with about a second left on the shot clock. I thought that was it. Yeah, that play is circulating online and everywhere. We gave up such a lead, and like you're talking about, they weren't phased, and they went out and went to work. My son was losing his mind. He thought it was gonna be over. And I said, This team is as unbelievably composed, and it it ended up working out.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

So it's funny, I went to school in Italy for a year, I don't know, about 30 years ago, and there was, you know, I'm at the university and I hear this roaring crowd. And, you know, I walk around, I look, and I finally get to where I could see. And there's like this gigantic stadium of these teams play in Italy, totally packed. The crowd roars every three seconds. You had to go check it out. That was my first realization of how popular football European football is in in Italy.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Here's here's here's a pretty good stat for you, and I will definitely invite you if you'd like to come, both

Messi Mania And Global Viewership

SPEAKER_00 9:50

of you, either to the game, a game at the Lyceum or at my home. We'll we'll get some food going, watch a game. The last the last uh Super Bowl had 101 million viewers.

unknown 10:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

The last World Cup final had 1.5 billion viewers.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

That was a monster tournament too, because that was um the Messi won the Argentina won the. I think the whole world was rooting for him, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

All right, yeah, and I and I and I after that he came to Miami and I started, I took the subscription just to watch him play. He's something to watch. And and you could it got even crazier because they would break out every time Messi touched the ball during a game. And afterwards, if you wanted to see it again, you would go click on it, and you all you would see was every time Messi touched the ball. Nothing else.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Well, what was so great about last final, in my opinion, first of all, it was unbelievably exciting. It it did end in a 3-3 tie and went to penalty kicks, which to me isn't the greatest of endings. However, I think you saw one of the best all-around soccer plays all the way from the very back end of Argentina's defensive third, and you saw just beautiful play. The ball comes up, the ball gets pushed out wide, the ball goes forward, the ball gets crossed, the ball gets finished. It was unbelievably unselfish. None of those players took too many touches on the ball. It was a counterattack like a fast break in basketball, and it was just pure joy to watch. The way that game finished, and that play right there was one of the best World Cup moments in on the biggest stage in the finals. So that was a joy to watch, and it was great to be there. So that

Mark’s Soccer Roots And Family Legacy

SPEAKER_00 11:50

was a really phenomenal situation.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

We're talking with Mark Leonard. Mark is a former soccer player himself. His your was it your high school team that won the Metropolitan? Or no, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

No, I had a uh I played on a club team that uh originated in my hometown, Adendale, Virginia. Shout out to the Adams. And by the way, Sleepy Hollow is like the only place in the I've I've ever seen that has a better mascot. Sleepy Hollow, the the headless horseman is an unbelievable mascot.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

It's hard to beat that mascot when he comes riding down on the on the football field on the horse.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

I grew up in Anandale, Virginia. Totally know where I came from, who I am. That's my home. So I grew up a Washington sports fan, but uh yeah, I played on a very good soccer team, club team at Anandale, at Anandale, and my coach was British. And and we fortunately, when I was 16 years old, we won uh a national championship. So you you have to win your state. We played our state tournament in the fall, and it was great. My my my team was unbelievable. We won uh four championships, state championships. And then you go to the East Coast championships, which were in Niagara Falls, and we won that against all the northeastern states, and and then was able to.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Yeah, that's pretty impressive. I mean, I would imagine the competition gets harder as you go along.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

It does. My my brother and my father are probably the two most, I mean, we come from a sports family, but my brother Keith was a professional goalkeeper for the Washington Diplomats. And uh he won a championship with the Washington Diplomats, which was fantastic. Um and so he's certainly reached a higher level. He played at University of Virginia, which is where many, many players that I that I have met and known played with my brother Keith. And the hotbed of soccer, there's a tremendous hotbed. New Jersey is an unbelievable creator of great soccer players. New York has some as well. I'm in where I'm in Westchester, and Claudio Reina and Giovanni Gio Reina, his son, are from this area. Um, but uh New Jersey has has some great players, as Virginia does as well, I feel. I grew up in New Jersey and my school soccer.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Soccer was really big. And matter of fact, when I was a kid, I was lucky enough to go see the Cosmos and I saw Pele play. So I mean it doesn't get any better than that, right? Unbelievable. Cosmos.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Yeah, that was amazing. Amazing.

Development, Money, And U.S. Growth

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Mark, how direction do you want to take? I've got a lot of myself personal World Cup stories. We could talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

I want to get back to Italy for one second, just because we were talking about the level of competition getting increasing as you go along in these in these tournaments. Has has Italy's World Cup team or or national team, I guess you'd call it, has has the level of talent in Italy fallen off? Is there a lack of you know youth programs in Italy that that influences that, or has the rest of the world caught up to South America and these European countries that seem to dominate the sport?

SPEAKER_00 14:59

I don't believe that Italy's talent has dropped off. I think that the talent is certainly in the country. And my my friend would say that these they have an unbelievable youth program, which they do, but when those players are hitting the ages of 16 to 20, maybe they're in Italian soccer and they're languishing in the second division or the third division and not developing up and beyond. If there's players that's starting to happen in the U.S. more often than not now, players in the U.S., there's relationships now between European clubs, South American clubs. And so much of the sport now, if you look at it, when I grew up, hey, I could watch professional soccer on TV if I held the antenna and tuned into Channel 56 so I could see snow all over it. And it was called Soccer Made in Germany at like four or five o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and that wasn't being watched because we were watching American football with a clear screen or it's semi-clear. Right. So the fact that we can watch sports worldwide now, any sport we want, and we can watch any league we want, we can watch all the games. I mean, look at the NFL. I mean, you can watch games every night of the week, it feels almost, right? Soccer's the same, and so there is, I'd say, an upswell of so many of the people that, you know, different ethnicities in the U.S. can watch their teams at home, and now second and third generations are playing the sport. I don't think it's gonna change, but what's different is the money in the United States is in basketball, the money in the United States in baseball, the money in the United States in the NFL. So I don't see as many 10-year-olds, 12-year-olds, eight-year-olds, you know, if they're chasing that, they're gonna go into those other sports. But some of their families, there's huge pride in soccer, and it's it's all over the world, it it is the most popular sport. But you know, you talk to people that are from India, which is a you know, you know, an incredible amount of people, they're still cricket people. We don't talk about that in the US budget.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Yeah. Soccer athletes seem to be incredibly different from other professional athletes, they're incredibly well conditioned. I've been to Yankee Stadium to see the NY NYFC NYCFC. NYCFC. And I actually, you know, we had really good seats. We were on the field, and just the sheer speed of the game and the endurance that these athletes have at that level, I would imagine these World Cup teams are at the same level or better. Is it is it that what separates a a world-class athlete in soccer from, say, you know, a world-class athlete in football or basketball?

SPEAKER_00 17:46

So I I'd say uh I've coached, coached a lot, see a lot, talked a lot, and and and was also a teacher and educator. And I've got children of nine, eleven, and twelve years of age right now, and I was coaching my my son and still coaching all of them loosely, but there are many different things. I mean, the the Brazilians in the early 50s started really working with flexibility, and it's so they were doing some things, and they play an unbelievably creative game. It is absolutely the national sport. And so, but when you get to the highest of levels, like the uh the the rabbi was talking about the the wherewithal uh of Brunson to take make that contact occur and literally to make probably three or four decisions in the matter of a split second. I see somebody looking back and he just realized that the ball was in the air and that player was running up the court as if he thought Wemby was going to bring that ball up the court. So he's moving the opposite direction to steal that pass, but then there's contact. All those split second decisions happen so fast in a soccer game, just as they do in any sport.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

The thing that's so nice, I think, about a soccer game and the sport of hockey is that the flow of the game continues. If it's an aggressive game end-to-end, it doesn't stop. It continues, and there's so much transition back and forth.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

There are so that's one thing that I can't get over when I watch that game in person. Yeah, and I've gone a few times now. Is you know, we talked about Josh Hart before running the floor all 90 feet and rebounding and and you know, end to end, he doesn't stop. But in the soccer field, you're talking about over 100 yards back and forth for some of these guys from end to end, and it's 90 minutes non-stop. I mean, I know they got it, you know, halftime, but it is tough time. They're incredibly well-conditioned athletes, their endurance is tremendous, and I would imagine the dedication that it takes to play that sport at an elite level is as much as any other sport because to run like that for 90 minutes straight, I mean, that that's got to take some serious athleticism, but also some mental fortitude, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Sure. Well, you I mean, you build your you build your your uh your skill set, right? And I think a lot of times the youth, one of the things that's hard is they're so focused and winning sometimes. It it's not it's more important to build your your skill set, right? And so if you're building your skill set, then when you're in that situation, hopefully your mind can keep up with the game. That's a second one. But if you think, I mean, Judge, if you were over in Italy, I'm not sure if you could understand Italian, but if you're paying attention to the press there, or the press in England, or the press in Brazil, I mean, if you think the U.S. press is will excoriate people for mistakes, et cetera, and we have tons of them, whether it's baseball and you gave up the winning home run, or for the Yankees fans, things that happen in Boston. Right. You know, there's things that happen in soccer and that are horrible too. And you can never live them down in those countries forever.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

So it's the same. We're high, they're high-level athletes that are incredibly trained. One thing is a little different about soccer is hey, some of the best players in the world, most exciting players, Diego Maradona from Argentina was incredible to watch. Lionel Messi from Argentina, you know, grew kind of spent his time cutting his teeth and getting better at the sport in in Spain. But some of them are very short. Uh, and and you could, you know, the ball's played on the ground. That's where the ball moves the fastest. That's where people control it the best. And so some of the players, it doesn't necessarily always matter your height and size.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Unbelievable. I had a guy that was, when I was in high school, we had a coach, he was a former Brazilian player for for the country of Brazil. His legs were like nothing I'd ever seen in my life. He was a short guy, but all muscle. His legs were gigantic. Until Barkley came along. Yeah. Well, I mean, but he would do things with a soccer ball, like because you know, when you're a kid, you think you're amazing. And these kids would be like, and every once in a while he would remind them what real soccer players do, you know, and m and destroy them. He usually didn't. He usually was just teaching fundamentals, but every once in a while he would get in it and do something amazing with the soccer ball that left your mouth hanging over.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Well well, think about that country, Judge. You've got Brazil. Okay, there's they're into volleyball. I'd say they do a lot of that, whether it's on the beach or not. They're starting to get pretty into basketball, but everybody wants to grow up to be a professional soccer player of Brazil. And so you're taking your best gifted athletes, and that's usually who's going to end up at the top, the cream of the crop.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Yeah.

FIFA Controversy And Fan Frustrations

SPEAKER_02 22:45

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

So there's a documentary coming out on Netflix. It's called FIFA Uncovered. And it's going to talk about, I think it's 2002 and the IOC and some of the FIFA scandal. Andrew Jennings is a reporter that investigative reporter that really uncovered a lot of this and exposed a lot of this. And I know that I I don't know how many years ago it is now, but you know, he was instrumental in kind of exposing the corruption in some of these uh places between the Olympics, and I I don't know how much of it carries over into World Cup soccer because I know it's a different animal altogether, but it seems to be the same people at the head of these organizations. You know, how does how does some how do coaches and players at lower levels and fans of this game, how are they able to navigate that and still have interest in this sport, knowing that the people in charge are most likely ripping them off at some level, but also what they're watching may not be on the level.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Well, there's already been some Netflix, you know, there's already been a Netflix documentary about the the corruption in soccer, and and you know, I I'm not sure. It's it's with many things. What are you what are you going to believe? There's been there's been NBA referees. There's been, you know, NBA point fixing situations talked about. It's happened in Italy with referees and England, England. And then you're talking about the highest levels of possibly bribery and corruption is supposedly going on in the Caribbean with national teams, et cetera, and money being pocketed here. I think it comes down to, so my family was at my children, are or they play for a club called New York Soccer Club. And we had a fan fest thing yesterday. It's the end of the season in the spring. And so all the kids get to go there and the parents go there. We have pizza and ice cream and music and things like that. And at the end of the person speaking. And so some of them, you know, are, you know, they're for the most part the organization just talking about bringing people here, and regardless of what happens, you've got to love the game. And it's all about those children there having fun. And so, are there some things that I think many, many people in this country are pretty upset about? Yeah. The ticket gouging is going on for sure. FIFA's certainly probably adding 48 teams, not just out of the goodness of their heart always. But yes, it's great to be have a larger tournament. But there's more dollars involved. If there's more TV, there's more games. My kids are into the sticker books. We gotta we gotta fill out 48 teams this year instead of 32, right? The subway to the Meadowlands was gonna cost from the city, it was gonna charge $150 a ticket from the subway of the city to the stadium. Now what is that? It's crazy. I mean, it's costing New Jersey maybe a ton of money to run the subway for all those, or run the the, I guess, the path or New Jersey transit. But people are angry and frustrated about it. I mean, I made a financial decision, had said to my wife, basically, when we when we were dating and getting engaged, et cetera, I said, look, if the World Cup's ever in South America, just to let you know, whatever happens, whatever's going on, I'm gonna be there. Well, we flew with my brother, came and visited us, but we flew with my son on his first birthday. We arrived in Brazil. It's it was amazing. But there's twice going on. I mean, there's tickets for sale through the final right now that are more than a million dollars. I don't know if they'll get it or not, but look at the next game. It's tough. Who's who's who can afford to go to that game? It's my thing. It's one thing I will definitely pay. I want to see it. I love the game. I want to be there live. I've seen unbelievable moments. If there's any Colombians that are watching you, I was in the stadium in Brazil in Rio de Janeiro when one of the greatest score score goals was ever scored by Jamez. I was in the stadium in Washington, D.C., when who they call the Pele of the Desert from Saudi Arabia took the ball like 65, 70 yards, dribbled through like four Belgian players, and finished it off. It's amazing. I'll never forget that. I want to translate that passion to my children and I love a game. Long answer there. Sorry, Justin.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

No, I think it's great. I think the one thing about I I think the one thing about it is soccer in the stadium. You no matter where you are, I mean, other than really far away, you could see the whole game. You could see how it's played, you could see the ball, you could see everything. And it's one of the things that complaint Americans have where it's hard to watch on television. I don't find it hard to watch on television, but some people do.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Well, it used to be, and hockey used to be tough to watch too, because you couldn't follow the city.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Hockey used to be tough.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

But now with high definition, sometimes you see more than you want to see, right? Correct. You can do that. And I mean, hey, I'm a person, do I want to see goals? Yes, 100%. But I've seen my son play in a zero-zero soccer game that to me, who appreciates all these little nuances of the game. Hey, the general public in America, I don't think is up for a zero-zero game. Just the same thing in baseball. People that love baseball can love a pitcher's duel that's zero-zero and great defensive plays. Yeah. And people that basically turn a triple play or a double play, you know, somebody doing something in the hole and turning it. It's incredible. I can appreciate that, but I don't necessarily know if the entire U.S. population appreciates that. But more and more and more of them are becoming more appreciative of that, I think.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

So you were at the Rose Bowl for the final in '94 between Italy and Brazil. That was a zero-zero game. That was a shootout that finished that game. I believe Brazil won three to two.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

I I am. And one of the bet one of the best players for, you know, maybe a generation in Italy, Roberto Baggio. Broke Dobaggio. He he he put one over uh in his penalty kick. It is tragic. I don't know if he's got to live with that. That's a tough scenario.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

There's a player for I'm trying to remember where I was because I definitely watched that game. I I think I was home for that one. I was at my cousin's in my cousin's basement for 98. That I remember. That was the Zenadan Zedine with the headbutt. Yeah. What would you say is the biggest difference

Ticket Prices, Stadiums, And Real Costs

SPEAKER_01 29:20

now in terms of pricing? How much more I'm not going to ask you what you paid for your tickets, but uh you you mentioned that you were going to you you've attended a lot of games previously.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

And now we've got these games here. You're you're slated to to to see how many games?

SPEAKER_00 29:38

I'm slated to see six.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Okay, that's a lot. I mean, geez, that's a lot of magic. So how would you compare the pricing now to what it was then versus you know in terms of affordability?

SPEAKER_00 29:50

So when you're putting in, I was putting in for the best possible seats this year, and and those games could have ranged from basically anywhere from I think that I want to say the least expensive, it it's tier one seats. I think they were $500 a game. There might have been a few games that were $400, but you know, now there's dynamic pricing, etc. And I think those games went from $500, I think the U.S. game I didn't put into it because they they open and they're playing in California, and I just can't work it out with my kids and schedule, etc. Of course. You know, $500 for a family, you know, I'm five. They would only let you put in for four seats. And so that's two, that's two grand to go to a game, right? When I went to nine games in two in 1994, I think the final, I think the final was cost me maybe $350. And my my and I was there with a few people. And so, but you know, I think the regular seats were were maybe $120, $130. And I sold, I had a group of tickets, and I sold pretty much my opening round games to Mexico in Italy. I went to that game also, but sold some, and it kind of financed and funded. I was a school teacher at the time, coaching American football and soccer, and it kind of funded things. But what's different now is you know, the sophistication of the the secondary market now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Going to a game and bringing up Subhub and Seat Geek and it is all those different things.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

And and FIFA is selling all these, you know, top-tier level things that can, you know, cost. I mean, I don't know how high it goes up because it's not something I look at. What but when I put in for my tickets and we considered, you know, my I was gonna put in possibly my wife, but in make it just charge your credit card immediately if you get them all. I got denied in the lottery a few times. And and if I I couldn't put my wife and to have her do it also, because if we would have gotten all the tickets, it would have been a hundred grand.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

But we got some, thankfully, and my family's gonna see it, and I'm really excited about it. And I guess I kind of hold my nose and and say it is tough. They they didn't do maybe enough things. There's articles written about different ways tickets are priced, and there's a lot of different things that happen in in different sports where it gives greater accessibility, maybe, and how they I think the the article I think I read did it said the US Open does a great job of different levels of how they how people up New York City marathon too, on how people can be involved in that and in different ways you can get into the marathon.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

So is the tier level pricing based on who's in the match? Is it based on where you're sitting, or do the stadium's amenities play a part in that too? Like I know Yankee Stadium has, you know, legend seats, for instance. Are are some of these soccer stadiums, and I'm assuming they're playing in places that they're not all built for soccer, right? Some of them must be other, you know, stadiums that host other sports like football or baseball.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

All the stadiums I'm seeing a game in uh are are Philadelphia, Atlanta, the Meadowlands, and Foxboro, right? Gillette. Okay. All four of those stadiums play football. The U.S. opens in SoFi Stadium. But one thing that is nice, and I I it doesn't matter what the sport is, whether it's baseball, soccer, or football, I like to see natural grass. Right? I I don't like to see turf. So all those fields are gonna, everybody, every World Cup game is gonna be played in turf, uh, excuse me, and natural grass. All the turf will be, you know, either covered or removed. There were problems. Football America was a soccer tournament that was here the other year, and and and players were complaining about it. Coach from Uruguay was pretty was pretty fired up in the press, and you know, it kind of gets ignored in the U.S. press because it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

I'm sure it is. So I mean it's it's it's big business.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Yeah.

The Games Mark Can’t Wait For

SPEAKER_01 33:51

We're talking with Mark Leonard here. You're on sports live with Steve and Justin. Please like, subscribe, share with your friends. Mark, what are you most looking forward to uh for this World Cup?

SPEAKER_00 34:03

Uh I mean, just uh so my son was a year old, and he's the oldest of my three children when we went to Brazil, and he was with us for a lot with my wife and my my brother. I'm gonna get it's gonna be amazing. I'm gonna share a game with my my sister. Um they're gonna be two games I'll be with her, Laura. I'm gonna be a game with my sister and my oldest brother, Jeff. You know, he forwarded a 60 minutes article with me uh to me about Lamin Yamal, who's kind of they're saying, kind of like the maybe the messy replacement from Spain. He's considered one of you know the best or one of the top five in the world right now. Um so sharing that with my family will be amazing. I'm gonna be at two games with my brother Keith. So we're gonna be seeing Norway, and my mother is Norwegian descent, and so I'm gonna be able to see Norway in the Meadowlands, Norway plays Senegal, and I'm gonna come back the next day, or I go I go to Atlanta to see Spain play Saudi Arabia. I fly in, my wife's gonna take me to the game in the Meadowlands to see Norway play Senegal. My brother and my nephew are gonna spend the night, my brother Keith, and we're gonna take a road trip to Foxborough to see the game the next day. So it's gonna be amazing to relive all those times. My brother Keith and I were at the final together, and we went to the quarterfinal with Sweden beat Romania in San Clara and watched that game and rented a big, huge like 1970-something Lincoln Town car and drove down the Pacific Coast Highway. So for us, it's a family thing. It'll be amazing, unbelievable memories. And then there's always moments, thank goodness I think soccer's changed since the late 80s, early 90s. Fans really demand in the effort, and like you're talking about, running from end to end. Yes, it's very strategic. There's some play teams that are gonna sit back and play a little more defensively, but we're gonna see some games that are absolutely phenomenal. I believe the best World Cup I've ever seen was the last one. And I want the U.S. team, they have got a lot of great players. I want them to get out there and get after it and let's see what we have. Potter Gwy is that way. They will get out and they will play. They sit back and they're hard-nosed, but there's some teams I feel like just say, here's what we've got. We're gonna go as hard as we can, as best we can, here and there. We're never gonna slow down. And if we get beat, we get beat, right? But I want to see what we have. I'd love to see this coach just let him out there, let him go, because we got a lot of great players. That's a tough first game for them, right, Paraguay? Paraguay's the first game. I'm so excited. My favorite player on the U.S. team is the left back. He plays for Fulham in the Premier League in England. His name's Anthony Robinson. And that game against Germany, he hit an unhe's a left fullback, uh, but he's a tremendous wing player. So he goes all the way forward on the sides. I love what he does. He has great vision of the field. He plays very dangerous balls behind the back of the defense. But man, he hit it at one of the best goals I've ever seen a U.S. team player score. It was a corner kick and it came out, he just crushed it. And that happens. And so my favorite player scored an amazing goal. I hope he's got a couple more for me this cup. We got a lot of players though. They got this guy Tyler Adams, it's incredible. We truly have a forward. Uh, his name's last name's Balligan, uh, and he's uh a striker. He plays in Monaco, and he scored in a very tough league, the French league. He scored in eight games in a row. And so we've got some players on the field. We might, there might be some little gaps. I'm a little concerned about our central defense. We are a little, you know, we have a little age there, and we have an injury from uh from a player, Chris Richard who's also plays in England. So a lot of our players are playing in Europe, and maybe they're overplayed, some of them, causing injuries, but I'm super excited to spend time with the family and friends. This Friday night I'll be with probably, you know, 15 to 25 people at a friend's house that decided he would host, and then I invited another friend and his kid, wife, and child. And so he's like, hey, it was great. Thanks for telling me that I have to host the party, Mark, and then you invite some more people.

SPEAKER_01 38:19

Thank you, Jeffrey.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

Shit happened.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

So four four years ago it was messy,

U.S. Stars And Global Players To Watch

SPEAKER_01 38:25

just absolutely took over this tournament. I know Nemo's a big name in soccer these days. Some of the usual suspects are are aging out of this sport. Who would you say is the most premier American player right now? And then who in this tournament from any country is is is the name that that we should watch out for that you think might take over this tournament?

SPEAKER_00 38:46

So I'm not sure. From a U.S. perspective, I'd say what I believe probably to be the most sound, strong player. It plays a position sometimes named as Tyler Adams. He he has tremendous vision and he's he his thought is ahead of most people's. So many times he's doing something on the field, and and many people would never even notice it because the camera's not on him. Or he's doing something behind the scenes to put himself in a position defensively so the other team can't can't can't do what they want to do. Or he's doing something simply positioning himself and letting the ball move through him and allocating it in different places. He's probably the most sound, complete player I feel that we have. But I'm very excited. The coach seemed the last game, put a player named Weston McKinney plays in Italy for Juventus. He, I think, is going to create some things, but our our player that you know the numbers on the back of the jersey plays for AC Milan, Christian Polisic, and he's from Hershey, Pennsylvania. He he is not afraid. He's unbelievably fast. He was probably the first half of the season over in Serie A to Italy, was probably one of the top few players, unbelievably dangerous. And I think he's gonna make it happen for the U.S. Other than that, Laminha Mall, if he's healthy for Spain, will probably be do something breathtaking in every game he's on the field. Uh France is absolutely stacked and loaded with players, their second team on the bench that possibly can go finish in the top four or six teams in the World Cup. They are loaded from top to bottom, pretty much just about every position.

SPEAKER_01 40:27

So that'll make it more fun when they lose.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Uh it it can happen. It can happen. You know, somebody I was listening to talk the other day, you know, they open up against uh Senegal. And so a former French colony, and and they got ousted a couple World Cups ago by Senegal. Uh the first game, Senegal came out and beat them. It could happen again. Senegal was in a lot of controversy. You talk about corruption, etc. Senegal kind of won the African Cup of Nations, and then afterwards there was a big huge issue, and people had left the field and come back, and then they had to forfeit that, and it's crazy. Crazy stories. But I think the players from France uh are gonna be incredibly exciting to watch. My my favorite team probably internationally, besides the U.S. My wife is Swedish. They're gonna be playing in the heat of Dallas and Texas and also Mexico. I don't know if they're gonna be able to hold up. They're gonna be struggling. Uh England has a very strong team, but they're one of those teams that sometimes doesn't go after and get it, playing not to lose, and that becomes a problem sometimes for them. But uh my one of my favorite teams is watching two of my favorite players on Belgium was Kevin De Bruyne and also this player named Doku, who is a not uh not Count Doku, but but uh he plays usually left midfield. He has blazing speed, completely unpredictable when he has the ball. So if you get a chance to watch Belgium, very attacking, very exciting attacking football. Doku plays for Belgium? Uh Doku plays for Belgium. And then if you're watching soccer the opening round, not miss games, I would say France, Senegal. That's gonna be unbelievable, I think. Brazil plays Morocco opening game at Giant Stadium. That should absolutely be an incredible game. Morocco's not gonna give you an inch. They're gonna come at you and try to beat you, and they're all fit and can run forever. Um and Brazil is is just so exciting and creative to watch. Awesome. So who's your pick? Who's gonna win it overall? Just as gonna, I mean, if if I'm going with with my heart, I'd love it if Belgium got it, got it done. Croatia's been in the final, in the final four the last two years. But I'd love to see Belgium go. But if I'm doing this from an objective perspective, I I I don't see somebody stopping stopping France. I just I just that the players on the field, I think, everywhere. And if there's any injuries on somebody's teams, Spain has an incredible team, and they will try to outscore people, but I I don't know. I just feel like Spain might be a little vulnerable in the back. And I think I don't think anybody's gonna be able to keep France out of their net. A lot of people still love Argentina. I feel like Argentina's bringing back so many players that were on the squad four years ago, so they have tremendous experience, but I think they're gonna be a little bit, you know, and when you game of inches in every sport professionally, right? I think they might be a little bit slow on those inches, but you never underestimate Messi's gonna do something magical, as always.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Croatia had a nice run in 2018, and they ultimately lost to France in the final, unfortunately. They did, but they were they were a lot of fun to watch. I mean, it's eight years later now, but have have they revamped, have they advanced to the point where they're mature enough to? To make it back to the final?

SPEAKER_00 44:02

So their midfield has one of the best players we've ever seen in Luka Modric. He played for Real Madrid for years. Um, but he's if he's not 40, he's pushing 40. They have a little long on the tooth for soccer. And then a young guy in the midfield. I don't know if that age is going to work out. There's incredible experience in that team, has incredible heart. They're good at the back, too. They might be lacking the players, the striker, the the two strikers up front to score, but it's unbelievable. I mean, when you look at some of these teams that are so great, I I want to say that Croatia has, I think it's like maybe six or eight million people, and yet they're making it to the World Cup final. Many some of these European countries, uh Senegal's another one of those. It's not an incredible an incredible population.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Every kid in Senegal plays soccer. I never met anybody from Senegal that didn't play soccer, and I met a few guys from there.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

But I mean we're talking about a country that I mean, Nigeria,

Picks To Win And Soccer Culture

SPEAKER_00 45:10

I want to say is like 250 million, I think. And yet Senegal's beating them. I I think with I can't remember the number, less than 10 million, I think. So you never know where it's going to come from. Yeah, uh Croatia has an incredible history of doing amazing things in soccer. But so I didn't hear a pick.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

You say France. If you had to put money on it. Sorry? If you had to put money on, it would be France.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

Yeah. And it's always good. I mean, England gave us this game. Thank, you know, thankfully, I forgot to grab myself a beverage, and I saw I saw the rabbi, and I was like, oh my gosh, I forgot. So I ran downstairs, and in honor of England, I'm drinking a out of my USA glass, but I'm drinking a bodington ale. So Boddington. But England won it once in 1960. And they always talk about it coming back home. And I think the rest of the world likes it when it the moment that it doesn't come back home.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

So the other thing that really got me into watching soccer was I started watching Wrexham. Started watching what? The Wrexham uh documentary that become you you you become in love with the town and hear these people, this is their and how they save everything. I I haven't watched it in years, but I watched the first two seasons. It was phenomenal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

And those those stories are making people are more interesting. I mean that uh DJ Watt, I think, is a part owner in a in a team over in in the Premier League. So the world's getting smaller, right? People are exposed, we have access to everything. But yeah, I mean, I watched uh a game, I think about three or four weeks ago. Manchester City was playing Bournemouth, and and you you you you read the stats the day after or something. I mean, there was only I think like 14,000 people at the game. This is like the highest level of professional soccer, but I don't even know if that stadium holds more than 14,000 people. And they're at the highest level. So it it's ignoring these small towns and it's a cultural thing there, and you know, it it is pretty amazing. I I think it's a beautiful game. It's it's probably my I do love the NCAA basketball tournament. Next to the World Cup, that's my favorite thing.

SPEAKER_02 47:35

Yeah, we love it too.

SPEAKER_00 47:37

But uh, Judge, all right, come on over. We'll drink some beers, have some food, watch a World Cup game. You're invited, you and Justin.

SPEAKER_02 47:45

All right. Well, we'll put that on the agenda. Um, we look forward to having you back.

Invite To Watch And Final Sign-Off

SPEAKER_02 47:50

I think we'll, you know, we've been here almost two hours already. I think it's time for us to move on. Uh I'll probably edit and resend out this and and put a a soccer episode and a basketball episode and separate them so that you're not an hour in and people turn it off after 45 minutes and never get to you. So if you want to actually do that.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

We can certainly do that and arrange for that. Awesome. Thanks so much for having me. Appreciate it. All right, nice.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

Mark, thanks for coming on. Are you headed to the Lyceum tonight?

SPEAKER_00 48:33

I'm gonna be watching the Knicks and take game three, right? Tonight, 8:30?

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Absolutely. I'll be there in a little while. I'll have to meet Carlo at 7:30. Let's do it. Perfect. Thanks for having me, Judge.

SPEAKER_02 48:43

Thanks. Leave your computer on with the program up. Oh, yeah. It takes a while for it to update. Okay, perfect. All right. Well do you take care. There you go. Awesome. That was a great episode.

SPEAKER_04 48:59

A lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 49:00

All right.

SPEAKER_01 49:02

We talked for so we talked about soccer for almost an hour. Who would have thunk it?

SPEAKER_02 49:06

Who would have thunk it? All right, Justin. See you next week.

SPEAKER_01 49:11

All right, Josh. Thanks again for having me. See you next week.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

Maybe we'll be world champions. Maybe we will.