WORLD CUP ETC - LIVE: A Night at the Intercontinentals

Paul Schmidt-Troschke & Jon Bonfiglio in Gudalajara, and Declan Link in London, go through the night and the results. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:29

Now Fifth French have awarded World Cup spots through their interconfederation competitions for the better part of 60 years, and the 2026 World Cup has a larger higher profile pool of the teams looking to lock up the tournament's two final spots. The first interconfederation playoffs saw Wales Sea of Israel over two games to reach the 58 tournament. Those were the days. We can guarantee these final spots will look different as Europe is the only confederation not putting teams into the playoffs. So how will it work? And what's occurring right now? We can close through Guadalajara, catch up with John Bonfiglio, who I believe is watching now. Is it New Caledona versus Jamaica, John? Good morning, John.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Hey, Paul, yeah, we're on a hydration break. It's 1-0 to Jamaica. New Caledonia started off uh holding the ball quite a lot, but uh with within their own within their own half. But Jamaica, when they get the ball, they've not had much of it, but when they get the ball, they're definitely a lot more incisive. And what's interesting here is that the Mexican crown, and it's pretty much all Mexican, is really going for the underdog, uh, which is New Caledonia, and they're roundly booing every touch that the Jamaicans get.

SPEAKER_05 1:28

And that's in is it Zapapan, Guadalajara, and that's where the final is between the winners of, I think, um, between Democratic Republic of Congo and the winner of the game you're at, is that right?

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Exactly. So on Tuesday, uh the Democratic Republic of Congo will play against the winner of this game, and then over in Monterey on the other side for the second qualifying spot. Uh today we had Bolivia and Suriname, Bolivia won 2-1, and they will play Iraq on Tuesday for that last spot.

SPEAKER_05 1:56

Now there's concerns about what's going to happen with the World Cup being played in Mexico, Canada, USA because of geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. I'd understand that might also affect whether or not Iraq can even play in the competition if travel becomes an issue.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

That was that was a fear. Iraq had an um an incredibly long journey because they couldn't fly direct out, so they had to do a um a significant land journey before they could actually fly, before they could actually fly out. They're here now, so they're ready to play in the in the final on Tuesday. And of course, where I am in Zabobank, in Guadalajara, is where all of the problem began a few weeks ago after the killing of the mentor. I was just outside of the stadium before kickoff, and I was overhearing um some National Guard soldiers just saying about how terrible it was, how they'd never seen anything like it, and it basically all started within a couple of hundred meters of the stadium.

SPEAKER_05 2:44

Well, uh am I right in thinking that teams from Commebol and CONCACAF? Are they the are they the countries eligible to play? Do they come through those confederations?

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah, and you've also got um uh so New Caledonia and from the Pacific, so they come through the Oceania uh line as well. So it is pretty varied. It is a proper intercontinental playoff that we've got going on here. A slightly unusual one was the one from today, Suriname and Bolivia, because actually they're both from South America, but the unusual thing there is that actually Suriname plays with Ponker Cav uh and Bolivia plays in in Komebol. So the intercontinental there was with from two sides, two nations, they really aren't that far away from each other.

SPEAKER_05 3:22

Now I think I might say the DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, were giving buys to the final of each pathway. Is that because of their rankings according to FIFA?

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Yeah, exactly. So they go straight through to the final, and then you've basically got one semi-final to see who plays off against them. But I would say that actually um warming up as a in the with in the semi-final if you get through is actually quite positive because they're you know they're pretty particular um conditions here in here in Mexico. Getting used to the pitch for for a match before you get through to the final, I'd say is uh is is an advantage. I've never seen New Caledonia play before, Paul. I don't know whether you have.

SPEAKER_05 3:57

No. Um what's the attendance like there? Are these things well supported? They're after all, you know, effectively World Cup competitions.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Yeah, I was worrying about it before uh before kickoff, but looking around now, I reckon that the lower tiers are almost full and the higher tiers maybe 30 to 40 percent. So I put the attendance at somewhere around the 40-40% of the stadium full. It's pretty well attended, and everyone's really enthusiastic. Um a relevant point, I think, because again, going back to the trouble of a few weeks ago, there was a genuine sadness here about what had happened and the the sort of the face that Mexico had shown to the international public, especially ahead of the World Cup. But there is a real enthusiasm and joy now uh uh around everyone here at the at the stadium. Everybody is very much getting into it, and I'd say that this is it feels very much like the sort of the long beginning to the World Cup.

SPEAKER_05 4:48

And we now know that uh sadly the two home nations left in the competition, Wales and Northern Ireland, have not made it through, neither is the Republic of Ireland on that front. Um Italy are still in the competition, and there are certainly more than their fair share of Italian Americans who would love to see um their you know their heritage country make it to the World Cup. If they don't, that would be such an upheaval. It's Italy not being at the World Cup three times in succession, unthinkable out of thought.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Yeah, and actually I've seen quite a lot of Italian shirts here today as well. There's a strong Italian Italian heritage across many parts of Mexico too. So there's been a fair bit of um of support coming through from uh from uh individuals, I'm guessing with with Italian past, and also quite a few Argentine shirts as well. But the most marked of the shirts that I've seen here today, which kind of happens whenever you go to a sort of a crowd uh full of Mexicans, is do you know the old Jorge Campos shirt? Yeah, yeah. The old Mexican keeper? Yeah, that's the that's the favorite shirt here. It's uh it's well worn and highly photographed.

SPEAKER_05 5:50

And imagine you're gonna be very busy indeed over the next few days, and then in the run-up to the World Cup itself and the World Cup with your World Cup, etc. podcast. How often do you drop a new one of those, John?

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Yeah, we we actually do daily at the moment. Um, I mean, there's so much material to sort of discuss. So we do the football, but we do everything else that's taking place, which of course, with the whole sort of geopolitics and the society uh and the sort of social component of everything that's that's going on and what took place in Mexico, there's definitely a lot to uh to to cover. So it's a it's a pretty full-on thing. And yeah, I'll be I'll be in these playoffs um for the next few days, and I'll be up in Monterey for the final between Iraq and uh and Bolivia on Tuesday.

SPEAKER_05 6:28

I'd imagine there must be players who could um with perfect justification, maybe not so much New Caledonian, but claim Jamaican heritage and play for their country. Are there any players we might know from the from the British football scene playing, for example, for Jamaica?

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Yeah, I think so obviously um yeah, Jamaica are much more well well known than uh than New Caledonia, Le Caku, they're uh they're they're called apparently after a bird that's native to New Caledonia that looks uh ashen and is referred to as the ghost, um the ghost bird. Some of the they've got a couple of players um that have played in sort of the lower French leagues, but nobody really particularly marked. For Jamaica, um Leon Bailey, the winger, I'm sure, is uh somebody who people know. Aston Villa player currently on loan at Roma, uh Ronaldo Sefas, 26-year-old, who plays as a winger in Russia, um, has certainly got sort of a live wire uh component to him. A big question here has been how Jamaica didn't manage to qualify in this in this expanded uh World Cup. They really sort of underachieved, and in the final game against Curaçao, one of the surprises, of course, qualified automatically. Uh they needed to win that game, but they only drew with only one shot on target. So I think Jamaica are one of those sides that if they turn it on, they're good, but you've really got to get in their heads and get them uh get them switched on.

SPEAKER_05 7:48

And let me ask you finally, John, about Mexico's national side. We know they're an amazing footballing nation, they love their football, understand football. Um, are are they confident as uh a national side that they can, I don't know, you know, maybe make it through further than they've got in the competition in the past?

SPEAKER_02 8:04

I mean, it would be an absolute disaster. Again, with an expanded World Cup, it would be an absolute disaster if they don't if they don't make it through. Um, I wouldn't say that there is confidence. I was listening to a to uh sort of a Mexican colleague today speaking about the national side and saying that there's no worry about who it is that they're playing. The worry is about which which Mexican side is going to turn up on the pitch, and that's what's really in question.

SPEAKER_05 8:26

Brilliant stuff there from John Bonfiglio. Do check out his World Cup, etc. podcast. As he was saying there, he dropped a new one on a daily basis pretty much at the moment, and he was talking to me, Paul Oxnew Goles, live on Talk Sport.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

That was John Monfilio live from the Estadio Acron on Talksport over in the UK. And the results from the semifinals of the Intercontinental Playoffs here in Mexico are a 2-1 win from Bolivia over Suriname out of Monterey and a simple 1-0 win over New Caledonia by Jamaica. We already saw some fans from the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday in Guadalajara inspecting the quality of the teams they are about to face in the final. So on the 31st of March, the DRC will play against Jamaica here in Guadalajara, and Iraq will square off against Bolivia in Monterey in two for all of the four teams, historically important matches, to be part of the biggest ever sports event in human history. And now over to our World Cup, etc. UK ambassador Declan Link, currently in London, with the results of the European qualifiers.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

Really good evening in the pub. Very lively atmosphere earlier on with all the different fans with the different countries watching the games. It looks like Sweden and Denmark are looking very, very strong. Italy somewhat fortuitously because of their record in the last two World Cup qualifying campaigns. Look like they've got some positivity, which is good because a World Cup with Italy needs to happen. Uh the home countries or the so-called home countries, Wales and Northern Ireland. Wales are probably extremely disappointed. Northern Ireland put up a good show, but unfortunately, you know, they're probably not quite good enough to beat Italy. And then the Republic of Ireland uh lost on penalty. So when all is said and done, a good night of football. Let's uh move on to next Tuesday. I'll send some reports from the England Uruguay game tomorrow, which should be quite fascinating. And uh obviously John and Paul are in Guadalajara for the intercontinental playoffs. So I'll send this on to the guys to post and see what happens uh tonight. I know they've got friendlies all over the world, which is a bit overwhelming to uh comment on, but I do know from what Alex told me that uh can't beat Brazil in Boston, so I'm gonna hang out for the night now with my big son and uh and report out, and uh hopefully I'll be sending some reports to him from Wembley Stadium tomorrow night.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

That's great. Thank you so much, Declan, and we are all very excited to hear your reporting after or from tomorrow's game, then. Lastly, I want to give you the results um regarding the final makeups now. Bosnia-Herzegovina will play against Italy, Sweden will face off against Poland, Kosovo will meet Turkey, and Czechia will play against Denmark, and all these teams have the possibility to get one of the last four qualifying spots for the upcoming World Cup in these European qualifier finals. So that's it from us for today. Don't forget to follow us and rate the show on all platforms to stay updated. That goes a long way for us. Thank you so much for listening and goodbye.