Episode 19: All Roads Lead to the World Cup Final

The 2026 FIFA World Cup reaches its thrilling conclusion as Argentina and Spain prepare to battle for football's biggest prize, and we're breaking down everything you need to know before kickoff. We examine each team's path to the final, key matchups, X-factors, and even uncover the Jewish connection behind Argentina's iconic crest. Beyond the pitch, we recap Israel's latest basketball results, celebrate Guy Sasson's continued Grand Slam dominance, discuss Max Homa's resurgence ahead of The Open, and highlight the latest stories involving Jewish and Israeli athletes from around the sporting world. Plus, our historical spotlight looks back at Jody Scheckter's breakthrough victory at the 1974 British Grand Prix—a triumph that launched the only Jewish Formula One World Champion on his path to history. We wrap things up with another sports-themed D'var Torah on Parshat Devarim and our latest Minyan Spread picks. 

Follow us @menschinwiththeboys on Instagram for behind-the-scenes content and much more Jewish sports news. 

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:11

Live from Studio 5, powered by Federation CJA and the Coming Center. Welcome to Mention with the Boys, the podcast where Jewish Pride meets the playing field. I'm Yannis Harush.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

I'm Matthew Kutler.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

And I'm Jordan Stupler. On today's show, we're getting you all geared up for the much anticipated 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

We're filling you in on how the Israeli junior and senior basketball teams fared at recent competitions.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Plus, a look back at the exploits of a former Jewish Formula One world champion you've likely never heard of before.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

The World Cup final is upon us, so let's dive right in, shall we, on mention with the boys. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Let's go.

World Cup Final Preview

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Um, so yeah, I mean Yannis really.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Like, can we just say that Yannis wanted to delay this podcast? We were supposed to record earlier in the day. I had an urgent meeting with the urgent meeting with the uh hugging his friends doll or something. I don't know. His emotionally support doll, right? Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Cats, I have two kids. Cats, okay. Well, there you go. Um look, uh, so it's it's gonna be Spain and Argentina. Uh I think we have minion spread bets on uh a bit later today.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Sorry, I just want to put something out there. It's I did a I did a knockout bracket with my family on ESPN, so I can actually show it to you if we had video and whatnot, I could show you. So I've so we had to do it just from the knockout stage, right? So for the last 31 matches, presumably, they don't count the third place game, whatever. 26 and 4 coming to the final right now. I am 99.8th percentile, actually 2,000th place out of like hundreds of thousands right now. So Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

But you had you had this as the final?

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Yeah, I had this as the final and have Spain winning. I actually have gotten a little bit since no no, I mean whatever. I didn't forget the bet for a second. But since the round of 16, I've actually had picked the last, the semifinals. I got went four-0, two and oh, and now So you didn't pick Cabo Verde against Argentina. No, I did not. I did not. I did not.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

You should have had that as uh as a draw.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

I should have had that as a draw, that's right. They've they're the only team to draw both. Just to say you're you're saying that Spain, Argentina, but you know what? A lot of people had had that. You know, it it was Yeah. They are the two teams that probably I know France was definitely playing best coming into that game, but they've had a Spain problem. They have had a Spain problem the last few years.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yes, they had. We have to, I guess, like take a step back right before we go into the the final, right? Like how we kind of got here in the first place. Because I think the last time was a few, well, two weeks ago, right? We were the day of the Cabo Verde Argentina. Yeah, that's true. We weren't in July Friday chaos and all of that. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Like, it's been a crazy knockout stage since then.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yeah, so so we had the first semi, right? Spain, France. Yeah. I mean, Spain.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Look, I I I remember something, I don't know if I said it on this podcast, like at the beginning of the World Cup or somewhere else, uh, with the extension to 48 teams, yeah. Creation of the route of 32. It means you have a lot of wiggle room in the first round because of the best third getting in, but uh you have zero wiggle room obviously in the knockout stages, and it means you gotta get five good games in a row, which is incredibly difficult. Or if you have a bad game, it better happens against Cabo Verde than than against Spain. Right. And I during the entirety of the World Cup, a lot of people are telling me, oh, France is gonna win, France is gonna win. And every time it's like, yeah, but like I I wish, of course. Um but it's uh again, every game you start, you start at zero-zero. I know it's cliche, every game is a new game, and you never know when you're gonna have a bad game for France. Unfortunately, it happened against Spain. As I mean I won't say as it happened, because yes, France had a Spain problem, but look, Euro 2024, France was at all saying it lucky to get to the semifinals and play against Spain. Same thing at the League of Nations 2025. This is like this is the first big disappointment, right? Uh of uh like this is a team that could have win the World Cup uh and that had its worst game in in a year at the worst possible moment, basically. If if France played that bad against Sweden, I think France still wins. Probably the same against Morocco or Paraguay, but against Spain, you you gotta be on your A game. And I mean I I don't I don't even think they were on their D game at the during the it was the life at the very that was Spain, the way Spain had.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

They were like in total like control of the ball, like possessing them, like keeping keep away.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

One thing that that surprised me, and I think it's a big explanation of the loss during all of the games before, forget the like all the goals that Mbappe scored, forget all of that. France was very, very quick at getting the ball back. Right. Yeah, they had one of the highest rates actually. Exactly. And I remember I think it was during the game against Paraguay. It was like on average 12 seconds to turn it back over, whereas Paraguay was at like 30 seconds or something. Exactly. And uh so obviously we knew it was going to be more difficult against Spain because they hold the ball very well, but I didn't expect it that it would be that terrible. I don't I honestly I don't think Spain even expected to hold the ball that much uh during that game. Um I don't think it was a good call, and obviously hindsight is 2020, um to uh to uh bring back Chuamini in the starting lineup. He had been injured the last two games before. It was going well, honestly. It's like you you now have it. He should have been a sub in case it doesn't matter. Yeah, like use him as a card later. Exactly. And and but he he wasn't starting lineup ready, clearly. Um I mean Bappe had a terrible game, Due had a terrible played better, Olisi had a game. I was shocked that he wasn't playing pass. Um so yeah, it is uh uh I mean congratulations to Spain on uh on winning that game. Uh I hope we get our revenge in Madrid or Barcelona or somewhere somewhere in Spain in four years. Um they they look they played very, very well in the end.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

So it's interesting, you know. Like again, I don't I'm not gonna presume to say I know as much in terms of you know the sport, certainly. But a few things struck me, right? And then the contrast of the two games, right? And and a little bit different. France didn't go up, Spain was up, and so it's probably a little bit easier to stay aggressive when you're the one who's up. I I get that. But you know, Spain and England, the contrast there really like Spain didn't sit back. They got that goal and they didn't try and and and um try to play three. No, exactly. They they kept, you know, they they took it and said, like, really the best defense is our offense. We're gonna if we can keep that ball and and and and not allow France to possess it and give them opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, and and they were able to score a second goal because of that. Whereas England scored that goal and it was like, okay, that's it. We're you know, we're just defending and we're just gonna sit back.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

England scored around, I think, 55. 55 or something. Something like that. I think the 10 minutes after their goal, they were still playing their game, and obviously Argentina was was pressing on the pedal, and at some point you you have to play more defense, that's that's for sure. But something happened around the 78th, uh 72nd minute where uh England decided basically decided we're not gonna touch the ball anymore, and we're gonna play prevent defense completely. Um I was chatting with a friend during the game and he said, Oh yeah, but they did the same against Mexico. It's not Mexico. And first of all, they were up two goals against Mexico at some point.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Well, the very quickly they scored that second goal on the penalty, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Exactly. But like there's there's a difference. And and obviously who you're facing on the other side, and I mean we're we're gonna talk about him, Lotaro Martinez. He was one of my my big surprise of Argentina at the beginning of the tournament was how messy dependent they were. And I know it sounds weird to say that when he's the best player in the world, um, but I expected at the beginning of the of the tournament Julian Alvarez and Lotaro Martinez to take more of the offense and not the 39-year-olds to score all the goals. And I mean, it's just like basically they were waiting for their moment to shine, and both of them now have started exactly, those two kids have really played their way into the tournament.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

And Martinez, uh, I mean, he was subbed in, I think, around the 88th minute, um, a couple of minutes before they equalized. And yeah, when you have that card in your game that like I have I have one of the best strikers in the world that like can just relax for 80 minutes and then yeah, go score a goal, buddy. And it's like England forgot who they were facing. Like, if if you're one one-nothing up against yeah, against Mexico, against Morocco, against any of these other teams, you can play that kind of defense and you're probably gonna be okay. I say probably because we've seen crazy scenarios in this World Cup and a lot of late goals. Um, but against Argentina, I mean it's basically committing suicide.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

So Argentina, that's a great point you make, of their 12 goals in the tournament, 10 have come after the 79th minute, which is crazy stats when you think about it. Considering they're going into the final, it's not like they're they got knocked out or something. Like they've cut 10 of their 12 goals.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

It's been all the games, right? Like you look, we we last spoke to you uh just before the Cabo Verde match. I mean, we know that that one was insane, right? They they go to extra time, they had the 2-1 lead early. Cabo Verde tied it. Argentina goes ahead goes ahead in the extra time. Cabo Verde ties it, and then they get the winner in the 111th minute against Egypt. They're too late or three lake.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

I feel we we need to address the Egypt game because uh we're we're a Jewish podcast.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah, um we were the refs in that game, right? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

But uh honestly, I th and I'm gonna say it's just so it's it's there. It is perfectly okay to think that the referee made mistakes to be to be polite there that favored Argentina. And I think what I hate in these situations, because a lot of these rules in any sport subject to interpretation. I mean, outside of tennis, that is basically did you hit the line or not? Fair in hockey, football, soccer, basketball. There's a subjectiveness to it. There's a subjectiveness, but your subjectiveness should be the same throughout the game. Yes, you always want consistency. As a coach, that's all I care about. Exactly. The 50-50 decisions cannot always go the same way. If you take any coin and you flip it 10 times and it lands on heads every time, your coin is rigged. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

By the way, there's two heads on that coin. Oh, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Your coin is rigged if that happens. Uh so it's perfectly okay to say the ref made decision that ended up favoring Argentina, probably gave them the edge, without saying that there is a Jewish conspiracy in favor of the country that got the most Nazis to move there after World War II. Believe me, if we're doing a conspiracy, it's not in favor of our conversation's gone somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Um so yeah, and then they go the quarterfinals was the same too. They go extra time against Switzerland. It takes them to the 112th minute before they go ahead. They scored twice in that game. So it's like it seems like they have nine lives.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

By the way, the the Switzerland player that got a red card Ebola. Yeah, and and and I know that like again, it triggered the like, oh, Argentina, the refs, etc. No, that this was clearly it was a foul. This was clearly a foul on his part. He was, and I'm sorry for the language, an absolute idiot. You know, as a player, when you are on a yellow card, you live on bottom. Basically, and every foul, every possible foul you have to to calculate in your head. Oh, am I going as hard as I should be? Now maybe I hold back. And with it's it's clear, any type of simulation like that will give you a yellow card. If you're already on the yellow, just get that out of your head. And I understand it's soccer. There's a lot of simulation, there's a lot of these things happening. There's a lot of diving, there's a lot of pretending. But come on, man. Like there's cameras.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

You have to know, you have to know the situation is just situational. You have to know. You have to know. Look, I mean, I think the final's gonna be incredible, hopefully. You know, like you I mean the expectation in the sense that the expectation is, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:02

One thing that I hope, I hope Argentina scores first. Yeah, because if Spain scores first, I agree with you. If Spain scores first, I think it's a much, much different game.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

There's no question. And I think you're right, like Argentina may not have the horses to chase Spain and get the ball back.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

The question that I'm asking also myself is because Argentina played two overtime games at this point.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Oh, they're definitely Spain is way more than a lot of.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

There was a I was listening to have 24 hours less to recuperate after their semifinals, and there's the wild card. There are these wildfires in northern Canada with the smoke. I know air quality in New Jersey. It's never amazing. How much worse can it get?

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Although I heard something that it this morning I was listening to, I forget which podcast I was listening to. Um, but it was interesting. For for the France, Spain, someone was remarking how much of it forget the path in terms of the teams they played, but where they each of them played. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Spain was ruffled a lot more than France.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Except that most of the time they played indoors. Oh, that's true. Whereas France was in a lot of heat and humidity situations because they were playing earlier in the day and all and so that they hadn't they think that it might must have had an effect on France, that you know they they looked more tired out there. Now, it could have been obviously having to chase the ball, there's no question, but all these variables, right? It's it those are interesting little things. It's that's what it comes down to at this point. When you're talking about the four best teams in the world, ranked one through four that made the semis, yeah, it's these little things that that affected them.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

Look, I remember after France beat Norway at the last game of of the first round, and they asked Didier Deschamps, like, why did you put your A-team there, not rest them? And he said, Well, if we won today, we're first, and therefore until the semi-finals, we play all of our games in the Northeast. And yes, it's a gigantic World Cup in terms of uh where the stadiums are, but he's like, We're basically gonna play all of our games in a territory smaller than France. Right. So, like he he saw that as an advantage. I think, yeah, the disadvantage was playing in Philadelphia at 3 p.m. with 42 degrees with humidity.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

They were outdoors always in the in a in the hot uh situation. So, anyways, look, they're out. Uh, it'll be interesting to see what happens in the third place game if if their teams end up uh who starts who doesn't, right?

SPEAKER_03 16:33

It's it's gonna be like one of these college football games on like December 26th, where only the fans are interested, only the side the Hawaii bowl or something like that. Um, I I think and this is not part of my bet, so there's no screw there. I think England's gonna win because of that reason. Um France were much more expected, and the players clearly were expecting like we want our revenge against Argent Argentina in the like I and I also think maybe maybe there's that, maybe their head was already in the final and that that that would have that was a huge mistake if it was the case. Um and in a lot of these third place games when you look at the history of the World Cup, the team that's not supposed to have reached the semi-finals usually beats the team that was supposed to reach the final and where it was more a disappointment because they stopped carrying. I mean, let's remember uh Brazil in 2014. They wanted to win at home then. I mean, obviously the whole 7-1 against Germany and they they basically didn't show up for their third place game against Netherlands.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

I was gonna pull out a different reference. I was gonna go back to the 98 uh Nagano Olympics and Team Canada having lost that. And then punting the bronze medal game uh against Finland, I believe it was.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

And and it's great because when you look there that I mean it's been a while since France lost a semi-final at the World Cup. It's 86, and they made two semis in a row, 82 and 86. And 82 they were leading 3-1 against Germany, then Germany got back one on a shootout. And the fact that the French players clearly I mean the final was within reach at that moment, so their third place game, which was against Poland, should have been easy. They basically didn't showed up, they lost that game four years later. Uh they decided, like clear which was against Belgium, a lot more technically difficult. But at that moment they decided, okay, like we have such a great generation, we're not gonna win the World Cup. Unfortunately, let's get at least the bronze medals out of these two semifinals, yeah. And then and they won, they won at that moment. So that's why I think England's gonna win, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

That'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yeah, and in terms of like quickly, variables. I mean, we touched on variables before, X factors. I mean, obviously, we know Lionel Messi, his championship pedigree. We talked about Martinez, who I think has been like obviously a revelation in this this World Cup scoring in back-to-back games, entering the final clutch goals late in games. And you know, as much as he's been around the national team, it's really, I guess, his coming out party in a sense. He was named to the team in 2018, yeah, and then he got injured. Or no, he didn't make the final selection.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

His performance, I would say his coming out party was two years ago with the Copa America. Yeah, he was really instrumental in them repeating that year.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

So he's been around because 2018, well, preliminary he was named to the preliminary team, didn't make the final selection.

SPEAKER_03 19:32

2022 made the team, then he had an injury, so he didn't play much and he didn't score in in the tournament, and then we're seeing him so I mean just to show you how quickly things can change in sports, because like right now you just said the words Lionel Messi and his championship pedigree. Go back five years. Yeah, exactly. Go back five years, and and at that point it's not that he had played just one World Cup, he had played one, two, three, four World Cups at that point. Do you know how many knockout stage goals he had before the 2022 World Cup?

SPEAKER_02 20:02

I'm gonna say zero. Zero.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

Exactly. He was seen, and it's crazy because he was he said and then changed, or I don't know if it was just rumored that he was gonna play. Yes, he wasn't supposed to be playing.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah, that's it. That was supposed to be his last World Cup, international, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

And think of it, had he retired, basically his career in World Cup, in club, it's different, but in the World Cup at that moment.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

International career would have been very different.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

And now he would if he now, if he wins again, it's gonna be the first repeat since 1964.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Script the script, yes. Well, never mind.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

He also didn't win a Cup of America until he lost two finals, 2014 and 2016, both in shootouts against Chile. It's crazy. Chile scored zero goals in the whole finals in a row and they have two titles.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

But but that's it. He's now won the 2020 and 2024, and in between the 2022 World Cup, and now this could be four huge international tournaments in a row. So it's you're right. His script has completely flipped. But by the way, that's very John L Way-ish, right? Like he goes in three in Super Bowls and comes back in his last two and wins his last two and goes out as a as a champion. Exactly. But that goes to show you all of these sports, okay, are very much team-oriented. Yes, you can be one of the top players in your championship pedigree should not be decided on the wins and losses just so easily like that. It's it's not necessarily only about you. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

So and look, in terms in terms of of what I think is gonna is gonna happen, I'll keep my prediction for the minion spread. Um again, I think if Argentina scores first, we're gonna have like we're gonna have a game. I'm interested to see Spain play catch up soccer. What is it what would be actually uh here's the nightmare scenario for Spain is Argentina scoring first late in the game? Yes, because I think it's pretty much. The firepower to come back if they have sixty minutes to do it, if they have only five minutes to do it. And honestly, these Argentina counterattacks when the other team is trying to equalize resides. I mean reside against Switzerland. So like Spain needs to score first or have a lot of time, I think, to come back. In a close game at the end, I mean if if we look like that, the thing is like, yeah, Spain has had super subs that were able to score late in the game. And Argentina has been able to score late in the game. So it's it's the first game that I mean, I really don't know if if it's tied 1-1 with 10 minutes to go, it really could go either way.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

And Spain hasn't given up much at all in the world. One goal in the entire tournament. Exactly. Belgium. And I guess, yeah, we're also going to be following to a certain extent the golden boot or the yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:05

I mean, which uh again, and I said I think England's gonna win. I think France's only chances if Mbappe decides that game to win the golden. So they're tied at eight goals.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

No, but no. So they're tied at eight goals, but Messi's ahead because he has more assists. He has four assists and Mbappe has three assists. That's the tiebreaker.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

Yeah. His two assists in the semi put him past Mbappe for now. So I mean, I don't even know if I haven't heard anything, and I don't think anything's been announced, but I do wonder what the lineups are going to be like. I think they're gonna be both very diminished. Who knows if Mbappe even plays? You know, like at this point, unfortunately, I hate to say it, but both sides are probably thinking of their club teams that are coming up, and they may not want to risk uh injury going into a quick turnaround.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

What are the chances that Lionel Messi comes to Montreal next weekend?

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Oh, there's zero chances.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

All the people who bought tickets for the one game that Messi's coming to.

SPEAKER_02 23:59

I mean, honestly, in Jersey, he might come to Montreal. He's not going to play in Montreal. I'd be shocked.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Look, that was never going to like I think even had he been surprisingly knocked out by the first round or even by Cabo Vermo.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

You're gonna see the ticket prices plummet down when they when the announcement is officially made that Messi's not making the trips. Too bad, that's unfortunate. That's unfortunate. Uh but also just to close this, right? We always have to tie it back. We haven't met brought up any Jewish connection with them, and so we just have to mention, I guess, if you're gonna pull from a Jewish perspective, the Argentina, um, their crest was designed 50 years ago by a Jewish graphic designer from Buenos Aires. The crest that's still being worn today uh by Norberto Toto Rud. And uh, of course, Lionel Messi has some he's been to Israel with uh Barcelona, I think, and uh loves Israel and with PSG also. So he's he's he's spoken highly, I guess, of the reception that he received there. So, you know, yeah, there's that factor if we want to make a a Jewish uh connection to uh to what's left of the of the World Cup.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Well, either way, I hope everybody enjoys on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

If we're in for anything like we had in 2022, that was a great final.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

So that was an amazing match.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yeah, we're in for for for a treat.

Current Events

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Okay, so let's uh quickly well much of our attention, right, has been on the World Cup. There's been some other Jewish sports stories in the news over the last few weeks since we last uh were with you. So kind of wanted to just uh gloss over some of that.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Lots of basketball going on, lots of uh summer basketball going on. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Uh on the men's side, there was the qualifying for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup. We've talked to you about this before. They were in that group with uh Germany, Croatia, and Cyprus, and this was the third window of games, the final group of the this first round. Um, and the top three of the four teams were advancing. We kind of had a good feeling because Cyprus, Israel defeated Cyprus twice last time out. Cyprus was was winless, so like you know, the chances are Israel was going to finish third.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

There had to be some funny business for them to not finish third.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Exactly. And so they did finish third despite two losses uh in this latest win.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

They have a close game against the where aren't isn't Germany the defending world champ?

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Germany is uh, yeah, I believe so.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

So it's a pretty good game against them.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

They had to play this game in in Latvia in front of a hundred people only because uh because they couldn't play in Israel, and uh so you know, and also like Denny Avdia was not.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

Yeah, I was wondering why they didn't play.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Yeah, it's kind of uh must be some kind of to reasoning there. Yeah. But uh anyway, they lose the close one uh despite Yamadar going off 31 points, uh um, and then get blown out by Croatia 103 to 75. Uh uh, you know, another uh a tough loss. But regardless, as we mentioned, Israel advances to round two by virtue of finishing ahead of Cyprus. Um I don't know if this is normal, this kind of unique setup with the this round where now they're basically merging two groups into one. So they're taking all the initial groups from group from the first round and just making it carry over.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

Yes. This is like you know how this is that reminds me of like uh curling does it this way. They have the playoffs this way. Yeah, they take the two pools and they the two they eat the top four of each one and they merge them together, and your record still stands there. Yeah. Sometimes the ice hockey world playoffs used to do that also, the men's world championships.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

So now they're in a group of six, they're joining forces with group F, which had Poland, Latvia, and the Netherlands. Top three of the six automatically qualify for the World Cup. Right now, they're lost now in that group with the Netherlands. They have a two-and-four record. So they're gonna play next in uh end of August against first against Poland and August 27th. Poland perfect 6-0 in this uh qualifying, and then they'll play Latvia on uh August 30th.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Well, let's see. Hopefully they can uh come out strong. We'll see if uh if any of the uh have been Shiraf and Danny Wolfe and Danny Avde have any. Probably. Yeah. And then if we look at the But I know that, for example, I sorry, because I know it it's it's been going on that the um uh playoffs have been going on in Europe, but they also happened in North America, right? Because Canada was just in Jamaica uh I think it was in Jamaica. It was in Hamilton, sorry, they were playing Jamaica, but Shea Shea went to stone real well, the other guys did Lugan Stort didn't.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Right, but I understand.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

But Shea played, so he's from there. Okay, fine. But at least they blew them out.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Understood.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

Anyways, I was expecting that he might make it in there, but yeah. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

And then if we look at the quickly 220 teams, uh both men and women, but the women's team, they finished runner-up to France at this tournament in Lithuania. They lose 79 to 66 in the final, but they were sixth place last year. You look at their their road, right? They they lost 68 to 66 to Spain in their opening group stage match, beat Croatia 87-85, the host uh Lithuania 74-71, Trans Hungary in the round of 16, then they beat Poland by a single point in the quarters, and then they beat Belgium in the semis to uh advance to the to the final. So really impressive uh, you know, when you look at the future, I guess, of women's regeneration coming.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

There's a lot of Israeli women starting to play in the NCAA, and I think that helps the pipeline for sure. Yeah, and on the men's side.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

Honestly, the women's basketball at the Olympics in two years is gonna be very interesting because of the rate.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yeah, and on the men's side, they also played in their U-20 and they made it out of the group stage, fell in the round of 16 to Greece, 79-66. Um, so there's that. And I guess while we're we're talking basketball, I guess quick note on our Jewish and decent now friend Jalen. Jalen. Uh so he played we learned that he played through the New York Knicks championship run with a left wrist injury, which now is requiring offseason surgery.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

We saw him last night at the SB's in a cast, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:23

Yeah, so he um he's expected to miss, I guess, two months. They think he'll be able to start the season on time um and still be able to train, I guess, in uh latter stages of the of the summer. You know, obviously they're gonna rely on him a lot uh this year, too. Just a little, yeah. Just a little too. And you mentioned the SBs. He swept the SBs. He was named the uh best NBA player, because that goes without saying, and then best championship performance, and then he won the big award of the night, best male athlete over Matthew Stafford, Shoei Otani, and Lionel Messi.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Big win.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

So three pieces of hard work coming home.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Exactly. He wasn't there, but he wasn't there, he wasn't at the SPs now.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

And Jalen Brunson was there. I saw with uh his wife. Yeah, yeah, he was there, yeah. They were all the old Mishbach was there. Uh in golf, it's a big it's a big weekend for obviously for the World Cup. It's a big weekend in golf too, because they have the uh Royal Burkdale British Open British Open. And so we'll we'll give you a Max Homa update.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

Sitting at plus one after his first round today. Plus one everyone's kind of bunched up together, it seems there's very tight. It's very tight. There's a lot of people on that leaderboard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

I find it's crazy though the story of how he got to the British Open. So he was in a tournament in Illinois uh on uh a few weeks uh a few weeks ago at the John Deere Classic. We actually finished second, one stroke back of the winner, and he so that was a big tournament in terms of the final spots for the British Open. Right, and so he was you know in that bunched up group towards the end, and there was uh Ben Coles missed a bogey putt from under three feet on the 18th hole, which dropped Coles to third, which allowed Homa then to gain sole possession of second place. And if you consider without Coles missing that putt, Homa would have been an alternate, even because even if he finished tied for second, he would have been 84th in the rankings, which would not have been. So because he finished sole possession of second, he jumped from 112 to 73, which met the cutoff, and he got Imagine if he goes on to win, who knows? So it's his first British open since 2021. He actually he was really, you know, one of a mainstays of the the circuit for a few years, and uh so we'll see if maybe getting back into the majors will maybe some reignite some momentum, boost some confidence for him because he's a former yeah top five player just three years ago.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Yeah, hopefully he can work his way back up.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Uh in tennis, uh did it again. It's a it's a broken record, maybe, but Gisa's son came through again, quad wheelchair doubles title with his partner Niels Vink, their sixth straight Grand Slam title dating back to uh the French Open last year.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

They're going for the calendar slam.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Calendar slam if they can win the uh US Open uh later this summer, which is incredibly, incredibly rare.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Um imagine that winning all four in a row. Unbelievable. And that would be seven in a row, getting that since they currently hold all four, right? So it's incredible, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

Going to back to soccer if we like tie a bow. Yeah, back to MLS. Well, yeah, MLS, but Matt Turner was with the U.S. uh national team for the he actually uh extended his contract with the New England Revolution. He was on a loan from uh Olympique Lyonnais, so uh it's uh extends through the end of this year option for uh next year as well. Um he's the third Jew met on the revolution, I guess Robert Kraft has a say in this.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

But uh I think he also just probably wants to be closer to home at this point.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

So uh we meant we talked about Dor Torjman, Eli Feingold, Israelis. Uh Matt Turner's there as well. And uh actually we never didn't talk about it, but he did play in a game for the Americans. They gave him the final group stage match against Turkey, the 3-2 loss, the late goal. So um uh he's back in the American American. Yeah, but they've rested their entire team there. Yeah, exactly. And so they're he's back with New England. They're gonna MLS is actually restarting uh right this weekend uh after being off for six weeks because most of their stadiums were being used. But uh anyhow, they're back uh this weekend, and so um uh yeah, so we'll be watching uh watching that. Also, we we want to mention, I guess, this uh crazy story too. The Israeli Arab Anan Kaleli, who is set to become the most expensive footballer in Israeli history, replaced Denzel Dumfries in in Milan. So there was a transfer that was scheduled from his team in Belgium to inter Milan for 25 million euros. But just this week it fell through because he failed mandatory medical tests in Italy. He had passed the ones in Belgium, but apparently the ones passed.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

They were getting 25 million euros.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

The ones in Italy apparently is that on the X-ray. They have these crazy medical stress tests in Italy that they make them undergo and very, very strict. I I I heard the Ravens got the same thing on Max Cross. So anyway, they found the regularities on this test, uh, so he he's didn't receive clearance to play and see what they're doing. They didn't like the pizza. No. Uh but so uh staying in Belgium. What do they what's the Belgian waffles? Waffles.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

He's gonna have the waffles and the chocolate. And the chocolate. Chocolate is very good. Yes. And the free thing is. Even from the newfies, yeah. Even from the new fees.

SPEAKER_03 35:56

But the fries are French.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Okay, the fries are French. That's true. Uh in baseball, baseball.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

We just had the Midsummer Classic, the All-Star game in Philadelphia. Oh, that was this week, really. There's been so much going, right? I think I watched five seconds of that game.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

By the way, one thing we have to do because we're into month one, two, three, and a half, four of the MLB season. And there's been, I mean, there's been the NHL and NBA playoffs, there's been the World Cup, and I mean, there's obviously a lot of Jews playing baseball. Uh, we need our next episode after the World Cup to do a state of the situation for Jewish players in the majors because we're getting into the interesting part of the calendar.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

I was gonna say, admittedly, this is about the time where I start paying attention. Yeah. Only at this point.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

So Dylan Case of the Toronto Blue Jays started for the American League, pitched the first inning, struck out the side. Uh he had a walk in between, but uh American League shut out the National League uh 4-0. He became the third pitcher with Jewish Heritage to start an MLB All-Star game.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Steve Stone in 1980, and of course, uh Koufax in 1966. Uh in hockey, I don't even talk about the Israeli Elite Hockey League. The Kfarsaba Wolves top seed beat the Ashda Dolphins to uh win the championship. Kfarsaba defeated the Haifa Mariners in the semifinals. Great game.

SPEAKER_02 37:16

I actually watched it on YouTube. Hope nobody heard that. But it happened at night, I promise. Because the goalie for Uri Skullnik had an amazing game, really. 17-year-old kid who went out there, and I'm I like it's very hard when you're that young and you're playing against all these adults. Like that whole team was a development team, and they had them. They were on top of them, they were rolling. They were and and Kvar Saba came back. I give them credit. They were they were up, and uh but Uri played great. I mean, he was making save after save. He really played a hard game.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

And we're gonna hear about it right from the.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

So that'll be great.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

Get some insight from uh from there. Speaking of Maccabi, lastly, just to mention quickly, we talked about it last time, but Maccabiya Games just wrapped up in Israel, over 5,000 athletes, teens, seniors, paralympians competed in a whole slew of different sports. 1,200 Maccabiya participants. Great thing they do all uh at each game. They celebrate their bar in bat mitzvah at the Western Wall. So 1,200 of them. So again, we mentioned Canada was largely absent because of uh insurance issues and and you know the war and everything, but we're hoping that they're back in bigger numbers uh next time out.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

Look, I gotta say, like I'm not going to Toronto this year, and I'm I'm starting to have a little bit of FOMO about it, but uh you know, I'll be back next year. I heard it's in Austin, so I can't wait. But Jordan, you've been to Israel for Maccabi. I mean, I would love to experience that one time. I would really love to experience that. It's like it's gotta be like a birthright like on steroids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

And I was going all over uh the covering it for the social media for Team Canada, and I was you know all over the place. It was a lot of fun, yeah.

Historical Segment- Jody Scheckter's Formula 1 Win

SPEAKER_03 39:08

So now for our historical section, uh this week in sports history, we had we head to the fast lane and celebrate one of the greatest Jewish athletes you've probably never heard of. This is why we're here. So on July 20th, 1974, a 24-year-old South African named Jody Scheckter stunned the Formula One world by winning the British Grand Prix at Brent Hatch. It was uh just his first full season as an F1 driver, and his victory announced uh that a new star had arrived. The win was especially remarkable because Scheckter had spent the previous year earning a very different reputation. At the 1973 British Grand Prix, he was involved in a massive first lap crash that eliminated nearly half the field. Many wondered if he was simply too aggressive to even become a champion. But after joining the legendary Tyrone team in 1974, Schechter matured almost overnight. At Brent Hatch, he held off reigning war champion Emerson Filipaldi and claimed one of the biggest victories of his young career. The triumph helped propel him to a third place finish in the World Driver Championship, while British motoring riders named him their driver of the year. For Jewish sports fans, Schechter's success carried even more significance. Born in East London, South Africa, to a Jewish family. He once described his upbringing as culturally Jewish more than religious, but he never hid his heritage. Five years after that breakthrough victory in Britain, Schechter reached the pinnacle of his motorsport in 1979 and driving for Ferry, he became Formula One World Champion, still the only Jewish driver ever to win an F1 world title, as well as the only African driver to capture the championship. His racing career may have lasted less than a decade, but his legacy remains immense. From overcoming the label of crush-prone rookie to standing atop the Formula One world, Jody Scheckter proved that real silience and growth can be just as important as raw speeds. So this week we tip our helmets and our keep up to one of the greatest Jewish athletes in modern sports history, Jody Scheckter, whose breakthrough British Grand Prix victory on July 20th, 1974, paved the roads to championship glory.

Minyan Spread

SPEAKER_02 41:50

That was uh incredible. I had no idea about that story. It's always cool when we learn these new uh stories. Awesome. Thanks for sharing. All right, Minion Spread. So where are we? Where are we? Uh yeah, Jordan. Two bets last time. What was it? Canada Morocco, right? Yeah. Good first one. Look, look, you look, you you went for it. I give you, you swung. You swung. But nope. Nope. Morocco won. And then again, you swung George Russell to win. And I think he finished second, right? Yeah, so it was close. You are now definitely negative. Canada finished second in the game. That's true. Wait a second. There's not okay, yeah. Minus 1100 for Jordan. Uh Jan had a great two uh matches there. He had Canada, Morocco, he finished on the other side of that one. He had Morocco, boo. Anyways. Um but he won it. 870 for that one, and then Norway, uh Brazil. He had Norway as the upset. Two grand there. You're sitting just under 12,000. I had uh USA in Belgium. I went with uh Belgium on that one on the money line, and I also had Norway in Brazil on uh and I had Norway. So I'm at 13,434. So good, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:06

Jan and I are sitting nice and and so basically how many episodes until Jordan catches but again, like we said, this is good.

SPEAKER_02 43:16

Don't be in the middle. So either listen to Jan or I or don't listen to Jordan. And at this point you're doing okay, right? So Jordan, on that note, I hope you keep betting on the Yankees and on Aaron Jones.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

So yeah, maybe you're scooping me a bit, but anyway, uh I actually didn't even look. I'm just saying. So as a Red Sox man. I'm I'm hopping on uh the Fox uh Fox Saturday night uh doubleheader that they have going on. Because of course they have made the World Cup third place match that no one is that people are not as intrigued by. Uh England versus France. I was gonna say, which for good reason, probably. I didn't want to pick a win here, so I'm just gonna I'm gonna go that Harry K. Kane.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

I I think this is a very ambitious.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

He's going to score for England because he's been kind of quiet a little bit of late. He he didn't score in uh uh in either the quarterfinal or the semifinal, and obviously he's he's not not gonna win the golden boot.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

Just as a comment, it's not a bad bet.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

Because does he actually think he's gonna play? He I think how long is he playing? Look, it's a meeting game. Of course he's gonna look at the game.

SPEAKER_03 44:27

Of course he's gonna score.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

All right, so we'll leave it at that. And then it's another their second part of that doubleheader. It's a big weekend. Obviously, baseball's coming back, and it's Yankees Dodgers big series uh this weekend rematch of the 2024 World Series. Uh Yankees are in a bit of a shambles because they're decimated with injuries. The Red Sox broke them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

The Red Sox, yeah, that's right, that four-game sweep.

SPEAKER_00 44:54

Yeah. So uh I don't know. That's Saturday game game two. We'll we'll cross my fingers and reluctantly we'll say the Yankees are gonna beat the Dodgers in the second game of the series. Saturday night baseball in America. Okay. Let's see. Let's see. You want to go again?

SPEAKER_03 45:10

Yeah, so I'm gonna go with the Dodgers over the years. Yeah, I love it. I love it. He just wants to go against the game. I'm playing with my inverse Jordans rather than the same game, the the which game. Yeah, the same game. The same game. Yes, you know what? I was thinking which game and that oh yeah, let's make it fun. It's the same game, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

So let's make it let's make it fun. Um there'll be some chat texting.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

I was gonna say some chats.

SPEAKER_03 45:35

I think look, I think the Yankees some it's not going well. No. Um this is this is pretty much my only analysis other than inverse Jordan. Uh and I'm gonna go with Argentina over Spain. I think Argentina's gonna become the first team to repeat since 1990, since Brazil did it in the 58 and 62. Um they've obviously we talked a lot, Cabo Verde, half of it was Egypt, half of it was even Switzerland, but they are hitting their stride, right? Now they are becoming better and better, game in and game out. Um I think that if they score first, I think it's gonna be difficult for Spain to equalize. And even if it's idlate or Spain has scored first, I think obviously Argentina is the one team that has the firepower to uh to be able. And the one thing I didn't say in my analysis of France versus Spain, even if we forget the whole Spain kept the ball, the times when France had the ball, clearly both Mbappé and Mbeli were completely off. And because usually, even with 12 seconds of Mbappe, Membeli would be able to create something right with the ball. I don't think that Spain can hope to have the biggest star of the other team be completely off two games in a row. So even if Messi has 10 seconds of possession or Martinez has 10 seconds of possession, I think it's enough for them to score an important goal.

SPEAKER_02 47:12

Alright, well, I guess we'll see. So again, we're going head to head. I'll say that for my second bet. There's a huge game Saturday night, and we're not talking Dodgers Yankees, we're not talking France England. Montreal Calgary in the CFL. I covered the game last weekend. It was a great game. Montreal's offense has been Phil Potter. Tyson Philpopreal this season so far through five games. So I'm gonna go with the Als. I know they won last week. I know Calgary made it look close. I don't think it was that close from what I watched. Although that's always Calgary. They happened to, out of the Western teams, it actually happened to play pretty well in Calgary. It's it's BC they tend to have problems with in Edmonton, but Calgary they seem to be okay. Their visit earlier this year to Edmonton was uh crazy, that rain game, which I mean, I think it poured and poured and poured. Hopefully they'll have a nicer night in Calgary, but I'm going with the Owls on Saturday night. I think the first time we've ever talked CFL football here. But, anyways, yeah, I'm going with the Alz. Spain, Argentina. I gotta go with Spain. I gotta keep my pick that I said it the originally like three weeks ago. But I also, not just because of that, this team has lost one international game in the last four years or so, right? That in that in the League of Nations to Portugal on kicks. Okay. The core of this team has been coached by this coach for the last for the last eight years or so, right? He was their he was the under this coach, under that. And and the core, these guys have all come up together, right? You're just seeing the emergence. This is the next generation.

SPEAKER_03 48:47

They look more like a club than the National. Right.

SPEAKER_02 48:50

They look more like a club because they've been playing longer to they've been playing together. They've been at different levels, they've come up together this core. And as much as we've all been celebrating Messi, I know that Yamal has not had a great turn, or uh, so to speak, he hasn't come out, but he does it in very subtle ways. Yeah, he didn't have an assist, but he drew the penalty on the first goal against France, right? Like he drew that penalty that created the goal. I believe this is gonna be his coming out party on Sunday, and I think this next generation, he's gonna be there to last. He's the next one, this team is the next one, and I think we're gonna see the emergence of a Spanish, you know, dynasty coming out because they get to host in four years from now, too. So this could be very interesting and setting up not just you know Sunday, but going forward for four years.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

And we're getting to see those per pictures resurface of uh baby Yamal. It's like so fitting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

Also, Yamal's younger brother has been so cute in the games, his three-year-old younger brother. So I I honestly think they're they just I think they're gonna put a vice grip on Argentina, and I don't think they're gonna let go. I think they are gonna get that first goal.

D'var Torah- Parashat Devarim

SPEAKER_00 50:00

All right, so we've come to the Dvar Torah segment of the show. We're actually starting a new book this this weekend. It's uh Parashat Dvarim.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

I'm starting a new book this weekend. So there you go.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

There you go. So the book of Dvarim, we find Moses in the final weeks of his life after leading the Israelites for 40 years. He doesn't begin by celebrating the miracles of the Exodus or recounting his greatest victories. Instead, he looks back at the nation's missteps, complaints in the wilderness, the sin of the spies, moments of fear and division. At first glance, it seems like an odd way to prepare the people for entering the promised land. Why bring up the past when the future is so exciting? The answer is one every athlete and coach understands. If you don't learn from your mistakes, you're destined to repeat them. The greatest teams don't just celebrate wins, they spend hours in the film room, they break down missed assignments, poor decisions, and mental lapses, not to embarrass players, but to make them better. Their goal isn't to dwell on failure, it's to grow from it. Moses is doing the same thing. His speech is the ultimate film session. He reminds the Israelites where they lost confidence, where they stopped trusting each other, and where they forgot the values that made them a nation. He knows they are about to face stronger opponents and greater challenges than ever before. Talent and faith alone won't be enough. They need self-awareness. One of the biggest lessons comes from the episode of the spies. The people weren't defeated because they lack strength. They were defeated because they lack belief. They saw obstacles instead of opportunities. In sports, we've seen talented teams lose because they become intimidated before the game even starts. While underdogs have won championships because they believe they belonged. Dvarim teaches us that preparation is as much mental as it is physical. There's another lesson here for athletes. Moses doesn't erase the past, but neither does he allow it to define the future. The generation that made those mistakes won't enter the land, but a new generation will, armed with the wisdom that came from those experiences. The same is true in sports. A heartbreaking playoff loss, a missed penalty kick, as we've seen in the Swiss World Cup, or a season-ending injury doesn't have to be the end of the story. Often those moments become the foundation for future success because they teach resilience, discipline, and perspective. As legendary basketball coach John Wooden famously said, failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be. That's the message of Dvarim in a nutshell. Before chasing the next championship or the next milestone in life, we have to be willing to review the tape honestly. Champions aren't those who never make mistakes, they're the ones who learn from them. So may we all have the humility to reflect, the courage to improve, and the confidence to keep moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 52:30

I hope uh I really hope Thomas Tychel and uh and Didier Deschamps were listening to that demon.

SPEAKER_00 52:35

They need it as a pep talk. They'll play it in the locker room before the before the final. Exactly. That wraps up this episode of Mention with the Boys. Remember, like, follow, subscribe so that you are kept in the loop on our episodes uh dropping every other Friday. Keep the conversation going with us always on Instagram. Follow us at Mention with the Boys. Uh, looking forward to uh welcoming our guest uh in a f uh the next episode in a few weeks, uh so stay tuned for that. Until the next tip off our tour portion, on behalf of my pals, the Anna Sarusha, Matthew Cutler, I'm Jordan Stupler. Enjoy the World Cup final.