The old world is fading, and the new one struggles to be born. There was a time when it seemed a foregone conclusion that the likes of Germany and the Netherlands would loom large at the business end of any World Cup, grinding out wins with efficient, controlled football. Last night, neither looked anything close to it. Germany crashed out to Paraguay, the Dutch to Morocco, both on penalties.Killian Sundermann - comedian, podcaster and crestfallen Germany fan, joins Paul Howard and Gavin Cooney in studio to explain exactly what went wrong for his boys, and to offer a message of hope and direction to his fellow suffering Germans.Japan, meanwhile, threw everything at their footballing mentors Brazil before falling to a late Gabriel Martinelli winner. They didn't sparkle but perhaps, like a good Ancelotti side, they'll just keep finding a way to win regardless. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesse Marsch's team stand as Canadian heroes to rank alongside Céline Dion, Justin Bieber and Tim Horton after last night's win over South Africa in Los Angeles - the nation's first-ever World Cup knockout victory, and perhaps the dawn of a brave new world for Canadian soccer.The game itself, though, was… rather less dramatic. Gavin Cooney and Malachy Clerkin join Paul Howard in studio to pick back over a mixed bag of a group phase, one marred by FIFA's baffling choice of format. Iran and South Korea crash out, while ties like Algeria v Austria slid into farce as teams gamed the bracket.Plus, we look ahead to the rest of the round of 32, kicking off with tonight's slate: Japan v Brazil, Germany v Paraguay, and Netherlands v Morocco. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To everything there is a season. That’s a lesson Scotland will surely have to learn if the football gods grant them another crack at this World Cup in the knockouts. Brazil were only too happy to feast on a calamitous defensive set-up, banging in three past a back line that flatly refused to ‘just knock it’.Paul Howard checks in with correspondents across North America, starting with Kevin Kilbane in Vancouver, who watched Canada's momentum get smothered by Switzerland. In Miami, Ken Early is in reflective mood, turning over how the Scots made such a mess of it, and why Brazil's fans so desperately want Neymar to have his ‘Messi in Qatar’ moment.Plus, Jonathan O’Brien unpicks a quirk in this year’s format, one that harks back to one of the strangest and most consequential episodes in World Cup history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It may not have been a catastrophe of a draw for England in Boston last night, but they’re following previous World Cup patterns and maybe that should be worrying enough for Thomas Tuchel.Howard, Cooney and Clerkin are back in The Irish Times studio to suss out where England’s Premier League 25/26 approach went wrong for them last night, if this really affects anything about the tournament and why we’re waiting on Anthony Barry’s half time interviews like a Tony Holohan Covid case update. We also ask if Portugal’s game could be the worst 5-0 win for a team in history, and why Ronaldo and Jordan Henderson might be the actual goats of this tournament. Just not in the way you might think. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forty years to the day since Diego Maradona's unforgettable brace against England at Mexico '86, three of the defining stars of the 2026 World Cup produced doubles of their own. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland each struck twice in a remarkable night that invited comparisons with the tournament's most enduring icon. Paying tribute to Maradona in some moments, and perhaps surpassing him in others.Paul Howard is joined in studio by Malachy Clerkin and Gavin Cooney - the Messi, Mbappé and Haaland of sports podcasting - to unpack the night's action. As well as Luther Vandross, Britpop, and why Cristiano Ronaldo may prove to be the Enoch Burke of this competition.Plus, Irish Times columnist Dave Hannigan joins us from New York to explore why the United States continues to struggle to produce a footballing phenomenon in the mould of Haaland, and how the Dunning-Kruger effect can apply to the confidence of the USMNT fan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin Kilbane, the self described Dunphy of Canadian Television, joins us from Vancouver after the Sunday night games, along with Gavin Cooney in studio. Paul Howard has continued his Herculean effort to watch every single group stage game and reports back on a packed weekend of World Cup action. Favourites Spain look to be warming up but questions linger over Lamine Yamal’s fitness. Co-hosts Mexico and the USA keep their momentum up, while Cape Verde find themselves knocking on the door of the next round. The Dutch, the Germans and the Japanese manage to keep their dark horse status intact but the widely faniced Turkey crash out in what’s been the shock of the tournament so far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canada notched their first ever World Cup victory after stomping Qatar 6-0 in Vancouver last night. Not everyone loved the wild celebrations on the touchline and after the whistle but is it all actually playing right into coach Marsch's plans for global domination?Kevin Kilbane was at the game in Vancouver on televisual duties, we get his thoughts on what he makes of the co-hosts, the potential fallout of Ismaël Koné’s horror injury and how he reckons the groups are poised going into the second round of games. America 2026 lands in your podcast feeds at least three times a week throughout the tournament, free to everyone, wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thomas Tuchel complained that he "couldn't see his team" during the anthems in Dallas last night. Little did he know just how much would be read into that remark as the evening wore on.On paper, a 4-2 win over an old bogey side looks like the perfect way to open a World Cup. Add in the fact that this is an England team who have brushed aside everyone in their path en route to the tournament, and the mood should be euphoric. So why are the pundits, and even their own management, so slow to pat the team on the back?Ken Early is one such sceptic. We catch up with him in Philadelphia after coming fresh from the action at Jerry World. Gavin Cooney, on the other hand, has a different worry entirely: that we may just have seen the tournament's future champions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life is just better when the World Cup is on.We know it. For better or worse, sport has a way of melting away the woes of the world, and nothing has captured that quite like the last few days of America 2026. Mere hours after Iran were ushered out the country at the whistle of their opening group game, our gaze was swung to the twinkling brilliance of Mbappé, Messi and Haaland, who each smacked in a bag of goals to truly bring the tournament to life. Suddenly, all the off-pitch noise felt a world away.Malachy Clerkin and Paul Howard are in studio and in the mood to revel through last night's action. We also catch up with Keith Duggan, who took in France v Senegal at the Meadowlands, though not before a detour to DC for UFC Freedom 250. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A highly sleep-deprived Paul Howard and Gavin Cooney are in studio today to pick apart the amorphous blob that was the weekend's group-stage action. A sprawling, shapeless mass of goals, the occasional flash of genuine quality and only modest amounts of drama. The Scots are making a name for themselves in Boston, Curaçao caught a fleeting glimpse of greatness before being yanked firmly back down to earth, and tired national stereotypes are turned on their head by Japan's late equaliser against the Dutch. Plus, we look ahead to today's action, which features our very own Pico Lopez lining out for his ancestral home of Cape Verde against tournament favourites Spain. A baptism of fire if ever there was one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.