World Cup Series Ep. 9 - World Cup Positivity

Having comprehensively failed to do so last time out, today Jack and Ben focus on the positives of the FIFA World Cup, their happiest memories of it and why it remains - despite FIFA, Gianni, and his orange mate's best efforts - the greatest competition in the world of sport.

They mostly succeed in keeping this optimistic outlook, talking the World Cups of their lifetime from Michael Owen in 1998, through Zidane's magic, Jabulani inspired screamers and England actually winning on penalties. Then, being an episode focused on everything good, they finish discussing a man they simply cannot believe is English - Jude Bellingham.

World Cup Series Ep. 8 - Are FIFA cheating?

This episode wasn't meant to be like this. What was meant to be a gentle chat about World Cup moments past got a little out of hand, when frustration borne of the 2026 tournament so far came to the surface.

We love football. Of course we do. It'sthe beautiful game, and it's our game. It's everyone's game. But while we haven't been quiet about our feelings about FIFA, the world is fast wising up to the excesses and immoral aims of the sports governing body.

Misuse of VAR, inconsistent decision making, Gianni's ego and profit being put over fans is one thing. But when FIFA suspended Folarin Balogun's red card, after Donald Trump called Infantino personally, they crossed an unforgivable line.

Ben and Jack dissect what has been a World Cup that encapsulates modern football perfectly. Brilliant sport on show, wonderful goals scored by extraordinary players and fantastic teams, all combined with gluttonous excess, interference, suspicion and downright corruption.

World Cup Series Ep. 7 - World Cup XI

In our latest World Cup episode, Ben and Jack go head to head taking it in turns to try and build their perfect World Cup team from the depths of the competitions history.

Will they go modern or retro? Messi or Maradona, Ronaldo or Pelé? Do they throw caution to the wind or try and find some competitive balance? And just how many England '66 players can they squeeze in before getting accused of bias?

World Cup Series Ep. 6 - There's Only One Ronaldo

Before Cristiano and Lionel, before Ronaldinho and Henry, there was Ronaldo. A man whose ability relative to his peers was so extraordinary it felt like a leap in football evolution. A man who redefined what it meant to be a footballer, whose as yet incomparable ability to create magic with pace, power and precision quite literally changed the game.

For Ronaldo, the only comparisons at the time he exploded onto the world scene played other sports. To say he was football's equivalent of Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan can be backed up both by his explosive rise and impact before 1998, and maybe more so by the huge Nike deal he signed, making R9 the global megabrand's face of soccer.

But then came Paris. The biggest stage of all, a teamsheet submitted with his name absent and an eventual u-turn that led to a very off-brand performance by the greatest player on the planet at the time - upstaged by another legend of the game in Zinedine Zidane's France.

Worse was to come - injuries, aborted comebacks and worries his career might be over, let alone his explosive talent. But what happened next is nothing short of the greatest redemption arc, arguably, in all of the sport's long and storied history.

Because there's only one Ronaldo. And in Yokohama, his legacy was secured forever.

World Cup Series Ep. 5 - Andrés Escobar

El Caballero del Fútbol - The Gentleman of Football - a nickname given to a centre back whose stature, calm head and elegance led him to the pinnacle of World Cup football amongst a generational team, only for their 1994 campaign to end in heartbreak and disaster beyond the scope of just the sport.

Andrés Escobar was held in high regard both on and off the pitch. A cultured defender and a leader of Colombia's golden generation, he embodied everything supporters hoped their national team could be - intelligent, humble, dignified and respected by teammates and opponents alike. Yet a single moment at the 1994 World Cup would place him at the centre of one of football's darkest tragedies.

More than thirty years later, Andrés Escobar remains a symbol of grace, decency and everything football can lose when the game becomes entangled with true darkness.

World Cup Series Ep. 4 - Refereeing Controversy

It is said referees have the hardest job in football. You can do your job perfectly 99.9% of the time, and have your entire career defined by the 0.1%. You are a figure of hatred, of derision, sometimes even of violent intent. But you lace up your boots, pick up your whistle and go again next week.

As football fans, most of us can forgive minor mistakes, basic human error. But when a decision decides if your nation progresses or goes home, when a decision leads to injury or farce, or simply when you cannot believe the evidence of your own eyes that an error so brazen can be allowed - we universally cannot stand for it.

Today we present our top 10 refereeing controversies, from 1930 through to the modern day. We have dodgy timekeeping, fascist influencers, bloody battles, hands of God and possibly the single worst challenge in football history going unpunished.

There is pure speculation on our part, as always, such as wondering how one host nation in South Korea, 2002, can be the beneficiary of so many fortuitous decisions during their run to the semi-finals, and what might motivate an organisation such as FIFA to facilitate such good luck. Theoretically, of course.

Mentioned in the episode (viewer discretion is advised) - Schumacher's challenge on Battiston in Seville, 1982.

https://youtu.be/6FtBPjqOlEg?is=H1CY6jBzl09_Lsng

World Cup Series Ep. 3 - FIFA's Corruption

FIFA would claim that it is individuals that are corrupt, not the organisation itself. Well, our counter to that would be that an organisation that sets itself up with such a concentration of power amid a sea of wealth, with little oversight and so much money to be made cannot deflect blame when corruption becomes endemic.

When Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in late 2010, a domino was pushed over. Rumours of corruption made it to the FBI, and a group of agents - some soccer mad, some veterans of mob takedowns - began to investigate.

Today, we discuss how those dominos fell, from Chuck Blazer to Jack Warner to Sepp Blatter himself, and how the house of cards came tumbling down - only to go on under Gianni Infantino with a few cosmetic changes and a promise of more oversight. Criminal organisations always find a way of going on with a new generation, after all.

World Cup Series Ep. 2 - Origin Story

With the World Cup a little over 24 hours away, we talk about the tournament, its truly terrible format, and about exactly why it is coming home.

We also delve into the World Cup and FIFA's origin stories, about Uruguay 1930 and how the tournaments finances have evolved to today - setting us up nicely for the next episode...

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Credit: This episode contains music from Fesliyan Studios. Find their huge collection at https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/