America 2026: A World Cup podcast

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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