The Game

It is finally here. Tonight Mexico will play South Africa in the opening game.
Will it be a tournament for the ages or a step too far for over heated and over worked players?
So, a quick look at England - Bellingham or Rogers, Rashford or Gordon?
Your favourite World Cup opening games; teams we'd love to see do well and
Tom Clarke's mad challenge to watch every match - what are his chances?
Gregor details his recent trip to Croatia to meet Luka Modric; what to eat if you're staying up all night and is 4-4-2 about to make a massive come back!?
Tom is joined by Gregor Robertson and Alyson Rudd.
From tomorrow we'll be here every morning with your essential World Cup Daily Briefing - listen every morning and don't miss a thing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scotland could not be happier going in t the World Cup. When was the last time you heard that - 1928!?
Eight goals in two games and believe it or not even some talk of their talisman John McGinn not making it into Steve Clarkes first eleven. The Tartan army suddenly have a cutting edge, confidence to burn and mounting expectation. Bring on Haiti!
What could possible go wrong?
Who better to ask than three of the finest Scots in sports journalism...

Jonathan Northcroft, Michael Grant and Gregor Robertson join Tom Clarke
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of our build up to World Cup 2026 we hosted a live event at The Times building in London.

Tom Clarke hosts the event with Martin Samuel, Jonathan Northcroft, Hamzah Khalique-Loonat and World Cup veteran and former Republic of Ireland forward Tony Cascarino.
The team discuss England and Scotland's chances and what to expect from the other tournament contenders.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is World Cup week!
England treated their friendly against New Zealand as a training session...can we learn anything? Does Thomas Tuchel already know his line up to face Croatia or is it still in doubt? How worried should England fans be that three of England's team are already in the red zone, prone to injury or burn out?
Scotland are looking confident with eight goals in their last two games. If they can beat Haiti in their opening game could that be enough for them to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time?
Tom clarke is joined by Gregor Robertson and
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If England don't win it who will?
France, Spain, Portugal are all among the favourites, but only one European team has ever won in the Americas...can they change that?
Lionel Messi will be at his sixth World Cup, can he lead Argentina to defend their crown?
Brazil have gone twenty four years without a World Cup, can ageing talisman Neymar and the experience of manager Carlo Ancelotti guide them to the final?
Who are the dark horses - Senegal, Japan, Norway, Ecuador...
And lastly what of the rest, the first timers, the romantics choice and the rank outsiders.

Tom Allnutt, James Gheerbrant and Paul Hirst join Tom Clarke to asses the best of the rest.

We're here with our daily update show from Friday 12th June and we'll have a USA and the hosts special next week.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.