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Road to World Cup 26 - Your Definitive Guide to World Cup 26 - Episode 2
4 Plays20 days ago
Join Ken Davies and Nick Britten for your definitive guide to all things World Cup 26
Each week we'll take the deepest of dives into everything leading up to kick off in June 2026.
If you want to be the water-cooler expert in all things World Cup - you've just found your favorite podcast.
World Cup 2026 will be a Festival of football - with 48 teams completing for the ultimate prize - 104 matches over 56 days - with all the excitement, romance and jeopardy that the World Cup always brings - but on a much bigger scale.
Hosted in Mexico, Canada and the US - It's the pinnacle of the global soccer calendar
Email the show with your questions at : roadtoworldcup26@gmail.com
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Transcript
Introduction and World Cup 2026 Overview
00:00:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
A very warm and welcome wherever you are in the world to episode two of Road to World Cup 26. I'm very pleased that you can join us again. My name is Ken Davis. I'm joined by Nick Britton to guide you through all the detail and I mean all of the detail.
00:00:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Everything to do with FIFA World Cup 26. How are you doing, Nick?
England Squad and Tournament Expansion
00:00:30
Nick Britten
I'm doing very well. This morning, just only a couple of hours ago, ah Thomas Tuchel named his England squad for the first World Cup qualifiers, which start next week. So it does feel like the tournament is starting to gather pace.
00:00:42
Nick Britten
And we're we're a year and a bit away, but it will very, very quickly. So i'm quite excited. I'm excited about all of this.
00:00:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's starting to get real. It's starting to get real, everyone. Last week, we gave you an overview, a kind of helicopter view of how the new expanded World Cup is going to work. And it's just huge, the sheer scale of it.
00:01:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's going to be the biggest soccer event ever.
00:01:03
Nick Britten
Thank you.
00:01:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
And there's going to be a ton of...
Focus on CONCACAF
00:01:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
ton of news, a ton of analysis to cover. And today we're going to start the deep dive into one of the confederations. We're going to go through each confederation in turn. And today we start with CONCACAF.
00:01:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
And CONCACAF is the Confederation of North Central America and Caribbean Association Football. up What you know about CONCACAF, Nick? Is it something that's ever come across your ah your radar before?
00:01:41
Nick Britten
but Well, it has because um it's something that I was involved with a few years ago. um It's an interesting football association and federation. It's got 41 member states, but a lot of those are very, very small.
00:01:54
Nick Britten
So it's kind of been dominated in in recent years by Mexico and the USA. Of course, Canada are coming into the mix now as hosts of the World Cup next year.
00:02:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:02:05
Nick Britten
um and then but But you take away those... the The big giants of that federation and you're left with quite a few small teams at the bottom because there's lots and lots of islands and very, very small territories, all of which have football teams, which is great, and football which is which is what we want to see. and One of the reasons why this World Cup is so expanded is to allow you bigger chance of the smaller teams coming in and playing at a competition.
00:02:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
Very much looking forward to it. It's rapidly becoming one of my favorite confederations. I took a deep dive into it this week. i'm going to take you through it all now. It's going to take five minutes. So put your feet up, listen carefully. We're going to do this with every confederation so none of the teams miss out. We're going into that kind of detail, that kind of level.
00:02:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
So here we go. So CONCACAF is made up 41 nations. Okay. Okay. nations okay Six of which, by the way, are not affiliated to FIFA.
00:03:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
So they're not even invited to join the World Cup. They're nothing to do with the World Cup. Those six are Bonaire, St.
00:03:12
Nick Britten
Thank
00:03:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
Martin, San Martin. Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana. They're not even playing. They're in CONCACAF, but they don't get involved in the World Cup qualification.
00:03:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
So you take those six teams off the 41 nations in CONCACAF, you get 35 nations who kind of have an interest in the World Cup. Three of those are the host nation.
00:03:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
So they are USA, Canada, and Mexico. More on them later in the episode. So now we're down to 32. CONCACAF have a qualifying process of six groups of five.
CONCACAF Qualifying Process
00:03:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
So that's 30 slots.
00:03:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
But we've got 32 teams now. available So the bottom four ranked teams in CONCACAF play off for two slots in the group.
00:04:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And those bottom four teams in this process of elimination and qualification were Anguilla, Pecos Islands,
00:04:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
the u.s virgin islands and the british virgin islands and in march 2024 they had to play off across two legs ah and anguila got drawn against turks and caicos and Somewhat interestingly, the US Virgin Islands got drawn against the British Virgin Islands. Imagine, imagine the consternation in the Virgin Islands when that was an announced.
00:04:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
Huge rivalry, i would imagine, between the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. But those two games were played. Both legs were drawn. Both legs in both games were drawn. one niilil and 1-1-1.
00:05:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
And so it all went to penalties. So the qualification of the four worst teams in CONCACAF went to penalties and Gwila beat the Turks and Caicos Islands on penalties.
00:05:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
And hurrah, the British Virgin Islands defeated the US Virgin Islands 4-2 on penalties. So therefore, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands made up the last two in the 30 that are now playing off in the qualification process in five groups of six teams.
00:05:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
No, let me correct that. Six groups of five teams.
00:05:43
Nick Britten
Six groups of five teams.
00:05:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
exclude to five teams now I'm going to take you through every one of them groups. So we've got group A, B, C, D, E, and F. In group A, it's Honduras, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Antuiga, and Barbuda, and Bermuda.
00:06:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's group A. Group B is Costa Rica, t Trinidad, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and the Bahamas. I mean, who wouldn't love watching a game between Grenada and the Bahamas?
00:06:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Group C is Curaçao, Haiti, St. Lucia, Aruba, and Barbados. And in Group D is Nicaragua, panaa's Panama, Guiana, Montserrat, and Belize.
00:06:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
In Group E, it's Guatemala, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Dominica, and the British Virgin Islands, who we mentioned earlier. And in Group F, Suriname,
00:06:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Puerto Rico, El Salvador, St. Vincent and Grenadine. Seems you get two for the price of one there. And Anguilla. So they are the 30 teams in their six respective groups in CONCACAF.
00:06:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
That is as detailed an analysis of the CONCACAF teams that you'll get anywhere. What you make of that, Nick?
00:07:08
Nick Britten
ah Great. Yeah, very good. Very good rundown. Everybody got a good name name and name call out there from you, Ken. I've got a little bit of a claim to fame here.
00:07:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
Okay.
00:07:17
Nick Britten
um And there's a reason why I am rooting ah fruitlessly, it would appear so far in qualification, for the Bahamas. ah because the Bahamas contain a player called William Bales.
00:07:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh yeah.
00:07:29
Nick Britten
He's 22 years old. And I coached him. I coached him when he played for our local team here in Derby in the UK, ah Little Over Dazzlers Football Club, ah at so under 14s and under 15s and under 16s.
00:07:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
think
00:07:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Wow. ah
00:07:48
Nick Britten
And he played he played for me. And the next thing next thing we know, he's playing for the Bahamas in international football.
00:07:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, I make a great deal of that in the sense of clearly the Bahamas have got to be our our team ah that we follow through this process because we should pick one for every one of the confederations.
00:07:54
Nick Britten
so what do you make of that
00:08:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
We're all over the Bahamas. So I think what we need to do is get ourselves, um we'll get an interview with the Bahamas team manager or something in the course her
Personal Connections and Highlights
00:08:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
next few weeks.
00:08:16
Nick Britten
Well, I should, I should, i tell you i should have done. I should have had a cup of tea today in my Bahamas mug that Will's dad bought me when he left the team. I've got a Bahamas mug all the way from the Bahamas.
00:08:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh.
00:08:27
Nick Britten
I should have had a cup of tea in it to bring them a bit of luck because goodness me, they need it.
00:08:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, what we need to do, and by the way, what you need to do if you're listening to this this episode is go onto the FIFA CONCACAF website. It's free to watch all of the highlights. And believe me, the highlights are truly highlights.
00:08:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
They could be described as lowlights, but they are the most is this slightly addictive. i I found myself ignoring everybody else and watching... British Virgin Islands against Honduras and thoroughly enjoying it.
00:09:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's it's it's a great way to spend ah ah Tuesday evening.
00:09:07
Nick Britten
and and And speaking of which, very quickly, where do you think the British Virgin Islands against the US Virgin Islands ranks in the great history of derbies? There are amazing derbies all the across the world.
00:09:21
Nick Britten
Where does this sit?
00:09:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's not Real Atletico. I grant you. ah it's ah It's not even rex and Vichester, to be honest. But you know I think more should have been made of it than there was.
00:09:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah And now I'm going to be watching out for it all the time because I imagine they play quite a few times.
Qualification Updates and Historic Wins
00:09:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
The US Virgin Islands have got a good record against the British Virgin Islands, but it went to penalties. And as we know, penalties is a lottery.
00:09:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Now, We should ah take a bit of a closer look into how qualification has started because it has been started already. We mentioned the pre-qualification process went through and then the qualifiers are started. So how are the tables looking to date and how much more is there to go?
00:10:10
Nick Britten
There's a long way to go yet. ah The qualification started last June and each team has played two games in their group standings. So a little bit a little bit more to go before they even get out of this initial ah group stage. And of course, the winners and runners up from each group Then go through to another round which consists of three groups of four teams.
00:10:30
Nick Britten
There's home and away and the winners of those groups qualify for the World Cup. It's important to to remember here guys that of course the USA and Mexico and Canada have already qualified as host nations therefore they don't need to go through any of this process. so Yeah, qualification is pretty much as we thought it might be early on. So the bigger teams who are qualifying are doing pretty well. So Honduras, Costa Rica, Ghana, Jamaica, they've all played 2-1-2, as you very much expect.
00:11:00
Nick Britten
ah Sadly, our team, as recently adopted as five minutes ago, Bahamas played 2-2 with a goal difference of minus 7. So they're not doing too well.
00:11:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's going to take some coming back from, that is.
00:11:10
Nick Britten
Yeah, they're not doing too a bit of work to do. There's a bit of work to do. and But yes, so that the the this kicks off again in June 2025 when the rest of the those group stages will take place before they get through to that next group round, as I say. And from that group round...
00:11:27
Nick Britten
You get three three qualifying automatically and then two of the best-placed runners-up enter the great sort of FIFA playoff tournament where they'll play other federations' playoff teams.
00:11:39
Nick Britten
We could end up, but could end up if you if you think about the hosts, you've got three hosts, you've got three automatic qualifiers, ah and if if the two best-placed
00:11:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:11:50
Nick Britten
runners-up go through and and win their playoffs. You could um end up with eight teams from CONCACAF taking part in the World Cup, which is absolutely unheard of in previous competitions.
00:11:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm all over that. I think it should be great. One of the things I did notice when I was looking at the standings, and we'll come to talk about the best teams and whatever in in the confederations we see it.
00:12:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah Curaçao. Curaçao. Top of Group c I didn't know anything about Curaçao. but But clearly, they're they've won two out two. They've got a goal district difference of five. They they seem to know where they yeah seem to know where the net is.
00:12:25
Nick Britten
Well, extraordinarily for Curacao, that two-and-all victory marked a moment of bitter history because it was the first time that they have achieved two consecutive away wins in World Cup qualifiers in 63 years, since the 1962 qualifiers.
00:12:41
Nick Britten
it's a little If you don't know where it is, it's a little Dutch Caribbean island. It's got a population of 150,000. doing pretty so they're doing pretty well
00:12:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
that love but Well, if Bahamas don't make it, we're all over Curaçao. Interesting. So in terms of the process of qualification, when does it all finish?
00:12:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know we've got we're We're about a third of the way through, are we? we know we've We've played two games. Two out ten, so 20% of the game through.
00:13:05
Nick Britten
Yeah, we played two games. So, yeah, we played two games. So, the next sort whole round of stuff kicks off again in June, right at the start of June, 4th of June. And there's games, you know, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, all the way through that.
00:13:19
Nick Britten
And then they finish up, this round of qualifiers finish up on the 10th of June. And then after that, there's we'll go into um they'll go into the next group stage, which will be the final group stage before qualifying, which will take place later on this year.
00:13:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
Fantastic. Looking forward to it. So this podcast is part of the Global Sports Podcast Network, the only network that brings you exclusive daily news on all your Premier League teams and the World Cup and loads of other stuff that is soccer-related, including women's football.
00:13:47
Nick Britten
Thank
00:13:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Here at Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. That's an important thing to do if you're running a podcast network. Zencaster came out the clear winner with 4K video recording from your phone, AI editing that automatically removes all of those little glitches.
00:14:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great. and is efficiently delivered. So if you're ready to tell your story, check out the show notes because you'll find everything you need to know about our friends at Zencaster.
00:14:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now, moving on. ah So we... ah We've talked about qualifying. You mentioned that so some of the bigger teams are up there. ah There's a huge romance to some of the smaller teams. Some of these smaller teams are fantastic to watch.
00:14:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Really recommend you do take a look at the yeah the highlights. But let's narrow this down down in terms of the teams we we expect to do best. so So what teams have caught your eye so far? Which teams do you think are the ones which are going to really excel? in And who's your money on to to get through to the World Cup proper?
00:15:02
Nick Britten
Well, the big teams really and are probably Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Jamaica. They're the ones who I think people would expect to qualify. They're the ones who have got a bit of...
00:15:17
Nick Britten
World Cup pedigree about them. um And they'll be playing, there are games, Honduras will playing Costa Rica, Panama will be playing in Jamaica.
00:15:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:15:24
Nick Britten
um They've all got 100% records so far. Something's going to have to give there. But I think those teams, those teams that have a little bit of pedigree, a little bit of history, are the ones who are who are going to go through here, I think, realistically. There isn't anybody, and this is often the case with international football, isn't it It's very rare that you get teams just coming out of nowhere and suddenly having ah having an amazing competition and qualifying. Maybe Curacao is going to be out maybe it's goingnna but going to be that that team.
00:15:53
Nick Britten
and but i think when you've got ah ah A lot of groups and a lot of teams there. I think when it all boils down to it, the cream normally rises to the top here in these things. And when you get down to the last one or two ah big games, it's normally the big teams that come through. So they're they're the ones who I think we'll be looking out for out of this qualifying campaign.
00:16:12
Nick Britten
Of course, when it gets to the World Cup proper, the the the host nations will be the ones to watch because... The CONCACAF region has been dominated by America, the USA
Host Nations and Expectations
00:16:23
Nick Britten
and Mexico. um Every couple of years, there's what's called the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which is a competition amongst all of the teams in the federation.
00:16:31
Nick Britten
And um it's always won by Mexico or USA since 2000. The last time it was won by anybody else was in 2000 when it was Canada, who were also one of the host nations.
00:16:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes. Yes.
00:16:42
Nick Britten
So we do expect America, the USA to do well. they are They are the highest ranked nation. FIFA teams rather in in the competition, they're 16th.
00:16:52
Nick Britten
um So the highest ranked CONCACAF federation team. Mexico are ranked 19th and Canada are ranked 31st. So I'd expect the USA and Mexico to have a little bit of an impression in this tournament, particularly as their host nations.
00:17:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. One of the great joys about digging deeply into ah a confederation or these types of teams is um is is to look at the teams that, let's say, aren't doing quite so well.
00:17:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
i yeah I mean, and and it's great because the fact is they don't have a huge catchment. They don't have a huge population. The fact that they're playing World Cup football at all isn is a miracle and something that we should be celebrating, which we do.
00:17:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
But i I did happen to watch the highlights, and believe me, they were highlights, of Puerto Rico versus Anguilla.
00:17:41
Nick Britten
Thank
00:17:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
I suggest you watch that because ah it ended up eight nil ah to Puerto Rico. Now, the interesting thing, it was 2-0 and then Guilla got a penalty.
00:17:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
A rather dubious penalty, I have to say, but he got penalty. ah which they missed. And then they went on to rue that missed opportunity because they then conceded another six. But one of things that was very noticeable in that game, it's very rare that you get a team with a dodgy keeper and a dodgy defence. You often get a dodgy keeper, a good defence or a great goalkeeper who's peppered because he's ah his defence is terrible.
00:18:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah And Guilla have both a dodgy keeper and a dodgy defence. They haven't got a great midfield, to be honest. And, of course, the forward missed penalty. So i've got a so I've got a really soft spot for Anguilla.
00:18:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
But I think Anguilla are going to struggle, let's be honest.
00:18:44
Nick Britten
Well, they are. They are going to struggle. because And they are they are officially the world's worst team because they sit 209th out 209 in the FIFA World Rankings.
00:18:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes.
00:18:58
Nick Britten
And, and i mean, look, they've only got a popular... They're they're they're a tiny little Caribbean island. They've got a population of 16,000 people.
00:19:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
Wow.
00:19:08
Nick Britten
You know, 16th, I mean, that's that's kind of half of what would turn up at Pride Park to watch Derby on any given day.
00:19:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
well
00:19:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you've got to pick a World Cup team out of that lot.
00:19:15
Nick Britten
My team.
00:19:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you take all you take all the the women and the old people out of that equation, you've probably got 2,000 people to pick from.
00:19:25
Nick Britten
Yeah, and and the way they're playing, maybe the women and the old people might get a game. but But since their first international match, they only started in 1985. That's when they first started playing international football. They've only won nine games since then, including your your other favourite team, the British Virgin Islands, by the way. They'd beaten them ah before. um they they They beat Montserrat 4-1 in 2001, which their biggest ever victory.
00:19:50
Nick Britten
So they did well there. And of course, as you mentioned a little bit early on, Despite their very minnow status, and the word minnow in football was invented for Angrena, because you can't get much more minnow than this.
00:20:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:20:02
Nick Britten
um Despite this, they did get through that pre-qualifier qualifying round against Turks and and Caicos Islands.
00:20:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Did it? Yeah.
00:20:11
Nick Britten
So they were well they didn't win a game, but you know they at least they got through on penalties. 0-0, 1-0, and they won on penalties, so as you pointed out quite rightly earlier on, Ken. So they have actually, it's a fair play for them. they done well to get through to the actual qualifying stages.
00:20:26
Nick Britten
um They have played two games along with everybody else. It hasn't started too well. It hasn't started too well. ah They've lost 4-0 at home to Suriname and 8-0 away to Puerto Rico. So there's a little bit of work to do for the yeah mighty Anguilla.
00:20:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, yeah. And looking at that performance and the highlights, there's a lot of work to do. But good luck to them. And we love them. We absolutely love them for taking part and for doing it with such sos panache.
00:20:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Right. By the way, we we have to. We have to talk about the fact that Jamaica's got Steve McLaren as a manager. ah Steve McLaren, we're both sitting here close to Derby.
00:21:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah he's great he's He's a very, very decent manager, isn't he? i hope he he does well for him.
00:21:11
Nick Britten
He's done it um he he is a great manager. he did he did a great job at Derby, did a great job at Middlesbrough. He was magnificent assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. And I hope he does really, really well.
00:21:22
Nick Britten
um And of course, speaking of that kind of UK link and Premier League link, and of course, manager of the US s national team is Mauricio Pochettino, who is well known to Tottenham fans over here and well known to Premier League fans and he's doing a pretty good job with them. One of the reasons, very briefly before we move on one of the reasons I've been impressed with the USA team particularly and it's unusual is is their squad now and if you haven't really caught up with with American soccer, ah national soccer over the last few years, their squad has become a real kind of blend of players now who play abroad.
00:21:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:21:57
Nick Britten
It used to be just players who played in America. um But now you've got players and playing for really good teams. You've got players ah playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach, for Borussia Dortmund, for Juventus, for Lyon.
00:22:12
Nick Britten
You've got lots of players in the Premier League. So UK Premier League listeners will be very familiar with Chris Richards at Crystal Palace, Anthony Robinson, Fulham, who's a bit of a star of the uk ah USA team, Tyler Adams, Bournemouth, who's having a very, very good season as well.
00:22:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's a of people not do that.
00:22:29
Nick Britten
ah Josh Sargent is scoring goals in the championship for Norwich. um And when I was looking into this, i was quite surprised at the real um ah the the way the the USA national players are kind of spread out across the world. And that will just make them a better team.
00:22:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
who are not
00:22:44
Nick Britten
yeah Those playing with European experience and and and and at your experience European experience at high level will just make the USA a better side. So I am very much looking forward to watching them next year.
00:22:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's going to be great to have a host nation that's ah that's up there punching its weight. It always makes for a better competition if the host nation is doing well.
Promotions and Historical Rivalries
00:23:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
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Global Sports Podcast Network
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00:23:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Right. Okay. um It's worth wrapping this deep dive into CONCACAF, which has been an absolute pleasure to research and to deliver to you. hope you're enjoying it.
00:23:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
And next week, what are doing next week? Is it CAF next week? Nick?
00:24:00
Nick Britten
we can We can go wherever we want with this, Ken. We can go wherever we want.
00:24:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Let's go CAF.
00:24:05
Nick Britten
We go we can drop down. We can drop down into South America. We can travel continents to Africa, or we can zip the quick way around and go to Oceania. It's entirely up to you.
00:24:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think we'll go Kath. We'll go Kath.
00:24:17
Nick Britten
Okay. Okay.
00:24:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
But okay.
00:24:18
Nick Britten
To Africa we travel, my friend.
00:24:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
So Africa, we go next. But before we close this episode, there have been some unusual things, haven't there? And random qualifying facts that we've kind of uncovered during the course the week in preparation for this episode. So I've got something I want to reflect on. It was quite amazing.
00:24:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Nick, over to Anything caught your eye?
00:24:43
Nick Britten
Yes, one or two things have caught my eye, definitely. And congratulations on June 5th, 2024, to Suriname, who beat St Vincent and the Grenadines 4-1.
00:24:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes.
00:24:57
Nick Britten
So well done. Well done to them. That was a home win. And why do I say well done? Because let's face it, like teams winning at home should be teams winning at home. Well, it was their first home victory.
00:25:08
Nick Britten
Are you ready for this? It was their first home victory for 55 years.
00:25:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
who
00:25:13
Nick Britten
Five months and 11 days. i mean, that is sun going.
00:25:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:25:20
Nick Britten
i mean, that's a pretty poor home record. It's not exactly a fortress down there, is it? At Suriname Pours.
00:25:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
But how many games, any idea how many games they played here?
00:25:26
Nick Britten
But...
00:25:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, was it one of those ones that they've only ever been allowed to play a game at home once a decade? Or or or is ah literally, are they just terrible at home?
00:25:39
Nick Britten
They're just terrible at home.
00:25:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
There must be great away. And do they make up for it with some kind of fantastic performances away from home?
00:25:43
Nick Britten
but
00:25:47
Nick Britten
No, they're not very good away either, to be fair. But Suriname is a tiny little country. it's um It's got a population of just 55,000. If you know your history here, they were formerly known as Dutch Guyana.
00:26:00
Nick Britten
yeah They're on the northeastern coast of South America, ah bordered by Guyana, French Guyana, and Brazil.
00:26:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
yep
00:26:06
Nick Britten
And an interesting little-known fact about Suriname is that it's got 90% it's got ninety percent ah rainforest coverage and that's the largest in the world so it's the it's the country with the biggest rainforest coverage ah in the entire world.
00:26:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Lucky to find a pitch then, to be quite honest.
00:26:24
Nick Britten
Yeah.
00:26:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah No wonder you'll play at home.
00:26:25
Nick Britten
Yeah, it won't be good when you send us a drone up there. And one very other one very, very quickly. um i always i always We always like to talk about young players and youth coming through. So congratulations to Andy Emmanuel Rojas, who on Thursday, the 6th of June, 2024, became the youngest player to score a goal for Costa Rica, 18 years, six months and one day in their 4-0 win against St Kitts and Nevis. So well done to him.
00:26:50
Nick Britten
I like it when when players break goal-scoring records like that. So congratulations.
00:26:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well played. Well played. Right. The one thing I just want to touch on is something that that' so I was aware of, but but kind of in the back of my mind. And it may be that some people listening to this episode may also be kind of aware of it. But in and we' going to take you back to June 1969, Nick. And.
00:27:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah and a war that was fought in connection to a soccer game in CONCACAF. So we are talking about El Salvador against Honduras in June 69.
00:27:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah They border each other. My understanding, I've not been to either the country, but let's say there's a little bit of hostility between the two of them. mean, it's not like...
00:27:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
the US Virgin Isles against the Great Britain Virgin Isles, which is like a gin and tonic on the veranda. this this This was hatred. So in June 1969, both countries met in the two-leg qualifier for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, that one in Mexico, actually. mean um The first game was held in Tecuchigalpa, which is the capital of Honduras, as if you didn't know, on the 8th of June.
00:28:08
Nick Britten
He didn't need to explain that. He didn't need to explain. We all know what the capital of Honduras is.
00:28:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh, thank pardon. On the 8th of June 1969, the Salvadorian team was harassed by the Honduran fans at the hotel the night before, and Honduras won 1-0.
00:28:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
That caused the Salvadorian fans to reportedly set fire to the stadium. Okay? So they didn't take it well. Okay. So the second game was held in San Salvador, which is the capital of El Salvador, on the 15th of June 1969. Salvadorian fans...
00:28:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
Seeking vengeance for what had happened in Honduras, rioted outside the Hondurans team's hotel and sadly leading to several deaths.
00:28:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
At the match's start, a dirty rag was flown instead of the Honduran flag.
00:29:02
Nick Britten
Oh, that's low.
00:29:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's crazy.
00:29:03
Nick Britten
I mean, look, I could take writing. like can say I could take setting a fire to a stadium, but taking a mick by, instead of putting up your opponent's flag, putting up a dirty rag, that's a low blow now.
00:29:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Imagine pulling the rope and up goes a pair of your underpants or whatever it was
00:29:17
Nick Britten
but
00:29:20
Nick Britten
When did they notice? When do you think the Honda... but do you think the hundred but
00:29:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
This is, I mean, that's a proper insult. So, and actually the game was won 3-0 by El Salvador. So then anti-Salvadoran riots occurred across the whole of Honduras. The place went mad, following loss.
00:29:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now, the problem was with qualifying in, and it gets worse, the problem with qualifying in 1969 was, was Because one team had won one game and the other team had won the other, didn't matter by how many.
00:29:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
They had to have a yeah to have a replay, as if they didn't actually want yeah just to defuse the situation. No, but let's have another one.
00:29:57
Nick Britten
Just, yeah, just for the sake of it.
00:29:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Let's have a third game, see what can happen. Third game, the night before the playoff match, this is in Mexico City. They took it outside Honduras or El Salvador. ah The night before the game, El Salvador dissolved all diplomatic ties with Honduras, stating that around 12,000 Salvadorans had had to flee Honduras after the football game, ah and that the government of Honduras had not taken any measures to try and protect them.
00:30:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
So unless it was given assurances that it would be protected, they would sever all diplomatic ties. The game went ahead
00:30:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
El Salvador won 3-2 after extra time.
00:30:43
Nick Britten
Thank
00:30:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah match Imagine that game. I want to find that on YouTube for sure. so so it did not So that wasn't the end of it. ah Things escalated further. War was officially declared on the 14th of July 1969.
00:31:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah ninety sixty nine There was one battle in a place called Nueve Ocatepeque, Thank you very much. ah Both fronts, both the El Salvadoran and Honduran fronts stalled later that day ah due to lack of ammunition.
00:31:10
Nick Britten
you.
00:31:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then the organization of American states broke a de ceasefire on the night of the 18th of July 69.
00:31:22
Nick Britten
What?
00:31:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
It was called the 100-hour war or the soccer war because it's absolutely connected to the soccer game. Sadly, 3,000 people died. but So yeah it ain't it ain't yeah it's sad, but it just shows how important these games, these qualification games and in Contra can be.
00:31:45
Nick Britten
it's Well, little wonder that the authorities have kept them as far apart in this qualifying process as possible. So Honduras is in Group A, which is the first group, and El Salvador is Group F, which is the last group. mean, you couldn't have literally put them further apart in the qualifying process.
00:32:03
Nick Britten
ah But let's face it, oh everybody ah everybody who is listening to this is now thinking, right, when they play each other again, I'm going to watch.
00:32:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's going to be fantastic. And I'm particularly going to be looking out for the flags. say So yeah dirty ra like that...
00:32:16
Nick Britten
Yeah, because we don't normally bother with all that, do we? The national anthem, all that's a bit boring. Let's get get on with the game. But this is going to be fantastic. And, yeah, maybe maybe we'll see some more dirty rags.
00:32:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
That is seriously, seriously ah unacceptable.
00:32:32
Nick Britten
ah ah A touch provocative, I fear.
00:32:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
So... A little bit. Imagine. and I bet there are some juicy yet juicy challenges going in there. Right. Okay. So that's been episode two of Road to World Cup 26. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed taking that deep dive. It's been great to research. it's been great fun to do.
00:32:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
I hope you're enjoying it. We're going to take just as deep a dive into the American Football Confederation next week when we do CAF. ah
00:32:59
Nick Britten
or even Or even the African one.
00:33:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
What did I say? The American.
00:33:02
Nick Britten
It's an American one. We've done American one today.
00:33:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
We're doing the American one today. We're doing the African one next next time. And that's going to be fascinating. So, Nick, thanks for your time. That's been a great, great deal of fun. Hope you've enjoyed it. Hope your team wins 21-3 at the weekend.
00:33:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
And join us again next time for episode three of the Road to World Cup 26. twenty six Bye for now.