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WCAD 4-11: Group L Preview
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Austin and Amit preview Group L, starting with the question on everyone's lips this June: Is it coming home? After tackling an in-depth look at Tommy Tuchel's tactical approach for England, the guys try and decipher if Croatia can somehow surprise again. From there, it's on to Ghana, now managed by Carlos Queiroz in a bit of an oil and water combination, before finishing with an analysis of Panama's long-term Thomas Christiansen-led project.
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Transcript
World Cup After Dark Themes
00:00:01
Speaker
There are some themes that are recurring here on the World Cup After Dark podcast, right? This is the third World Cup that Amit and I are lining up for, right? We're we're added to our World Cup experience here.
00:00:13
Speaker
And as we go through each of these World Cups and as we preview them, as we talk about them during, as we recap them, Amit, some things come up. more often than others, right?
Will England Bring It Home?
00:00:24
Speaker
The U.S. s men's national team, bell curve. We've got vibes. We've got Didier Deschamps in low event football. One of the topics that we love at the World Cup after dark, maybe that you love and I love hate, is that of England and is their eternal question, whereas the U.S. are asking, can we meet the bell curve?
00:00:46
Speaker
England is simply asking a bit, is it coming home? the question we've always asked. I love this question. i love the English national team. I love the discourse about it.
00:00:56
Speaker
They are the, uh, the, the originators. So the, the gift givers of football and they're trying to bring it home. And well, it never quite has, has it, at the top level. And that's what makes them so good. But
England's World Cup Storylines
00:01:09
Speaker
they're always right there. And man, what a great story. I always love to talk about England. I'm so excited. And last time we saw them at New York 24, they were right there too. And they just missed out. ah The gift that keeps on giving. So I think they're going to do that again for us this year.
00:01:24
Speaker
This is the World Cup After Dark podcast. He is Amit Malik. My name is Austin Miller. On today's show, we're going to be talking about Group L, as deep in the alphabet as we can go at this World Cup. It is, of course, headlined by England, but it also features one of the most successful teams in recent World Cups in Croatia,
00:01:43
Speaker
a Ghana team that is promising fun, or maybe if not fun chaos, which sometimes on this show are one in the same and Panama who are returning to the world cup after missing out in 2022.
00:01:56
Speaker
Let's dive right into it. I'm it. Um,
Manager Shift: Southgate to Tuchel
00:01:59
Speaker
England are one of these stories, as you said, they are the originators of international football. The first international football match was played between England and Scotland.
00:02:09
Speaker
It is where football as we know it was born. They are home to the most powerful domestic league in all of football. And I think they have created quite the set of storylines for this World Cup. It almost feels like they've gone above and beyond as far as the discourse leading up to 2026.
00:02:32
Speaker
Yeah, there's a lot of things here, but the best narrative to start is clearly the the manager situation, Thomas Tuchel, and what he has done to generate a lot of buzz ahead of this team, ahead of the World Cup.
00:02:45
Speaker
ah You remember England, you know, they kind of,
Tuchel vs Southgate: Tactical Implications
00:02:48
Speaker
I think, throughout the 90s and 2000s fell off the international scene a little bit. They weren't quite near the top of the game anymore. And through the 2010s, it was a slow build back to being...
00:02:59
Speaker
a top team and Gareth Southgate oversaw a lot of that. The FA saw a lot, oversaw a lot of that. And then a lot of money came into the English game. And now England is a super league domestically.
00:03:10
Speaker
And a lot of players are international, but the league is the best. The players are the best. And for now, what about 10 years, we'd say England is very comfortably a top three or four team in the world. They've been right there on talent. Garrett Southgate like helped reset the expectations to we should be at a semifinal or final every time. And they kind of did that. I think there was one maybe quarterfinal loss in there to Croatia, but this team has been really consistent at the top of the tournament.
00:03:37
Speaker
Couldn't get over the hump. And so
Southgate's Legacy
00:03:39
Speaker
they brought in Thomas Tuchel to get this team over the hump, who is a German. How crazy is that? Just starting right there. That is the starting point of all this. And he's not just any German. He's a very ornery, control-obsessed German to play pragmatic soccer, where Southgate was already pragmatic. Tuchel is more pragmatic. What a weird direction for this English team to go.
00:04:00
Speaker
So the first decision that the FA made, right? Gareth Southgate was clear that 2024 was going to be his last major tournament in charge of England. You mentioned the quarterfinal exit that came against France in the Euro in 2022.
00:04:13
Speaker
There were a pair of semifinal exits in 2018. They lost to Croatia, quarterfinal to France in 2022 at the World Cup, excuse me. And then at the Euros, they got close, right? They made it to the final in 2024, lost to Spain. made it to the
Tuchel's Controversial Squad Selections
00:04:27
Speaker
final in 2020, lost to Italy. They were right there to winning that major tournament, to getting over the hump.
00:04:33
Speaker
It's their 17th World Cup. and They won it in 1966. But so after Southgate steps away, England say... We've played low event, pragmatic football. We redefined what it means to suck the fun out of the international game.
00:04:49
Speaker
Let's just lean into that even more, but let's make our manager also a pretty unlikable figure in general. Yeah,
Tuchel's Managerial Style
00:04:58
Speaker
Tuchel was in the Premier League and he kind of he had been at PSG. He had been around, but in the Premier League, he won a Champions League with Chelsea and he was very pragmatic in doing so. This was in the COVID season, but this was in the Klopp-Pep era. I thought he butted in and and was the best team in Europe.
00:05:16
Speaker
He's a very pragmatic manager, and he also ruffled the English media the wrong way. it didn't work at Chelsea. He went to Bayern, and then he he left there after two pretty good years. He kind of runs, his his shtick runs through pretty quickly in about two years. The good news for England, they they kind of need him just just for the summer. But he is...
00:05:38
Speaker
um a very annoying persona in that he is not Southgate like a man manager and makes everyone happy. He's very much a listen, I know my system works. If guys play the way I want them to, i will get the best out of them. They stand in these spots, they do these things. And if you do them my way, it will work.
00:06:02
Speaker
And it's hard to argue with his on the field results. um But England has always kind of been about their vibes and it's coming home. And Southgate was definitely a positive like guy to to bring all
Tuchel's Tactical Changes
00:06:15
Speaker
that back.
00:06:15
Speaker
Tuchel is not that. And he's already like been beefing with his players, with the FA, with the English media, who we know are difficult to deal with for anyone. But ah it has been quite the start to his tenure.
00:06:30
Speaker
So let's talk about the squad in a second, but I think i want to touch on this first, right? They say that Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. But right, Amit, this time, no, no, no, really this time it's going to work for England to pull off this bit that they're trying to do of playing this style with these players in this way. France and Spain might end up on the other side of the draw.
00:06:52
Speaker
They could have a path to the
England's Squad Depth and Expectations
00:06:55
Speaker
semi-final final-ish that looks like a third place team. Mexico, Brazil, and then Argentina or Portugal. You'd think they'd be favored in all of those. The expectation for England is to win the World Cup.
00:07:08
Speaker
Can they actually do it this time, this style, this way? It's fascinating question. This is the second best team in the world. I think i think they're really close to France, too. you know This podcast, we prepared to talk about them. We talked about France on our first podcast the order we've released.
00:07:26
Speaker
These squads are really close. This team is deep. They're good at every position. They're superstars at every position. And the bracket has set up well for them. I mean... I think they're favored against any team they face except for France. And I think they, you get to the final and see what happens. And this has been the case for them every time. and that's where you get to that insanity definition and joke here for England. But like, really, this is their best shot. I feel like, um, I, I, I just, you know, they've they've been so close. They're almost do in a sense. Oh, like gambler's fallacy, and not necessarily true, but like you keep putting yourself in that final, that big game. And one time it's going to go well. And listen, I do think it's it's funny to say this is their best chance because now that England is a super league, they should just be here until the world order changes again. Right. You'd you'd expect from every major tournament going forward, England will have a chance to win.
00:08:26
Speaker
But I think there's
Defensive Focus Under Tuchel
00:08:27
Speaker
something to Harry Kane, the guy who's been through this whole run, his last great, great, prime post prime, but still elite run here as the striker. And some of these other names that have kind of been with him along the ride, but specifically his chance to get a title.
00:08:45
Speaker
um And I, it does feel like, you know, when you have an elite elite number nine and the squad is perfectly primed as this, it's gotta to be title or bust.
00:08:58
Speaker
And that is what makes this so interesting because Tyler Bust, more often than not, ends in bust because that's just simply how international football works. So I'm glad, Amit, that we waited a little bit to record this group preview. It wasn't necessarily intentional by our part, but we got a bit more of the England squad discourse before we're actually putting this podcast out.
00:09:19
Speaker
Um, the squad release, it can really only be described as, i don't know, was it an elite troll by Thomas Tuchel? Was he trying to rub people the wrong way? but the last week, it it felt like we knew more about who wasn't in the squad than who was in it.
00:09:36
Speaker
And then who wasn't in the squad got juxtaposed with this like really feel lucky, go happy Beatles video that just didn't match the vibes of
England's Preparation and Path
00:09:45
Speaker
where anybody was at. What happened here?
00:09:49
Speaker
He kind of just picked some guys based on a set of reasoning that is opaque and not like coherent. it It'll make sense when we try to talk about it, but he was drip feeding the players he called because he called them in advance and told them they're not in in the days before. And I'm pretty sure their agents were leaking in. So there was this, this moment where like for a day or two days, every like hour, like ah in the hunger games, like you hear a candidate, like this guy's off the squad. And you look up and you'd be like, but wait a second. At one point, if all these guys are out who is in? was just a hilarious like, you know, dance with the media and each name more incredulous. Like, wait, wait, wait, this guy's not in Who is in? And, you know, Harry Maguire. OK, this a depth center back. But Phil Foden. was once the best player in in in the Premier League.
00:10:44
Speaker
Cole Palmer was the key to their 2024 Euro run. Trent Alexander-Arnold, he's the right back at Real Madrid. Those names are crazy. There were a few other names, I think, on roles that were a little smaller, but like it is... i mean, yeah can any team you you you omit three
England's Attack Under Tuchel
00:11:05
Speaker
world-class players and it be normal? It's just not normal.
00:11:09
Speaker
It's not normal. And it's really set up old Tommy Tukey tactics here, which I think is probably going to be how we're going to refer to him for the rest of the entirety of the World Cup. However, that long that lasts, there's only one out, right?
00:11:23
Speaker
He's either going to bring it home and win the World Cup, or this is going to flame out and there's going to be a lot of fire and fury from what is the English football establishment.
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah, he has backed himself into a corner here. He is only out as to win it all because that's what he was brought to do. And i admire his belief that like he could do it this way and be so ornery about it and upset the conventional order.
00:11:52
Speaker
But for for him to do that, for his personal personality to do that, for a German to do that, and for the names he left off... Like, it's just all so delicious no matter what way it happens. like Like, you and I, we don't have a dog in the fight. I think we we like England for the content. Like, it's just funny. Like, but I can't...
00:12:16
Speaker
if i If I were an English fan, if I were an English fan, I think I would be upset, right? Like at what's happened here. And even though it could work, like it just, it feels very un-English.
00:12:31
Speaker
And it feels very, as you said, ornery, intentional. Like Thomas Tuchel is basically kind of saying here, all that stuff doesn't matter.
00:12:41
Speaker
I don't care about any of it. I don't care about relationship with the press. I don't really even care about relationship with my players. I'm calling it. And like, we've seen that from the quotes from the guys who have been left out. They were fairly forthcoming in saying like, yeah, I don't like that guy. This is not going the right way for me.
Squad Dynamics and Controversies
00:12:58
Speaker
Yeah, and it's also a hallmark of his previous stops. At Bayern, one of the things that got him um canned is that the player said, it feels like he implicitly questioned our credentials. At Bayern Munich, a super club in Europe. um And of course, he also has received criticism for his very pragmatic style of play too. So like, it's a my way or the highway guy. And gosh, it's brutal. Better be his way.
00:13:29
Speaker
Because if it's not, he's the one going on the highway. And this is just going to be another missed opportunity for England in what, as you've alluded to, should be the prime of their window. all right. So what are we actually going to once all of this?
00:13:43
Speaker
I'm not going to say it blows over because it's not actually ever going to blow over. It's always going to be hiding under all of this. Once England gets to the part of the World Cup where they're playing, what is it going to look like? Just one note before we talk about that is that he has put the magnifying glass now on every little little thing he does and the squad does and the chemistry and all of that. And listen, I think some of these managers like the siege mentality, the pressure cooker. But like he has invited that on his squad in a way that isn't necessarily there for other teams. And it feels like that's not the way that England have traditionally had success.
00:14:17
Speaker
Right. No, it feels like they and this is you know, this actually goes back to the whole thing with Southgate, like Southgate coddled his guys a little bit, but it was they needed that. Remember the penalty shootout final of Euro 2020? What happened is some of his young ascended players had big misses and it was like, gosh, the reaction was horrible. But credit to Southgate, like he really managed those guys. Yeah. to build their personalities back up so that they came back and were fine in and they didn't win. So Tuchel is more like I can be an expletive to everyone if I get winners. Sorry, we've talked around a lot, but it is just fascinating that this is the direction they went.
00:14:59
Speaker
Okay, now on the field, or go ahead. I believe the English term you're looking for there is arsehole is what they would refer to Thomas Tuchel as. Yes, exactly. We could say that. We don't even get the E on the little tag on the podcast. um We're fine.
00:15:13
Speaker
Talk about Tuchel. So we talk to say we say control feet. We say very pragmatic. He is all
Tuchel's Tactical Discipline
00:15:19
Speaker
about his structured possession defense.
00:15:23
Speaker
His guys don't freelance. They stay in their roles, whatever the shape is, whether it's five, whether it's four, and they advance up the field in the shape. So whenever they lose the ball. They are in shape to win it back and control the game. And they control the game in this shape by passing in very positional play. We've used this word on the podcast a lot. These guys don't freelance, but they they work it methodically. And then they break you down just over and over again by overloading areas, getting the ball of their best players, the wingers in central areas.
00:15:57
Speaker
It's very smart. I think it's going to look a lot like Arsenal. Mikel Arteta, another control guy. lot of DNA here. Bukaya Saka, right winger there, right winger here. They want to slowly smother and suffocate you out of the game. And then once they score, you get nothing. You have no fun. They use their great defense, great central mids. They press you out of the game. And they're very good at holding on to a lead in a way that's very effective. This is actually built for knockout soccer. It is why Tuchel has success in the Champions League. um He has the personnel to do it with this team.
00:16:32
Speaker
Southgate already kind of did this, but I think Tuchel, the whole point is that he gets a little bit more out of his attack by... giving them very specific instructions on the areas in which to operate, which could help the weird blend of attackers here, forced to work together, where Southgate, I think the biggest criticism of is him is he didn't give his attacking players any ideas. He just said, go do it.
00:16:58
Speaker
Tuchel has a very strict ideas. Even if they're not fun ideas, they're very strict ideas. What's so interesting about this is we haven't really seen it get stress test yet, right?
00:17:10
Speaker
Qualification for England was a breeze. They played eight matches. They won all eight of them. They scored 22 times. They did not concede. Thanks for coming Albania, Serbia, Latvia, and Indorna.
00:17:21
Speaker
They also beat Endora 1-0 away. Like, they didn't shine in qualifying. They weren't ever really tested. The friendly results, and again, it's weird because a lot of these friendly matches have seen guys drop out of the squad because they viewed that what's happening in the Premier League to be more important. The friendly results
England's World Cup Chances
00:17:38
Speaker
have been concerning, right? There's a 3-1 loss to Senegal a year ago.
00:17:42
Speaker
They drew Uruguay 1-1 in March. They lost 1-0 to Japan. They're only playing New Zealand and Costa Rica ahead of the World Cup. We know what those two games are going to look like. And so we're viewing all of this through the lens of knockout round football because that's where we think this ends for England.
00:18:01
Speaker
But them getting there is going to be the first time they actually try to do this in a big knockout round game. That's a pretty big ask.
00:18:12
Speaker
Yeah, the friendlies were concerning because know the whole Premier League thing was was one thing, but the effort and buy in was just kind of everyone being like, this doesn't matter. Right. So exactly to your point, like, can you just flip that switch and get there?
00:18:28
Speaker
I think this group of players, I think Tuchel's intensity does that. But it is a little bit of you don't ask that same question of maybe Argentina. You know that's going to be there. I think France and England kind of do have both this question of can we rev it up to the highest level when we need to rev it up? I don't know. um Obviously, you kind of expect them to be in that game anyway. So...
00:18:53
Speaker
ah It's a question of progression and kind of gelling for both teams, for England specifically. i think they might need a little bit of a jolt, right? Yeah, I think so. And is Thomas Tugel the guy to give them a positive jolt? Or is it just going to be a negative jolt that might just cycle this into... I don't know. They're fascinating to me at the World Cup because of the whole circus around them that is always there. It doesn't matter who the England manager is. It
Croatia's Consistent Performances
00:19:19
Speaker
doesn't matter who the England players are.
00:19:21
Speaker
They are a circus team. And now it just feels like that's been cranked up to 10. This group... probably won't challenge them and so they're gonna get to a knockout round game and we're gonna get to see it and that's gonna be fascinating i think so we've talked about who's not in this team amit you mentioned a lot of the names right mcguire foden palmer alexander arnold also you know guys who perhaps could have been here but aren't maybe it doesn't matter morgan gives white lewis hall adam warden who is actually in this team
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah, it's an interesting group of players. We'll just go through and then talk about it holistically. Let's start with goalkeeper. Jordan Pickford is the number one here. He's still an elite shot stopper. He's not very good playing the ball out of the back with his feet. He'll give you a mistake like once every three or four games with Everton.
00:20:08
Speaker
Got to watch out, I think, for that seriously here. But the backups are very good. Dean Henderson, James Trafford, either of them could come in and be fine if needed to. I think Pickford does have that element of could save England's bacon a few times.
00:20:22
Speaker
And in a shootout, you definitely like him. i think, you know, you have to think about that at the elite levels. I think on the whole, it's a plus for England goalkeeper is good. Talk about the defense center backs.
00:20:34
Speaker
Esri Kansa and Mark Gahey. I think Gahey's elite. He's at Manchester City. He came in the middle of the season. He elevated their game. He's a little short for a center back, but he compensates for that well. And he's a good jumper. So it's fine physically. um Very fast, can do a lot. Good passer to all around center back.
00:20:51
Speaker
Kansa is very like solid. He does not like elite at anything, but he's a good physical defender. Good header the ball. I believe a term you've used so far is bog standard. Can we pull that one out here? Yeah, bog-standard centerbacks on our Germany podcast, the one before this. Bog-standard English centerback. He's at Aston Villa. Look, he's what you want from an English centerback. And listen, behind him, you've got Dan Byrne, who is boggier, more standard English centerback. He's a bit slower. actually...
00:21:17
Speaker
Pretty surprised to see Dan Byrne here versus Harry Maguire. I think Maguire is also slow, but really, really has experience for England. Tuchel actually said, like, that experience maybe is some battle scars. And I'm like, well what about Harry Kane? But again,
Croatia's Squad and Outlook
00:21:31
Speaker
Tuchel literally basically saying Maguire's a loser. I don't want a loser in my squad. I don't know how else to read that. Sorry. um The other center backs are John Stones and Gerald Kwanza. Stones has been hurt all year for Man City. When he's healthy, he's a great, great player.
00:21:44
Speaker
Maybe could be a second starter next to Gahey and you actually get a little bit more out of the position. I expect it to be Kwanza and Gahey.
00:21:54
Speaker
Keep going on the fullbacks. um We've got Reese James on the right. ah He's at Chelsea when he's healthy. He's still elite, very fast player, good one V one shutdown defender, also a good crosser.
00:22:06
Speaker
um You know, England's got a good right back. And then on the left back is Nico O'Reilly, who has, i think been one of the stories of the season in the premier league. Pep kind of turned him into a midfielder box crashing left wing slash free eight with the ball. And, He's a great runner, but he's also super technical. think a lot of people project him long-term as a midfielder, not as a left back.
00:22:31
Speaker
This is where they left out Lewis Hall, who is I think is a textbook left back at Newcastle, a great one-week fun defender. Nico Riley can defend, but he's in this weird role. And this to me, obviously, i think he has to start here. um But this to me is really interesting because, first of all, he could be the X factor for this team in getting an extra number
Croatia's Tactical Challenges
00:22:51
Speaker
forward. But is Tuchel going to play a pep role for him? Tuchel doesn't really like that. He likes his left backs to be very defensive and control oriented. That'd be kind of a shackle on O'Reilly. Let's see how this works. I think these guys pieces are going to work together. There's not a lot of reps together, but individually, all of these players are elite to me. And the backups are good too. Even, ah even at fullback, Jed Spence, Tino Livermento, both very capable.
00:23:17
Speaker
And they left Trent Alexander Arnold out of the squad here, which obviously caused a lot of consternation. what do you make of that decision? I think Trent Tuchel just doesn't like his profile. He's a passing right back and sometimes more of a center defensive mid.
00:23:35
Speaker
I think his defensive reputation can get overblown. He can be fine when he wants, but Tuchel doesn't want like a fun tactical player to break all the lines at right back. He wants two shutdown defenders who are physical players. i think he's really gone for physicality here so that England can be tough to play against. I actually think that's not a bad thing.
00:23:57
Speaker
i To me, I would just say, okay if you don't want Trent Alexander-Arnold
Croatia's Defensive Generational Shift
00:24:01
Speaker
at right back, just... Play him at center mid. Bring him on the squad as your emergency. We're down one. We need a guy to pick out the pass where the guy can hit a corner kick.
00:24:11
Speaker
I don't understand. i i don't understand. But I think there's some of those things where out Trent is ah a big personality and, you know, he's kind of a lot of discourse around him and Tuchel has kind of gotten ahead um of the Trent discourse. It's bad now, but... it's not going to be like, you should play Trent. you should play Trent. should play Trent. You can't. Right? Like, not the team. Can't play what you don't bring. Right. Points at head beam in the midfield. amit Declan Rice and his trophy case are here and he's actually really good now.
00:24:42
Speaker
Gosh, I remember when that was like one of my favorite jokes of World Cup After Dark in 2018. We were roasting Declan Rice and then it turned out maybe he was right. Maybe he should just bring that case with them everywhere. He's he's got a few at Arsenal. Unfortunately for the memes and me as a not Arsenal fan, i I respect the team. He's turned into one of the best center midfielders in the world. He's just really, really good.
00:25:06
Speaker
Covers a lot of ground, great dribbler, you know, good set piece deliver at the heart
Croatia's Potential Paths
00:25:11
Speaker
of Arsenal, the best defensive team in the world. He's elite. And that is a great player to have. And then next to him, you've got Elliot Anderson. I think some people might not be familiar with him. Most soccer fans that watch a little bit of force understand this guy's really jumped off the the the TV this year. um good defender, very athletic, and also a great distributor with the ball. Long balls can spray it everywhere.
00:25:38
Speaker
Just does a little bit of everything. When those two guys are your pivot, and then you have a back line of four shutdown defenders, no one should be able to come through England. like I just think this is going to be a really hard team to score on unless they're like really committed up the field. This is what Tuka wants. He's going to play six really good defensive players.
00:25:57
Speaker
Add that plus the goalkeeper, right? We've accounted for seven players in this team. And as you said, those seven players are primarily going to be playing defensive roles here. And so what it seems like a number of the elite teams are asking is, can we win with four players that we are dedicated to allowing to do attacking things to maraud forward, to play with the ball, to try and score goals? We talked about it with France. They might have the best four players of the teams that are asking that questions.
00:26:26
Speaker
What do we make of the four here that England are about to run out and the four guys that in a neutral game
Ghana's Strategic Shift Under Queiroz
00:26:33
Speaker
state, they're going to allow to attack? It's pretty good. I mean, it's elite. I think it's maybe up there with France. I think you'd take France by ah buy a hair and a half, perhaps.
00:26:44
Speaker
But even even in terms of Spain and anyone else, what separates them is the striker, is Harry Kane. He's still elite. He is still a great, pure finisher, better than anyone in the world. But he's also added a lot of creativity to his game by dropping in and playing these long balls.
00:27:01
Speaker
When he first did this, he wasn't great at it, but now he is an excellent passer. Going to Bayern has helped him extend his prime. And what has been good for him at Bayern is he plays with other attackers so that we know when it gets to crunch time, maybe Harry Kane can get marked out of a game. But if you commit too many resources to that at Bayern, Elise, Diaz, Musiala hurt you.
00:27:25
Speaker
Well, the three guys around him here are elite. Bukaya Saka, one of the best right wingers in the world. Jude Bellingham, one of the most dangerous all around tens in the world.
00:27:35
Speaker
And then in the left wing, I think this is where maybe they're not as elite at France, but you've got Marcus Rashford, who is a very direct winger in transition, gets a lot of shots. Or you've got Anthony Gordon, who is a perfectly
Tactical Style of Ghana
00:27:48
Speaker
fine Champions League level winger at Newcastle. That's the one spot which is elite, but Marcus Rashford at Barcelona is a hilarious thing for an English winger to do, and it's worked out well for him. He has deputized for Rafinha, and he gets a lot of shots up. So honestly, I think with Kane as a playmaker, this front four works. It works very well.
00:28:08
Speaker
Harry Kane has been a main character on this podcast for as long as this podcast has existed. I'm with you. He has developed his game in a way that it didn't seem like he would when he kind of first came onto the scene.
00:28:20
Speaker
The Bayern move seems to have helped him. He's playing better. He is doing more things and the attacking talent around him is certainly going to try to unlock him. American heat, hot summer, perhaps tough conditions if their knockout round path looks like it might lead through to a game in Mexico against Mexico, thin air, et cetera.
00:28:41
Speaker
Can Harry Kane hold up in 2026?
00:28:45
Speaker
I think he can because he's got that kind of savv savvy superstar thing where they know how to manage their energy and the team around him is good. but listen, I think what the best calling card for this team is to compliment Tuchel and that he's ruthless.
00:29:00
Speaker
If anyone in this 11 isn't performing, even if Harry
Ghana's Journey and Expectations
00:29:04
Speaker
Kane isn't working, he just calls the next guy in the squad in. There are two backup strikers here, Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney. Toney's a weird inclusion, but he's a very distinct style. Watkins is much more mobile than Kane and can run that channel. So if Kane's movement is an issue, you just don't play him or you you play him 60 minutes, you turn him into a sub.
00:29:25
Speaker
The other thing here as we we talk about this squad is we have to just at least mention why Saka is one of the best right wingers in the world because he can do everything on his left foot on that side.
00:29:36
Speaker
He can cut in and shoot. He can dribble end line or he can cross. You take away one thing. You can't take away the others. He demands a double team. And Jude Bellingham, remember at the Euros, he saved this team.
00:29:47
Speaker
you know I think he could be a frustrating player because he... Sometimes isn't like a perfectly silky player, but he's got that ability to just break a game in a moment. He's a Madrid guy. He's like Vinny. He's Mbappe. You need some of that in this team. Hey, someone needs to someone needs to go seize this game. Well, that's Jude.
00:30:09
Speaker
It's all set up well here for all these different players to do their roles and in the Tuchel system, like to play in that system, but then just elevate above it.
00:30:22
Speaker
I really, i really like it. Like, I really like it.
Ghana's Key Players and Absences
00:30:25
Speaker
There's not a lot to dislike here other than Tuchel being Tuchel. The Ivan Tony inclusion drew a lot of questions. I think there's there's two points that that are interesting to make here. One, your 22nd to 26th player in the squad are generally not what's going to determine how far you get or don't get at a World Cup.
00:30:46
Speaker
And two, Tuchel was pretty... honest about why Tony's here. It's he's my guy that if I'm chasing a goal with 10 minutes to go in a game, I can throw him on to kind of take those chaos situations and turn it into something maybe in ways that other players can't.
00:31:03
Speaker
And so I think that's a perfectly fine use of your third strike, right? Like Ivan Tony is not playing in a neutral game state for England at this world cup, unless they're up three goals against Panama, which is not really a neutral game state. You're just trying to see out the game, right?
00:31:17
Speaker
So I think That seems okay. I kind of get it. I get what Tuchel is going for. And that is where... The squad discourse, I think, is so interesting because, again, World Cups are generally won with 15 to 18 guys, right? You have your core 11. You've got guys that can come in and replace certain parts of that. Some of them might be used. Some of them won't be used. And then you have bit players. But making this whole circus charade,
Role Adaptation in Ghana's Squad
00:31:46
Speaker
everything around it, kind of calls some of that into question because you're just...
00:31:50
Speaker
adding things into the recipe that aren't necessarily needed. That's where I think this is all so, so interesting for England. And the other part of that is that he brought in Jordan Henderson, who is the longtime, like captain of England. And he's, a you know, been a good player, but he is just factually worse and slower than like four guys. He left off. You're looking specifically at Foden Palmer you know Morgan Gibbs White, they all must be sitting there going, really?
00:32:20
Speaker
That guy? And that's where it's like, Tuchel is like, ah, every role matters. I'm really worried about my third striker as the guy who comes on. But actually, I'm going to use my 26th spot on the guy for vibes. Just my vibes, not the Harry Maguire vibes. That guy's got battle scars. That's where like we get to the Tuchel being like kind of just prickly to be prickly. like Jordan Henderson should not be here, but maybe Tuchel knows Tuchel That Henderson is liked by certain – like we don't know the inner dynamics of this England squad. There certainly must be some.
00:32:54
Speaker
That is fascinating here. – It's this team is so deep. It should be good enough.
Panama's World Cup Ambitions
00:33:01
Speaker
Like you want to say, okay, maybe if Henderson is the depth midfield, midfield is a bit of a weakness behind Anderson and, and rice. Okay. I can give you that one, but everyone else is deep here, right? We didn't even mention as a, and Madweke like, you know, and Kobe may knew Kobe may knew is actually the third midfielder. So like they don't even have to worry about Henderson.
00:33:24
Speaker
This team has very little holes. So a bit, it all kind of boils down to this and maybe this time around for England, the question is actually, e comf knockhaus which is German for is it coming home?
00:33:39
Speaker
We've gotten there. I think Tuchel's blend, if his players buy in, should get them there. Look,
Panama's Team Dynamics
00:33:47
Speaker
even if England were 5% better than they are, they still wouldn't be 5% better in the title odds. Like, at best, you're 1-4. I think so.
00:33:58
Speaker
But this team should get to the final on margins and see what happens. And I like their case a lot. Maybe France isn't there. They're going to have to play themselves through some tough games. Like we can't overlook Argentina or Portugal in a semifinal. You can't overlook Brazil. Like that's a tough game. Mexico in the round of 16 in Mexico is tricky. Like, yes, I know England are substantially better than Mexico, but that's a very weird atmosphere to suddenly be thrown into at a World Cup.
00:34:27
Speaker
It's going to take some doing. So we've spent a lot of time on England here in this group. I think this team demands it as the second title favorite. um I think more than Spain. I think really there's a lot, lot here going for them.
00:34:43
Speaker
And as we talk about the rest of this group, this group should be a ramp up for them. It should be. And that ramp up for England will start with Croatia, who are, it seems like England always get drawn in with a second kind of tier European team
Panama's Squad Depth and Challenges
00:35:02
Speaker
that's a bit worse than them and is not that interesting in a one-off matchup. That's what we have here. Croatia, who, as I said too in the as i said in the open, have been one of the most successful teams at recent World Cups. They've qualified for every World Cup but once since they joined FIFA in 1998. Croatia obviously originally was part of Yugoslavia, which then broke out into Serbia and Montana.
00:35:23
Speaker
Then Serbia and Montenegro, all of that. They missed South Africa in 2010, but they are probably the most consistent example of punching above their weight on the international stage. They've been third place twice in 1998 and 2002.
00:35:36
Speaker
They were runners up in Qatar. That is semifinal appearances in back-to-back World Cups. Nobody laid a glove on them. In qualifying, seven wins, one draw from a group with Czechia, Montenegro, the Faroe Islands, and Gibraltar.
00:35:48
Speaker
But they crashed out of the Euro 24 group stage when they were beaten 3-0 by Italy and drew Albania and Italy. Something in there was not right, but you get the point. They crashed out of the group stage at the Euro 24.
00:35:59
Speaker
Slotko Dalic has been their manager since 2017. He's regarded as the greatest manager in Croatian history, gotten the best out of this group of guys. They've punched above their weight, as I said earlier. They have been a mid-tier team that has played like an elite team at the World Cup.
00:36:14
Speaker
Looks like he's going to still be the guy regardless of how this World Cup goes. Now, I'm in. remember all those guys from the 2018 and 2022 runs? A lot of them are still here, particularly in the midfield and attack, and that could be a problem.
00:36:30
Speaker
It's both what makes Croatia dangerous is that it's the same guys you know can make the run, but also four years, eight years later, how much is left in those legs. And I think what was tough to evaluate about them is in qualifying...
00:36:46
Speaker
The class of these players was more than enough to handle Czechia, who was their, I think, toughest challenge. And when they wanted to, they just passed circles around them. That's the level of technical quality here.
00:37:00
Speaker
The case against them is can you tire their legs out? Yeah, we know they're smart tactically, but you just punch them in the mouth by being physical and you don't let them get tactically do all the pretty things they want to do.
00:37:14
Speaker
That's what teams are going to try to do. And I think in this group, like it's interesting. England should have joy in there. The other two, maybe not. um Ghana will try. We'll talk about Ghana.
00:37:27
Speaker
So like they can kind of just do their bit again, and they should be in a knockout stage. And then you just say, our smart guys are smarter than your guys, right? at some point that limitations, I think we'll, we'll get them. And that's where that Italy game at the last euros was like the reminder that yes, this is not going to work anymore, but it's really hard to count this team out.
00:37:49
Speaker
It is simply cleaning up what happened at that year. They lost three to the Spain and they drew Italy and that's how they crashed out of the group stage. That Spain game, I think is a very illustrative point of what could happen here to Croatia when they go up against the elite teams. But as you said, the talent and the class is absolutely there.
00:38:06
Speaker
The runner-up of this group will play a fellow runner-up team in Toronto in the round of 32. And then the winner of Group H or the runner-up of Group J, that's the famous Spain-Argentina possibility we've talked about endlessly in the round of 16. This could be Spain-Croatia in the round of 16, and that might be the limit that Croatia could get to if it is a runner-up finish.
00:38:29
Speaker
where they get to here. So those players that we talked about, Luka Modric is 40. He's still a big piece here in the midfield. Mateo Kovacic, 32. Mario Paslich, 31. They're also counted on the in the midfield. And again, can you do that in this day and age with those legs in this heat? We'll find out. Nikola Vlasic is younger at 28. He's probably got a role here.
00:38:50
Speaker
Some younger guys like Luka Suchic or Peter Suchic, could those be some younger legs in plays, but with less of the quality in the midfield? Let's see. at Kind of striker attacking winger options for this Croatia team going forward.
00:39:05
Speaker
Zlatko Dalic really has a choice here. Does he go for old and maybe washed or youngish and definitely unproven? So in the old category, you've got Ivan Parasic. He's 37. And Andrei Kramaric and Ante Budimir, who are both 34.
00:39:20
Speaker
Unproven, he's got Marko Pasilic, who's 25 at Orlando City in MLS. And Peter Moussa, who's 28 at Dallas in MLS. That is kind of the entire picture with the midfield and attack.
00:39:32
Speaker
It's a tough case ah for Dolich to sort. I think Peter Moose is really good. I know he's at MLS. So like I I'm with you. He's relatively unproven. But in MLS, he's a very, very good striker. i would ask him to lead the line for his physicality. And then i don't know what you do after that.
00:39:51
Speaker
I don't know what 37-year-old Ivan Perisic is. Like, he was a take-on winger who turned into, like, a right-back or a wing-back crosser. Yeah, in March, he was playing left-wing back for Croatia at one point. Yeah. So, like, again, smart player in that these... And and this applies to Kovacic and Modric. Like, these guys are so smart tactically. Like, they compensate for their legs and, like, been just being in the right spots and good technically.
00:40:22
Speaker
Kramerich is the same way. That guy's whole bit is like, I think he's Croatian Thomas Mueller, like space interpreter, hangs off the striker, gets in the box, it does dangerous things.
00:40:32
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know what this looks like. to Maybe to me, I think Musa up top and then Kramerich is a shadow striker and Parasic is a winger.
00:40:43
Speaker
Does that work? I don't know. Like, don't Passlich, I'm less bullish on. That one, i don't even like. You said unproven. I'll i'll go worse. like He's an MLS level like mid. he's He's not bad. Again, and MLS is is good. A lot of teams would would take an MLS level midfielder, but he definitely doesn't elevate too much for Orlando and what I've seen of him. So he might be the guy out. Budimir, I don't know at this point. He's a big guy. yeah Yeah, so...
00:41:13
Speaker
It's just that, like, is it going to work? And the question is, i think it's team dependent, right? i think against a not so organized backline, it's the World Cup, everyone's backline should be organized. But I think against a gets the not so organized backline, like, they will get their shots and they will have their moments. I think against physical teams, they will just defend and counter. And it's funny, again, in this group, we ask, can those old guys run The answer is no, except these guys are like weirdly like genetic aliens. Like Luka Modric still runs. I mean, he's still not the same, but I don't know. You just kind of can't, you keep counting these guys out and they keep doing it. So i think they will get to the level that they can get to, but that level is very clear. And so what is that in this group to me is enough, but then past that, again, we've said we've said this a few times, but I think they'll be fine here. I think they'll be fine. And I think the thing with Croatia is they're another one of these teams that we're asking, do I think Croatia can play one really elite match against an elite team and maybe take them out of the tournament?
00:42:22
Speaker
I do. Do I think Croatia can play three elite matches against three elite teams to make a World Cup final, which is probably what it's going to take? I'm not so sure on that.
00:42:33
Speaker
And that's also where the depth is tough. Like the midfield, there's so much counting on all of these guys and it's like the depth isn't quite there. And that's where like legs, injuries, yellow cards again, like that's where in in this longer knockout stage, you have to favor the deeper teams. And the second Croatia get into extra time, they're at a fatigue deficit, right? And if that then builds on further, that could be a problem. But the defense here, I admit, is the spot where there's been a generational shift and the level hasn't dropped. And there's, I think, some really interesting and really good young guys here. Obviously, Josko Gavardio, 24, Manchester City, fullback.
00:43:12
Speaker
Broke his leg in January. Looks like he's going to be back for the World Cup. He's a huge piece. They might go with three central defenders, Duje Kaletikar, Josef Stanisic, Josef Sutelo. There's also a lot of hype for Luka Vuskovic, who's 19. Do they maybe put Stanisic wide and you can somehow get all four of those guys on the field? As I said, Ivan Parasic has been spotted at left wing back in March. um This defense is pretty exciting.
00:43:36
Speaker
Yeah, Vardial's a good player. Stanish is just a good player. I think you probably want those two guys as your fullbacks and you feel pretty good about the whole model working because these guys are can run and they're they're physical and good ballplayers.
00:43:51
Speaker
And that way you take some of the pressure off the midfield. It'd be a lot harder to ask Chris to do this if his defense was worse. i'm I'm bullish on these guys. I like them a lot. I especially like Vardial.
00:44:03
Speaker
There's a lot of pressure, I think, then on the center backs. Is that going to be Coletta Carr and Sutalo, you think? Yeah, i think i mean I think that's where the problem of lean here is. I think ah Luka Muscovic is really interesting. I think he's super promising, but he's 19, unproven on the World Cup stage. But it's the type of guy who could maybe come in and elevate things here.
00:44:24
Speaker
that that This is the elevating group for Croatia that I think if they're also going to need to defend and grime, ah this could get them there. And also just why in a knockout one-off game, in any one-off game, they are dangerous, especially in that first round of 32. And then maybe in that round of 16, if they manage that enough, they are dangerous. So like if the ceiling isn't there for five games, they can scalp someone. You don't want to see them in a knockout round.
00:44:53
Speaker
Absolutely. And so Dominic Lavakovich at Dejan Roza Grev is their goalkeeper. Sure. Thumbs up. World Cup goalkeeper. That should be fine. um They played and beat Colombia in March. That is a very real possibility for what their round of 32 matchup could be. If Portugal stumble in that group, it could be Portugal in the round of 32. Spain, as we alluded to earlier, looks like the likely round of 16 possibility here.
00:45:16
Speaker
But maybe, Amit, Croatia, all of that path positive path talk we talked about with England in their section. Croatia and England play on the first day of this group stage.
00:45:27
Speaker
Maybe the Tommy Tukey tactics stink is kind of hanging around England and Croatia get enough of a result there that they could steal that group winner spot. And all of a sudden, there's a path to the semifinals again for this team.
00:45:41
Speaker
Yeah, one thing we know about Dalic is he'll go for it in that game. He will absolutely swing at England and try to try to scalp them and try to get in that better path. I think that's something to look for. It's a great test case because when we're talking about those teams, England should bully them off the field, right?
00:45:57
Speaker
But if Croatian is smart enough to hang, that'll tell us a little bit ah about both. And then maybe the whole group changes, maybe the whole draw changes, right? So like it's it's ah it's a tricky little game, I think, for England.
00:46:10
Speaker
to to see where that level is at. And I think it's probably key for Croatia to win it. If they draw it, the most likely scenario is you're shooting out against Panama and Ghana, who can score more goals against them. You're probably backing the overall talent of England to do that.
00:46:26
Speaker
But if Croatia get the three points, it doesn't matter what England do in the other games, as long as Croatia went out and they would win the group. Look, this is a team that has had World Cup success because of their quality, because of their class. I don't think any of that is not there this time around. I just think it's gonna be that much harder because there's just that much less juice in the overall picture here.
00:46:48
Speaker
Yeah, they're a little bit of that, ah you know, Hydra mentality of they're really hard to kill and they they just are. So I think you've really, really got aim for all the heads. I don't know. Hydra might not have been the right one, but they're tough. And so I think it's going to take some doing to beat them, but it will be done by a good team.
00:47:07
Speaker
To me that, you know, maybe they'll get a scout, but at some point a top eight team in the world will will take them out. So we talked about England, who have been main characters on the World Cup After Dark podcast since its inception.
00:47:20
Speaker
We talked about Croatia, who also have made semifinal appearances in both World Cups. We've done this podcast. What are Ghana bringing to the table, Amit? Oh boy, Ghana are bringing something to the table. It's the...
00:47:33
Speaker
Late Sears catalog needed offensive manager call Carlos Kairos in to manage Ghana at this World Cup. Let's start with him who has been in charge of a lot of places for a lot of time. I think probably most well known for his run as a extremely defensive manager for Iran in 2014 and 2018.
00:47:55
Speaker
Didn't get them out of the group stage, but got them close. had a less than successful period in charge of Colombia, then was at Egypt, back to Iran for the 2022 World Cup, had a spell in Qatar, was the manager of Oman, missed the World Cup with them, and has now taken this job.
00:48:10
Speaker
didn't muck them through Didn't muck Oman through the Asian fourth round, I should say. brought into Ghana in April. Otto had been their manager, did well in qualifying, but then kind of just got brushed aside when the results weren't there. They obviously missed the AFCON, which was a big strike against him.
00:48:27
Speaker
um Look, however much time in soccer you need to build something of it, Kairos needs less. He's the Sears catalog manager for defensive managers. You call him in a week later, you have a disgusting low block. Yeah.
00:48:42
Speaker
It's such a fascinating mix because what is the one thing that Ghana can't do at any point that we've seen them is be organized. And what is the only thing that Carlos Kairos can do is be organized.
00:48:52
Speaker
Is any of this going to work? Are we at least to enjoy it if it doesn't?
00:48:58
Speaker
We'll see if Karos can do it. like Ghana is just above the talent line that it might work. Work in air quotes being talk about expectations, get out of the group stage, maybe try to win a game. Absolutely on the table here. Will it be fun? No. Karos is anti-fun. All of his teams are horrible. I love this comparison that you know you're a federation. You're watching teams play soccer. you're like, hey,
00:49:22
Speaker
That looks like a real international team. That looks like an international team. I want one next week. i call this guy, and then we're playing that low block. um I mean, let's let's talk about it, right? And we had talked about this a little bit, I think, somewhere back in March.
00:49:36
Speaker
Would you have gone for a manager like this for Gano to try to fix your obvious weakness? Or is it so obviously incompatible that it's a silly idea? i don't know.
00:49:48
Speaker
Yeah. So when Ghana made the choice to fire auto, autoto they got smoked by Austria. They played a March friendly against Austria and there was a massive difference in class between those two teams. And so they then kind of poked around the the World Cup after dark kind of catalog of managers, right? Paulo Bento, who had been in Korea. Heather Renard was kind of at Saudi Arabia, but on the way out, he got the call.
00:50:13
Speaker
Fernando Santos, who had had success with Greece at at various points, he got he was kind of in the talk here. There was a moment where like Yergi Lowe was rumored to be perhaps hanging. her Again, look, this wasn't, I don't think was anything done with any sort of long-term plan in mind.
00:50:30
Speaker
Ghana aren't trying to build a generation of players. They're not trying to develop any youth players. They're looking at the 2026 World Cup and saying, yeah maybe this guy will give us a good chance. And they're kind of going with it, which to be fair, kind of goes along with everything we know about the Ghanaian Federation. um Yeah, I look, I think I would have probably this is just me personally. I would have probably leaned into the more chaotic element of it because I think Ghana can be good that way if they're trying it.
00:50:58
Speaker
This just. Square hole, round peg, round you know, square peg, round hole. I just don't know how this works. and And look, K-Ross has like, he's come out and done the whole like, oh, why are they saying I'm such a defensive manager? I just win games. Like, oh, there's no attacking manager. that Like, buddy, I've seen you. that You don't have any other buttons. This is clearly what you're going to try to do here.
00:51:21
Speaker
He's also been out saying, like listen, this is a project. like I need some time to get some guys in. like We're building a foundation. We have to commit to like ah principles and like values of training. And I'm like, OK. I think we have seen, and you, listener, may may know from Keros, in our context, our our sample size, there's nothing else to expect. That's why we're incredulous that this is anything else here.
00:51:52
Speaker
But for the question of can it work in this tournament, the answer is maybe. maybe Maybe it can work because Ghana have a very bad defense. They could have gone two directions. And I think we both would have leaned into Ghana's exciting young attackers in trying to introduce more moments for the attackers in the game.
00:52:12
Speaker
This will not be that. Those attackers are going to be asked to create something in less moments on the counter when a team is so sold out because they're tired of the block. The issue with the block...
00:52:26
Speaker
is that the defenders here are not good individually, relatively, and organizationally, Ghana has never had a good defense. This is just their – it has been an issue for them. This team, back when you – we know Asimo Aguian, we know the IU brothers, one of them still here. This team was a World Cup team in 26, 2010, 2014. They made that quarterfinal. right This level is here. The decade after that, Ghana have fallen off from the international picture. They've been surpassed by their Western African neighbors and Nigeria and Ivory Coast. um
00:52:58
Speaker
They're closer to the Cameroon level of instability. They missed the AFCON. They made it here despite their bad defense because their group was poor. I think that is the thing. They were expecting a challenge from Mali, didn't get it. It turned out the best teams were Madagascar and Comoros. That's who they had to beat out.
00:53:16
Speaker
And they almost like at points, you know, like there were questions here still at some points, because again, Ghana was still going to Ghana. Like there's a result. I'm pretty sure it was Chad that got a point off of Ghana in this group, which just should have under no circumstance ever been happening.
00:53:31
Speaker
Yeah, so this is just a very wildly inconsistent team. Now i understand why you see that and you go, we we don't want to go for variability. We want to try to smooth this out. And I think Ghana really, really, really wants to get out of this group. And they don't really care how they do it. And so you're thinking of beating Panama and being difficult and getting to a knockout and being difficult. It would mean a lot. It means it. I mean, it means everything for every country, but kind of really, really wants to win a knockout game like they just do. And I, I can understand how you think Carlos Karros is the guy to do that.
00:54:07
Speaker
Let's see. Let's talk or go ahead. Yeah, so a couple of things. It was Chad. My memory was correct. It was a 1-1 draw where Ghana completely bossed the entirety of the game and then just let Chad get one at the end, which just should have never happened. And again, you mentioned the quality of the group here. Yeah, that absolutely played a role because Ghana got out of that group and into the World Cup and immediately lost four straight friendlies, right? They went to Asia.
00:54:31
Speaker
They lost to Japan and South Korea, 2-0, 1-0. And then in March, Austria... yeah Austria beat them 5-1. And then they were actually better, I thought, against Germany, but still lost the game 2-1. And they had already made the decision to fire Otto Adel before that Germany game. um I think if we want to try and look at this from a positive light, so paint the picture of how this works, I think the best comparison, and this isn't actually a good comparison, but think of when Carlos Carlos is Iran teams were good.
00:55:01
Speaker
They were super solid. They were super organized, but they had that attacking flip. that could hurt you in three-on-three situations, in three-on-four situations. You think to the interplay between a player like Jahanbash and Asmund and Taremi, that I think is the platonic ideal of what Ghana are looking for here. right?
00:55:23
Speaker
They are looking to take a squad that is unorganized and untalented in defense, get them to be organized and result based in defense, and then hope that those attacking players can give them something going forward. It's just a question of, can that back six, five, seven players be enough to allow that to happen? And that's where I think the question marks here is as we break down the squad.
00:55:51
Speaker
We'll start in the front to outline those players that could be dangerous. It's a bummer for Keros and for everything that Muhammad Kudus is out. Yeah. He went to Tottenham. He was at West hand, a hundred million dollar man. He was Ghana star. He's very electric. It was great at the 2022 world cup, right? Like when they he was got to the international stage in 2022, he was a game breaking type player.
00:56:12
Speaker
Yeah. And they really could have used his star talent here. he He's got he had a tough season at Tottenham, got hurt. He's out. So that's a bummer. The good news is they still got a few of their guys. Right. Antoine Semenyo at Manchester City. First name to stand out here. Very good runner, good shooter.
00:56:30
Speaker
Exactly the kind of player you dream up to to run in transition at the other team. Not a great creative player, but again, can can carry the ball 50 yards if you need to, can score. And then Inaki Williams, who's at Bilbao, I think the other most important guy here. He didn't hasn't played a lot recently with Ghana. He had been hurt. He had missed some stuff. But when he's healthy, he is extremely fast, good dribbler, good shooter, can create. You're hoping for some of with...
00:56:59
Speaker
with Semenyo that could work. Now, gonna have like four, five, six other wingers here that are all good. He's not going to play them all. We know Kairos isn't going to have that many attacking guys in the field.
00:57:10
Speaker
But um you could get something from Kamaldin Suleyman at Atalanta. He's a very creative player. I think you need someone to pass to those guys. You could see him in here at striker. If Williams is more of a winger, you've also got Prince Adou.
00:57:23
Speaker
He is not really like a textbook striker, but he's very fast. He's 5'10", 170, but he's he's going to kind of run and be dangerous. You've got some other prospects here. i don't need to name all the winners. I mean, I can name them. Ernest Nwant, Leon, Christopher Bott, Saudi, Prince Amako in um Norway.
00:57:43
Speaker
They could all play here, but it's really going to be those guys we named that you're expecting to do Karos math. Karos is like, all your tactics are pretty. All these systems are pretty. I think about three on three. If I got three good guys that I can get, i can force you to get me a three on three situation. I got three good guys. That is the the beauty and simplicity of it, right?
00:58:06
Speaker
Yeah, and so i I think there's some question of what they do with Williams, right? He can be a striker. He can be a winger. How does Kairos think he can get the most out of him? Another name that I wanted to bring up is Francis Amuzu, who's at Grêmio in Brazil. He's a Belgian international who recently switched for Ghana. Ghana played a tremendously weird friendly that was clearly agreed to way before Kairos took over, where they took basically a C squad to play Mexico on May 24th, which was just...
00:58:36
Speaker
not necessary for anybody involved. got Nobody in that squad should really be in the picture here. Ghana wanted to bring Amuzu into that match, and Grameo said, no, like the FIFA date doesn't start for another 10 days. He's not leaving.
00:58:49
Speaker
But that switch makes me suggest that I think he might be in and around the squad here. He's another potential striking option. As we move back from that attacking look, Amit, what type of midfield and defense is Kairos actually working with? I know it kind of starts with Thomas Partey. He's at Villarreal in July, 2025. He was charged with five counts of rape and sexual assault. Trials aren't going to happen until 2027. He's not in England because of that.
00:59:14
Speaker
um We don't really need to talk about that aspect of it, but I think it's worth mentioning. Footballing wise, he's is still a good two-way midfielder and is probably a piece here. He's the most important central midfielder. Theoretically, he's still not theoretically. He at Villarreal, he does a little bit of everything. Two way player. They need him to cover a lot of ground outside of him. Center mid is a bit weak. It's quasi Sebo. It's Alicia Wusu at Oxair.
00:59:40
Speaker
I think those guys are okay, but Party can do a lot here. And you're probably getting the Keros banks of 2-4. So like it's two guys are going to run a lot. Party's a good one to have.
00:59:51
Speaker
Then you look at the back line. This is the question of what is the level of these guys? Because we know we know the level before has been poor. Let's let's run through it here. Alexander Jiku at Spartak.
01:00:04
Speaker
Spartak Moscow. Okay, that's your your best center back. Your next best center back is Mohamed Salisu. Poor is ACL. Okay, don't have him. Then you've got Jerome Apoku at Basak Sahir in Turkey, Jonas Ajeti at Basel, and Kojo Apong at Nice.
01:00:21
Speaker
Can Karos turn those guys, those center backs, into a Iran level or better level of of central defense.
01:00:32
Speaker
The fullbacks are, or go ahead. Yeah. Can he do it in 10 days? Right. Cause like that's what he's working with. level yeah Carlos Kairos has never taken charge of a Ghana squad. He's going to get these guys into a camp.
01:00:44
Speaker
Maybe it's fortunate that this is group L. So they're going to be the last group to debut, right? He's got a couple extra days before the first match, but that is basically what we're coming down to is can these guys who are vaguely talented defensive players, but have never played like a cohesive unit at this level in this situation together. Can Kairos turn that into something?
01:01:05
Speaker
Yeah, fullback is is similar. It's Derek Cohn at Union Berlin. He's actually the a good left back at Union Berlin. That's still not anything crazy, but that's good. Right back is a bit weak. Caleb Urenke is in Norway. He's been their starter. He's pretty limited. Their backups, Gideon Mensah is a decent left back, also in France. um but I don't think like they can play too.
01:01:27
Speaker
I mean, like you're talking about conference level or worse center backs. Is there enough here? Like, i don't think these guys are going to look out of place in the field, but then you're looking at England, Panama.
01:01:40
Speaker
Can you damage control them or England and Croatia, Panama? You're trying to beat, right? You're trying to beat them. Can you damage control them with this group? is 10 days enough anymore like what is the caro sauce does he just just just go go two blocks of four and you just jog around in two blocks for like five hours 10 days in a row and then you' you've got the time like what is the magic sauce here we're gonna find out and there's probably some question in goal which is a position we've seen be a struggle point for ghana Yeah, not rating any of these guys super harley but highly. Benjamin Asare is probably the the starter. He's been the starter. They've also got a few other guys that are at much worse clubs. um None of these guys are very good. I think Ghana has got a lot of mistakes from goalkeeper in the past. Asare can like sometimes make a crazy save when Ghana played these high-volume games. So you you can understand he might save you some points, but he's a high-variance goalkeeper, which is generally a bad position for that. Somebody else like Tariq Lamptey, who's at Fiorentina, could be in the picture. he hasn't been in the picture for a long time. forgot Again, this is such a weird situation because we don't we've never seen a K-Ros Ghana squad. He's going to probably dig through all of the couch cushions and see what he finds as far as players who are eligible and could play.
01:02:56
Speaker
Lamptey would be a great right back if they can get him in. The following the squad news specifically for this team has been such a challenge with these weird fixtures and no idea what Karos is going to do. We just have no reference point from what the March friendlies were, what the African qualifying were. Lamptey hasn't been around in a while. He's been hurt. But when healthy, he's very fast and gives you some more defensive beef. Yeah.
01:03:20
Speaker
So it's a real question point for what we're going to see from Ghana. It's going to be fascinating. Look, they're going to be a team that we're going to talk about a ton on this podcast. I'm very excited for it. um Look, the point of bringing in K-Ros, as you said, is probably to get out of the group.
01:03:34
Speaker
The recipe for getting out of the group for Ghana is pretty similar to the recipe for a lot of teams, right? They play Panama first, win that game, buy as many goals as possible, play England and Croatia, try to get a point.
01:03:44
Speaker
You get a point, you're in really good shape. You don't limit the goal differential and you're going to play the third place table and and see where that ends up. Basically, and ah listen, I think there are scarier third place teams. I think there are tougher teams.
01:03:58
Speaker
But in a knockout game, Ghana will not look out of place. They will do their best to be difficult. If they're in that game, you'll have known what Keros did in three games was enough.
01:04:09
Speaker
You got to beat them. And you have to respect the talent the other way. It's ah it's a simple game. Keros is going for simple. Is that enough to do something? Maybe. Or maybe Karros isn't lying to us and he's actually going to play attacking football this time around. He's not lying to us. He's going to play defensive. Fourth team in this group is Panama. It's their second World Cup appearance. They had three group stage losses in 2018 when they were paired with England, Belgium and Tunisia. Since then, they have twice finished runner-up in a CONCACAF competition in the 2023 Gold Cup and the 2025 Nations League.
01:04:43
Speaker
They beat the USA in both semifinals of those competitions. They also beat the USA in the 2024 Copa America when the US s didn't make it out stage. Panama did. They then got smoked by Colombia in the Copa America quarterfinals. At their best, i admit they can play with the best in CONCACAF.
01:05:00
Speaker
There have been points over the last two or three years where I think we've legitimately asked if they are maybe the second best team in CONCACAF, maybe the third best team in CONCACAF. They're clearly better than everybody else outside the big three.
01:05:13
Speaker
How much is that actually worth on the World Cup stage? It's hard to know because CONCACAF is so hard to measure when the top three teams haven't necessarily been playing high-level matches. You know they bring their B teams to the Gold Cup. Listen, the Copa America win over the United States was very impressive. That was also a game with a red card.
01:05:33
Speaker
I think we both have really been impressed with Panama as the, the sometimes third, fourth best team, maybe fourth, but we see the limitations of their style of play. I think physically, and they don't defend like super, like they don't play super defensively. They want to play open. i don't know if that translates to the world cup stage.
01:05:55
Speaker
Um, their development is awesome and they've got a bunch of guys on the ball. Um, it's It's tricky. It's tricky. I think they might be able to have some joy in this group, but they're going to be at the expense of goals.
01:06:08
Speaker
So like generally we like those profiles less, but in the group stage, it's not the worst thing. If the K-Rush machine isn't working in the opening game, right? Panama can take advantage of Ghana and then you see what they get from there. So Thomas Christensen is the manager. He is Danish. He also has some Spanish heritage. He was named manager in July of 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He pitched developing a new generation, a full overhaul of what Panamanian soccer was after they made the World Cup in 2018 with what was the end of a golden generation. The Panamanian Federation bought in and they really bought in because Christensen missed the 2022 World Cup.
01:06:47
Speaker
He kept his job and it paid off. In 2026 qualification, they easily topped a group with Nicaragua, Guyana, Montserrat, and Belize in the second round. But then they got to the third round where the money was made as the most talented team left in CONCACAF with the three hosts already having qualified.
01:07:03
Speaker
And they wobbled. They got one win from their first four games. And I think a less patient federation might have blinked, might have gotten rid of Christensen, might have gone to the World Cup After Dark catalog of international managers to pick somebody up for those final two games.
01:07:17
Speaker
But they stuck it out and they bounced back. They were very resilient in a 3-2 win over Guatemala. And then on the last day of qualifying, they smashed El Salvador to qualify. Christian Sinemint wants this team to play, wants them to go toe-to-toe with teams. That might not be possible here, but it's also not out of the realm of possibility that they can match Ghana man-ish for man-ish in a game.
01:07:38
Speaker
The situation is obviously much harder in their other two group stage games against England and Croatia. But let's see. Yeah, they've in the World Cup before they've surprised, right? Like that was the last generation. We'll see that. I wanted to talk about the qualifying thing. Like I'm pleased they stuck with Curtis in. I think he earned that.
01:07:59
Speaker
And it's illustrative of the level that they needed to like get through Guatemala and El Salvador. But they did. um i don't know. Also, one thing about cost a tremendously unique situation because exactly what I was going to say. It's tremendously unique because the U.S., Mexico and Canada weren't there.
01:08:18
Speaker
Panama for the first and maybe only time in their footballing history were the big fish. Right. And so without those bigger teams to kind of play foil off of, there was a lot of pressure on Panama. And I think that showed. And I think Christensen deserves a lot of credit for getting them through that.
01:08:35
Speaker
Yes. And he had to problem solve the very oddities of CONCACAF qualifying and the teams they did. Listen, I think this team's strength is, is its midfield is its runners. They are good on the ball and they can play expansive stuff. The issue is they're a little old and slow in the back. And then even when they play the expansive stuff, the nine is just the question mark of of how they're going to get it done. yeah,
01:09:02
Speaker
I think, as we're alluding to you don't have to dream up scenario where they're in a game with Ghana, and then it's kind of which streakier team is a little bit hotter at finishing that day, right?
01:09:12
Speaker
i think if you're Panama, you'd take a game like that. But the difficult thing for them is there is a big question mark with what is probably their best player, their midfield contributor, Adalberto Coco Carasquilla.
Impact of Carrasquilla's Injury
01:09:23
Speaker
He's at Pumas in Mexico, just went off injured in the Mexican playoffs for Pumas.
01:09:28
Speaker
We don't know what his status is going to be. If he is not 100%, if he doesn't come back, injury didn't look great. He went off in tears, right? That's a massive, massive loss. We saw that at points in qualifying and at major tournaments. Panama without Carrasquilla is a different beast altogether because the rest of this team, as you said, Amit, is maybe solid, but but is lacking,
Panama's Defensive Strategy
01:09:50
Speaker
right? Orlando Mosquera started the the two crucial qualifiers in goal.
01:09:53
Speaker
Luis Mejia, who's at Nacional in Uruguay, got a friendly in March. I think it'll probably be Mosquera. The back line, you'll probably see five with wingbacks, right? Jose Cordova at Norwich should be one of those five guys. Anibal Godoy is 36, but it's probably going to be another. There's a very interesting young player in Martin Krug, who's 19 with the Levante Reserves in Spain. He was born in Chicago.
01:10:16
Speaker
He got a look in March. He's a player that I think and they probably have a lot of... of excitement for going forward in whatever the next era is. There's also pretty older experienced options, right? You've got Roderick Miller. He's at 30, he's 34 in Azerbaijan. Giovanni Ramos is playing in Venezuela with academia.
01:10:34
Speaker
ah Those are probably more likely options in central defense, but but keep an eye on crew. ah Fidel Escobar was a big piece in qualifying, suffered a spinal injury, only returned in April, not sure of his health.
01:10:45
Speaker
He's another guy they're really hoping for at the back. A lot of different fullbacky names. Cesar Blackman and Eric Davis were in in November, but that was because Emil Murillo, who at Besiktas, was hurt.
01:10:55
Speaker
He's probably their best option at fullback. Jorge Gutierrez, who's at Deportivo La Huayda in Venezuela, is also here in the picture. but We touched on Carasquilla in the the exciting kind of holding midfield role.
01:11:07
Speaker
If he's injured, it's going to be an issue. They're hoping that Carlos Harvey, who's at Minnesota United, can start behind him. Christian Martinez, who plays in Israel, is probably the reserve option. that That'd be a big, big step down in class.
01:11:19
Speaker
And then the attacking guys here, I think it's a mixed bag, right?
Ismael Diaz's Offensive Role
01:11:23
Speaker
Ismael Diaz, who's now at León in Mexico, he had a lot of success for Universidad Católica in Ecuador. um He is a potential traditional nine. He's a potential wing player. Maybe he's better on the wing.
01:11:35
Speaker
I was talking with good podcast friend, John Arnold, ah ahead of recording about Panama. And he mentioned that how Christensen chooses to deploy Diaz could be very important here because... Their traditional nine options aren't great. It's Cecilia Waterman and Cesar Giannis who are both playing in Chile.
01:11:52
Speaker
Puma Rodriguez is kind of a wing option on the other side. He's at Juarez in Mexico. Yoel Barcenas is at Mazatlan. He could be another option. Jose Fajardo is still hanging around here. And then a guy that's getting some buzz is 18-year-old Cadena Barilla.
01:12:06
Speaker
He's at Botafogo in Brazil. He's getting games. He's in and out of the squad. How much does being in out of the squad of a middle tier Brazilian team matter? What does that look like on the world stage?
01:12:18
Speaker
It's a lot to ask of a bit player still developing at a Brazilian club. But if there's going to be excitement, Baria could be kind of the guy to bring it. Look, I mean i think Panama are probably better than they were in 2018, but I don't know that the results are there because this group is probably as hard as that group was.
01:12:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think that the strengths here are Karaskiya. And if he's hurt, you're running out of strengths, which is a problem. yeah I like the fullbacks. Murillo is a good wingback. And that's why the back five works is he's a good player. I think Blackman or Davis are are very capable.
01:12:53
Speaker
we've got two players I like outside of Karaskiya. I think the center backs are fine, as you talked about. Maybe Krug is something. Diaz is a plus, right? You're trying to unlock him. He's he's a good creative player. he's He's a good around the final third. Can shoot two.
01:13:09
Speaker
Then everyone else, I'm the i'm not loving. like i' I've liked Fajardo in the past, and I've also seen Fajardo like he's a the lesser end of the higher volume guy, which is not a good place to be. Listen, like Puma Rodriguez, y'all Barcenas, like...
01:13:27
Speaker
they're of the level. like I think they can play the the game here for Panama. and They can do something, I think, against the fullbacks for anyone that's not necessarily England. They'll be able to do something here.
01:13:40
Speaker
You're talking me into three and then two halves of guys I like, and I don't love anyone else I
01:13:50
Speaker
It's tough. It's tough. I think this team on the right day can in the right three days could get out of this group. you know, I wouldn't pick this team to to be favored against anyone in a knockout match.
Panama vs Ghana: Key Matchup
01:14:00
Speaker
I don't think this group is impossible. I think Ghana is an achievable target. Like there is something there. Are they are they better than Ghana? No. and Should they be favored? No. But like, it's not crazy. The recipe here, right, is first game against Ghana. It's the first time we see this Carlos Kairos, whatever it's going to be on a game in a game that matters. If that's not firing at full cylinders. Yeah, there's a chance for Panama to play their stuff and and have some joy in that game.
01:14:26
Speaker
Second game against Croatia. You're hoping that, you know, those Croatian legs aren't quite there to completely just push you off the pitch. You talked about it with Croatia. The tactical awareness, the mental, the mentality is probably enough to get the game. Yeah, to get them through that game. But look, maybe the scoreline doesn't balloon out of control there.
01:14:46
Speaker
And then maybe Tommy Tukey tactics is England in the third game is already through in first place and doesn't really need anything from that Panama game other than a win. And I don't know if you're banking on three points against Ghana, you can hold out and keep the goal differential respectable.
01:15:00
Speaker
That's probably the path here. i think there are longer paths out of the group stage at this World Cup. So let's see for Panama. um Let's see. Yeah, I think so. um Let's talk about the numbers before we do the games to watch, because i think it it fits in right here with Panama and and Ghana. Panama are plus 220. I mean, yes, for the fourth place team, they're not favored to get through, but a lot of fourth place teams are worse, I think.
01:15:27
Speaker
You know, I mean, in a group where, like, there are four decent teams, maybe in that USA group, where Australia and Paraguay are are solid, and Turkey, like, all the teams have slightly better odds, but...
01:15:39
Speaker
Panama plus 220, Ghana minus 155 in third. i think Ghana's minus 155 is juiced. I think they're going to be right on that third place cut line if they're in third place.
01:15:51
Speaker
ah Listen, I don't think either of us think Panama are better than Ghana, but there's a real chance here. And also, if you have to pick four... third place teams that aren't going to get through, it could be this group. And maybe no one gets through, which is why maybe you should stay away from both.
01:16:05
Speaker
But um like I think third place in this group is is gettable for Panama. It's kind of what, to illustrate the point, the numbers kind of say that. Listen, England are massive favorites, minus 10,000, Croatia minus 500. That's not crazy either for Croatia, but you're you're backing them. I think it's interesting because we've a approached a lot of these podcasts with a lot of these teams whose goal is to get into third place. But it's it's very important to emphasize third place on its own isn't enough, right? Because as you said, four of the third place teams aren't going to go through. And so we've talked about groups where it's like, oh, you know, there's three good teams and one bad team. Those three teams are all going through.
01:16:41
Speaker
Yeah, probably. But that third place table could fluctuate it could spit out a weird result somewhere along the line. So just getting in the third place isn't necessarily enough. And four of those third place teams have to go home.
01:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, so much here for Panama rides on England's interest in the third day. i think it's not a bad thing for them to have them on the third day because there's a chance that England might not need to pump it past. If England does, even if Ghana is sitting on three or or if Panama is sitting on three like and England needs to score goals, like great, you could try, but like that's tough. So it's going to you know the sequencing matters here.
01:17:18
Speaker
Yeah, and that's, again, those are the types of little things that can make or break a World Cup. One game to watch from this group, I think the common answer is probably going to be England-Croatia. I personally do not need to see England play another European team for the kink hundredth time in a World Cup group stage. ah Where are you going here, Matt?
01:17:37
Speaker
Don't tell me England-Croatia.
Ghana-Panama Match Expectations
01:17:39
Speaker
No, I think Croatia, Ghana or Ghana, Panama is a great game. um I want to see Karos ball. I think Ghana, Panama is a fun game because maybe it won't be Karos ball. I think both teams want to play should be up and down. That could be your four, three. That's got, you know, that's a world's cup after dark special. I think teams have to score. And then the winner, if there's a winner, I don't think either team wants to settle for one, like yeah might have a chance to get through. That's really exciting.
01:18:08
Speaker
Listen, I don't think Croatia-Ghana is as exciting as a game as that. But if Ghana is anything close to competent, like they could back themselves to outrun Croatia. And then you have to see where Croatia is like, how much is the Jedi mind trick level at? Can can it work against Karos? That's a fun little exercise for me as well. And I think it's super interesting.
01:18:32
Speaker
Ghana, Croatia, and another multiverse world could have been super interesting if Ghana are playing this chaotic style because like they're just going to run at Croatia repetitively. And can you have success doing that? That's probably not how that game goes. But I think on paper, yeah, it's really interesting. Ghana, Panama is huge. It's another in what I think is a pretty long lines of very important games for the third place fight. And the key thing about all of those games really that we've mentioned, Amit, is they are pretty... pretty much must win, right? A draw in those games is hugely unbeneficial for those teams because it's just, are you getting, like getting the four points helps, but it's a lot easier to get to four points if you get to three from that one, right? So those games in particular, that game opens up the groove stage.
01:19:17
Speaker
ah You can't call it a must win because there's still two more games to go, but there's a lot riding on it. And three points is a much better spot to be than one. Yeah, totally. I think as we round out here on the numbers, talked about the qualify. I don't see a lot of value in any of these other teams. I think the value is in England.
01:19:38
Speaker
We talked about them for a lot. you We talked about the path. We talked about the winner bust. I mean, look, champion, you want to put it all plus 650. It's okay value. You might like that. I mean, if you England can win, if England makes the final, I think they'll be better than that odds. You can middle that bet too if they make it all the way there.
01:19:59
Speaker
To reach the final, England is plus 300. That's less good value. You could still get it. you know Name the finalists. England and Spain plus 1400 England and France plus 1800. You sprinkle a little on either of those. You might be in business. Listen, that's dumb. Like international soccer is too crazy, but I think England and France is the most likely final. I think it's better than 1800. I know how math works, but like you could find something there. And if you don't think, I think if you don't know, and i think it's clear. I think England should be in the final, no matter what. And let's see what happens.
01:20:33
Speaker
Um, listen, it could all crash spectacularly for Tommy Tuchel's boys, but, um, This team is so good. i think this group is ramp up for them. We've said that a bunch of times.
01:20:44
Speaker
We're going to have a lot of fun following this, this England rollercoaster the whole way. Don't spoil the preview show. Don't spoil the prediction show a bit. They're making predictions. That's what you're doing. ah Esnacht Kamhausen. We'll see, right? We'll see at the end. ah Tons in the World Cup After Dark preview catalog to get you set for the World Cup. Obviously, we have previews for all 12 of the groups.
World Cup Group Previews
01:21:07
Speaker
Patreon.com slash WCAD if you are looking for that or if you would like to support us.
01:21:11
Speaker
Three bucks a month. Subscriber, all the content, all that. We are closer than ever before to the World Cup. And there will be tons from Amit and I and friends all throughout the World Cup. So be sure to stick with us here on the World Cup After Dark.
01:21:23
Speaker
Thanks for listening as always. And we'll chat soon.