Has Infantino's expanded World Cup worked?
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What’s the scene outside MetLife Stadium ahead of the World Cup final?
Welcome to the MetLife Stadium or New York, New Jersey, as it's been more commonly known during this World Cup in FIFA land. The site of the World Cup final on Sunday between Argentina and Spain. It's a stadium that's already being dressed up. for the final with its special branding and the preparation work is in full swing here at the stadium ahead of what will be a world cup final like no other including a halftime show and the visit of the u.s president donald trump welcome to the athletic fc podcast with me adam leventhal So we are now just counting down the hours until the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. But this FIFA event is so much more this time around and it's going to be so much longer potentially with big names also likely to take centre stage.
Let me introduce our guests in the studio. Adam Crafton is back once again. As I was doing my intro there, you said that I sounded like Gianni Infantino promoting the... You said this will be an event like no other.
In fact, we have had lots of World Cup finals before. We have, but this is going to be... But this is the biggest one ever. This is the biggest one. And it is exciting.
It is. Adam is here and it's great to welcome senior writer at The Athletic, Paul Tenorio. How are you?
I'm doing well. I do think it is a World Cup final like no other. There will be a longer halftime than ever before. So in fact, you're just stating facts.
Exactly. It's all facts. I like it. Thank you. Just before we get stuck into what's going on here in New York and what we're going to be doing on today's show, I just wanted to point you in the direction with reference to yesterday's show, The Fallout for England. There's a big, juicy, athletic read out now, which is the inside read of England's campaign. You'll hear a lot about pounding the rock. You'll hear a lot about brotherhood. You'll even hear about the potential, and this is sort of caveated with, was it a joke, was it not, of them maybe getting tattoos to celebrate winning the World Cup, which was discussed in camp. So you can read that right now on The Athletic. And remember, all The Athletic World Cup coverage on the app is free for you to read.
So you have no excuse, ladies and gents. Right. One thing I wanted to get out of the way right at the top, guys, is to take people into what it's like here in New York at the moment, air quality, because the Canadian wildfires and all that that entails is really having an impact right now, isn't it?
Yeah, there's no doubt. I mean, in fact, they say if you are outside for more than a few minutes, in theory, you should be wearing a mask, which shows just how poor the air quality is. And Spain had to train in this yesterday because they were here in New York, New Jersey. So I think it certainly will have an impact. The rain is supposed to come through on Saturday, so that should ease the air quality for the actual match once that rain blows through. But with the hot temperatures mixed with the smoke coming from the Canadian wildfires, it creates really poor air quality. So... It's something I haven't dealt with in a few years, but it's an American thing. It's an American World Cup.
I know.
Why are you smiling cunningly? Come on.
It's just like anything you think. There's so many things that have happened over the course of this past year in the lead up and join this World Cup where you're like, that could... Just things that would never occur as a kind of possibility.
And here we are. It's the co-hosts getting involved, Canada, to make sure they're present. The Canadian wildfire smoke will be there, Medlife. The U.S. get their president, Canada gets its heir.
Yes, quite. Let's move on from that because it will sort of potentially be a subplot until it clears. Let's reflect on the tournament as a whole as we approach the final. Across three countries, has it felt like a... a festival of football? Let's put this to Paul first of all.
I think so. I think, you know, for all the concern about what the World Cup would be and the valid concerns that were there, including about the prices of tickets and all of that, I think we've seen mostly a celebration of football, a celebration of culture.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What’s the scene outside MetLife Stadium ahead of the World Cup final?
0:02–10:17
2
How has air quality and wildfire smoke affected teams and training in NYC?
10:17–16:07
3
Has the expanded 48-team World Cup felt like a festival of football across the US, Mexico and Canada?
16:07–24:30
4
Did the expanded format deliver more star moments and new discoveries during the tournament?
24:30–48:14
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Athletic FC Podcast
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