Which dark horse will go furthest at the World Cup?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi there and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Emma Payton. Jesse Marsha's Canadian heroes have marched on into the last 16 as the knockouts begin. So, as the tournament starts to get serious, which dark horse will go the furthest? Well, here with me in the studio today, I'm back with the two Liams. How are we? We've got the Athletics Liam Toomey and Liam Tharm. Am I back to just referring to you as nicknames? Did that work or was that really weird?
You could just call me to me or to you because I've had a lot of chuckle brothers in my life. I don't know how well that cultural reference is going to translate across waters, but we'll see. We'll see.
Yeah. So first of all, then, we had our first knockout game last night. We're going to get onto that in just a moment. But does it feel like this tournament's really starting to hot up now?
It didn't feel like that watching the Canada game. I did find it quite entertaining that the round of 32 opened with a game that was worse than most of the group stage, just to kind of mess with everyone's preconceived notions of what this tournament would be.
Yeah, very much felt like a kind of in-between match of the true knockouts and the group stage.
Have you got a tie that you're most looking forward to in the knockouts? I feel like there are some tasty ones, aren't there?
Yeah, it's a pretty well-balanced kind of split, I think, either side. The Brazil-Japan game just looks fun. Two very good different teams. Japan, obviously, with a good record of kind of upsetting a few big nations as well, going back to the last World Cup. So that should be good fun.
And we get to see that tonight.
Yeah, yeah, that'd be great. I think that whole quarter of the bracket is really nice because I think Ivory Coast Norway is a fun game as well. I'm always a sucker for two pretty well-matched teams from different confederations. I think that's what the World Cup should be all about. And there's quite a bit of pressure on Norway as well because, you know, Vikings don't typically run from battles. They just wave the white flag against France. So they've got to turn up.
They do, don't they? We'll talk about that a little bit later on. But let's start by getting into Canada, who beat South Africa 1-0 to make it through to the last 16 for the first time in their history. Well, Josh Cloak was in L.A. for the Athletic. Here's what he made of it.
So for years, Canadian men's soccer has been building. We know that more Canadian children play soccer than any other team sport in the country. Yes, more than even hockey. But the men's national team and Canadian soccer still have been lacking that moment. That defining piece of history that young Canadian children can really latch onto. Finally, after years of heartbreak, Canada has their moment. Stefano Stacchio's added time goal didn't just cap off a thrilling Canadian victory. A victory in their first ever game in a knockout round of a World Cup. It provided truly one of the most iconic moments in Canadian sports history. And Canada's men's national team went into this World Cup really trying to not just go deep in the tournament, but change the sport and provide moments that young Canadian children can latch on to forever.
Because for years in Canada, very often, if you grew up, you grew up cheering for Canada. a different team, maybe the team that your parents cheered for. Not anymore. Not after Sunday. Sunday is a moment. Stachio's goal will be played alongside the great Canadian goals in any sport for years to come. And so Canada has achieved their goal of changing the sport and changing Canadian history forever.
Wow, Josh, thank you very much. It was a huge moment for Canada and Stefano Stacchio. And I think we get a sense from hearing from Josh there, just how much it means to the nation. This is what the World Cup is all about, isn't it?
Yeah, and Jesse Marsh spoke about that quite a lot pre-tournament. In fact, it was on the Tactics pod and we spoke to Ewan Sharp, one of his assistants. And he's a Scottish guy.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–7:47
2
How did Canada secure their first World Cup knockout win and why does it matter to the nation?
7:47–8:58
3
What did Josh Kloke report from Los Angeles about Stefano Stachio's winning goal and Canadian legacy?
8:58–21:35
4
How has Jesse Marsh’s leadership and tactics shaped Canada’s World Cup run?
21:35–31:29
5
What tactical changes did Alphonso Davies bring when he came on against South Africa?
31:29–32:48
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from The Athletic FC Podcast
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