The Football Weekend
Episodes
David Goldblatt Sees the World Cup Future
28 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the international break, and thank the football deities for that. They’ve cursed me otherwise, and after another Arsenal cup final defeat I’...
ESPN's Jon Champion on FA Cup glories and a peculiar Manchester derby
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Football Weekend is on tour this week, with a first stop in Paris, France after a harrowing plane ride sat in front of the most formidable snorer ...
The FA Cup Third Round is magic
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We all spend a lot of time lamenting the cynical side of the modern game, but if there’s an antidote, it’s the weekend ahead of us. The FA Cup Thi...
This rebel club in Paris is the anti-PSG
02 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
New year, new weekend, and we’re off in an unconventional direction. The big match of the coming days for our purposes is in Paris, but it ain’t P...
The Battle of Lisbon: Mourinho, Eusébio, Sporting and Benfica
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Novo from Lisbon's Record newspaper joins to help us preview the Dérbi de Lisboa, as Benfica host Sporting CP in a battle for bragging rig...
Brad Friedel was an American embroiled in Türkiye's most explosive football feud
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brad Friedel played his college ball at UCLA and had a stint at Liverpool before a longer and seriously fruitful one at Blackburn Rovers. He also stop...
The Road to World Cup 2026, Vol. 3: Jonathan Wilson's Histories
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The World Cup is a sporting competition between national football teams to determine the best of them. But it’s always been a vessel for so much mor...
El Clásico blasts off the title race in La Liga
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a big game down in Italy on Saturday, but there’s only one headliner for this weekend. It’s El Clásico, Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona at ...
Derek Rae + Stewart Robson on Der Klassiker 🇩🇪 — and doing the commentary for EA Sports FC!
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Club football is back and so is Germany’s biggest game. It’s BAYERN MUNICH vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND in Der Klassiker.The Bavarian hosts have returned ...
The Road to World Cup 2026, Vol. 2: African Qualifying
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the second international break of the young club season, so we’re continuing our tour around the continents to see who’s doing what in Worl...
Nobody's too happy at the world's sunniest football derby!
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Monaco and Nice are not the biggest clubs in the South of France — that’s Marseille — but they maintain a testy feud that carries the cultu...
Three great La Liga stories ahead of the Madrid derby!
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the Madrid derby this Saturday as Atlético host Real Madrid at the Metropolitano, and ahead of the big game we’re getting into some La Liga ...
Arsenal host Man City. Are they both in the title race?
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's the Merseyside derby this weekend, and we get into that feud a bit with this week's guest. After all, Stephen Warnock came up through the Liverpo...
The Road to World Cup 2026, Vol. 1: North & South America
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 2026 World Cup in North America is less than a year away, and while the club season has now kicked off in earnest, we'll have a number of internat...
The Old Firm: Violence, Sectarianism — and Money
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The violence, the sectarianism, the proxy war linked to The Troubles in Northern Ireland and what it means to be Scottish — all of it is tied up in ...
Arseblog joins to preview Liverpool vs Arsenal in a title clash at Anfield
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Here's a proper Big Match Preview, and it’s a big guest to help us do it. Andrew Mangan is the proprietor at Arseblog, the preeminent fan chronicle ...
Clive Tyldesley: What makes a great commentator?
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Liverpool will travel to St. James’ Park to round out Matchweek Two in the Premier League, and in another time it might merely be a rematch of ...
Robbie Earle's Wimbledon "Crazy Gang" Initiation
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Robbie Earle left Port Vale for Wimbledon in 1991, he knew he was joining a cast of characters. John Fashanu, Vinnie Jones, Jason Euelle, An...
It's Not the Tourists Ruining Anfield, It's the Ticket Resellers!
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Anfield is not the same anymore,” commentary legend Clive Tyldesley wrote on Substack in March, because “our relationship with o...
Lionel Messi's Body Is Not Human
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During Copa América last summer, Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans podcast and Morning Footy on CBS Sports Golazo came by th...
What Is England's Greatest Football Stadium?
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Jon Champion joined the show just before calling the FA Cup final for ESPN. He’s also a Premier League c...
Stu Holden: Americans at Big European Clubs Must Do More
02 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the eve of Copa América last summer, former U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Stu Holden came by the show to preview a competition t...
"Go, Go USA!" Ian Darke on His Call for Landon Donovan's 2010 World Cup goal
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Group C. The United States Men’s National Team is headed for an early exit, unable to secure the points needed to es...
Forest Are the Future of the Premier League
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Carl Anka’s Premier League time machine...The Athletic staff writer covers Manchester United and joined the podcast ahead of the derby wit...
Stephen Warnock Lived the Dream as a Liverpool Fan
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Ormskirk, England, 20 minutes north of Liverpool, it was always Stephen Warnock’s dream to pull on the red shirt at Anfield. He jo...
Kasey Keller's Millwall Adventures
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Football Weekend Classics series, where we’ll be sharing some of the best moments from the podcast all summer long. First up: Kasey K...
The Champions League Final (Feat. Rob Green)
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Champions League final is upon us, the thrilling crescendo of the club football season. With no major tournament on the horizon this summer — an...
The Championship Playoff Final (Feat. Nick Barnes)
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you watched the Netflix docuseries Sunderland ‘Til I Die, you saw a famous old English club that looked like dying. Two straight relegations for ...
The FA Cup Final (Feat. Jon Champion)
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The FA Cup final is no longer the capstone to the English football season, the last match on the calendar with a weekend all its own. This one will ha...
El Clásico (Feat. Dan Hilton)
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a game that needs no introduction, but there’s plenty of narrative coming into this one. BARCELONA just lost the greatest cup tie of all time...
The Basque Derby (Feat. Christopher Evans)
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Basque region is in northern Spain — well, a bit of it’s French — but most folks there just wish they were their own thing. It’s home to a...
Ranieri's Roma Renaissance (Feat. Alasdair Mackenzie)
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was crushing defeat in the Coppa Italia this week for Internazionale, and to next-door neighbors A.C. Milan no less. With that semifinal exit, the ...
Der Klassiker (Feat. Markus Fjørtoft)
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the German clásico, Der Klassiker, though BORUSSIA DORTMUND are not having a classic season. After a recent uptick in form, they’re still ei...
The Manchester Derby (Feat. Carl Anka)
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the Manchester derby, UNITED against CITY, but it’s certainly a strange one. Both of these clubs are in a bad way, though that means somethin...
The Gran Derbi (Feat. Colin Millar)
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The international break is over, and club football returns with the Gran Derbi: REAL BETIS vs SEVILLA.This is one of the most vibrant rivalry matches ...
The League Cup Final (Feat. Laurence McKenna)
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There's a Super Sunday on the horizon, with tasty matches back-to-back all day long. Arsenal-Chelsea, title clashes in Italy and Spain. As always, you...
MAN UTD vs ARSENAL (Feat. Morayo Bamidele)
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
MANCHESTER UNITED vs ARSENAL is the essential Premier League rivalry for fans of a certain age. These two clubs battled for titles season after season...
The Scudetto Match 🇮🇹 (Feat. Nima Tavallaey)
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a frankly disastrous title defense last term, NAPOLI steamed back into contention over the first half of this season under their brilliant and t...
MAN CITY vs LIVERPOOL (Feat. Andy Jones)
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This was once the match in the Premier League, the perennial title bout, but MANCHESTER CITY have veered perilously off-course this season. LIVERPOOL ...
Germany's Biggest Game (Feat. Nik Wildhagen)
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
BAYER LEVERKUSEN are no longer invincible. In fact, they’re eight points behind perennial powers BAYERN MUNICH in the Bundesliga table.The Werkself ...
The Madrid Derby (Feat. Graham Hunter)
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s first against second in La Liga, as REAL MADRID lead ATLÉTICO MADRID by just a point at the top of the table. Barcelona have fallen away somew...
The "Stay Humble" Derby (Feat. Tom Canton)
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a title clash—well, it was the last two seasons. ARSENAL and MANCHESTER CITY duked it out for the Premier League crown from 2022 to 2024, but...
EVERTON vs TOTTENHAM (Feat. Rodger Armstrong)
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It may not be the very biggest game across world football this weekend, but consider one important factor: I’ll be there.Yes, The Football Weekend w...
The FA Cup Third Round Proper 🏆
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The glamour tie of the FA Cup Third Round is ARSENAL against MANCHESTER UNITED on Sunday, but this stage is all about the clubs who tend to get less i...
BARÇA vs ATLÉTI (Feat. Ian Darke)
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is occasionally—OK, almost never—called El Otro Clásico. It’s a bit of a nod to the fact that these two clubs, BARCELONA and ATLÉTICO MAD...
The Manchester Derby (Feat. Adam Monk)
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have you seen the news? Manchester City are losing football matches. A lot of them. They lost to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, their ...
The Merseyside Derby (Feat. Stephen Warnock)
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
EVERTON host LIVERPOOL at Goodison Park for one of the great old rivalries of English football.Liverpool are flying coming into this one—or at least...
A.C. MILAN vs JUVENTUS (Feat. Alasdair Mackenzie)
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A.C. MILAN host JUVENTUS at the San Siro on Saturday for a big-fish encounter in Serie A, though these two are currently sixth and seventh in the leag...
MAN UNITED vs CHELSEA (Feat. Usmaan Akhtar)
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MANCHESTER UNITED host CHELSEA in a vintage Barclays encounter that happens to be the first Premier League match since Erik ten Hag's dismissal as Uni...
El Clásico (Feat. Paco Polit)
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Arsenal-Liverpool, the Derby d’Italia, Le Classique…it’s a serious Football Weekend. But all that takes a back seat to the big one: El Clásico,...
LIVERPOOL vs CHELSEA (Feat. Beth Lindop)
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
LIVERPOOL vs CHELSEA is a modern classic, a rivalry born when Roman Abramovich bought the Blues into prominence and kicked off 20 years of tumultuous ...
MEXICO vs USA (Feat. Kasey Keller)
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's a meeting of two old enemies in Guadalajara, two years before they co-host a World Cup, but this international friendly wouldn't mean much withou...
The Derby dell'Emilia (Feat. Christine Cupo)
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This one's named for a region named after a road—the Via Aemilia—that the Romans built after they took this chunk of northern Italy off some Celti...
Champagne Bundesliga (Feat. Derek Rae)
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re headed over to Germany for an early Bundesliga title clash, and Derek Rae is our guide before he calls the game for ESPN. It’s BAYERN MUNICH...
The North London Derby (Feat. Arseblog)
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There are few feuds like the 111-year-old dispute between Arsenal and Tottenham over who exactly owns North London. These two first met in 1896, but t...
The Old Firm (Feat. Chris McLaughlin)
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's the battle of Glasgow, one of the most combustible matches in world football. CELTIC vs RANGERS is a fixture like no other, a vehicle for ancient...
The Nico Williams Derby (Feat. Graham Hunter)
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
La Liga is back and so is one of its true classics. BARCELONA and ATHLETIC CLUB have been duking it out in this division for as long as it's been arou...
CHELSEA vs MAN CITY (Feat. Sanny Rudravajhala)
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Premier League is back following a breathless summer where we scarcely had any break from football at all. Still, it's a new season brimming with ...
The EURO 2024 Final (Feat. Dan Bardell)
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The EURO 2024 final is upon us, and DAN BARDELL of Sky Sports and TalkSPORT returns to the show this week to preview ENGLAND vs SPAIN. Together we mak...
The EURO Quarterfinals (Feat. Carl Anka)
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The quarterfinals kick off at EURO 2024 on Friday with SPAIN vs GERMANY and FRANCE vs PORTUGAL, before ENGLAND and SWITZERLAND meet Saturday and the N...
The Copa Quarterfinals (Feat. Alexis Guerreros)
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Copa América quarterfinals begin Thursday with Lionel Messi's ARGENTINA against ECUADOR, while the marquee match of the round comes last: BRAZIL ...
The Round of 16 (Feat. @RoryTalksFootball)
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The EURO 2024 group stage is done and dusted, and the tournament's sudden-death phase is upon us. It's the Round of 16, with SWITZERLAND vs ITALY and ...
Copa América (Feat. Stu Holden)
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What a time to be alive as a football fan, as COPA AMÉRICA joins EURO 2024 on our television screens. Here to preview the Western Hemisphere's champi...
EURO 2024 (Feat. Dan Bardell)
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's EURO 2024, the European Championships, and it all blasts off on this opening weekend with GERMANY vs SCOTLAND, CROATIA vs SPAIN, and ENGLAND vs S...
How to Invent a Football Club (Feat. Max Mansfield)
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With men's football in a very brief offseason, it's time for a change of pace. How does a football club get started in the first place? Maximilian Man...
The Champions League Final (Feat. Clive Tyldesley)
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's the Champions League final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, where REAL MADRID will seek a preposterous 15th title and BORUSSIA DORTMUND will play ...
The FA Cup Final (Feat. Jon Champion)
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MANCHESTER UNITED and MANCHESTER CITY will contest the FA Cup final on Saturday at 10am Eastern, and Jon Champion will be calling the game for U.S. au...
Championship Sunday (Feat. Robbie Earle)
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's the Premier League's final day, and the title is still on the line. Arsenal have won 15 of their last 17 league games, but it may not be enough t...
UNITED vs ARSENAL (Feat. Chris Wittyngham)
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Arsenal head to Manchester United on Sunday, and only victory will suffice. Mikel Arteta’s side are locked in a title race with Manchester City, and...
Bayer Neverlosin' (Feat. Derek Rae)
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bayer Leverkusen are six matches from immortality. The German champions have won 39 games of their 47 played. They’ve drawn eight. They’ve lost ze...
The North London Derby (Feat. Rory Talks Football)
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The loathing and disgust that Tottenham and Arsenal have for one another is truly uncommon. It all began in 1913, when the Gunners moved across the Th...
El Clásico (Feat. Graham Hunter)
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the glamor match of world football, the grandest stage for the biggest stars. This was Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane vs....
The Derby della Capitale (Feat. Patrick Kendrick)
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Roma vs. Lazio is not often a contest for silverware, but the locals aren't fussed. This is a battle to determine who controls Rome, and fans are ofte...
Master and Apprentice (Feat. Robbie Earle)
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Etihad Stadium has not been a place that Arsenal like to go in recent years, but they travel there on Sunday with an opportunity to strike a massi...
Ukraine Chases the EUROs (Feat. Andrew Todos)
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's the EURO 2024 playoff round, where teams that failed to finish first or second in their qualifying groups (but made it to this stage through a ve...
El Clásico Nacional (Feat. Ramses Sandoval)
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mexico's most historic rivalry features the two most supported teams in Liga MX. Chivas de Guadalajara — the team from a quintessentially Mexican ci...
The Citizens Come to Anfield (Feat. John Williams)
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday in what could be a Premier League title-decider. But what impact will Anfield, the Reds' famous citadel, have...
The Manchester Derby (Feat. Colin Shindler)
02 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Manchester United will travel to Manchester City this Sunday without much hope they can a result, but things weren't always this way. There was a time...
The Superclásico (Feat. Nico Cantor)
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nico Cantor joins the show to discuss River Plate vs. Boca Juniors, the Superclásico, a derby match out of Buenos Aires that may well constitute the ...