States of Play (World Cup 26)

What and who is Argentina? A country of 40 million people that define themselves through futbol, a country that has produced two of the greatest players ever, and won the World Cup three times. How does the political turmoil that seems to have been at the heart of its entire existence and economic disarray that it fell into in the 1980s affect the mindset of the people? This episode was recorded j...

The Final is here already as Argentina take on Spain. The team look back at the semis and make their predictions. Will Trump make a big deal of interfering? Will he face boos? And can he resist saying who he wants to win and jinxing them? Features: Evan Whitfield; Jonathan W. Gray; Piara Powar A podcast from the Fare network

Quarter finals done and a lot of talking points to explore. Is VAR our collective hate in this World Cup? Why do referees have their names on their shirts? And why does it feel Argentina are getting a helping hand? Jude Bellingham is the star of the England team. He is a great player but many people, including Ian Wright and Jonathan, doubt that he will ever get the recognition he deserves. A podc...

The continuing fallout from Balogun and the burning issues of VAR and refereeing. What happens when Donald Trump inserts himself into a big sporting moment as he does twice this summer. Talk that FIFA is corrupt is incorrect but Evan makes a call for change at FIFA after the Trump intervention. Jonathan presents some data on refereeing. Are Argentina getting away with things they shouldn’t be? And...

Welcome to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of America. Two and a half centuries ago George Washington declared independence from British colonisers. We look at what America is, the idea, the reality, who is in and who is out. And ICE is back with higher targets to meet - 10,000 people were detained in the 5 days upto 1st July. The goalkeeper’s mother who was helped into th...

The World Cup is relentless, and we are loving it. So for this episode we focus on football. England fumble through against the wonderful DRC; Senegal get undone and lose a two goal lead, devastating; U.S hero Folarin Balogun gets sent off as they defeat Bosnia, a country with 1% of the population of the hosts; and, Côte d’Ivoire go out with Didier Drogba (and Evan) looking to abolish VAR.  As the...

The team consider the shocks of Germany and the Netherlands being dumped out of the World Cup by emerging nations.  Pride crushed and national identities dismantled, there is a wider price to be paid, which for black players includes volumes of racial abuse on social media. For others, coaches lose jobs and politicians turn on their teams.   We look at what can be done about social media abuse bey...

As an idea Pan-Africanism in football shows how colonial history, diaspora and national identity shape who players represent and what fans feel. We are joined by commentator Tosin Makinde who makes an exhilarating argument for the future strength of African teams. He also argues that the players who are here with countries that were the former colonisers of their origin nations are highly aware of...

Evan conținues his advocacy for Ronaldo and is getting more concerned about refereeing decisions. Are we beginning to see bias in favour of big players and established teams? Lou Englefield, Chair of Pride House International and the driving force behind Football v Homophobia joins the pod and explores attitudes towards queer visibility in sport.  She addresses the perennial issue of why there are...

We discuss the new Vinicius rule and what two well known and influential podcasters have to say about it. Belgian’s Jérémy Doku has been under fire, as Evan claims he would have done his family planning differently if he was due to play in a World Cup! FIFA announced numbers for stadium attendance and TV audiences and two U.S government bodies posted contentious posts in support of the U.S team. I...

It’s Friday 19th June and it's Juneteenth in the United States, a public holiday to commemorate the emancipation of slaves in Texas and across the U.S. We look at what Juneteenth means for us and lead on into a discussion about black players in America. Joining us to help do this Andy Williams who played for fief MLS clubs and represnetf Jamaica over 100 times, including at the 1998 World Cup....

We look at the impact U.S Visa restrictions are having on players and teams. We salute Singh’s World Cup debut for New Zealand, appreciate the love for Algeria in Kansas, and celebrate the beauty of the score-draw. And then we explore a political fantasy and consider if the World Cup can change politics in the United States. And Evan just can’t give up on the commercial breaks! A podcast from the...

Bing- Bong! Wild celebrations in New York City for the Knicks first title win in 53 years. We look forward to France v Senegal, the first match-up featuring a former colonial power against a former colony of the 2026 World Cup. We are joined by William Gaillard to look at the French team and the secret of their talent machine. And Jonathan celebrates Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry on U.S TV....

As the World Cup finally kicked off in Mexico City we explore the feelings a World Cup brings on as Evan and Piara get emotional. Our big issue of the day is dual nationality. We look at Bosnia, Germany and Turkey, the U.S and Mexico, Luka Modric, Italy, Haiti and Japan. Why do players change nationality? Does adversity through displacement create talent? Does a national team have to look like a c...

A big World Cup accompanied by big human rights issues. The U.S is now a country in which nothing is apolitical, and the World Cup is no different. The Trump administration seem fixated on flexing their muscles through immigration and entry policies that have already set the tone. What else is to come? And then Evan, Piara and Jonathan get down to the soccer. Why does Haiti capture the imagination...