Club World Cup Preview: Group A through Group D, featuring PSG, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and more!

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Welcome to the Total Soccer Show and our preview of the 2025 Club World Cup. A brand new tournament format for a brave new world, as no one's calling it. On this episode, which we're splitting into two parts, we're taking a look at all 32 teams, but we're going to have a little bit...

Bit of fun with it. Quiz format incoming. Yes, my name's Ryan Baby. Joining me today, your friend and mine, Taylor Rockwell. Hello, Taylor. Hello, Ryan. As with all new concepts for the show, I'm very excited and also slightly terrified to make this happen. Hey, it's just a quiz.

What's the worst thing that happens? You get all the answers wrong? Less so that, more so. I know the way I tend to prepare for these things is to have way too much information. And so I'm slightly worried that my quiz questions are going to be roughly 30 minutes long each. Gonna try to tone it down.

slightly from that but uh i would rather maybe like be able to slow it down a bit than have to cram in 45 facts in 10 seconds we'll see how it goes okay great joe lowry a reminder that you're on the clock for this episode how are you Yeah, I'm doing great. I am also hoping that Taylor's questions don't last 30 minutes, although if they do, they'll be informative and I'll be taking notes. Thank you, Joe. Very good. We're all going to learn stuff. Graham Rutherland, how are you?

I'm very well Ryan Bailey. Are you in Miami? Are you the only person going to the game on Saturday night? Yeah, I am in the party in the city where the heat is on or not on the beach to the break of dawn. Thank you very much, Graham. I am indeed in Miami getting ready for the tournament. I think it's just me and... Ice? Who are going at this point? Pitbull and Ice, I think. Ryan, may I ask you an important question? Always. Is your favorite rapper Will Smith? Be honest. Hmm. Let me think.

I mean, the Spice Girls do rap in wannabe a little bit. Does that count? That does. And that is a better answer. I'll give it to you. It's still Will Smith. Okay, very good. Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show is where you'll find our bonus content, by the way. We'll be talking about the Club World Cup and much more on there. We've got bonus episodes, bonus video, and access to our Discord server, Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show.

Total Soccer Show. And as a reminder, we are on the YouTube if you'd like to see our visages and my hotel in Miami right now, if you care to see it.

Check out our YouTube channel. Like and subscribe. Smash things. Thank you very much. Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show one more time. All right. We have a big quiz to get to. Before we get there, Club World Cup facts. 32 teams from all six FIFA confederations are competing. 12 from Europe, 6 from South America, 4 from Asia, 4 from Africa, 4 from North Central America and the Caribbean, 1 from Oceania, and 1 team, of course, from the host nation. The prize pool...

$1 billion, as he puts his little finger towards the edge of his mouth. Being hosted in 11 cities across the United States, it kicks off, as noted, in Miami this Saturday. This competition was originally due to be held... in 2021 in China, cancelled due to the old COVID. Remember that? The Club World Cup was first held in the year 2000. Famously, Man United dropped out. I believe it was that year they dropped out because they dropped out of the FA Cup, didn't they?

to compete in that competition it went great for them I seem to remember at the Club World Cup in 2000 Usually, this tournament's been held in December, typically with six or seven teams, one from each confederation and a host guest. But, of course, we are expanded this summer, and we may expand further in future editions. Perhaps more on that later. Manchester City technically are the current holders. They won this bad boy the last time.

Around. And mentioning the opening game in Miami, Inter-Miami against Al-Ali, The Athletic reported earlier this week around 20,000 tickets sold for the 65,000 capacity Hard Rock Stadium. So there's that. And in the United States, you can watch this in English on TNT Sports and in Spanish on TUDN. There we go.

Facts complete. Now let's get to the lies. Let's get to the lies, Taylor. Let's do it. The format of this quiz is two truths and a lie. We're going to go through every group. And for each team, one of us is going to present the other three with two truths. and a lie about that team. Is that true? Yes, that's true. That is the format of this competition. Lie.

Am I doing it right? You got me. Well, it could be a lie, because I suspect we may end up giving more information than just the three things about certain teams, but I'm going to jump right in with Group A. We've got, in no particular order, Al Ali Porto. Palmeiras and Inter Miami. I'm going to start with Al Ali of Egypt. Here are your three facts, one of which is not true.

They qualified by winning the 2020-2021 CAF Champions League, defeating South Africa's Kaiser Chiefs 3-0 in the final. That would be their 10th and most recent Champions League victory. They haven't won it since then. They've managed a paltry... 45 league titles, winning their first in 1949, their most recent in 2025.

Despite that record of success, here's your third fact. They don't tend to spend a lot of money on transfers with their record incoming signing being Hussein Al-Shahat in 2019. That midfielder cost 4.35 million euros when he transferred from Al-Shahat. in 2019 so they have uh they got here by winning the champions league in 2021 the african champions league uh which is their most recent champions league victory uh they've managed 45 league titles

with their first in 49, their most recent 2025. And they don't spend a lot of money on transfers, their record signing being Hussein Al-Shahat, midfielder for 4.35 million euros. Okay, so Taylor's taken a difficult route here. I was hoping one of them would be like their manager is a house cat or something, but you've gone for all very plausible truths. No, that's true, actually, about Ali. I assume that was common knowledge, so much so that I didn't want to include it.

Right, right. Yeah, those all sound believable. Graham? So I think number two is true because they won the title this year, Al Ali, finishing ahead of Pyramids FC, which is one of my favorite names for a team. ever um and so i think that's probably true i think they are the most it's them and zemelech right they're the two egyptian powerhouses so i think that that sounds about right number two

Remind me what number three was again, Taylor? Basically, they don't spend a lot of money. They tend to go with, like, smaller signings. Their record one is €4 million. So it's a lot more domestic players. Might be that one. For me, Clive, that's the lie. Yeah, because they are, I think, the most successful CAF Champions League team as well. I'm going to give my reason for that being a lie. I'm at a soccer conference right now in Miami and they gave a presentation yesterday. They look rich.

I'm going to say that was a lie. That was not the lie. They have not won the Champions League since 2021. They've won it. Two more times since then. They won in 2023. They won in 2024, defeating V.FC and Esperance de Tunis, respectively. They lost the 2022 iteration to V.FC. So they are a very successful team internationally.

And then domestically as well. Imam Ashour is their most important player, if not the most important or one of the most important. He scored 13 goals, got seven assists last season. Vissam Abu Ali is also very important. He is their primary. number nine so Ashur is kind of the creator goal scorer penalty taker Abu Ali will be their number nine he got 19 in all competitions for the first team last year

So lots of goals. A very fun team. Let's go to Porto then. FC Porto, known for their ability to turn a profit when it comes to player sales. Porto have sold at least one player for 40 million euros or more for each of the last. Oh, that's so good. Okay. So at least one player of 40 million or more each of the last six seasons. Their academy, known as the Porto Gaia Football School, is one of the most famed and successful in the world. I promise that was not the lie.

I don't know if it's actually called the football school, but who knows? It has produced names like Vitinha, Joao Felix, Ruben Neves, as well as current first teamers, Diogo Costa, 17-year-old Rodrigo Mora, and 18-year-old Martim Fernandez. They got here.

By being the fifth best ranked team in UEFA over a four year period, they regularly make the knockout round of the Champions League, but seldom advance past that point. And they've won the Champions League only once in 2004 with Jose Mourinho. There are your three. $40 million each of the last six seasons, produced a lot of youngsters, got here by being the fifth best team, and have only won the Champions League once so far. Okay, that last one feels true.

At least that they've only won the Champions League once. That feels true. I feel good about that. Graham, Ryan. Thoughts, feelings, opinions. I think they've only won that once. I'm thinking number one feels most likely because their productivity has dropped off a little bit, Portal. They don't have like a vintage team at the moment. And so I'm trying to think who would be the most recent...

player that they've sold for over that amount of money in the last season. Did JWoww never come from Porto? No, he was Benfica. Yeah, Benfica are the one at the moment who are having a lot more success in selling. Their star players, Porto, I can't quite think who would that be. Luis Diaz was certainly in that list that Taylor talks about. I don't care for Taylor's smugs. Is that what we're going with? What are you thinking?

I'm going rogue. I'm going to say they won the European Cup in like the 1960s as well or something. Oh, diabolical. Ryan is correct. Yes! I will give it to you. Yeah, Ryan is correct. They won it in 1987 as well. Not quite the 60s, but 87. Nico Gonzalez to Man City last season for $60 million. Oh, of course. Also, Galeno to Alalia. They've sold a lot of players.

They're still doing some business. They are a very interesting club at the moment. It was a disappointing campaign for them. They finished third, 11 points back from Champions Sporting. Are you all familiar with their manager? I need to spend a second on their manager because I'm very fascinated by him. Okay. I wanted to do trivia about him, but I wasn't sure which direction to go. He is 39 years old. He is Argentine manager Martin Anselmi. He never played professionally.

was sacked from his first senior coaching gig after only winning one game in 11 matches in the Chilean top flight. He then took a job with Independiente del Valle in Ecuador, where he won the Copa Sudamerica. He left in 2023 to coach Cruz Azul in Mexico, where he had success, but no silverware. I think he got them.

to like second place and maybe like a playoff final. And then he took the Porto gig in January, leading his team to 10 wins, four draws in their final 18 matches of the season. So he did well, but doesn't have a huge... track record of coaching or playing. So it's a really interesting signing. He prefers a 3-4-3. He uses Spanish striker Samu Amorodian up top as his number nine, who got 19 goals last season. Who's awesome, by the way. That guy is, he's a legend.

love him so much so i think they will still be fun i think they will be defensive when they need to be but then attacking when they need to be graham you have thoughts Did you encounter Taylor in your research who the portal president is? I did. I actually had that as a bit of trivia for later on. I did not know that Andre Villas-Boas was now the president and director. And I think he ran. He quit managing.

to run for office and unseated the former president who'd been there for like 45 years. I think like, all right, Andre, come in and make it happen and bring it in. Martin Anselmi, Copa Sudamerica, baby. That must have been an amazing PowerPoint that he put on. That's all I'm saying. It probably was. He turned up in his Dakar rally car for that interview.

All right. I will keep it going because I think I'm already going long. Palmeiras, originally founded in 1914 by Italian immigrants as Palestra Italia, which translates to Italian gym. They changed their name to Palmeiras, which is palm trees. 1942 due to political pressure after Brazil entered World War II on the side of the Allies. They didn't think the Italian connection was good, so they changed the name. They qualified for the Club World Cup after winning Copa Lib in 2021.

defeating Flamengo 2-1 in extra time, courtesy of a goal from Daverson. It was their second straight CopaLib title. And your third one, there's my timer. They've been... Mostly able to keep those Copa Lib winning squads together since 2021 with only a few personnel losses, most due to retirement or aging out of their prime years. So. changed their name because of World War II, won CopaLib twice, have kept those CopaLib squads together would be your three facts.

They won Copa Lib Tale, you said in 2021. And what was the other year? I believe the year before that as well. Gotcha. That one seems right because we were talking before we started recording and the four Brazilian teams in this tournament.

All won Copa Libertadores. I do not remember in what years all of them won it. I know it wasn't 2022 because one of my teams won it in 2022. So I think that number two feels right. It's between one and three for me. I'll tell you right now, Joe. It is true, that one. They did not win.

The one that they won in 2021 is the one that counts towards this. The one before. Yes. 2020 would have been too early. Yep. Yep. Totally on board. All right. I've done my part. I'm going to sit back and let you do the rest. Three. Yeah, three.

Correct. Yeah, that was a lie. They only have five players from that matchday squad still around from the entire matchday squad, not just the 11. They cleared out after that season, letting veterans like Gabriel Barbosa and Felipe Melo depart. They also need some.

Names for big money. Endric to Real Madrid moved on. Danilo to Nottingham Forest. Vito Reis to Barcelona. And Esteval to Chelsea this summer. They can play in a back three or a back four. Their attack is led by Vitor Roque, the Barcelona forward that wasn't... to be. He is the record South American transfer.

In their history, which I did not know when he moved back to Palmeiras for around 26 million euros, 18-year-old winger Esteval will start on the right, 23-year-old Mauricio on the opposite side. I'm very excited to watch Palmeiras. I don't know how good they're going to be, but they will be fun.

Chelsea definitely forget that they sign all these wonder kids and then tell them they're going to join on their 18th birthday because I was reading yesterday that Kendri Payas has been told he's going to Strasbourg because basically Chelsea don't have a place for him. Definitely didn't have a whole bit of my Chelsea preview for later about Kendri Payas.

Definitely didn't have to change all of that when that reporting came out. William Esteva is like that dude. If you're looking for a young player to watch in this tournament for any team. Esteval is awesome. He's already got Brazil minutes, if memory serves, just 18. He is so fun to watch on that wing, creative, dynamic, aggressive going forward. He is one of the players I'm probably most excited to see.

in this tournament so there's there's a reason to tune in to i think they're gonna they're gonna win a game four to three or lose a game four to three but they're gonna score some goals and they're gonna have some unpredictable moments speaking of unpredictable moments final team in this group inter miami here are your three facts they qualified for this tournament

either as hosts or by winning the 2024 Supporter Shield, depending on who you ask. Either way, it's totally legit and not just because they employ Lionel Messi. Although I'll say Ryan mentioning that the...

The existing Club World Cup has always invited a host or a guest nation. It does make me feel a little bit better about their inclusion. It's still pretty obvious why they're there. Starting with their inaugural season in 2020, they've had a total of three players make 100 or more appearances in total.

Only Drake Callender, who is their appearance leader, is still with the team as Robert Taylor and Leonardo Campagna have since been traded. Prior to taking over at Miami, here's your third one, Javier Mascherano had only one coaching gig as head coach. the Argentina U23 team at the Olympics, where he led them to a bronze medal finish, besting Morocco in that third place game. Ooh.

Okay, well, we know the first one is true. FIFA did award into Miami this slot. It was not because they won the Shield, but either one of those options was allowed in that question. So number one is true. Number three for Javier Marcherano. He did coach Argentina at the Olympics. But before that, he also, if memory serves, did coach Argentina's U-20s. And so I don't really know if we're buying that. I could also be completely making that up.

So there's a good chance that it's either number two or number three, but I know for a fact it's number one. Taylor, remind me of number two again. Basically, they've only had three players make more than 100 appearances since they launched, only one of whom is still with the club. That would be Drake Calendar. Ryan, why did you say third one?

I think the third one's true because I feel like he only had Argentina experience. I think that's true for sure. I think that part is true. I wonder if it's Argentina didn't win the bronze and maybe made it to the final or something and won the whole thing. Graham is correct. Yes! Second in their group behind Morocco. They drew France in the first knockout round to whom they lost 1-0. So...

That pedigree was good enough for Into Miami, I guess. There we go. Very good. So that's group A. I tried to be quick. I had a lot in there. Thank you all for playing. That's what she said. Thank you very much, Taylor. That was excellent. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, this guy is going to talk you through Group B. Join us then.

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Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Club World Cup preview, two truths and a lie edition. Here we go into Group B, which contains the reigning champion of Europe, the reigning champion of South America, and the only American side to win the old... CCC in the last two decades. We've got Paris Saint-Germain, of course, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, and the Seattle Sounders in here. This group opening up on Sunday at the Rose Bowl with PSG taking on Atletico Madrid. That one should be pretty.

tasty. All right, first up... PSG. Ever heard of them? French treble winners. Quite good in the Champions League a few weeks ago. They are second... Sorry. They are second favourites behind Real Madrid. Some have them as favourites as well. They are favourites, in fact, with Opta and their super...

with an 18.5% chance of victory. All of them to have the strongest European team as the favorite. That supercomputer must have strained through that equation. It's having a rest now. It's done its work, Graham. All right, your three truths. one of which is a lie. PSG's kit was designed by notorious French gangster Jacques Merrine. That is, i.e. the blue and the red, as in the theme of their kit, not like this year's kit.

PSG have never played at a Club World Cup before. PSG is expected to debut a brand new player in its squad. Those are your three truths. Oh, that's good. Number two feels like it could be true, right? Because an old version of the Club World Cup where they would just take the Champions League winner and PSG hadn't done that. So I feel like number two is probably true.

I feel like that's the case. I feel like number one is meant to distract because number three feels like it would be correct because PSG always has players. Who's the player? But I'm not sure they have. I think that's the lie. Graham, supercomputer, hashtag not Optus. Ruffin, who's the new player? Why can't we not think of this person? I'm not entirely sure who that player is.

Then let's say three is the lie. I feel like if we can't think of the player between the three of us, then it has to be the lie. I feel like number two is bait. I feel like number two is the one Ryan wants us to go for, hence his little gesture, his smug gesture on camera there. I think it's three. Yeah, me too. Locked in. The Lie is number one. Their kit was not designed by notorious French gangster Jacques Merrine.

I don't know what they were up to in the 80s. You never know. Yeah, come on. Who is that? Did you say that first up? Jacques Marine. There is a movie, I think it's in two parts, called Marine, where Vincent Cassel plays the notorious French gangster. It was just what I was thinking of while I was writing this PhD preview. He's like a...

Really badass French criminal from the 70s, which is the 70s when PSG were founded. Their club kit was actually designed by Daniel Hector, the French fashion designer who you may have heard of more than Jacques Marine. He was also a financial contributor to starting the club in the 1960s. 70s was danielle hector fashion house look it up who is the new player then i'll get there in a second psg

Have never played at a Club World Cup before. No French team has played at a Club World Cup before. They've never played a South American team competitively either. That will be happening for the first time at this tournament. PSG is expected to debut a new player in its squad, a 24-man squad for this one.

Only one surprise, as the French like to call it. Gabriel Moscato is his name. Brazilian defensive midfielder. He is 19 years old. Signed for PSG last year. He's been on loan at Corinthians and... Stadrem has made a few appearances in the Cup, I believe. PSG has played Brazil under-23s. Gabriel Moscato is the guy who might get a little run-out in the United States this summer.

There we go. Does anyone know the origin story of PSG? It's quite interesting. So basically they were founded in the 70s by a bunch of... Not by a gangster. Not by a gangster, but by... Well, maybe actually. It was a bunch of Parisian businessmen. who called the club Paris Saint-Germain, and then the Parisian City Council didn't like the fact that they weren't called Paris FC. They demanded that they change the name. There was a split.

Paris FC became another club and PSG were demoted down to the third tier. Now, obviously, you have Paris FC coming up to Ligue 1 next season and they're over the street. So you've got the two sibling clubs directly opposite each other. So I found that quite interesting. There we go. Très intéressant. Thank you very much, Graham. Atletico Madrid, who qualified, of course, as the sixth best ranked eligible team in UEFA over their four year ranking. God, I love the way that...

Teams made this tournament. Your three truths, one of which is a lie. Atleti is the only club to win the Intercontinental Cup without ever winning a continental championship. Atleti? were co-founded by dock workers from Sunderland. Atleti and PSG have only ever played competitively one time. Those are your three pieces of information. Graham's got thoughts. Graham's got thoughts.

Number two is a lie, right? That's Athletic Club. That's number two. Because there's no dog in Madrid. That would be Bilbao. And the two of those clubs are linked, which is your thought process. relaying this to Athletic. What Graham said. Yep. Graham's right. Look how easily influenced Joe was. Taylor, are you? Oh, no, now I'm second guessing myself. No, don't. I mean...

Famously landlocked Madrid. It's tough for me to see there being dock workers unless they built one hell of a canal. So I'm going to go with Graham's answer. Could have been a canal. Graham's correct, yes. Yeah, that's a good one. Atleti, as I think we've probably spoken about at least on Soccer 101, was founded in 1903 as a branch of Athletic Club Bilbao by Basque students living in Madrid.

And it was, of course, Bilbao who were their etymology, so not their etymology, their history suggests it was either Southampton or Sunderland. dock workers who help find them and give them their their colors so that is the lie atleti did win the intercontinental cup which was uh the competition that used the preceded the club world cup when the european champion and the south american champions played each other

Atletico reached their first European Cup final in 1974. They drew 1-1 with Bayern, but back then there was no penalty shootout. There was a replay. Atletico were thrashed, but Bayern didn't want to play in the Intercontinental Cup.

cup that they qualified for that one so atleti took their place they won it in two legs against independiente so they won the intercontinental title without winning the continental title they're the only team to do so that's quite cool and atleti and psg have only played each other competitively once, six months ago, in the phasening, Atleti 1-2-1 at the Parc des Princes.

One of my favorite little things about the history of football is that tradition of one team playing another and then the colors of the crest or some aspect of the team. like goes to the other as, as you had with Atleti. And I love that just so much. Cause you can picture even in like the 1800s.

People swapping shirts would be like, no, you keep it. Keep it. Keep it. It's for you. And then they just kept wearing that. And I find that to be such a cool cross-cultural connection that continues to exist. I like that even back then and today, people like swapping shirts. People like being friends. Yay, soccer.

Yay, soccer indeed. Wimbledon played Notts County a few weeks ago and there were fans at Notts County wearing Juventus shirts because famously... Shh, shh, shh. No? No? Definitely not been mentioned in a future preview. Okay, well, there's one of your lies or truths later on. Botafogo, everybody. Botafogo from Brazil are in this group. They qualified as winners of the 24 Copa Libertadores. We're piecing together those Brazilian winners of the Libertadores slowly.

in this episode. They're one of six Commonwealth teams involved here. Your three facts. Botafogo have provided the Brazil national team with more players for World Cup finals than any other team. Botafogo is the current runaway leader in Brazilian Serie A. And Botafogo is owned by the same owner as Crystal Palace and Lyon.

Your three facts. Graham's always sat up to attention like he's got it already. What is it? Go on. Number three is true. John Texter is the Botafogo owner. Number one could be true. I don't know about that. But number two, I think Botafogo are having quite a bad season. at the moment. They did win, as you mentioned, Ryan, they did win the Copa Lib last year. I think...

This is where I start to second guess myself. Are they? My reflex reaction was they're not having a great season. I think you're correct about that. I do not believe that Botafogo are having a great year. They move Almada over to Europe. I think number two is the lie.

I would agree with that because I think they have had a sizable impact on the Brazilian national team throughout history. I don't think it's like one particular period, but it might be. But I think that one is true as well. So y'all go runaway leaders is a lie. Bingo. You all nailed it. Well done. So Botafogo have indeed provided Brazil with the most World Cup players. 47 to date. This was mostly in the 50s and 60s. Your Grinchers, your Nilton Santoses, your Didis, all those names I'm sure.

Joe is extremely familiar with at one point you could feel an entire Didi, yeah, not Didi Haman. At one point, you could field an entire Brazilian XI composed entirely of Botafogo players back in the day. As Graham noted, the club is owned by John Texter, who bought 90% in January 2022. They are in trouble now, that group, of course, because Palace and Lyon are both in the Europa League and they both can't be. So that one is going to be resolved soon. And...

As established, Botafogo is very much not the runaway leader in the Brazilian top flight. They have seen their squad somewhat ransacked and depleted since that Libertadores win last November. They sit sixth in the league after 11 games. as we record. They've had two transfer windows since they won at Lepidodores. Their top scorer, Junior Santos, went to Monero. Captain and defensive midfielder, Chichi, saw his contract expire at years' end. He's now gone to Vasco de Gaulle.

Raphael De Silva of Man United fame, retired, age 34. Thiago Armada and Luis Enrique left for Lyon and Zenit, respectively. There we go. Botafogo. Very good. What about Fabio De Silva? Do they have to retire at the same time? He's still going. I'm pretty sure. Betrayal. Now I'm checking. He stopped. He stopped in 2024. They're both done.

Bonus Botafogo fact, which I couldn't verify with two sources, but I'll give it to you anyway. The club also tried to adopt Donald Duck as its official mascot in the 1940s. Failed to secure the rights from Disney. But hey, they're playing in Pasadena. They could go check out... Big D, while they're there, and see if they can secure those rights. Yes, I did just say that. Seattle Sounders, excuse me, are the last group in Group B. I will discuss. I don't get it.

He's the coolest one. Yeah, he doesn't wear any pants. He didn't used to wear shorts. It was a tribute. I should have left that fact in. That's why Disney would not give them the rights. That's why. That's it. That's it. Wise. So the Sounders, winners of the 22 CONCACAF Champions League, the only club in this competition that gets true home advantage in the group stage. They're playing all of their games at Lumen Field. Brian Schmetzer's Burmy Army. Of course, we know about...

that has his fair up top. Ryan Kent, Graham's favorite, maybe? I don't know. Former neighbor, actually. Former neighbor, there you go. Very good. I knew who it would actually be. As the fullbacks, we know all about Seattle, but what do you know about these facts I'm about to give you? Seattle is the 191st strongest team internationally in the world, according to Opta's power rankings. That's 191. Seattle is playing in its second Club World Cup.

Seattle's ownership group includes Joel McHale and Duff McKagan. Joe, would you like to know who those people are? I'm Joel McHale, I know. I don't know the other person. If we see the... Guitarist or the drummer? Stephen Adler was the drummer for Guns N' Roses. Duff was the bassist? Duff was the bass player. There you go. Nice. Gary Ryan fact, that third one. The second one is true for sure. Seattle did play at the Club World Cup. They're the first MLS team to ever do it.

That was back in, what, 2023? They lost their first game to Al-Ali. It was very lame. The first one, Ryan, can you read the first one? Oh, they're 191st. That feels high, doesn't it? That feels a little high. It does seem high. So we've got the 20 Premier League teams. I mean, basically all the big five leagues would put Seattle at least in the hundreds.

191st could be right. Sorry. It could be right because the highest, the highest, excuse me, the lowest ranked non-Auckland team is Alain who are 600 and something. So placing Seattle on that scale. The ownership one is interesting because I know that Joel McHale is a Seattle guy. He's a big Seahawks fan.

I don't think I've ever heard him talk about the Seattle Sounders before. And I know the Sounders do have some celebrity minority owners. I think Drew Carey owns a chunk of them. Macklemore. Yeah. So maybe Ryan's trying to bait us with that third one. And that's the one that's wrong? Graham Taylor, what do you guys think? That's where I'm leaning. Did you say they've definitely played in a Club World Cup before? Yes, 100% they have. Two years ago, yeah. Okay.

I think the third one's the lie. Rhonda, my fact was this was their second Club World Cup, just to clarify. Yes, that's true. That's true. I think the third one's the lie. I'll be the judge of that. Fair enough. No, like factual information will be. Ryan will judge the facts. Joe, I think I'm going to roll with that. Even though the ranking does seem off, I don't think I've ever heard those names in particular. And like Guns N' Roses aren't.

Seattle, I don't believe. I think they're LA. But then you got a lot of Brazil. Doug McKagan is. 191. Maybe it's still too high. I'm still going number three. So... Is that consensus that number one or number three is the lie? Let's go through. Number three, I think, we think is the lie.

Number three is the lie. Congratulations. Seattle do have celebrities among their ownership group. Not John McHale or Duff McKagan. Two of Seattle's finest sons. But they have, of course, Drew Carey, Russell Wilson, Sierra, who I believe is Russell Wilson's partner, if I'm not mistaken. Malcolm Moore, Ken Griffey Jr., and a bunch of others. Seattle.

is the 191st strongest team internationally, as we record per Optus Power Rankings. They're one place below Platense, who just won the Argentine Apertura. Yep. Three places above Southampton. 100 places above Man United. Kidding about that last one, but feels right. And Seattle is playing in its second Club World Cup. As Joe mentioned, they lost to Al-Ali of Egypt in their other game in the competition. But hey, as I mentioned, home advantage could count.

big for them in this one they might actually sell some tickets too is a bunch of others a seattle grunge band or yeah duff mckagan's side project yeah that's right yeah got you there we go all right graham

Group C, tell us about it, won't you? Yeah, so four teams in Group C, as is the case in all the other groups. I have got Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors. and Benfica I'm going to start with the big dogs in Group C Bayern Munich obviously a team in a club that we all know well having watched them win the Bundesliga every year for the last millennium so my three facts about them number one They are one of the largest clubs in the world, still majority owned by its fans.

So yes, Audi, Adidas, Allianz, they all have a stake, but the fans still have the majority control, which gives them voting control over the club. So in a tournament where we have Saudi Arabia... Qatar and Abu Dhabi owned clubs in a competition that's been sponsored by a sovereign wealth fund. I guess it's somewhat refreshing to have a mega club that maintains some sort of like ethical core, even if they wear Qatar Airways logo on their sleeve. So that is my first.

thing that is either a truth or a lie Bayern are essentially fan owned The second thing is related to how successful Bayern Munich are. They are the most successful club in Germany. They've won the Bundesliga title 33 times, which is a lot more than the second most, which is Dortmund and Gladbach.

on five titles. I don't think I quite realized there was such a disparity between number one and number two in terms of German clubs. Feels like Graham's acting. Just going to say that right now. This is not the fact. The fact is that Manuel Neuer...

is the player with the most wins in Bundesliga history, the most championships in Bundesliga history, and the most consecutive championships in Bundesliga history. So that is my second thing. How many more titles does he have than Dortmund, do you think? A lot more, yeah. Certainly more than five. And my final thing is that Bayern Munich had the highest possession share of any team in this season's Champions League at 65%. This is a team that wants the ball under Vincent Kompany.

I expect that they will dominate possession in pretty much every match they play at the Club World Cup unless they come up against PSG, which could be interesting. So those are my three things. Bayern are fan-owned. Manuel Neuer has won the most titles and matches and everything of any player in Bundesliga history. And the third thing is that Bayern had the highest possession share of any team in Europe this season. Okay, I'm going to take a run. I think...

The first one is true because I think they're like 75% owned by fans. But as you mentioned, I think it's Audi and Adidas. I think the Qatar Airways have a small bit. I think they might have a small bit as well. But they are fan owned, I'm pretty sure. But I mean, I think that's true.

The possession one sounds pretty feasible. I'm going to say the Liars Manuel Neuer because I think the highest one will be like Gerd Müller or something like that. Yep. That's exactly what I was thinking almost to the letter, Ryan. Taylor, where are you at? I...

I mean, he's won a ton, right? And he's definitely won the most because he's been around the longest of that team that's won so much. But they've won so much historically, and I think Garrett Mullen was a great shout, so I'll go with that one too. Yes. The lie is number two, so you get a point for that. It's not Gerd Muller. It is Tam Muller.

He has won the most Bundesliga titles, the most matches, the most consecutive titles. And he can add one more title to his collection at the Club World Cup because this is his last tournament for Bayern Munich before he leaves to... talk to horses or work on a stand-up routine, whatever he's going to do in his own life. Well done. Graham, do you know when does Thomas Muller break through?

Do you have an idea? 1972. That's what it feels like, right? I just looked it up. He made his first appearance in 2008. So four years before Neuer, I think. All right, cool. Smart. Yep. Well done. He was at Schalke before. Not at all controversial. No, not at all. Maybe if Neuer laid off the ski-in, he would be up there with the same number of titles as his mate, Tam Miller. My next team, that brings me to Oceana's representatives at this tournament.

Auckland City, who qualified by winning the OFC Champions League. So my first thing about Auckland City is that they are not even the best team in their own city. That is Auckland FC, who played their first season in the A-League this season and won the regular season, becoming the first team from New Zealand to win an A-League trophy. Auckland FC they're owned by Bill Foley who's the Bournemouth owner a certain Alex Paulson is their goalkeeper

And there was actually a plan for Auckland City to temporarily sign players from Auckland FC for this tournament, because I guess if they are able to compete a little bit better, then that is a better reflection of New Zealand soccer. But that is not going to happen. and Auckland City will be at this tournament with their amateur semi-pro part-time team. So that is my first thing about Auckland City. My second thing about them is that they are ranked as...

The 4,972nd best team in the world by Opta. That ranks them... 4,300 places lower than the next worst ranked team in the Club World Cup, which, as I mentioned earlier, is Al Ain at 611. It also ranks them below Brackley Town, who played in the sixth tier of English football. this season, the National League North.

And at Auckland City are a club that plays in front of tiny crowds of just a few hundred. They have a player who is a teacher, another one who is a barber. Their GM is a real estate agent. Their manager is a dentist. So they are a huge... outlier in this tournament and my final thing about Auckland City is that they have the second most appearances at the Club World Cup of any club if we're being honest

FIFA doesn't really want a team from Oceania at this tournament, but they don't really fit with the best teams in the world vibe that Gianni Infantino wants. But Oceania has long been this kind of awkward region where New Zealand are dominant, but they've also been cut adrift by Australian soccer.

So only one team has qualified for the Club World Cup more times than Auckland City. So which of those three things is the lie? I'll run through them again. Auckland City, they're not even the best team in their own town, in their own city. The second thing is that they are ranked 4,932nd in the world by Opta. And the third thing is that they've had the second most appearances at the Club World Cup. Okay, so the first one is...

True. Correct. As far as I know. So Bill Foley does own Bournemouth and it's part of the multi-club ownership group. I think it's called Black Knight something or other. Tim Bezbachenko works for them now. So that one is true. Taylor, where do you land on the second two? The 4,000, we did a 101 on New Zealand football not too long ago, domestic New Zealand football, and that feels accurate.

The Club World Cup one is the one where I'm tripped up because, Ryan, when did you say the Club World Cup first began? Like 2000? 2000. I cannot remember when Australia leaves OFC. That is the thing that's tripping me up because I could see them. Like having enough teams participate in it before they make that jump. Because I also don't think anybody has been close to touching.

New Zealand and Oceania since then. But I think that's the lie. Because I think maybe there have been other New Zealand teams and maybe some Australian teams that were there. I think they've been there before Auckland City, but I don't think they've been there the most. That's what I'm going to say. Yeah, I think that one. I think there's maybe a couple of Asian teams who've had more appearances. That's my theory. Boom. Okay, so you're going for number three. That's a lie.

You get the point, but your working is not correct. They have made the most appearances at a Club World Cup of any club. They've appeared at the Club World Cup 12 times. Because they are utterly dominant in OFC. They've won the OFC Champions League 13 times. And as far as I'm aware, I was quickly Googling to check this. I don't think Australian teams play in the OFC Champions League. It's this weird quirk where...

they can't actually get into this competition as things stand. Or for a long time, maybe they were barred from that competition. I'm sure I heard that or read that. So they've been in this competition 12 times, I can say. That's a great fact. How are they the second best team in their city, but they have the most Club World Cup appearances in that region? Is that right now?

go on taylor that is right now uh because they're semi-pro and like to amateur and uh auckland fc were just like started and have a ton of money and are now top of the a-league i believe so like gotcha so they have history and auckland auckland uh the other one yeah i mean I guess we don't know that for real, but we do. Auckland City have part-time players and Auckland FC have full internationals. Let's prove it on the field. I didn't realise it wasn't the Australian.

Or the A-League Auckland at this competition, which of course it isn't. Oh boy, that's going to be a rough one for them. Yeah, they're going to lose by 100 to Bayern. unfortunately it really could be pretty rough in this group as well which is quite a tough one they will be up against my next team Boca Juniors arguably the most globally renowned club in South America they're certainly up there I think for Riverdale Sounds like an aggressive word. Yeah, replace those high. Yeah, they would.

I think Boca are more recognisable. Anyway, that is not my fact because I can't prove that. This is obviously a club that has produced some of the most iconic players in Argentine football history, Maradona, Tevez, Batistuta, which brings me to my first thing, which is that one of those...

iconic players is now the club's president, Juan Roman Raquelme. So he won the election in December 2023. Record number of votes. Of course, he's a Boca legend. He was part of the Boca team that won the Copa Lib for the last time back in 2007.

And he won on this promise that he would restore Boca as this dominant team in South America. They did make the Copa Lib final last year, but lost that game. And besides that, it's been like a really tumultuous first couple of years for President Raquel May. So Boca...

sacked Fernando Gago as their manager in April. I believe the two of those guys are friends, so that couldn't have been much of an enjoyable experience for Raquel May. They've replaced him since then with Miguel Angel Russo, who is in his third stint as Boca manager and was only... hired at the start of June, meaning like...

This month, two weeks ago, he was hired. So there's been all kinds of behind-the-scenes friction, and Raquel May has tried to force through plans for a new stadium redevelopment. He's facing opposition for that, of course. The Bombonera listeners will know.

is the famous stadium that has, like, the three sides and then the one, like, straight up vertical side. So Raquelme's trying to redevelop that, but it's not really happening for him so far. So, yeah, this tournament comes at a tricky time for Boca. So my first thing is Raquelme is the... the club president true

Second thing is... Because he just said he was trying to reinvent the stadium, yeah. I mean, I could be making that whole thing up. You could be, but you're not. Next. Second thing is that Boca Juniors currently have no fewer than three former Manchester United players, Sergio Romero, Marcus...

Rocco and Edison Cavani. And the profile of those three players is interesting because all of those players are well over the age of 30. And that is one of the things that Boca fans are unhappy about at the moment. They want to go back to the days of Boca being the talent factory of Argentine football. This is an old squad. Their average age is like 28 and a half.

There are some exceptions, like Alan Velasco, who MLS fans will remember, I think he's about 22 years old. Milton Delgado is an exciting teenage midfielder. Valentin Barco was a young star before he joined Brighton last year. see River Plate producing players like Julien Alvarez and Claudio Echeverri and Enzo Fernandes and the next one is going to be Franco Mastan Tuono who is going to Real Madrid this summer

And they wonder why their club can't do the same thing. So that is my second fact is that Boca Juniors have three former Manchester United players. Third thing is related to Boca's kits. You knew that there was going to be some sort of kit fact in this. So legitimately one of the most...

instantly recognizable teams in world football it's the the blue and the yellow with like the yellow band across the middle that wasn't always their colors originally they played in white and then they played in black and white stripes and then a light pink in 1906 they played a final against a team called Nottingham del Almagro and they demanded they played for pink slips basically so whoever won that match

kept the colour palette, and so the other team would have to change. Boca lost that game, so they looked to the port of Buenos Aires for inspiration, and the first ship to dock in the harbour was a ship from Sweden, and it famously had this big Swedish flag on the side of it. So Bokka went with the Swedish color scheme, which is why they play in blue. False. There are no oceans. No, that's not it. Can you give me the phrasing on number two again, Graham?

Yes. So Boca have three former Manchester United players and there's no one. That's the one. That's the one. Who's the fourth? Because all three that he named are true. Under Herrera. No, I thought you said Herrera. No, I didn't. I don't know who was left off that list. And he didn't. So it's Rojo, Cavani, Herrera, and who's the fourth one then? Romero. Romero, Rocco, Cavani. Well done.

Taylor Bloodhound Rockwell over here sniffing out the lines. Joe, do you remember that we talked about him on Tuesday? 100% thought Graham said it anyway. I had no idea. Graham wasn't there for that show. We talked about him off air. We talked about who Boca have and how much under her career is fascinating to me. It is fascinating. I love that. I think more millionaire software.

soccer players should just go and have a year, like a gap year in Argentina or Japan. So yeah, he's just gone there for the vibes, which I love. The shirt or like the club colors thing is a fascinating story that I did not know. And as is yet another reminder that like losing isn't always the worst. thing, because I'm going to say that one is slightly more iconic than white or black and white or pink. So maybe pink would have been good, but that's an amazing story. Thank you for that, Graham.

And it's entirely true. I knew there was a Swedish connection because they had a limited edition shirt recently that I thought about buying, but I didn't know the full story. So that was interesting. So final team in Group C, Benfica.

This is a club that's obviously historically the most successful in Portuguese football. They've won the most titles, although they finished second to sporting in each of the last two seasons. Also won the European Cup twice back in the 60s. And my first thing is... related to that. My first fact is there is a curse on Benfica. A guy called Bela Gutmann was Benfica manager back then. He won the European Cup for a second time.

demanded a new contract. Benfica then refused this and so he left and infamously said Benfica wouldn't win another European trophy for 100 years. Since then, Benfica have played in eight European finals and lost them all. So I guess we'll... find out if the curse also applies to the Club World Cup so that's my first thing My second thing is related to Evangelos Pavlidis, who is their top scorer. Only one player scored more goals than Pavlidis in Portuguese football this season.

That was Victor Jokerez. Pavlidis is actually really interesting because he is capable of creating his own shots and he's well-rounded in terms of his acceleration and his physicality. He's also a really good finisher. I think if it wasn't for Jokerez, more people would be talking about it. Pavlidis.

He was signed from AZ Alkmaar last year for 18 million. So I think that was pretty good value. So yeah, my thing with Pavlidis is that only one player scored more goals in Portuguese football than him this season. And finally... My last fact is Bruno Laje is Benfica manager. He returned for a second stint in September last year. He's made them stoddier in how they want to play. It is very much the Wolves' playbook from Laje, who was at Botafogo in between leaving.

Wolves and going back to Benfica they sit deep in a 4-5-1 and look to ground down opponents don't score many goals but they are well organised and are difficult to play against so my three facts are there's a curse on Benfica Pavlini was the second top scorer in Portuguese football this season. And my third thing is that Bruno Lage likes to play a stodgy style of football that we saw from him at Wales.

Now, Graham, I think you and I have both written for Bleacher Report at least three times each on the curse of Bella Goopman. But is that a trick because curses aren't real? Oh, good question. Is that your answer? I don't know. No, number one feels right. Even if the curse is serious. Eusebio prayed at his grave to try to end the curse, and they still lost. I'm torn between two and three because Benfica as a team.

in Portugal have a huge talent advantage over almost everybody that they play. And typically those kinds of teams have a lot of possession. And so I think that one might be the lie. But right before that, I thought number two was a lie because that sounded like a believable story from Graham. that he just fudged the number where it's actually the third top scorer rather than the second. But I still...

Still kind of think number three might be the lie. I go with Joe. I feel like that's the trick, that Lodge was stodgy, but then back at Benfica, they play more expansive, they have more money, they're able to score more goals. So I think three is the lie. You liar. Nailed it.

That was a lie. Bruno Laje is indeed back at Benfica, but his style of play is not stodgy at all. And in fact, he seems to have completely changed his tune from his Wolves days and that Benfica, they press high, they take risks. They scored 84 goals in third.

league games this season which as Joe said like talent advantage is always going to be a factor there but they do seem to be a team that is really good in quick transition with oh man Turkish pronunciation actor Toglu who is like a wide forward Taylor There we go. And, oh, wow, Dutch pronunciation. Shelderoop on the other side as well. Shelderoop. There we go. So I'm hoping that we're going to get... Weirdly Smith. Shit.

That's it. So I'm hoping that we're going to get some entertaining soccer from Benfica this tournament. Excellent stuff. Thank you very much indeed, Graham. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Joe's going to tell us about Group D. Join us then.

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WhatsApp. Message privately. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Club World Cup previews. We've got one group left to do in this here part. Group D. Joe, give us your D facts. I would absolutely love to, Ryan. Nothing would make me happier, especially if you never said that again. In terms of this group, Group D, we have Flamengo, we have Chelsea, we have LAFC, we have ES Tunis. We're going to start with Flamengo.

Flamingo were winners of the Copa Libertadores in 2022, thanks to a 1-0 win in the final. That is how they got here. Now, let's get to the facts, gentlemen. The first Flamingo fact is that they averaged the most... into the penalty area in Brazil's Serie A. So Flamingo averaged the most passes.

in the penalty area in Brazil's Serie A. Joe's going to get really technical with these, aren't you? Yeah, there's some nerdy ones. The second one is also related to how they play and who is leading them from the sidelines. Flamingo's manager will have a reunion when his team goes up against Chelsea.

In the group stage, Flamengo's manager will have a reunion when his team goes up against Chelsea in the group stage. And the third and final fact, or not fact, is that three Flamengo players are on Brazil's World Cup qualifying roster. for their June matches. So three of those players for Flamengo are in Brazil's World Cup qualifying squad. So we've got the most passes per 90 into the penalty area in Brazil. We've got the manager having a reunion against Chelsea.

and three Flamingo players on Brazil's World Cup qualifying roster this June. What say you? That's hard. I feel like I should know the manager one. Yeah, who's the coach? Is it Scalari? Hmm. You're muted, Taylor. Taylor would love to talk, but he's moving, but we ain't seeing anything. What's Deco up to? Is Deco there? My dog is in the background sleep barking. That is not the manager for Flamingo. Okay, okay. Wait, what was that one again?

Flamengo's manager will have a reunion when his team goes up against Chelsea in this group stage. That's the second of the three facts. I think that's Scolari. I think that's true. I'm sure I've read that Luis Felipe Scolari is. Big fail. Because who else would that be, a former Chelsea manager? Who did you just say is the manager? Or a player, I guess. Who did you just say, Graham? Scolari. No, what full name did you say? Luis Felipe Scolari? Is Felipe Luis their manager?

Oh, that's a good shout. That's what just jogged it for me is like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. That sounds vaguely familiar. He played for them, right? He played for Chelsea. And Chelsea, yeah, but he played for Flamenco as well. I'm saying that one's true then. I think either way that one's true. I think we've got enough pieces to say this. The man whose name I would never remember which way it goes, Luis Felipe or Felipe Luis. But yeah, okay. So...

The World Cup qualifying roster. Let's think about that one for a moment, shall we? I don't know their squad well enough to know who that could be. Can you remind me of one, Joe, again? The first option was that Flamingo averaged the most passes into the penalty area per 90 in Brazil's top flight. I don't think Joe would lie about that. He would never lie about a number. I'm saying...

Final answer. Clock's ticking. I'm saying players for Brazil. Okay, so Graham, you're the tiebreaker. Okay. Yeah, go for that. That is incorrect. I mean, you guys are correct. That fact is incorrect. Well done. Nailed it. Oh, we got it. You guys are right. Yes! Just trying to really target the emotions. It is five. That was a real VR wet flash. A real five. Yeah, however. I just did the however. There are five.

Flamingo players in the current Brazil squad. Danilo, Alexandro, Leo Ortiz, Wesley, and Gerson. This is my attempt to illustrate how good this team is. This Flamingo team is very, very good under manager Felipe Luiz, which I thought I was going to get you guys with.

Until Graham said Scolari's full name and that jogged Taylor Rockwell's memory infuriating. This Flamengo team is stacked. They have a ton of quality. Their top scorer is Georgian de Arascaita, the Uruguayan, who is an Uruguayan international. On top of the... five Brazilian national team players. They have Gonzalo Plata, who's an Ecuadorian international and two Uruguayan internationals.

This is a very, very good team. They have dominated the top flight in Brazil. They have averaged the most passes, like I said, into the box. They control games with possession. under Felipe Luis, who did end his playing career with Flamengo. He retired in December of 2023, then immediately starts coaching in the youth system at Flamengo. Goes from U17s to U20s to head coach after Chiche was fired in September. So big names all around this club.

They are second in their Copa Lib group right now. I mentioned already top of Serie A. They're a very stacked team. We talked about Wesley. I think Jeff Reuter mentioned Wesley maybe on a show earlier on this week. Right back, 21 years old, dribbly, physical. Multiple caps for Brazil already. I mentioned his name in that squad for Brazil this month. Flamingo are very good. And if you're looking for a South American team that has the potential to do some damage in this competition.

Flamenco are absolutely one of them. So well done. You all are one for one. Let's move on to Esperanza de Tunis. They got here because they moved their way up through the CAF rankings after Al Ali gobbled up all of those Champions League wins, which I totally forgot ahead of this episode. Could have helped out on that question earlier on in this show. My two truths and a lie. E.S. Tunis. Manager, Meher Kanzari.

is in his third stint as ES Tunis manager. He's 52 years old. He is from Tunisia. None of this is, this is all true. This is just the first part that you have to figure out. He's a former Tunisian international himself. He's also been an assistant and a caretaker manager for the Tunisian.

men's national team, uses both a 4-3-3 and a 4-4-2. They tend to play on the break quite a bit. But the first one for you all to discern is manager Maher Canzari is in his third stint as ES Tunis manager. The second one. It's also related to Mehera Kanzari, who is a very interesting figure, as is Iostunis, who are quite a chaotic club. Kanzari is their fifth, I repeat, fifth manager of this season.

Mahir Khansari is the fifth manager of this season for ES Tunis. That is option two. And option three is that ES Tunis had just 20% possession in the first leg of their quarterfinal calf. Champions League matchup with Memolodi Sundowns back in April. Just 20% of the ball in that first leg against Sundowns. Those are your three facts. Kanzari is in his third stint as ES Tunis manager. ES Tunis with Kanzari are on their fifth manager of the season.

NES Tunis had just 20% of the ball in their first leg against Mamelody's shutdowns in the quarterfinals of the Champions League earlier on in April.

All right, so again, I don't think Joe lies about stats. So that leaves fifth manager, or like in terms of possession stats and the like, fifth manager this season versus... manager in his third stint i feel like one of those is the lie and i feel like they're a lie in that it's actually been like six managers or he's actually like and i'm not sure which one it is so number number three um

Mamaloni Sundowns did play Esperance in that competition because they made it to the final. That's true. That is true. Yeah, but I'm trying to piece together. I think that one might be true because Mamaloni Sundowns not to...

stepping on one's toes with a future preview but they like to have the ball they're kind of like a flair team so I think or they used to be anyway we'll find out what if the coach has been there three times and of those five he was three of them Like a kind of Eden Terzich figure.

I feel like two. I'm trying to get in Joe's head. I think he might have done the Auckland City most appearances thing here where he's found something incredible and toned it down to five when it's actually six. That's Taylor's suggestion. Final answer? Two.

All right, that is correct. You all have done it again. You are two for two in my group D. We're in your head, Joe. He is only the fourth. My hair can sorry. He's only the fourth manager of the season, which I thought was pretty spectacular. But then you all said six. And I'm like, well, that's not as exciting as it was before. He was fired.

On the 1st of October, excuse me, the first manager for Tunis was fired on the 1st of October. Then they had an interim for a month. There's number two. Then they hired another permanent coach in November. Then they fired him in March and enter Kansari, who is in his third stint as ES Tunis manager.

Chaotic club, to say the very, very least. Their top scorer is Jan Sasse, who has 10 goals in the league, the 27-year-old Brazilian. He's played in Brazil, Turkey, New Zealand, and now Tunisia. Quite the career for him. This team is not...

Very good. They did win the Tunisian Liga this season. That season concluded in May. They also won the Tunisian Cup on June 1st. They lost that series. Shockingly, they lost a series where they started out with 20% of the ball. Two Mameloni Sundowns they lost in the quarterfinals. As I said... I do not think many people have high expectations for ES Tunis in this competition. That is the nature of the Club World Cup that is incredibly top-heavy. Let's move on to Chelsea.

Shall we? They get here by winning the Champions League in 2021. That earned them one of UEFA's 12 spots. They fresh off that Conference League win, finishing fourth in the Premier League, going seven wins and one loss in their final eight games of the year across all competitions.

My first option for you gentlemen is according to the bookmakers, Chelsea are the fifth favorites to win the Club World Cup. Option two, Gagaslanina. Remember him? He's in Chelsea's Club World Cup squad. And number three...

Chelsea and Flamengo have never played each other before. Number one, Bookmaker's fifth favorite to win the competition. Two, Salonina's here. And three, Chelsea and Flamengo have never played each other, but they will have a chance to for the very first time in Group D. Competitively. No, they've never played each other at all, one way or another. So number two is true because I just saw it.

on the internet like yesterday or something so I know that one's true right Joe remind me number one again sorry according to the bookmakers Chelsea are the fifth favorites to win the club world cup bonus points if you can figure out the teams that are above them I can't I don't have the power to get PSG Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern, I think that could be true. I think the bookmakers are likely to put Chelsea ahead of...

enter. Yeah, I like that. The way that bookies work, I think that's likely. So I think that's true. Well, I know that one's true, and so number three is where I'm leaning. Yeah, same. Yep, I'm good with that. Well done. Three for three. They did play each other back in 1998 in a friendly. Chelsea won that game 5-0.

I have very little idea who these players are that score for Chelsea and because it's in the 90s. Okay, yeah, I was going to read them and ask if you guys know, but Ryan, I want you to start. Go ahead. Vialli. Yep. Wise. Hullit. Nope. I think Graham was giving you an answer and not saying that Ryan's answer was wise. I was like, yeah, that was wise. Good job. Nope. Gavin Peacock. Nope. Oh, wow. We're really.

Pilling them here. All right, we're done. Poyet, I don't know who that is. Gustavo Poyet. Di Matteo. Di Matteo. And Petrescu. Yeah, legends, all of them. I mean, they actually are. No, I believe it. I believe it. They'll stand the test of time. Yeah, bookmakers do have Chelsea as the fifth favorite to win this thing. All the teams that you named are correct. They are ahead of Inter Milan. Well done.

Nesclod played a whole 11 games for Barnsley in League One this past year. That should do it. Things are going great. The door's open, Gaga, for the number one job. Yeah. So who knows? Well done on Chelsea, folks. My final team, LAFC.

They get here after all the chaos that happened with Club Lyon. They were the playing winner over Club America after Club Lyon, who won the CONCACAF Champions League back in 2023, was disqualified because they share ownership with Pachuco, which is something that FIFA knew all along, but waited until the last minute to actually... Do anything about...

Alajolense from Costa Rica were the ones that sort of reminded FIFA of this, hoping that they would get a spot in the Club World Cup. And FIFA said, thank you very much. Get out. And LAFC and Club America were chosen for that game. LAFC were the runners-up to Lyon in 2023. And Club America were on top of the...

rankings. LAFC end up winning that in extra time. Let's get to the two truths and one lie. Denny Buonga scored a goal in three straight games against PSG back when he played for Saint-Etienne in France. Number two. Steve Chirondolo and Taylor Rockwell are best friends, or at very least have played soccer together. And number three, we're halfway through the MLS season at this point. And so far this year, LAFC's non-Denny Buonga designated players have scored all of three goals.

Number one, Buonga scored a goal in three straight games against PSG. Number two, Taylor Rockwell and Steve Trandolo love each other very much. And number three, LAFC's non-Buonga DPS have scored a grand total of three goals so far in the regular season. I feel like number two is correct, but I'm probably not the authority on that. We are best friends. It means DVC. I'm going to say they have a designated player spot open, right, Joe?

So that is Giroud and it's Undav who is on loan and I think he is, yeah, sorry, who is filling that until... Well, until Griezmann's contract came to an end that he's now signed a new one. So I think they have three until whatever Inder's contract situation is. I don't know how many they've scored. I feel like it's that one. I think it might be...

Boanga scoring three. I don't know if that... Would that have happened? That's quite a lot against a team like PSG. Which PSG? Is it one where they weren't fully putting their own players in their defensive third and trying to defend it all? Is that every single PSG until this season? I'll go with whatever. I'm going to go with the DP one. That feels most appropriate and on brand. Sure. Ryan? Yeah. Sure. Four for four, gentlemen. Well done.

You are incorrect about Chingy Zundere being the third DP for this team. He is now back at Fenerbahce. They just signed in the mini Club World Cup transfer window. You have Iroh Dilro Sun. He's in on a loan deal from Club of America as a DP through July 24th. the shortest loan stint maybe that we've ever seen in MLS, with an option to buy. So Undair seemingly wasn't really in the plans for this team, as Grimm said, was a short-term loan for him anyway.

He goes back to Turkey, and now we do see Dilrosan in this team. He played about 1,000 minutes for Club of America last season, if memory serves. We'll see what he can bring for LAFC in this tournament. You all were correct. It was five goals between Undar and Giroud. Not great return, though, to be very, very clear. I was hoping that it would be believable that they'd only scored three. I suppose it wasn't quite, but it's still bad. And if LAFC...

want to make any sort of run out of the group, which I think is the bar for an incredibly successful run for any of these MLS teams that they want to get out of the group. They're going to need something from a non-Denny Bawanga attacker, who is incredible, by the way. I was thinking about this earlier on this week. I think there is no...

greater transition threat in CONCACAF, like not just in MLS and CONCACAF, than Danny Bawanga, who is legitimately a Champions League level attacker. I think he is not a, not like for a big team, but is a very, very good player.

And if LAC are going to do anything in this competition, it's going to be him leading the team with the solid midfield and defensive structure behind them. And then also another attack, whether it's Dilrosan or somebody else stepping up. But five goals between Giroud and Undair in the regular season. Well done, fellas. Four for four across the board. That's great stuff. There we go. Well done, everybody. Taylor.

Except for Jengiz Undair, who last I saw him play got his socks knocked down and was pulling them back up to reveal that he has Jengiz Undair shin pads. And I don't think any player needs their own branded shin guards, but he did with his face on them and Jengiz Undair.

written in all red. Now that's something that Sergino Dest would do. And because it's something Sergino Dest would do, it means that I love it. So I'm going to, I'm going to have, but Sergino Dest would be him like James and Derek were, were him like dribbling. Like it was an action shot.

Serginio Death's shin pads would just be him staring blankly at the camera, and then that's what's on the shin. It would be an expressionless Serginio Death sort of confused as to why he's there, which would be appropriate.

Or just him either with a baguette, like a picture of him eating a baguette, or him in that not Chicago Bulls jersey that looks like one. Or just his own personal brand logo, which does in fact exist. And I believe he has plastered on one of those capes you wear when you get your hair cut. I think he's got one of those with the Sergino desperate on it. All of that is true.

I'm going to jump in on this shin pad riffing to close out part one of our Club World Cup 2 Truths and Alive preview list. We hope you've enjoyed this one. If you did, stick around for part two coming to the feed very shortly. Taylor Rocco, thank you very much. Do I have your word you'll be on part two and you'll tell us all about one of the groups? You do, even if I didn't get much shin pad knowledge from you. I'll still be on the part two.

Okay. Well, I hope there's no Schimpad knowledge to be spoiled in the Two Truths and Lying part two. Joe Lowry, thank you very much indeed for your wisdom as always. Ah, thank you, Ryan. Very much and pleasure as always, my good man. Thanks, Ryan Bailey. And thank you very much, Lister, once again for joining us on this one. Look out for part two of our Cupbook Cup preview. But for now, bye!

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