How Far Can Cape Verde Go?

Was Egypt Robbed by VAR? And What's Wrong With US Men's Soccer?

We discuss the most controversial match of the tournament so far - Egypt v Argentina. Is there a bias towards Argentina? We also discuss the fallout from the US Men's National Team crashing out of the tournament. Where does US Men's Soccer go from here?

England-Mexico Recap + Trump's Balogun Call

Does it get much better than that England-Mexico match? Somehow the most hyped match of the tournament exceeded expectations. Stefan and Ashish break it down, discuss whether Western Europe is slowly taking over the tournament, and get into Donald Trump's controversial call to Gianni Infantino to allow Flo Balogun to paly against Belgium.

Brazil Survives, Africa Shines, Iran Suffers Injustice

After an eventful Brazil-Japan match, Stefan and Ashish talk about the success of African teams at this World Cup so far, and the unfair treatment the Iranian team faced at the hands of FIFA and the tournament's main hosts, the United States. Note: As a reminder, this episode was recorded before the Germany-Paraguay and Morocco-Netherlands matches.

How Much Do Managers Really Matter?

After Ashish makes Stefan listen to his experience watching Ghana hold England to a draw, they talk about how much managers really matter, with particular focus on England and Brazil at this World Cup.

How Far Can Cape Verde Go?

After Stefan takes us back to the 1974 Poland-West Germany World Cup match, we talk about the fairytale story of Cape Verde so far, and discuss how far they can go in this year's tournament. We also talk more broadly about smaller countries like Portugal, Croatia and Palestine, whose teams have long overachieved based on their populations, GDP and global football experience. Email us with your thoughts and questions at thesoccernomicspodcast@gmail.com