World Cup 2026 — Fame, Access, And Who Actually Gets To Play

World Cup 2026 — Fame, Access, And Who Actually Gets To Play

How does a goalkeeper wake up with 50,000 Instagram followers and go to bed with nearly 14 million — and still not be able to get his mother a visa to watch him play? In this FIFA World Cup 2026 special, William Troost-Ekong joins Leon Mann live from SuperSport in Johannesburg, where Will is doing analyst work through the tournament. Maro Itoje is away. Together they use the World Cup 2026 as a lens on the question mainstream coverage isn't asking: who actually gets to take part in the global game, and who gets left at the door? Will opens up about his own transition from Premier League defender to broadcast analyst — the punditry homework, the twenty-five-second windows, and the social media clips athletes now sign into their contracts. Leon tracks the Omar Artan story: Somalia's referee, Africa's best of 2025, turned back at the US border with a valid visa. And together they unpack the Vozinha story from Cape Verde's opening game — the one the whole episode turns on. This is the conversation that reframed the tournament for us. Fame is loud. Access is who gets in the room. Listen to the full episode below: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose

Jeff Mostyn: Bankruptcy to Champions League — The Bournemouth Story

How do you save a football club from going out of business live on national television? In this episode, Jeff Mostyn — former Chairman of AFC Bournemouth for seventeen years and the central figure behind one of British football's most improbable turnarounds — walks Maro Itoje, William Troost-Ekong and Leon Mann through the arc from minus seventeen points in Division Two to the Premier League, with The Nod, Eddie Howe, two dressing rooms and a bumblebee in between. This is the conversation that reframed for us what tenure, patience and saying yes to a young manager no one else would touch actually look like. Listen to the full episode with Jeff Mostyn below: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose Jeff's book — The Chairman: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chairman-Jeffrey-Mostyn/dp/1916797946

Managing Up — When Performance Isn't Enough

Where's the line between being strategic and being fake? In this episode, Maro Itoje, William Troost-Ekong and Leon Mann dig into one of the least-talked-about skills in sport and business: managing up. Maro reframes it as a family skill before a workplace one. Will pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to address a Nigerian football federation — and shares a costly story about throwing his boots at 20. Leon asks the question most people are too polite to: is "managing up" just a polite way of saying playing the game? The conversation lands on a two-word closer from Maro that's hard to argue with. Listen to the full episode below: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose

Why No One Succeeds Alone - And How To Build Something That Gives Back

Who was there for you before anyone else believed in you? In this episode, Maro Itoje, William Troost-Ekong and Leon Mann go back to the very beginning, to the parents, coaches and unsung heroes who carried them before success arrived. Then they pull back the curtain on what they are building off the pitch: Maro's Pearl Fund supporting children in Lagos and London through education, Will's Troost-Ekong Foundation empowering young people in Nigeria, and Leon's BCMS changing the face of sports journalism in the UK. This is the conversation that reminded us why we started this podcast. Support is not just something you receive. It is something you owe. Listen to the full episode below: Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2%E2%81%A0] Apple Podcast: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753%E2%81%A0] Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose%E2%81%A0]

Ex-England Cricketer: Why Your First Leadership Failure Matters Most - Ebony Rainford-Brent

What do you do when your first big moment as a leader falls completely flat? In this episode, World Cup winning cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent tells us about the captaincy speech that bombed, the moment she was told she was the first Black woman to play for England and felt dread instead of pride, and the belief that carried her from street cricket in South London to two World Cups, the ECB boardroom and building one of the most important grassroots programmes in English sport. This is one of those conversations where every answer makes you rethink how you show up as a leader. Listen to the full episode below: Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/5acio7AdrIGnrGU7pXgrv2%E2%81%A0] Apple Podcast: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/power-and-purpose-podcast/id1838671753%E2%81%A0] Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@listenpowerandpurpose%E2%81%A0]