• Was Egypt Robbed by VAR? And What's Wrong With US Men's Soccer?
    Jul 9 2026

    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?

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    38 mins
  • England-Mexico Recap + Trump's Balogun Call
    Jul 7 2026

    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.

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    31 mins
  • Harry Kane Saves England. But Can They Handle the Azteca?
    Jul 2 2026

    Moments after the final whistle, we break down the classic England-Democratic Republic of Congo R32 match, and look ahead to England's blockbuster meeting with Mexico at the Estadio Azteca. We also reassess whether this has been a tournament of upsets, and discuss the concept of 'inevitability' in sports.

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    33 mins
  • Brazil Survives, Africa Shines, Iran Suffers Injustice
    Jun 30 2026

    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.

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    32 mins
  • How Much Do Managers Really Matter?
    Jun 25 2026

    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.

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    34 mins
  • How Far Can Cape Verde Go?
    Jun 23 2026

    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

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    23 mins
  • Dual National Players: A Win for Africa, Europe, or Both?
    Jun 18 2026

    We discuss the latest games, the geopolitics around the Iraqi and Iranian teams, and the debate over who is gaining most from dual national players.

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    21 mins
  • The Socceroos and USMNT: Can Diverse National Teams Drive Social Change?
    Jun 16 2026

    In our first episode since the World Cup we discuss some of the surprise results so far, and highlight the great start for the Socceroos and their young star, Nestory Irankunda - who like two of his teammates - was born in a refugee camp in Africa before he and his family were granted asylum in Australia. We debate whether the success of multicultural teams like the Socceroos and the US can change attitudes around immigration in their countries.

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    31 mins