Ranking the Best World Cup Narratives episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 4, 2026 · 1H 16M

Ranking the Best World Cup Narratives

from Ranks FC - A Football Podcast · host Jack Collins, Dean Jones

Hello Rank Squad! We thought that with less than 100 days to go now until the World Cup begins this summer, it was time to start to take a look at the tournament in earnest - and the storylines on the pitch that are set to dictate just how this tournament is remembered from a footballing perspective.  We split that into three parts. Firstly, we take a look at three of the favourites to win the tournament - holders Argentina, as well as France and Spain - and the narrative threads behind each of their campaigns to come. We look at Argentina's attempt to be the first nation to go back-to-back since Brazil in the 1960's, France hoping to give Didier Deschamps the send-off his illustrious managerial tenure deserves, and Spain looking to begin a new dynasty by backing up their 2024 Euros with a World Cup two years later, just as their Golden Generation did in 2012 and 2014.  Then in Part Two, we look at the managers who have traded their club loyalties for a shot at winning the most illustrious tournament of them all at international level - looking at England under Thomas Tuchel, Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti, the USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino, and Germany under Julian Nagelsmann.  And finally, in Part Three, we dive into the four teams who have qualified for the first time ever - Cape Verde, Curaçao, Uzbekistan and Jordan - examining their stories, the background, and the manner in which we're expecting them to show up to the party.  It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 4, 2026

Embed this episode

With 99 days to go ahead of the World Cup, we decided to take a look at the big storylines that might end up determining the direction and the history of the tournament ahead of us

Distinct summary based on available episode metadata or transcript content.

NOW PLAYING

Ranking the Best World Cup Narratives

0:00 1:16:07

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Ranks FC - A Football Podcast?

This episode is 1 hour and 16 minutes long.

When was this Ranks FC - A Football Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on March 4, 2026.

Can I download this Ranks FC - A Football Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!