Wait, the World Cup Is In America?!

Is soccer BORING... or is America just sleeping on the world's biggest sport? Kelly and Don break down the 2026 FIFA World Cup — 48 teams, 1.5 BILLION viewers expected, and the US men's team finally has something to prove. ⚽🇺🇸

In Episode 66 of Two Awesome People, Kelly is convinced soccer is a snoozefest (only two goals?!), and Don is armed with data to challenge everything she thinks she knows. Together they break down why soccer captivates 3.5 BILLION fans worldwide — while American fans still can't quite commit.

From the World Cup 2026 album featuring Shakira, Jelly Roll & IShowSpeed, to the first-ever halftime show in World Cup history, to the story of how the World Cup trophy was STOLEN and found by a dog named Pickles — this episode has everything. 

Plus: the three host nation mascots (Maple the Moose 🍁, Zeiu the Jaguar 🐆, and Clutch the Bald Eagle 🦅), Kelly's theory on why Americans physically cannot do "fancy footwork," and a heated soccer terminology quizfeaturing tiki-taka, clean sheets, and parking the bus.

We also make our World Cup 2026 predictions, debate whether America will FINALLY care this time, and share what ChatGPT had to say about it (it's not optimistic 😅).

And — it's our one-year podcast anniversary! 🎉 Thank you for being part of this community.

Chapters

0:00 — Cold Open: Is Soccer Really Boring?
1:14 — What's on the Clock: The 2026 FIFA World Cup Breakdown
2:35 — Why Soccer Rules the World (3.5 Billion Fans!)
3:47 — National Pride vs. Universal Love of the Game
4:58 — Decode This: Soccer Lingo 101 (Ted Lasso Edition 🎬)
7:11 — America's Problem: Can You Name ONE Famous US Soccer Star?
10:15 — Why Is It Called "Soccer"? The Etymology Debate
11:56 — The US Men's Team: A 40-Year Drought & Why It Matters
14:22 — Kelly's Theory: The Real Reason Americans Find Soccer Boring
18:25 — Fun Facts: Halftime Show, Mascots & the Stolen Trophy 🐶
22:53 — World Cup 2026 Predictions + Soccer Terminology Quiz
26:13 — Will America Actually Care in 2026?
28:13 — One Last Thing: 1-Year Anniversary + Recs

#WorldCup2026 #FIFA #Soccer #FootballVsSoccer #WorldCup #SoccerPodcast #PopCulturePodcast #CouplePodcast #twoawesomepeople

Come be AWESOME at Two Awesome People's YouTube channel

Follow us on Instagram at @two.awesome.people

Follow us on TikTok at @two.awesome.people

Reach out to us directly : don.broida@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Is soccer boring?

SPEAKER_04 0:01

I think it is boring. Would you like to know why? Yeah. Because you only score like two goals in a game. It's sort of like if you go to a basketball game and they're running back and forth, but they only score like two baskets.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Dude, if we went to a basketball game and they only scored two baskets, we'd be like this.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

How they do it? That's how they do it. Are you ready for the biggest sports event in history? Yes. Yes, I am. We're talking 2026 FIFA World Cup. We got 48 teams, 104 matches, all set in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

It's a dynamic trio.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Six billion viewers globally.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

How many people are there on Earth?

SPEAKER_03 0:50

I don't know. I thought you did. And for the final event, the final match. They're projecting 1.5 billion viewers just for that one event. Damn.

SPEAKER_04 1:00

I know. Damn.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

To put it in perspective.

SPEAKER_04 1:03

Yes, do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

The Super Bowl only gets a mere 130 million viewers.

SPEAKER_04 1:10

That's pretty restricted to the US, I would think, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:14

I think so.

SPEAKER_04 1:15

This is global.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Global.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

Yeah, it's bigger.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Bigger than country.

SPEAKER_04 1:20

Yeah, we get it.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

FIFA released the World Cup album. Did you hear about this?

SPEAKER_04 1:24

I did hear about this, Don.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Do you know who's on it?

SPEAKER_04 1:27

Well, Shakira's on it.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Shake it, shake it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29

Hers is like the biggest song that's on it, I think. I saw that Shaggy's on it.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Rolling Stones, Jelly Roll, and I Show Speed has a song on it.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

I don't really know who that is, Don. Is he American?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

He is American. Okay. He's from Ohio. Okay. And our boys love him. And he had the World Cup song. 54 million followers.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

He is literally on YouTube?

SPEAKER_03 1:54

On YouTube.

SPEAKER_04 1:54

Oh, I didn't know if they just follow him.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Wherever he goes, they go.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

I think on YouTube it's a subscriber.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

No, whatever. I mean, we're still like amateurs at this. Okay. It's there's something. We really know nothing about it. World Cup. Soccer. We are soccer, World Cup, dum-dums.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

I prefer lum lum. Dum dum, it's calling you dumb. Lumlum's just kind of ignorant. It's not an intelligence judgment.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

But this next month, it's going to be everywhere. Uh, it's gonna be in LA, our hometown. So let's learn about it. Let's learn. Why is it so popular?

SPEAKER_04 2:37

It's inexpensive and easy to play.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

You have a ball and a foot and you kick.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

Yeah. Ease and and accessibility. You know, baseball, you need a lot of gear.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

You need a bat.

SPEAKER_04 2:48

Yeah. You need to go off. Baseball, I feel like you need a hoop. Uh you're just naming everything you need.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Um, these are the things you need.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

Basketball, I think, is gaining popularity globally too, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:01

I have a little couple facts about the popularity of basketball. Yes. And soccer to give it uh Oh, for real? Oh, yeah. I got the global fan base. Look at me. I'm all prepared and shit.

SPEAKER_04 3:13

Look at me, I'm threading the needle.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Bam. Globally, the fan base for soccer is around 3.5 billion. Basketball, it's 2.2 billion. Baseball is 500 million. American football is 410 million approximately.

SPEAKER_04 3:31

Yeah, I don't really know beyond that why soccer plays such a role in people's lives around the world. Why do you think it's so powerful?

SPEAKER_03 3:40

I think you nailed it. Well, and if they grew up.

SPEAKER_04 3:42

I know, but now I'm thinking of technically American football, you don't really need anything.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

You just need a weird-shaped ball. But American football came from America and it was it's much newer. With the World Cup, it's like the Olympics. It's the scarcity of it. But also it's really about the entire world coming together, nations competing against each other on a global scale. And other than the Olympics, you don't really get that.

SPEAKER_04 4:08

I get the impression it's not a cutthroat competition.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Okay. Do you think I'm being stupid? Do you think they're like, oh, you go ahead and win?

SPEAKER_04 4:18

I think that there's a universal love of the sport, and that that is almost, if not more, like equal to the love of a team. And so people love both.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Well, to break it down for us Americans, when you watch the Olympics, you're watching somebody you really knew nothing about three months before the Olympics. But there's that national pride that comes about of, oh my God, this person, they're American, let's go see them win. That's why people love the World Cup.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

I also read that there's like a big interest in the team fashion.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

Do you know what a soccer uniform is called? I do. Tell me.

SPEAKER_04 5:06

A kit.

unknown 5:07

A kit.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

This is your kit. It's not a uniform, it's a kit.

SPEAKER_04 5:11

But I'm not even just referring to the kit. Like there are stories online about what teams are wearing to get on the planes. Because they all wear the same thing from the coach saying go.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

Do you think they sleep in the same pajamas?

SPEAKER_04 5:26

They very well might.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

We don't call cleats cleats. They are called boots.

SPEAKER_04 5:33

That is very European.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

We don't count to three like this. We count to three like this.

SPEAKER_04 5:39

Why do we count to three?

SPEAKER_03 5:40

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 5:41

You don't know why we count to three.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

Well, that's just a European thing. There are 200 national teams similar to the Olympics, have to qualify for this tournament. It's usually 32 teams. This year it's special because it's 48. Do you know what the field's called?

SPEAKER_04 5:57

I do. Do you want to know why I know these things? Because of Ted Lasso. That's the only reason why I know. Unfortunately, Ted Lasso did not teach me this.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

That's not a soccer thing. It's not? No.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Because Europeans count like that.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

Us Americans do this.

SPEAKER_04 6:15

We really Americans count to three in a harder way.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

I count like this.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Like holding your pinky down. It's there's dexterity involved. Why do we complicate it?

SPEAKER_03 6:25

We complicate a lot of things.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

It's like Americans have a need to get fancy.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

We get fancy over here. We don't like the kick the ball around sport. We like sports that hit people.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

You know what I do like about soccer? And I hope that this is true. It's just a set game time, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:43

It's 90 minutes. They don't stop the game in the middle, but they take the time from like timeouts and all the stuff that happens and they put it at the end.

SPEAKER_04 6:53

So it's longer than 90 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 6:55

I read that at the World Cup too, they're taking like hydration breaks, like three-minute hydration breaks.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

I like how it goes from a water break to a hydration break.

SPEAKER_04 7:04

You know what I thought of last night? That I was like, this is the greatest gift the World Cup has ever given us. The Vubuzella.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Oh, I loved the Vubuzella. See? Name me one famous American soccer star.

SPEAKER_04 7:19

An American? You got so you started broad.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Yeah, you were like, I get this.

SPEAKER_04 7:24

And then you just narrowed it.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

You're like, I could do this messy, Ronaldo. Uh Beckham. He's not, well, sure, he played, but he came from the European League and he's British.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

I don't have a clue.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Yeah. Neither do I. I think there was a guy named Lando.

SPEAKER_04 7:39

I think there was a guy named Bill.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Jerry.

SPEAKER_04 7:41

I doubt there's a Jerry.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

We're just normal Americans over here. We can't even name a single soccer player. Yet name me a basketball player.

SPEAKER_04 7:51

LeBron James.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Bam. Name me a baseball player.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

Uh Freddie Freeman.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

Name me a football player.

SPEAKER_04 7:58

A current football? The one that's marrying Taylor Swift. Kelsey.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

Can you name me another football player other than Travis Kelsey? Drew Brees? Is he? I think he retired about eight to ten years ago.

SPEAKER_04 8:14

Um, I don't know. I don't I don't shoot. I can't really even name soccer teams.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

I can name soccer cities.

SPEAKER_04 8:22

Soccer cities. I just know LA and Miami.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

Right.

SPEAKER_04 8:28

And that's what you were gonna name.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Pretty much. I could probably guess Dallas.

SPEAKER_04 8:32

I bet there's a soccer player named Dallas.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

One named Austin as well. And maybe Houston. But this is the problem. All our athletes, all the American athletes go to other sports than soccer. So there's not a huge draw for us because generally the money is elsewhere.

SPEAKER_04 8:53

It's interesting too because soccer is so popular for kids to play.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

It's not a we don't know what soccer is. Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:03

It's so popular for small kids to play soccer and then they kind of grow up playing soccer, but then I don't know what happened.

SPEAKER_03 9:11

It's a thing, it's a type of mom, the soccer mom.

SPEAKER_04 9:14

Well, and I purposefully did not let our kids play soccer. Why? Because I don't like soccer.

SPEAKER_03 9:21

Why don't you like soccer?

SPEAKER_04 9:22

You want to know what my issue with soccer is. First of all, I'm not good at soccer, and I had a bad experience playing soccer, so I just didn't really want to play soccer.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

What was your bad experience?

SPEAKER_04 9:32

I just wasn't good at it.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

You were really good at baseball, though?

SPEAKER_04 9:36

I was good at softball. I think that the thing about soccer is it has to do with foot coordination. And every other sport that Americans play is much more upper body coordination if you think about it. Yeah. We just don't appreciate the lower half.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

The lower half sucks.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

We like to run, people run, but the fancy footwork, like, it doesn't do it for us.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

I like your assessment.

SPEAKER_04 10:06

Soccer, you can't use your hands. And so maybe Americans are like, we're out.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

I got a fact for you.

SPEAKER_04 10:11

I would love a fact because I'm just rambling.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

We keep on calling it soccer.

SPEAKER_04 10:17

That's the other problem.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

It's called football. Foot. Which makes way more sense.

SPEAKER_04 10:22

A hundred percent. Why is American football called football?

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Should be called smash.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

That's the problem.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

The term soccer did not come from Americans.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

It came from British.

SPEAKER_04 10:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

And the British had two types of football. Do you know the two types of football? Well, I would guess that one was soccer. Sure. Do you know the second one? I don't. The second football is rugby. Oh.

SPEAKER_04 10:48

Which involves your upper body. Doesn't it?

SPEAKER_03 10:51

Yeah. Yeah. Soccer was called association football. And rugby was called rugby football. And it got narrowed down to soccer, like from the middle of the association word, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 11:05

It could have been called ass.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Play ass ball. It was the shortening of association, probably with the British accent. And then apparently British added ER to everything. It went from saha to soccer.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

It's weird that Americans called football football.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:24

That legitimately doesn't make sense.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

I know the etymology of the word soccer, but not You also know the word etymology.

SPEAKER_04 11:33

That was more impressive.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

I don't know if I used it correctly.

SPEAKER_04 11:37

So I guess that it's really just that the sport itself hasn't resonated with America so much for all of these reasons that we talked about. And so our excitement in the World Cup is affected by that, right?

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Yes. And I think our interest in the World Cup is because the men's team has never won the World Cup.

SPEAKER_04 12:03

Do they do well?

SPEAKER_03 12:04

No, we generally suck. I think that's also why Americans don't really give a shit. When we go to the Olympics, we do really well. And so it's like, oh yeah, but if you imagine like we went to the Olympics and everybody got 15th place, nobody really So maybe it's really that America's like playing it cool, like, oh, we don't really care that much.

SPEAKER_04 12:23

Oh, there's this isn't that important to us.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

There's no doubt that if our men's team made it to the final, I think it's eight, uh-huh, that we would be way more into it. We had a 40-year drought between 1950 and 1990 where we didn't even make the tournament.

SPEAKER_04 12:43

That's an entire generation. Yeah, that is the thesis of why America doesn't care.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

You're totally right. For 40 years, we didn't make the World Cup. So why would we even care about the World Cup?

SPEAKER_04 12:53

Yes. I isn't that two generations?

SPEAKER_03 12:56

That's a lot of birth. That's a that's a lot of people having birth and not caring about a sport. Did you know that there is a baby boom in their host nation? Do you know why they expect a baby boom? Why do they expect a baby boom?

SPEAKER_04 13:10

Everybody is in really high spirits and they drink a lot.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

That sounds like me all the time. I don't need the World Cup for that. Should we have a third?

SPEAKER_04 13:18

I don't think we should have a third. I wonder if there's baby booms in like cities that win the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Oh, yeah, absolutely. That is so funny. And then they get named after the players.

SPEAKER_04 13:31

Well, that's stupid.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

So going back to the male team, because this year they are projected to make it past round 16. Oh.

SPEAKER_04 13:39

Well, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

The prediction mark is Calci is their they're projected to be 13.

SPEAKER_04 13:45

Well, good for them.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Even though our male team has never won.

SPEAKER_04 13:49

Yes. Didn't the females win?

SPEAKER_03 13:51

Our female team is the winningest World Cup soccer team ever.

SPEAKER_04 13:57

So the ladies cook.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

The ladies cook. The ladies grill. Bait. Wait, can I say bake?

SPEAKER_04 14:02

Well, the women's coach should coach the men's team.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Or maybe the women should just play on the men's team.

SPEAKER_04 14:07

I think that's probably not allowed, but that's frowned upon.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

But this 2026 is men only. It's a men's tournament. The women's will actually be next year.

SPEAKER_04 14:18

And the women's is every four years, too.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Correct.

SPEAKER_04 14:20

Facts.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

I have a big question for you, Kelly.

SPEAKER_04 14:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Is soccer boring?

SPEAKER_04 14:27

So I think it is boring. Would you like to know why?

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

Because you only score like two goals in a game. So there's only like two moments of like solid celebration. And so they're really just running up and down the pitch. Back and forth. It's sort of like if you go to a basketball game. I know. They're running back and forth, but they only score like two baskets.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Dude, if we went to a basketball game and they only scored two baskets, we'd be like, fuck this. See?

SPEAKER_04 14:58

So I will say I will say it is boring because of that.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

But that's where I guess the slow burn tension.

SPEAKER_04 15:07

And that's what Americans aren't cut out for. We have short attention spans.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:12

We need explosions and action all the time.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

Yeah. And we need big loud commercials and great food. And we need everything to go along with that.

SPEAKER_04 15:24

I think we may have just cracked another reason why it doesn't land.

SPEAKER_03 15:29

Why it's boring for us, nobody scores. And you know what? The slow burn tension, cool.

SPEAKER_04 15:34

But do you think it's boring?

SPEAKER_03 15:36

We haven't really watched a game. Yeah. So to make a judgment. We're also used to in America, we're used to like mini wins. So in baseball, you have a batter who either gets out or gets a hit and then it starts over.

SPEAKER_04 15:54

Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

In football, you have downs. So it's like four downs and it starts over. Okay. And so we're used to these like resets that are kind of interesting. Even basketball, you score, you start over.

SPEAKER_04 16:07

And football But in so I guess, but soccer, you don't score that much.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Exactly. And so in soccer, there's just not a lot of resets. It's just like back and forth, back and forth.

SPEAKER_04 16:17

Well, the goalie can get the ball, though.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

And then but the game is still continuing. Right. It's not stopping and resetting like these other sports. And I think that Americans like the stop and reset. We need a minute, is what you're saying. Well, or it's the mini win or mini loss. Right. You either make the fourth down or you don't. So it's a win or a loss. And football or soccer, see now I'm I'm I'm joining the Europeans.

SPEAKER_04 16:41

I'm becoming you're so fancy.

SPEAKER_03 16:43

I can't help it.

SPEAKER_04 16:44

Are you gonna get a kit?

SPEAKER_03 16:45

Maybe I should get a kit and we can wear it around the house.

SPEAKER_04 16:47

I'll get you shin guards and just kick you.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Get me shin guards just so you can kick me.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

Well, don't they wear that? I remember in soccer you wear shin guards.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

I'll just wear the shin guards around the house and you'll just kick me.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

Yeah, it'll be like, wow, we're playing soccer.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Bam!

SPEAKER_04 17:06

And then you'll be like, no, it's football.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

No, I'm just trying to make myself coffee. Very funny, Cal.

SPEAKER_04 17:12

Thanks. Thanks, Don.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

Baseball, basketball, football. Those are sports. It's deeply ingrained in our culture. And soccer's not part of that.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

I think that it is on its way up.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

Forty-five percent of Americans say they are more interested in soccer than they were like before. Yeah, it's a Harris pull.

SPEAKER_04 17:33

Technically, you and I are more interested in it, but we're interested in it in a way of being like, why aren't we interested in this? I wonder when soccer season is.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Flavortown. Questions. Flavortown questions. I like nachos.

SPEAKER_04 17:50

You like nachos.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

And that's just not what I've ever gotten with soccer because mostly I'm not an alcoholic and gonna go sit and drink at 9 a.m. to watch Arsenal.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

Way to go. Way to name a team.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Manchester United.

SPEAKER_04 18:02

Another one.

SPEAKER_03 18:03

Real Madrid. Bam!

SPEAKER_04 18:05

That's real.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

I literally in my head.

SPEAKER_04 18:09

It's real. This team is real. It is real.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

We're huge football fans. Real Madrid. I think it's Real Madrid.

SPEAKER_04 18:19

I would be really amused if you were wrong. And I was right. This is real confusing.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

So, Kelly, this is supposed to be the biggest World Cup in history.

SPEAKER_04 18:30

Okay, because it has the most teens.

SPEAKER_03 18:32

And it's got a halftime show for the first time ever. That's what's gonna pull us Americans in.

SPEAKER_04 18:37

Isn't Madonna playing it?

SPEAKER_03 18:38

Yeah, they dug her up from the grave, brought her back from dead.

SPEAKER_04 18:43

You're so pleased with yourself.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

I mean, she's pretty old.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

Her hips are gonna be really sore after that performance.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

And they got Shakira and BTS. Solid. Chris Martin is MCing it. He's MCing it. That's what it said.

SPEAKER_04 18:58

Because he brings such energy to everything he does.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

You know what?

SPEAKER_04 19:03

I got the perfect person to let's hype up the crowd.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Bring out Chris Martin from Coldplay. They should have brought Little John. I mean, he's the ultimate hype man. Him or like Pitbull, like those are the hype men.

SPEAKER_04 19:17

So they have Shakira, who's from Brazil, you see?

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Colombia.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

They have BTS.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Asia.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

I think that they're doing this globally. They have Madonna. So they were probably like, who are we gonna get? Chris Martin?

SPEAKER_03 19:30

They got Ed Sheeran.

SPEAKER_04 19:32

I feel like it would have been the same.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

They were going global and they just landed with a thud when they got there. I think it's cool that the World Cup is in three countries.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Well, I mean, Canada's the 51st state and Mexico's the 52nd state. Right there. This is the America World Cup. Move on. Before the 1966 World Cup in England.

SPEAKER_04 19:56

Oh, that was a good one. Yeah, that was classic.

SPEAKER_03 19:59

Do you know who won?

SPEAKER_04 20:00

I don't know anything about it.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

Neither do I. But I do know that the World Cup trophy was stolen.

SPEAKER_04 20:06

Wow, someone lost their job.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Pickles, the dog, helped find it. God bless Pickles. He became world famous.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

How did he find it? Was it in someone's trunk? I would like to know. Like, was he digging, or did he just sniff it out in someone's closet?

SPEAKER_03 20:22

I don't know. I just know that it was helped uh that pickles helped find it and that pickles became world famous. Maybe somebody had just like dropped in and wasn't actually still. Well, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_04 20:33

It was just like displaced.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

I mean, crazy to steal a trophy.

SPEAKER_04 20:36

Do you think they knighted pickles after that? He should be Sir Pickles. That's what happens when you're knighted. You become a sir. Apparently, the dog became very famous. He might be sir.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

We'll look into that.

SPEAKER_04 20:48

All right.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

Do you have any questions about soccer? Other than everything?

SPEAKER_04 20:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Why and how?

SPEAKER_03 20:56

Oh, then let's go back. Yeah. Yeah, let's start over. It's the closest thing outside the Olympics that the world has of a shared event.

SPEAKER_04 21:07

Sort of like love of the sport and love of country.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

And everybody is able to participate except us Americans.

SPEAKER_04 21:15

Well, that's not true that everybody participates because some countries don't make it.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

The ones that suck. It's like the Olympics, March Madness, a family reunion, international therapy, and a bar fight all in one.

SPEAKER_04 21:31

The World Cup has mascots.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Sick.

SPEAKER_04 21:34

Because even the Olympics have a mascot. Kind of.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Does it have a big old belly?

SPEAKER_04 21:40

It's like each country's represented by a mascot. So the Canadian mascot, you can guess what it is.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

A maple leaf.

SPEAKER_04 21:49

It is named maple, but it's a moose, right? Yes, maple the moose. Mexico's is a jaguar. Are there jaguars in Mexico?

SPEAKER_03 21:58

I'm guessing yes.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Okay, well, it's Zayu the Jaguar.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Sweet.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

America's is the best, both in name and animal.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

America's World Cup mascot, the reveal.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

This is breaking.

SPEAKER_04 22:15

Let's build this up.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Yeah. What is it, Kelly?

SPEAKER_04 22:19

It's a bald eagle. What? Fierce.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Fierce.

SPEAKER_04 22:22

And its name is Clutch. So that was your fun uh break. I love mascots. Do you love mascots? Well. What's another mascot that you love?

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Give me a moment.

SPEAKER_04 22:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

I'll get back to you on that one, Kelly.

SPEAKER_04 22:39

I love mascots. I can't think of any right now.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Help me. Um. Who's gonna win?

SPEAKER_04 22:46

Who's gonna win?

SPEAKER_03 22:48

The World Cup prediction right here.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

A European country.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

Somebody that's playing.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

A team of men wearing matching kits.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

So projected to win. Disregard what I'm saying. Yes. Moving on.

SPEAKER_04 23:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

They'll win it with a ball. Yeah, they'll into a goal. Do you know what's crazy is that you can have a tie.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

Can you in World Cup?

SPEAKER_03 23:11

I don't know if in World Cup, but in soccer you can.

SPEAKER_04 23:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

A waste of two hours. If I watch two hours and it's a tie, I I'd ask for a refund. Well, you wouldn't get it. The point of competition is that somebody wins. Lame. All right. Here's who's gonna win. Projected Spain. Is that according to Calchi Don? Calci, yes. Our favorite prediction market. Okay. Uh Spain and France pretty much tied neck and neck, that they are the two favorites.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

So they might be the ones in the final.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

So European. They would actually face each other in earlier on. Earlier, yes. And the projected finals is Spain versus England. Can you even name me a Spanish lair?

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Carlos.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

I can't say no to that. I have Lamy Lermi how do you say his name? Lamin Yamal. Lamin. He's good. Yeah, he's great. Yes, it's Spain, France, England is the projected number third. Portugal. Do you know who plays for Portugal?

SPEAKER_04 24:18

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 24:19

Messi.

SPEAKER_04 24:20

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

I guess I better chuck my nose to make sure this is true. No. Oh my god, I was wrong. Portugal is Ronaldo.

SPEAKER_04 24:29

You should skip this now.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Messi is Argentina. We know nothing about soccer. You want to quiz?

SPEAKER_04 24:36

Yeah, quiz me. It's gonna go really well.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Guess the meaning.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

We'll start easy.

unknown 24:41

Pitch.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

The pitch is the field on which a soccer match is played. Nil. Well, nil means zero.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

You could also say zilch.

unknown 24:52

No.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

They don't say zilch. They say nil. Stop trying to change it. I'm gonna say zilch. It's zilch to zilch.

SPEAKER_04 25:00

Tiki taka. I have no idea. It's sound like food that you would eat at a soccer game.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

I'd like to order some tiki taka.

SPEAKER_04 25:08

Yeah, what is it?

SPEAKER_03 25:09

Tiki taka is a style of soccer built around quick, precise passing and constant movement.

SPEAKER_04 25:15

Oh, it's this. It's when they do this with their feet.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Whether we should be doing another.

SPEAKER_04 25:20

That's what Americans don't appreciate.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

Uh clean sheet.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Starting over.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

It's when they get no dirt on their jersey.

SPEAKER_04 25:27

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

No, I'm kidding. That's not what it is.

SPEAKER_04 25:30

I was gonna say that makes perfect sense.

SPEAKER_03 25:32

Clean sheet is when a team gives up no goals.

SPEAKER_04 25:36

You mean nil?

SPEAKER_03 25:37

Nil.

SPEAKER_04 25:38

Zilch?

SPEAKER_03 25:39

Zilch. Park the bus.

SPEAKER_04 25:41

For God's sake, Don. Uh score. They're saying to score already.

SPEAKER_03 25:47

Park the bus is a soccer term that means everybody's gonna play defense. It's to generally protect the lead.

SPEAKER_04 25:56

So if they ride the bus, are they playing offense?

SPEAKER_03 26:00

Man, you should be a soccer announcer.

SPEAKER_04 26:02

Maybe you crashed the bus.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

That's when everyone just quits. Yeah. That was a great quiz, and you did better than I expected. I did. Yeah, you got nil right. Let's hear the verdict. What is the question? Is 2026 the year America says, fine, we care?

SPEAKER_04 26:19

Um, no. I think that this will be an example of Americans' attention span. It's kind of like F1. F1 got its foot in the door here, but like I feel like it's sputtering. It's not like fully going.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

That was a pun.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

I know it had to do with cars. That was good, Don.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

Thanks.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

Are you gonna watch the final?

SPEAKER_04 26:45

Well, I'm gonna watch the halftime of the final. Beyond that, I cannot say because I'm a very busy person. What about you?

SPEAKER_03 26:52

I am interested barely. Barely. You know what?

SPEAKER_04 26:56

I'm interested minimally interested.

SPEAKER_03 26:59

Here's for me to fall in love with soccer. I want some nachos, I want some beer, I want to sit down with the boys, and we'll sit down from the very beginning. And I want some good commercials. If during this soccer match there's no good commercials, I'm out. So yes, I'm in it with all the accoutrement.

SPEAKER_04 27:19

So you need to have all of these accessories to make it worth your while.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

Yeah. And then I'll give it a shot.

SPEAKER_04 27:25

Do you think that nationally it's going to start to take off this year?

SPEAKER_03 27:32

I think we will start to care if they go super deep. If they do get out in round 16, I think people are like, cool, whatever. Don and Kelly versus the AI. Is 2026 the year America finally cares about soccer? And Chat GPT says, probably not.

SPEAKER_04 27:51

Ah, see.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

They have been predicting this every four years since the 1970s. And maybe the year soccer becomes permanently normal. Right now it's really weird. You're not going to be the weirdo if you like soccer. Shall we give it time, Kelly?

SPEAKER_04 28:06

Yeah, let's give it time. What do you predict is going to catch on or happen?

SPEAKER_03 28:13

June 15th, 2025 was the very first Two Awesome People podcast.

SPEAKER_04 28:23

Hot diggity.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Happy one year anniversary.

SPEAKER_04 28:27

What are we giving it time to?

SPEAKER_03 28:29

Oh, this is gonna catch on.

SPEAKER_04 28:31

Predicting right now to give it time.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Two awesome people is going to catch on. It may take a few years, but it's catching on. That's my prediction. And happy one year anniversary. Hi Fi. I mean, we've been at it for a year.

SPEAKER_04 28:45

We have been at it. We've been talking to each other.

SPEAKER_03 28:48

Wanted to murder each other along the way.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

Well, a few times, but we continue to talk.

SPEAKER_03 28:53

And it's fun.

SPEAKER_04 28:54

It can be fun.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

Thank you for exercising your freedom of speech with me, Kelly.

SPEAKER_04 28:58

Thanks, Don. Thanks for letting me.

SPEAKER_03 29:00

Yeah. What is your give it time?

SPEAKER_04 29:02

I wanted to recognize the fact that our oldest son is graduating from middle school. Um, and so he's on his way to high school. So I would say give it time. That's gonna be awesome.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

How does it feel to have a high schooler?

SPEAKER_04 29:16

I feel very old. Um, but I also feel like a cool old person because I am.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

You are.

SPEAKER_04 29:24

Do you have anything that you want to recommend to these fine listeners?

SPEAKER_03 29:28

One last thing. Okay. I read this great book called Playground by Richard Powers. It uh is a very interesting book. If you've read tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, it's similar to that um in terms of a world that's virtual, but it also heavily discusses kind of the effects of humanity on earth in a very interesting way. And I would recommend it to all. It is a fictional book.

SPEAKER_04 29:59

That was a very sincerely and seriously put recommendation.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

It's weird. I hadn't read a book like that.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

I wanted to recommend um a baking website.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

We like to bake in our house.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

I love to bake. I love to bake simple things. And there's this woman named Sally, and she has a baking addiction. And her website's called Sally's Baking Addiction. And she has really good recipes. I've made lots of things off of there, and I don't think any of them have been bad. So I recommend Sally's Baking Addiction.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

Kelly, thank you for talking to me this week.

SPEAKER_04 30:36

Thank you for listening and talking to me, Dawn.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

Yeah, thank you all for listening and uh or watching. Please subscribe, share, leave us a review.

SPEAKER_04 30:45

Yell goal again.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

We'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_04 30:51

Bye.