The Second Captains Podcast

We’re less than an hour away from the big kick-off at World Cup 2026, Ken is at the Azteca and we are having a blast on the World Service this week. You’ll hear from Ken all tournament long and Branno’s gonna join him in a few days time.

Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. To listen to all our World Cup programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. It costs 5 euro a month, there’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, and helping us send Ken and Branno to America.
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Ireland are preparing for one of the biggest nights in the history of women’s football in this country… but yet again, off-field issues threaten to overshadow our winner-take-all match against France in Grenoble tomorrow night.

The FAI have released a statement saying no official announcement will be made until Thursday, but today government sources state that our home game against Israel in October will now be played at a neutral venue.

Gavin Cooney of the Irish Times joins us from France to go through the significance of this news and to analyse Ireland's chances of beating France and securing a place at the World Cup.
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The Munster and Leinster hurling finals didn’t eliminate anyone from this year’s All-Ireland championships, but judging by the on-pitch celebrations, winning them really, really mattered for Limerick and Galway.

Joe Canning and Jamie Wall tell us why Cork can have few complaints about their 1-point defeat to Limerick… and is there a chance Galway spoil the Munster re-match in July’s All-Ireland final?

We discuss Katie's half time walk-on in Croker, the best fans in the world, and Murph’s shameful and boastful post-match behaviour.

And there's Andy Farrell’s new forever contract with Ireland; as this generation begin to retire, can he get more from the next group coming through?
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We're just one week out from the World Cup and we're starting to feel it.

First stop for Ken is Mexico City early next week, but before he went he gave us a special World Cup edition of KenCall!

This week we also had Tim Vickery on Ancelotti's source code for coaching and how old injured legends Neymar and Messi will fare in the heat. Plus there's Mbappe's defensive stats, who Ken is supporting and Madrid men stirring the pot.

Click the player at the top of the page to play this best of show. To listen to all our World Cup programming throughout the rest of the summer, join the Second Captains World Service. It costs 5 euro a month plus VAT, there’s no contracts, no hidden fees, no sign up fee, no ads and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led.
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Arsenal went to Budapest surfing a tidal wave of hope and joy, and finished losing on penalties after one shot on target in more than two hours of play. Less than Inter managed losing 5-0 last year, and less than Arsenal themselves managed against Barcelona in 2006, when they played most of the match with ten men.

Did Mikel Arteta's best-laid plans nearly come off - or did the plan ultimately get between them and the chance of a first Champions League title?

We also talk about Arne Slot, whose two seasons at Liverpool came to an end a few hours before kick-off in Budapest. What he did right, what he did wrong, the things that happened that were beyond his control, and the things that didn't happen that maybe weren't. Can the apparent successor, Andoni Iraola, realistically do any better without major reinforcements to the squad?
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