Qualification Drama

Rog and Rory Smith break down a dramatic end to qualifying across the globe. They start with Italy’s stunning playoff collapse and what it says about the future of one of football’s traditional powers, before turning to Turkey’s growing threat and what it means for the USA ahead of their group stage meeting. From there, the focus widens to stories like Iraq’s emotional return and DR Congo’s breakthrough underline both the chaos and meaning of qualification. Plus, England’s attacking questions and whether Max Dowman could factor into the squad. Presented by Christopher Ward. To celebrate our partnership with Men in Blazers, Christopher Ward is giving one lucky soccer fan the chance to win any Trident watch of their choice. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello Rank Squad! This international break gave us what we've been waiting for - the final names locked in for this summer's World Cup field. 48 nations have locked and loaded their spots in the biggest tournament in world football. Perhaps the biggest one missing though, once again, is Italy - with the Azzurri beaten on penalties by Bosnia & Herzegovina to make it three World Cups in a row that they have now missed out on qualification for. We break down that game, as well as Czechia's penalty shootout win over Denmark; Sweden's dramatic late show against Poland; and Türkiye's ground out 1-0 win over Kosovo; as the final European nations booked their places, before heading onwards to take a look at some of our favourite things from the now-set group stages. We take a peek at where the biggest upsets could come, the Group of Death, the Group of Life, where the goals will come, where the chaos will come and who has the most to lose, within the 12 groups of four; before rounding things off with the games you cannot miss in that first round of fixtures. 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? (http://patreon.com/ranksfc) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Friday's Football Daily, Phillip Egan brings you news Chiedozie Ogbene's new perspective on life after his long-term injury, plus Paddy McCarthy believes that this Ireland group are on the cusp of something special. Stephen Kelly says be careful what you wish for when it comes to saying goodbye Daniel Levy. Andy Robertson wants the Scots to go for it. Wales triumph the Kazakh test. Venezuela miss out on automatic qualification, but Paraguay qualify. And an emotional night in Buenos Aires as Leo Messi says goodbye. Become a member and subscribe at offtheball.com/join