Qualifying Campaign

Adam Elder, the author of "New Kids in the World Cup," joins Belz to talk about the pivotal 1990 World Cup qualifying campaign and the team that went to Italia '90. We mourn the end of the Concacaf qualifying gauntlet, discuss John Harkes' photographic memory, cover the press corps' antagonism to soccer in the 1980s, the genesis of the music video on the beach, and much h more.

Welcome back to It Was What It Was. In today's episode, co-hosts Rob Draper and Jonathan Wilson continue Graham Taylor’s England story as the 1994 World Cup qualifying begins to wobble, with Paul Gascoigne’s talent and volatility dominating the narrative. They examine how Taylor’s pragmatic, direct style—shaped by lower-league realities and later linked (often unfairly) to FA long-ball doctrine—collided with more technical European approaches, and how internal battles involving Charles Hughes and data pioneer Charles Reap poisoned the backdrop. England’s campaign lurches through a Norway draw at Wembley after a late stunner, a Gascoigne-inspired win over Turkey, and a damaging 2–2 draw with the Netherlands featuring an undetected elbow and a late penalty. With Gascoigne returning in a mask, England then stumble in a hostile Poland away match and escape with a late equaliser, before Taylor’s brutal “headless chickens” verdict leaves his team heading to Oslo under growing pressure. 00:24 Setting the Scene 03:08 Taylor’s Pragmatic Roots 06:50 Pressing vs Possession 10:04 Charles Hughes and the Winning Formula 13:55 Reap vs Hughes Fallout 19:31 Norway’s Long Ball Irony 21:59 Back to Qualifying Hopes 24:10 Gazza’s Norway Controversy 26:50 Taylor’s Gaza Dilemma 28:22 Norway Opener Heartbreak 30:53 Turkey Win and Dependence 32:53 Too Honest With Press 40:12 Dutch Clash at Wembley 44:13 Mask Return and Mania 45:52 Poland Chaos and Critique 49:03 Headless Chickens Finale Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Lions of Mesopotamia have waited 40 years to return to the World Cup and they have had to do it the hard way If anyone deserves the chance to celebrate Iraq’s return to the World Cup it is Aymen Hussein and not just because the striker scored the winning goal in the final intercontinental playoff against Bolivia on Tuesday. Born and raised in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a region affected first by war and then by Islamic State, Hussein lost his father in an al-Qaeda attack in 2008. Six years later his brother disappeared and the young footballer was then forced to flee with the remaining members of his family. Football provided Hussein with a way out and hope. Now he has given his country, one that is recovering from recent horrors but still susceptible to the general regional instability as current events show, one of the happiest moments in its recent history.

OTB's Kathleen McNamee caught up with 3 of the Republic of Ireland WNT's stars following a heartbreaking defeat to The Netherlands in Utrecht on Saturday night. Firstly hear from Anna Patten, who got fouled in the build-up to the penalty that gave the Girls in Green their only goal of the match. Then hear from Caitlin Hayes as she reflects on a 'gutting' defeat and lastly hear from Amber Barrett who sees the positive side as the team looks to bounce back and stay in Group A of the Nations League. Republic of Ireland football on Off The Ball with Cadbury | #PaintMarchGreen #CadburySupporterAndAHalf

Clayton and James discuss the England reign of Fabio Capello, that began after England had failed to qualify for The European Championship and ended four years later after a successful campaign to qualify for the same tournament. The end came after Capello's captain had been stripped by the FA of the captaincy for off the field misdemeanors, which came a couple of years after Capello had stripped the same player, John Terry, for other off field problems. Those issues with Terry feature in the conversation and there's coverage of the highs and lows on the field as England sought revenge against Croatia in their attempts to qualify for the 2010 World Cup before being humbled miserably by Germany in the Last 16. Tomorrow on Planet FPL: The Clayton and James Show Today on Patreon: An England Quiz and Clayton's research on if heading should be banned For the full Planet FPL schedule this week, including our offering on Patreon view this post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/schedule-oct-113945416 Want to become a member of our FPL community and support the Podcast? Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/planetfpl Follow James on Twitter/x: https://twitter.com/PlanetFPLPod Follow Suj on Twitter/x: https://twitter.com/sujanshah Follow Clayton on Twitter/x: https://twitter.com/claytsAFC Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PlanetFPL Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/planetfpl Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planetfpl #England #ThreeLions #Capello Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

El Salvador coach, former USMNT midfielder Hugo Pérez and World Cup veteran Hugo Pérez joins the guys to talk about La Selecta's qualifying campaign, his thoughts about the Concacaf teams heading to Qatar in November, and more! In Soccer We Trust is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow the In Soccer We Trust team on Twitter: @ISWTPod, @JimmyConrad, @heathpearce, @CharlieDavies9, @PartidoPooper Watch In Soccer We Trust on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh4tni-ICN9z0eMIPcf2r2g Subscribe to the In Soccer We Trust podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/InSoccerWeTrust For more soccer coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse breakdown the last USMNT World Cup Qualifying games vs. Mexico, Panama, and look at why the U.S. has pretty much qualified ahead to the Costa Rica game (5:40). Later the guys take a look at the rest of the world including Italy’s failure to qualify to the World Cup, CONMEBOL as well as CAF qualifying, and look ahead toward the World Cup draw (29:52). Later we answered your questions about why this Mexico team is so bad, Joe-Max Moore, and if Alexi Would ever go on Hot Ones in #AskAlexi (45:10). Finally Alexi caps the show with a look at Gregg Berhalter’s successful World Cup Qualifying campaign and why the USMNT head coach deserves more respect (1:01:43). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices