First Touch ’26 World Cup Daily Show Opening Day

About this episode

The episode features predictions and analysis for the opening day of the 2026 World Cup.

The day has finally arrived and Susannah Fuller, Matt Doyle and David Gass give you all their fun soccer picks and predictions heading into the 2026 World Cup. They talk a little US and Canada with a special tactical breakdown from Doyle and a special World Cup simulation before the crew previews the first games of the tournament: Mexico against South Africa and a showdown between South Korea and Czechia. 0:00 Intro 4:53 1 Wish for this World Cup 9:36 The Tourney Favorites 15:40 The Dark Horses 22:00 Vibes SC Picks 26:26 Football Manager World Cup simulation 30:15 Talkin’ USMNT 35:57 Canada’s Prospects 40:07 Doyle’s Tactical Segment 43:52 Mexico vs. South Africa 53:15 South Korea vs. Czechia 59:55 Declan Rice Sunburn

People in this episode

Guests: Susannah Fuller, Matt Doyle, David Gass

Topics covered

• 2026 World Cup
• soccer predictions
• tactical analysis
• team previews
• match simulations

Keywords

• World Cup
• soccer
• predictions
• tactics
• Mexico
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Czechia

Mentioned in this episode

Places: US, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czechia

More episodes of Kickback '26

• First Touch ’26 World Cup Daily Show: USA & Canada Kick Off · June 12, 2026 · 1h 7m
• First Touch Dispatch Presented by Soccer.com | Ep. 6 · June 10, 2026 · 16 min
• 2026 World Cup Golden Boot Draft presented by Soccer.com · June 8, 2026 · 40 min
• World Cup Storylines We Can't Wait to Watch - Ep. 16 First Touch Weekly Presented by Soccer.com · June 4, 2026 · 34 min
• First Touch Dispatch Presented by Soccer.com | Ep. 5 · June 3, 2026 · 14 min
• World Cup Expectations, Rosters and Favorites - Ep. 15 First Touch Weekly Presented by Soccer.com · May 28, 2026 · 29 min