Can Soccer Save the World?

Can Soccer Save the World?

July 12, 2026 · 52 min · Episode 1184

About this episode

Gary Lineker joins Tommy to discuss the excitement and challenges surrounding America's World Cup and the future of U.S. soccer.

How is the world reacting to America's World Cup? Did Trump's red card interference ruin all the fun? And will the U.S. men's national team ever be good? Gary Lineker, host of The Rest Is Football and English soccer legend, joins Tommy to talk about the excitement, anxiety, and geopolitics surrounding the 2026 World Cup. Gary offers some advice to America on how to become a true soccer nation, discusses the successes and failures of this World Cup, and reminisces about his time playing in the 1986 World Cup — where he won the Golden Boot and played in the historic "Hand of God" match. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here . For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

People in this episode

Host: Tommy

Guest: Gary Lineker

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Rest Is Football

Places: America, U.S.

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