The Road to World Cup 2026, Vol. 1

Felipe Cárdenas of The Athletic joins the show to scout North and South America's national teams.

The 2026 World Cup in North America is less than a year away, and while the club season has now kicked off in earnest, we'll have a number of international breaks before the big show. Each one is an opportunity to take stock of the various national teams across (nearly) every continent and see who’s on their way to the United States, Canada, and Mexico next summer.

We’ll take those opportunities with a series of shows in those windows where club football is on hiatus, and joining up for the inaugural edition is Felipe Cárdenas, senior writer for The Athletic covering national teams across North and South America.

We got into the U.S. Men’s National Team, Mauricio Pochettino’s performance, and the controversy around this summer’s Gold Cup; Lionel Messi’s last ride with Argentina and his chance to add a line to his resumé that could really settle all debates; Carlo Ancelotti’s bid to put the icing on his own cake with Brazil; Chile and Colombia’s struggles; Bolivia’s 13,000-foot home field advantage; and how Mexico and Canada are setting up as hosts:

(And to come clean: I mispronounced Felipe’s last name in the intro! Ignore my “ñ.” We learn.)

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A few matches worth your time this weekend…

DENMARK vs SCOTLAND

Fri @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

If you’re seeking The Early Weekend, this one could be a decent scrap in World Cup qualifying. Both these squads have some very good players, even if they’re lacking genuine world-class quality. (To be fair, Scott McTominay was named Serie A player of the year in May!)

For storylines with juice in this same match window, check SLOVENIA vs SWEDEN (a Premier League-transfer-saga-strike-partnership in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres?) or ITALY vs ESTONIA (the four-time world-champion hosts are at risk of missing out on a third straight World Cup and have hired Gennaro Gattuso to save their pancetta).

TÜRKIYE vs SPAIN

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

These are two of the most entertaining teams around. Spain are the best around, of course, but Türkiye were the greatest show on Earth at EURO 2024 and have bags of talent where it matters. There will be goals.

ECUADOR vs ARGENTINA

Tues @ 7pm ET

Felipe and I got into it in this week’s show, but Ecuador are a very good side, among the best prepared among the South American nations to give the mighty Argentines a game. The visitors may be in rotation mode with everything locked up already, but this could be fun.

Half an hour later, there’s that BOLIVIA vs BRAZIL match that we also discussed on the show, where Carlo Ancelotti will have to lead his star-studded squad into battle at 13,000 feet. And half an hour after that, at 8pm Eastern, JAMAICA vs TRINIDAD & TOBAGO is a potentially crucial match to see who will represent the Caribbean at the World Cup next summer.