Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmead here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out Collars Co., makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up. These shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look, but extremely comfortable polo feel.
You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect, whether it's in the office, on a golf course, or a night out. Collars Co. is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the 1 million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones.
You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out. They stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quarter zips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out collarsandco.com. Use promo code Brian for 15% off.
of any purchase of a hundred dollars or more. That's promo code BRIAN. Introducing Home Care Plus, a new subscription service from Lowe's that helps make life easier by giving members a hand with home maintenance. Let Lowe's tackle the tasks you keep meaning to do, like electric dryer vent cleaning, replacing hard-to-reach light bulbs, and more. Subscribe to Home Care Plus for just $99 a year and consider your to-do list done.
Members get more at Lowe's. Available in select zip codes only. Cancel anytime. Non-refundable fee. Product purchase required.
Terms and service restrictions apply. Details at Lowe's.com slash terms. Subject to change. Hey, we are back, everybody. Thanks so much for listening.
We close out the final half hour by talking about something that's going to be capturing the headlines shortly as we get set to the spring/slash summer, beginning in June and ending in July. In the middle of that, we celebrate our 250th birthday, and that is the World Cup. A guy that does not need an explanation or a calendar to figure out what's happening is the author of How Soccer Explains the World, an unlikely theory of globalization. It's got a brand new preface covering the 2026 World Cup. Franklin Four, author, joins us now.
Franklin, welcome. Hey, great to be here. All right, first off, are you pumped up for the World Cup as a fan, or are you so dug into each team and what they bring to the table you can't take a step back? No, of course. I mean, this is this is mana for heaven for a soccer fan.
It's going to be an interesting tournament because it's a much bigger field than they normally have for a World Cup. They've expanded it. It's spread across three countries. But You know, it's for me, this is a spectacle that transfixes me every four years. I do everything I can to avoid having to do my day job so that I can consume as much as possible.
Because, you know, as I wrote about in the book, the stakes are high, right? It's not just about the game on the field. There's always some other subtext in the rivalries where politics and history come into it, or subtext within individual countries where, I mean, we could talk about Iran, for instance, which is a fascinating story. I wrote about in my book, and it extends up and through the president. We aren't even sure if Iran is coming.
To this World Cup. But if they do, you know, fans back home in Iran are watching, you know, presumably, hopefully, you know, God willing, they'll have access to the internet and access to televisions to be able to watch these games. And the Iranian soccer team represents something other than the Islamic Republic. It represents a tradition of nationalism that goes back, that's much more secular. And every time Iran has entered the World Cup, there tends to be protests that take place that are, you know, because the whole world is watching, and because fans have this safety in a stadium.
You have diaspora fans from Los Angeles who presumably will be coming in to watch these games. They'll be able to hold up signs. There's a sense of solidarity with the outside world. And that's just one example. To me, of how as somebody who is interested in both politics and soccer, there's this tapestry on display that I just can't resist.
Absolutely, Franklin.
So, first off, if Iran says no, did we have another team slide in there? Because right now, they said they're not coming. If they have to play in the U.S., they only go to Mexico or Canada, as you know, we're sharing the World Cup with those two countries. But if they're out, they're just not going to leave a hole in a group, right? I mean, I don't know.
I mean, I there's there's a meeting that FIFA has, I think, coming up at the end of the month to discuss this. But but FIFA has said Iran has to play in the United States if they're going to play. There's no sliding them into Canada or Mexico.
So I was really disappointed with the results from the U.S. I know they're friendly games and you're playing your whole roster and they had 10 subs, but losing 5-2 to Belgium and then losing two days later in Atlanta, Franklin, I think for America to love this sport, the men got to get to the final eight, final four of my, I mean, We have international players now that are starting on leading clubs. This should not be a problem. What is missing? You know, and we have a great coach right now.
We have Mauricio Pachacino, a coach for Tottenham, was very successful, took a team to the finals of the Champions League, and he knows what he's doing. And my hope is that we're able to generate some home field advantage. You know, historically, host nations managed to go much further than they deserve to go in the course of the World Cup. But I think if we don't go to the Final Eight here, there's some real questions that need to be asked about the underlying structure of the way that we teach the game and we bring people in. It's not a question about athletic talent.
It's not like we're losing players to these other sports. There are real athletes on this team. And this is supposedly a golden generation for U.S.
soccer. I don't know who you're, you know, if they're players that you have particular attachment to, Brian. But, you know, you look at somebody like Pulisic, Christian Pulisik, who we've, you know, who's grown up. In our eyes, and we've we've been this great hope for the game, and he is an excellent player. Um, AC Milant starting and making a huge impact, guy scores.
Yeah, and he's surrounded by some pretty good players. But you look at the talent pool, it's still not quite there to compete at the highest level, in my opinion.
So we had Laois in here. He's always in all the time. He's the Barclay of soccer. But is there one advantage that they had? is that there was nowhere else for the int to go.
So they used to play together constantly, you know, and there was no MLS.
So they had such a unity with that unit, even though we didn't have the great depth.
So a lot of times these guys come from elsewhere and frankly tell me if you buy into this. There's such a look, people look down their nose at American soccer. And when you go internationally, they begin to look down their nose at American soccer as they become part of the European or part of that mix. And when they come back, they almost feel a little arrogance towards it. And if that, in fact, is the case, this is the coach that has to ground them in the red, white, and blue.
Yeah. Uh totally true. Um that I I think that when you go to Europe, there is um There is a snobbery that the Europeans have towards the American game. And there have been some extraordinary American coaches like Bob Bradley or Bruce Arena, who should have been coaching bottom, maybe not the top teams in the English Premier League, but they could be coaching like a Wolves or a Bournemouth or a team like that. And they never got the opportunity because there was never this faith.
That Americans could have mastered the game. I think it's different now because these guys have grown up in academies. Like, you know, Pulisic has been abroad since he was in his early teens. Tim Weya, you know, born in the United States, but he's been through the Paris-Saint-Germain Academy. These guys, I guess maybe the question that a lot of us is asking is: do they have any real connection to the badge, is what they call it, or the flag.
And I don't think that that's true. I think that for, you know, these guys have been part of the structure so long, it's acculturated. The prestige associated with being part of a national team is so immense. I can't believe that they're not. Fighting and trying their hardest for this country.
All right, I think we're ranked 14 of the world or something like that. I think we've got to be something like that.
So we look at the top teams, and people are complaining now about the price of tickets. Even though they're virtually sold out and there's a lottery to get them, do they have a legitimate complaint? Yeah. You know, I think that there is some mystery to the way that the pricing is happening, which I think is, I find, annoying. Like, if there's a price for a ticket, I want to know what that price for the ticket is.
I don't like the dynamic pricing where there's some algorithm dictating what you're going to have to pay for a game. And so, that to me reeks of kind of unfairness. But, you know, it's a spectacle everybody wants a piece of. I don't think we can complain too much about ticket prices being hefty because there's market demand for it. Yeah, and a plus comes back here first time since 94, and the last time was a runaway success.
So, when you look at what's happening here and people listening to us around the country on this show, we know the finals are going to be in New Jersey. Do you agree with this being the final stage and the choice? of uh of MetLife being the the venue. I mean, it's actually a classic soccer stadium in its way. I mean, you go back to the history of North American Soccer League in the 1970s, Pele played in that stadium.
I mean, New York City is, to me, kind of, you know, it is a capital of the world. It's a capital of North America in its way. I don't have any problem with it.
So, President, you point out one of your columns, Franklin Four, as our guest. President's into soccer. I mean, I was at the championship game, and you also point out that he did not leave the trophy ceremony. They collapsed around him. It was hysterical.
He didn't know what was going on, but he loved it. I got a chance to go and see his box and saw everyone surrounding him and was the who's who watching the club championship. And he loves the game. And I was actually at an event, at a game, and his brother, Robert, walked up to me and he says, Do you know that? The president's son, Baron, not the president, at that time he was apprentice.
He was hosting the apprentice. He goes, you know that, Donald, you know, my brother's son, Baron, really good player in these academies. That's before he became 6'11 or whatever, 6'9, he is now. But the family loves soccer, and Sir Melania loves soccer.
So this is a legitimate passion.
Well, it's actually, I mean, it's kind of there's some irony involved here because I think that there's been arguments about kind of is soccer a foreign sport or what it but I think having the President of the United States play this role kind of as a champion of the game is actually good for the game. I mean I think that it's going to it's gonna it's gonna play a role in helping grow an audience for soccer. I think his passion for it, he went and he would watch games in the 1970s in Giant Stadium. And I think having Barron there kind of stoking his interest in it. He's had Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi into the Oval Office, which is something I'm not sure there's a president before him who's had the greatest soccer players in the world into the West Wing.
Want to make the most of your tax refund? File with TurboTax on Intuit Credit Karma. They help you get your biggest refund and then we help you do more with it with a personalized plan designed to help you hit your money goals. Start filing today in the Credit Karma app. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.
So do like I did and have one of your assistants' assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com/slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 per three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra.
Fee full terms at mintmobile.com. Believe me, I spent my life.
So for some reason, I chose soccer at five years old. I played all the way through college, right?
So I was at Hofstra when the Cosmos were at Hofstra. Then they went to Randall's Island and Pele was there. And then to Giant Stadium.
So I would be explaining to people all the time, well, when you play soccer, you're playing all year round.
So I wasn't even playing other sports. And now to see the general public non-player. Like the sport, I feel like I'm, I never thought we should. Did you get to see Pele? Oh, yeah.
Did you see? Yeah, I saw him at Randall's Island. Where you saw dirt on the bumpy field. Yes. And he couldn't have been nicer.
This is another thing. I have no patience for superstars who don't like fans because I saw the world's most popular player at Randall's Island. And if people listen around the country, just know this is not a nice feel. And he was talking to the, and this guy's world famous, and he's signing until everybody was done. At at Randall's Island.
And, you know, he was getting his million dollars either way, and he couldn't have been a nicer guy.
So that's the standard I always hold superstars to. Yeah. Well, and I'm sure that played a role in your feelings towards the game that you got to see players here of that high a quality in a time when it was kind of a much more niche, obscure sport. And being able to see a player of the quality, you know, the greatest of all time, really. And I don't know if you would agree with me.
Or in Trump, President says the same thing, that Pele is the greatest of all time. I don't think that there's been a player who's matched his kind of creativity, his trickery. Uh is is just overall genius. And we had Alan Rothenberg on my Sunday show. And Sunday at 10 o'clock, we're going to be live this Sunday, at One Nation.
Just talk about how we got the World Cup here and how he helped launch the MLS. But as we look at this now, give me the top five. How does soccer define the character? The way a team plays to find the character of a country. Give me some examples of why you wrote the book the way you did.
Well, I mean, I was always fascinated that you have a country like England, for instance, which has this kind of very core identity. They invented, they believe they invented the game. They probably did invent the game. And that it's kind of been this expression of the stiff upper liftness. Of the English.
And so even now, when they have all these coaches from foreign countries there, these players from four countries, they still, when push comes to shove and they're pushed back, they have a style of playing that is about that stiff upper lip. They'll do the long ball. It's just like baked into the cultural DNA of that.
Now, contrast that with Brazil. Contrast that with Brazil. Yeah, so Brazil has this history of being kind of this, it's this multira racial country that has this history of the Samba. It's a total cliché. I feel almost stupid telling you Samba stalker, but it is the truth.
I mean, there is this way that the players are taught to move their hips, this trickery. It goes back to capoeira. You see it in the mixed martial arts. I mean, it is how they play. Right.
So, and when that's when they, no matter what generation it is, you know what you're getting. And then to see those styles emerge with the champion, even though it's the same game, the same. Same goal to score, the way they approach it is the character of their country. That's what I think gets people so enmeshed in the World Cup. It is something that I think as a soccer nation, the United States hasn't quite mastered.
Like, what is our you know, when Lawless played, when Lawless played, there was an identity because it was like this kind of scrappy underdog. Were these Americans who were outsiders, were rock and roll, were rebels. And that kind of gave, I mean, Lawless, if you remember him as a player with the kind of long beard, long red hair, there was this swashbuckling approach that we had. We might not have been the most skilled, but we were going to work like crazy. With the best keepers in the country because we're great with our hands, right?
Yeah, yeah, exactly. In the world. Exactly. Exactly. So you wrote a new forward for this book.
What what your focus is on this cop, right? It's on this cup, but it's also the way that the game has changed. I mean, so much, I mean, the game is this laboratory for looking at the world. And so you look at the way in which, in England, for instance, when I wrote the book more than 20 years ago, there were no owners from the Middle East. There weren't American private equity investors in the game.
And I mean, I think one of the things that's so interesting about the game is that you can have all of these changes to the economics. But it doesn't change people's relationships to their country or to their clubs. There is this fierce local attachment, this fierce patriotic attachment that people have that can't be conquered. And I will say this, Frank, when unfortunately I got to go, but I was there in 99 when the women had 101,000 at the Rose Bowl. I never thought we'd see that for a female sport, but it was just amazing.
And the atmosphere was fantastic. And the players were so approachable and likable. And that's going to be generational change. The World Cup, and it's great to be the best. America loves when you're the best.
We have the best women. Let's see if we can get contenders that are men. And Franklin, I guess you're going to go back to your day job, but thanks so much for doing what you're doing. It keeps soccer great. It's so much fun to talk to you because as I'm talking to you, I'm learning about all these moments.
We've touched soccer greatness, which is incredible. Absolutely. Thank you. Franklin Ford, go pick up his book. I know you probably have gotten it already if you're a soccer fan, but it's got a brand new preface covering the 2026 World Cup: How Soccer Explains the World, an Unlikely Theory of Globalization.
Franklin, go get him. Thanks so much. All right. Thank you.
