The EURO 2024 final is upon us, and DAN BARDELL of Sky Sports and TalkSPORT returns to the show this week to preview ENGLAND vs SPAIN. Together we make the case that Gareth Southgate is among the very best England managers of all time, and Dan describes the unique joy of watching Ollie Watkins’ winner in the semifinal as a lifelong Aston Villa fan.

We also discuss the stress of watching players from your club team play international tournaments, Xavi Simons' wondergoal and the Netherlands' fine tournament, whether the French will be kicking themselves—and Didier Deschamps—about how they approached this competition, and of course Lamine Yamal's thunderbolt to crack their vaunted defense. Then there's some talk about how England might deal with the threat of Yamal and Nico Williams, the midfield battle between Rice and Rodri, and our unrelenting FOMO having missed out on a trip to Germany.

If you're enjoying The Football Weekend, please give us a rating and leave a review on this podcast platform! It will help spread the word to more fans who might like a big match preview to start their Fridays.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The quarterfinals kick off at EURO 2024 on Friday with SPAIN vs GERMANY and FRANCE vs PORTUGAL, before ENGLAND and SWITZERLAND meet Saturday and the NETHERLANDS face TÜRKIYE shortly after to round out the last eight.

Joining us to preview this sweet schedule of seismic sporting encounters is CARL ANKA, a staff writer for The Athletic. He covers Manchester United during the club season but was deployed to Germany for the group stage of this competition and has some wonderful stories to tell from on the ground at the EUROs. We also covered Cristiano Ronaldo's tearful and torrid time in the Round of 16, the largely disappointing performances from Kylian Mbappé's France and Gareth Southgate's England, the exemplary coaching of Murat Yakin for the Swiss national team, Cody Gakpo's transformation when he represents his nation as opposed to his club, and Türkiye's distinction as this tournament's great entertainers.

If you're enjoying The Football Weekend, please give us a rating and leave a review on this podcast platform! It will help spread the word to more fans who might like a big match preview to start their Fridays.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Copa América quarterfinals begin Thursday with Lionel Messi's ARGENTINA against ECUADOR, while the marquee match of the round comes last: BRAZIL vs URUGUAY.

Joining the show to preview both—and the two other matches in between—is ALEXIS GUERREROS of The Cooligans podcast and Morning Footy on the CBS Sports Golazo Network. We also spared some time for the USA's disastrous group-stage exit from the tournament and Gregg Berhalter's future with the U.S. Men's National Team, COLOMBIA's fine performance at this Copa and their fans traveling in force, Jesse Marsch's revenge tour with CANADA, and the general vibe that Copa América is the EUROs after dark.

If you're enjoying The Football Weekend, please give us a rating and leave a review on this podcast platform! It will help spread the word to more fans who might like a big match preview to start their Fridays.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.