God Of football

Chapter 1012: The Biggest It’s Ever Been!

In anticipation of the World Cup, ESPN produced a one-off segment primarily to discuss and explore the tournament as well as the possibilities it could bring.

Behind the pundit table, where the screens were, the groups for the tournament showed, listed with their respective members.

GROUP A — Mexico / South Korea / South Africa / Czechia

GROUP B — Canada / Switzerland / Qatar / Bosnia & Herzegovina

GROUP C — Brazil / Morocco / Scotland / Haiti

GROUP D — United States / Australia / Paraguay / Turkey

GROUP E — Germany / Ecuador / Ivory Coast / Curaçao

GROUP F — Netherlands / Japan / Tunisia / Sweden

GROUP G — Belgium / Egypt / Iran / New Zealand

GROUP H — Spain / Uruguay / Saudi Arabia / Cape Verde

GROUP I — France / Senegal / Norway / Iraq

GROUP J — Argentina / Austria / Algeria / Jordan

GROUP K — Portugal / Colombia / Uzbekistan / DR Congo

GROUP L — England / Croatia / Ghana / Panama

Being one with an invitation, Gary Lineker stared at the graphic as he thought about his words.

And to his left sat Selin Çelik, the lady amongst them who was going to be the host.

"Right," she said finally.

"Forty-eight teams and twelve groups in total. This is the biggest World Cup in the history of the competition."

She looked at the two other people sitting across from her, Seedorf to her left, and Drogba beside Seedorf.

Then she glanced at Gary Lineker.

"Where do we start?"

"Spain," Lineker said, without hesitating.

Hearing that, Selin gave a small scoff before continuing.

"We haven’t even discussed the format yet."

"The format is fine, Selin. Let’s move on to Spain."

Drogba laughed at the interaction between the duo while Seedorf nodded like he approved of Lineker’s words.

"Group H," Selin said resignedly a moment later while gesturing toward the screen.

"Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde. Go on then, Gary. The floor is yours."

"Thanks, Selin," Gary said while ignoring the smug look on the former’s face.

"Uruguay are a good side," Lineker began.

"I want to say that first because I don’t want to be disrespectful. Núñez, Valverde, Araujo, Bentancur and a lot of very good players that make a real defence, midfield, and a real attack. But Spain are going to win this group, and everyone in this room or watching knows it. But that’s not the conversation."

"What is the conversation?" Selin asked, and Drogba said simply.

"Izan,"

"Yeah," Lineker said.

"I must say that he’s one of the very few players that I could watch without end. I have been finding ways to talk about the kid, to convey what I am seeing," Drogba continued, leaning forward slightly with his elbows on the desk, "but I still haven’t found it. A hundred and twenty goals last season. I mean, what more do we have to say?"

"He’s walking into this tournament as a player who’s been one of the very best in the world since he made his debut at 15, some 3 years ago and in 2 of those 3 years, he’s been the best player in the world, even though people hate to admit it."

Selin, watching Drogba go on, sighed a moment after the Ivorian legend finished before turning to the other legend of the game, Seedorf, who hadn’t really spoken much.

"Well, what do you think, Mr Seedorf?"

Seedorf smiled, thanking Selin for the platform while some of the season’s highlights of Izan showed on the screens around.

"You know, Selin, there is always a formula with great players, and when there isn’t, there’s some sort of mechanism when you watch them play and do all those incredible things."

"With Izan, I watch him, and I still can’t always tell you how he did it after it’s happened."

"As Didier emphasised, he’s done it all before even turning 19. The Ballon d’Or. The euro’s. He’s won the sextuple and also won the quintuple this season," Seedorf continued.

"If he plays anything close to the level that we’ve seen before, at this World Cup, we are going to be talking about it for the rest of our lives."

Selin let that sit for a second.

Then: "Right. Let’s go through the rest of these. Argentina."

The table shifted.

"Group J," Seedorf said, looking at the bracket.

"Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan. It’s tough, but I think Argentina are going to go through, even with Messi in doubt for the World Cup. I personally wish he comes back to see if he can make it 2 before he hangs up the boots, but if he doesn’t play, it’s all good too."

"What about the other teams in the group. Austria are better than their seeding suggests," Selin said.

"Sabitzer, Alaba if he’s fit, Arnautovic with something to prove. They’ll make Argentina work in the group."

"Argentina still win it," Lineker said.

"Comfortably," Seedorf added.

The personalities went on, talking about a few more groups before they arrived again, at another behemoth.

Lineker turned to the screen.

"France."

Drogba exhaled, shaking his head like he was even tired of talking about them, but he still went on to talk.

"On paper, France have one of the most capable squads in the tournament, especially with their attack, and I feel that they would be the ones to threaten Spain. Mbappé at twenty-seven and hungrier than ever. Backing him is the resurgent Ousman Dembele, as well as others like Bradley Barcola, Ryan Cherki, Michael Olise, Hugo Ekitike and Desrie Doue."

"They also have a somewhat solid defence and workhorse midfield to match. Spain may have the best player in the tournament, but France have no weak links. They are unbeatable on paper, but that’s just it."

"But," Lineker said while looking at Drogba.

"Yes, this is France." Drogba spread his hands.

"2021 Euros, they went out in the round of sixteen to Switzerland. To Switzerland. With Benzema, Mbappé and Griezmann in the same team. In the 2022 final against Argentina, they came back from two goals down in the last twenty minutes and still lost on penalties. There is something about France in tournaments that—" He searched for the word.

"Resists logic," Selin offered.

"Resists logic. Yes. Exactly." He pointed at her. "That."

"The difference this time," Seedorf interjected, "is that Mbappé knows. He genuinely knows this might be his last real chance at it. He’ll be thirty-one by 2030, which is possible but not guaranteed at that level. And a Mbappé who is truly, properly motivated is a frightening prospect."

While this went on, the television in the common room at the Baylor School complex had been left on alone.

Nobody was watching it particularly, maybe just two kit staff passed through, one of them glancing up at the screen long enough to catch Seedorf saying Spain, because of Izan, before heading back into the corridor.

The complex was still quiet as the players were still sleeping or were just waking up.

They needed to enjoy it because it was going to be rare when the tournament really got into full swing!