In the series finale of 22 Goals, Brian looks back at one of soccer's most momentous beginnings: the childhood and early career of Pelé, the player who defined the modern game. From his origins as a barefoot boy playing soccer on the streets of Brazil to his breakout performance at the 1958 World Cup, when he was just 17, we'll explore Pelé's breathtaking rise to stardom—the story that, more than any other, made the World Cup what it is today.

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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How did soccer become "the beautiful game"? What does it mean for a game to be beautiful? Brian looks back at Brazil's 1970 World Cup team, a team that starred Pelé in his prime, and a goal that introduced millions to the ideal of o jogo bonito during the first World Cup ever broadcast on color TV.  

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA 

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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After confessing a truly embarrassing secret—so embarrassing, oh my God—Brian looks back at the English Golden Generation, one of the most celebrated and reviled groups of athletes ever. It's a nonstop carnival of toxic tabloids, broken metatarsals, amazing hair (David Beckham), slightly less amazing hair (Wayne Rooney)—oh, and Michael Owen's sensational 1998 goal against Argentina, the moment when all the madness began. 

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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With the two greatest players of their generation playing in what may be their final World Cup campaigns, Brian revisits their best moments in the tournament. We'll also talk about the most riveting athlete rivalries in sports. How did Messi and Ronaldo come to be as inextricably linked as Bird and Magic, Ali and Frazier, and Federer and Nadal? And does it really matter whether they ever win a World Cup? 

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA 

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese 

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As the U.S. men's national team gears up for its first game of the 2022 World Cup, Brian remembers Landon Donovan's last-gasp winner against Algeria in 2010. We'll talk about the elusiveness of joy, the magical consistency of the U.S. women's team, and the many wonderful ways in which Donovan's goal made American fans lose their minds.  

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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Brian discusses the special charms of the long-range bomb. What makes long-distance goals so thrilling? Why are they more fun when they're scored by players who rarely take a shot? We'll discuss Giovanni van Bronckhorst's screamer against Uruguay in 2010, soccer stars who are also Maoist radicals (until they appear in McDonald’s commercials), and whether words are a useful way to describe soccer goals. Also: a trip to the dentist! 

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brian revisits the first goal ever scored at a World Cup. We'll explore the origins of the tournament, palace intrigue between FIFA and the English FA, and the French factory worker who sailed across the Atlantic in 1930 to write his name in World Cup history. Also: how a virulent form of coffee fungus accidentally helped create the greatest sporting event on earth.

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA  

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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Brian looks at the life and legacy of the magnetic, balletic, and baffling Dutch midfielder Johan Cruyff, who helped transform soccer in the 1960s and ’70s by ushering in the era of Total Football. How did a team that failed to win the World Cup become more influential than many teams that won? Also: Does Bob Dylan know how to drive? A very special ‘22 Goals’ investigation. 

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA  

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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A double-goal episode! Brian compares two of the most sublime moments in World Cup history: Argentina's elaborate team goal against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 and James Rodríguez's stunning solo strike against Uruguay in 2014. Which type of goal better expresses the essence of soccer? We'll also discuss French swashbucklers, midfielders who hate running, and giant grasshoppers that may or may not come from outer space. 

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA. 

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese.

Just for fun: here is a video of a giant grasshopper landing on James Rodriguez.

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Brian explores the beautiful life and violent death of Andres Escobar, the great Colombian defender who was murdered after scoring an own goal at the 1994 World Cup. Escobar has become a symbol to millions. But how can we find the person underneath the martyr?

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA 

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

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Brian tries to contain his glee as he unfolds the story of the greatest upset in World Cup history: the United States' 1-0 win over a massively favored England in 1950. We'll talk about goalkeepers who drive hearses, midfielders who wear boxing gloves on the pitch, and the Haitian accounting student who scored perhaps the most shocking goal of all time.

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Devon Renaldo, Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins and Vikram Patel 

Sound Design and Original Music: Devon Renaldo 

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

Match footage from FIFA

Also available in Spanish and Portuguese

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices