Libero has landed at the World Cup and we've even seen some football. We have everyone’s first impressions from the first week (or so) in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Both Tariq and Jonathan were in Mexico City for the opener, Jack and Miguel are ensconced in the England camp, while Rory and James are experiencing it from opposite sides of the USA, engaging in the greatest pastime of all: working out if America likes football or not. Tying it all together is John, who tells us the one thing the rest of us don’t know: whether anyone back home cares.

Initial impressions: (01:23)

Wilson and Tariq in Mexico: (13:11)

Tickets: (27:31)

Jack and Miguel in Kansas: (39:21)

Final thoughts: (52:59)

For this summer's main event, we are offering all new signups to SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, a two-week free trial. Time it right and that's two bonus episodes and four extended shows without paying a penny. Join now: liberopodcast.com.

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Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions

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The 2026 World Cup is upon us. The “biggest, most inclusive and best" football tournament ever is finally here . Gianni Infantino told us to say that. On today’s Libero, James Horncastle, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson look forward — if that’s the right word — to what is about to unfold across the United States, Mexico and Canada and try to pick their way through the politics and the problems to find some actual football.

P1: (01:15)

P2: (28:43)

We are offering all new signups to SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, a two-week free trial. Time it right and that's two bonus episodes and four extended shows without paying a penny. Join now: liberopodcast.com.

—

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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The 2026 World Cup has a class of elite coaching talent unlike any other tournament in history. Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti and Mauricio Pochettino will all be calling the shots for nations they are not from. There is a clear shift in the profile of managers willing to take jobs that were previously the preserve of international football specialists. Is this the start of a permanent trend shift for top coaches looking to escape the intensity of club football? Will they being able to adapt to a model where money cannot simply be thrown at a problem position. Jack Pitt-Brooke, John Brewin and Jonathan Wilson tackle this one.

P1: (01:56

P2: (26:26)

We are offering new members a two-week free trial of SC Libero⁠ on all pricing tiers, time it right and that's two bonus episodes and four extended shows without paying a penny. Join now: liberopodcast.com.

—

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions

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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will play at this World Cup despite a combined age of nearly 80. It is a credit to their commitment to football and, undoubtedly, improvements in sport science that the two defining players of the last 25 years are still going, but it also begs the question of why can't the game let go of these two superstars? Messi and Ronaldo are not the only players in the upper age bracket at this tournament, is that because there is a dearth of talent coming through? Or has the media landscape that allowed them to rise so high become more fragmented in the age of niche passions.

In the first of our World Cup series, James Horncastle, Rory Smith and Tariq Panja wrestle with these questions and more.

P1: (11:05)

P2: (26:46)

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Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Arsenal lost the Champions League final on Saturday night but it has still been an undeniably brilliant season and deserved to parade the Premier League trophy around north London in front of millions fans.

For the final Libero of the club season, Rory Smith and Miguel Delaney dial in direct from Budapest, before Jack Pitt-Brooke, John Brewin and Jonathan Wilson ask how Arsenal can make up the gap to PSG next season if they are to finally become European champions.

For the final Libero of the club season, Rory Smith and Miguel Delaney dial in direct from Budapest, before Jack Pitt-Brooke, John Brewin and Jonathan Wilson ask how Arsenal can make up the gap to PSG next season. Is it as simple as backing Mikel Arteta with greater attacking options?

And with Real Madrid and Manchester City both in transition, who can stop Arsenal and PSG from re-running this final in 12 months time? Finally, What can we expect from Liverpool, now that Arne Slot has gone and Andoni Iraola has been lined up to replace him.

P1: (06:04)

P2: (29:47)

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Produced by: Tom Bassam

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The Champions League final between PSG and Arsenal has a rare quality in this fixture: it pits clearly the two best teams in Europe against each other. Both clubs have had brilliant seasons, each winning their domestic league, adding to an epic feel for the game in Budapest, but the fixture has a sense of freshness, because Arsenal have never won this competition, and PSG won it for the first time last year.

On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Miguel Delaney and Jonathan Wilson ask why the finalists are only coming as powers in Europe now and whether there is a geographical explanation. With just three European cups between them, all of them in the last 15 years, why have London and Paris traditionally underperformed in this competition? And is that finally starting to change?

P1: (02:24)

P2: (27:55)

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Produced by: Tom Bassam

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The Premier League's final day confirmed Arsenal are champions, West Ham are going down and Sunderland are in the Europa League. But it also felt like one long goodbye: from Pep Guardiola to Mo Salah, via Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Andy Robertson. On today’s Libero, Rory Smith, Jonathan Wilson and our North London correspondent Tariq Panja ask how different the league will look without several of its defining figures, whether their farewells mark the end of a defined era, and what might come next.

P1: (03:01)

P2: (26:45)

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Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Pep Guardiola is leaving Manchester City. It’s an exit that brings to an end one of the most unique experiments in football history, and one that is unlikely to be repeated again. Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and Tariq Panja discuss Guardiola’s legacy and the very specific set of circumstances that provided the platform for him to produce arguably the most complete winning machines in English football history.

Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, now: liberopodcast.com.

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P1: (08:45)

P2: (30:35)

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Unai Emery is once again in the Europa League final with a team featuring the letters V-I-L-L-A somewhere in their name, a remarkable achievement and one that also creates a perception that he is not among the top echelon of coaches. The competition with which the Aston Villa manager has become synonymous is also suffering from a degree of reputational damage these days, as its bigger brother hoovers up more of the clubs that used to give the Europa League a unique appeal. James Horncastle, Jonathan Wilson and Miguel Delaney discuss matters of perception and a few other things.

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P1: (13:09)

P2: (28:11)

Produced by: Tom Bassam

Do you have a burning question for the Liberi? Send them in to [email protected]⁠⁠ to get them answered on the podcast.

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ICMP has kindly released an extra few tickets for our live show on 22nd May, so we can squeeze a few more of you in. Plans are coming together and it should be a fun night there will also be copies of the various books of the Liberi on sale and they may even sign them for you. Doors 7pm at The Venue on the ICMP Queens Park Campus in west London. The link for tickets is here 👍

The FA Cup should be English football’s national day. It was English football’s national day, a final punctuation mark on another season, anointing heroes and reducing grown men to tears. Jack Pitt Brooke, Miguel Delaney and Tariq Panja discuss how the FA Cup final lost its way and what ingredients are needed to bring back the magic.

P1: (10:08)

P2: (30:42)

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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We have a handful of tickets remaining for our live show on 22nd May, there will also be copies of the various books of the Liberi on sale and they may even sign them for you. Doors 7pm at The Venue on the ICMP Queens Park Campus in west London (home of the Long Play Sessions). The link for tickets is here 👍

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Michael Carrick has made Ruben Amorim's tactics board nightmare at Grimsby seem like a Manchester United of a different universe and restored order at Old Trafford, but is that enough?

Rory Smith, John Brewin and Jonathan Wilson as they seek the unknowable answer to the question of how a super club selects the right leader.

P1: (09:59)

P2: (25:22)

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions

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