{"podcast":{"title":"America 2026: A World Cup podcast","slug":"america-2026-a-world-cup-podcast-7773210","podcast_index_feed_id":7773210,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/69ab015a6ffdcd8188961ba6","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/irish-times-sport","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/69ab015a6ffdcd8188961ba6/1780681462154-fc175257-2434-4578-a2bd-b3fd5a9937f0.jpeg","author":"The Irish Times","episode_count":32,"summary":"This is a new podcast from The Irish Times covering the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Join former Irish international Kevin Kilbane and journalist and host Paul Howard for all the big stories, match analysis and special guests. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T08:19:10.403868+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/america-2026-a-world-cup-podcast-7773210"},"episode":{"title":"Comfortable co-hosts? The weight of history and how Mexico & Canada are shaping up for the tournament","slug":"comfortable-co-hosts-the-weight-of-history-and-how-mexico-canada-are-shaping-up-for-the-tournament","published_at":"2026-06-08T13:39:30+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/america-2026-a-world-cup-podcast-7773210/comfortable-co-hosts-the-weight-of-history-and-how-mexico-canada-are-shaping-up-for-the-tournament","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/america-2026-a-world-cup-podcast-7773210","url":"https://shows.acast.com/irish-times-sport/episodes/hosts","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69ab015a6ffdcd8188961ba6/e/6a26c376dd95c87263bf28f5/media.mp3","summary":"Maybe the worst thing about the Republic of Ireland losing their World Cup place to Czechia is missing out on the chance to play tournament co-hosts Mexico in their home stadium - the Estadio Azteca - almost 40 years to the day since Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' moment cemented its status as one of the truly iconic stadiums in world football. Paul, Kevin and Malachy discuss the state of play for both Mexico and Canada, as teams and as co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup. Can Mexico top their group to keep home advantage? Can Canada claim their first ever World Cup point? We also chat to Andrew Downie, a foreign correspondent for Reuters based in Brazil and the author of a number of acclaimed sports books, including a personal favourite of Paul’s, \"Doctor Socrates\". Andrew tells us how the 1986 earthquakes in Mexico City jeopardised the country's chances of hosting the World Cup last time round, how they managed to avoid losing the tournament, and the social and political ripple effects the disaster had on Mexican society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Maybe the worst thing about the Republic of Ireland losing their World Cup place to Czechia is missing out on the chance to play tournament co-hosts Mexic…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2561,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/america-2026-a-world-cup-podcast-7773210/episodes/comfortable-co-hosts-the-weight-of-history-and-how-mexico-canada-are-shaping-up-for-the-tournament/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/america-2026-a-world-cup-podcast-7773210/comfortable-co-hosts-the-weight-of-history-and-how-mexico-canada-are-shaping-up-for-the-tournament.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}