{"podcast":{"title":"More or Less","slug":"more-or-less-867746","podcast_index_feed_id":867746,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qshd.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0lg9wkm.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":1135,"summary":"Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T04:19:39.515984+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746"},"episode":{"title":"How much luck do you need to win the World Cup?","slug":"how-much-luck-do-you-need-to-win-the-world-cup","published_at":"2026-07-18T04:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746/how-much-luck-do-you-need-to-win-the-world-cup","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct998z","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0nzt9bg.mp3","summary":"As the 2026 World Cup approaches its end, what is the biggest factor in who wins? Is it extraordinary moments of attacking magic? Gritty defensive organisation? Or is it all just a question of luck and random chance? We look at how mathematicians and analysists make sense of chaos, xG and unpredictability in the beautiful game. If you've seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, email the team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS: Ian Graham, former Head of Research at Liverpool FC David Sumpter, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Uppsala University Luis Nunes Vicente, Mathematician at Lehigh University CREDITS: Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Josh McMinn Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Dave O'Neill Editor: Richard Vadon","meta_description":"As the 2026 World Cup approaches its end, what is the biggest factor in who wins? Is it extraordinary moments of attacking magic? Gritty defensive organis…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":539,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/more-or-less-867746/episodes/how-much-luck-do-you-need-to-win-the-world-cup/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/more-or-less-867746/how-much-luck-do-you-need-to-win-the-world-cup.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}