{"podcast":{"title":"What in the World","slug":"what-in-the-world-6570991","podcast_index_feed_id":6570991,"rss_url":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/w13xtvrv.rss","website_url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvrv","image_url":"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/3000x3000/p0jq7pnj.jpg","author":"BBC","episode_count":789,"summary":"Helping you make sense of what’s happening in your world. Big stories, small stories and everything in between. Understand more, feel better. Five days a week, Monday to Friday.","last_synced_at":"2026-08-01T02:17:48.456188+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-in-the-world-6570991"},"episode":{"title":"Why football fans feel devastated when their team loses","slug":"why-football-fans-feel-devastated-when-their-team-loses","published_at":"2026-07-17T13:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-in-the-world-6570991/why-football-fans-feel-devastated-when-their-team-loses","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-in-the-world-6570991","url":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct8q5t","audio_url":"http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0nzdqs8.mp3","summary":"A record 48 teams competed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Now, with the tournament nearing the final on Sunday, 46 nations have been eliminated, leaving millions of fans to process their team’s defeat. Football has an extraordinary ability to unite people. Fans have travelled across the world to support their teams, while millions more have gathered in homes, pubs and public spaces to share every moment together. Victory brings elation, celebration and national pride. But defeat can trigger equally powerful emotions – disappointment, anger, grief and even a sense of emptiness. So why do football results affect us so deeply? In this episode, Martha Newson, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Greenwich, explains the psychology behind our emotional investment in the beautiful game. We also hear from football fans in Belgium, Egypt, England and France about what it felt like to watch their teams lose on the biggest stage. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: William Lee Adams and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde","meta_description":"A record 48 teams competed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Now, with the tournament nearing the final on Sunday, 46 nations have been eliminated, leaving mill…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":631,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-in-the-world-6570991/episodes/why-football-fans-feel-devastated-when-their-team-loses/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-in-the-world-6570991/why-football-fans-feel-devastated-when-their-team-loses.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}