Kevin Baggio: I Went to Argentina for Messi’s World Cup | The Football Historian Podcast #60

Welcome to The Football Historian Podcast, hosted by Peter Kenny Jones. In episode 60, we have something a little different for our World Cup special. Kevin Baggio joins me to tell the story of how a Scouser obsessed with Italian football, Roberto Baggio, Diego Maradona and Argentina bought a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires for the 2022 World Cup — and ended up living through one of the greatest football stories ever told. Kevin explains how Channel 4’s Football Italia and USA 94 shaped his love of the game, why Roberto Baggio became such a huge figure for him, and how his love of Maradona and Argentine football eventually took him to Buenos Aires. We talk about arriving in Argentina just after the shock defeat to Saudi Arabia, the fear before the Mexico game, Messi’s goal, the chaos of the Netherlands quarter-final, what it was like watching the World Cup final surrounded by Argentinians, and the explosion of emotion when Messi finally lifted the trophy. There are also brilliant stories about Maradona murals, showing his tattoo outside Argentinos Juniors’ stadium, being accepted by locals, Argentina’s football culture, Emi Martinez, Messi vs Maradona, why he went to Napoli afterwards for the Scudetto celebrations, and why he still feels connected to Argentina today. It’s not a former player interview this week — it’s a story about football obsession, travel, culture, identity and what it means to live through history as a fan. PATREON Want more from The Football Historian Podcast? Watch the exclusive EXTRA section of this interview via our Patreon. It’s just £1 per month, giving you access to bonus episodes, monthly specials and the full back catalogue. https://www.patreon.com/TheFootballHistorianPodcast Keep up to date with all our latest clips on our socials: Instagram: https://instagram.com/thefootballhistorianpod/ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@thefootballhistorianpod X: https://twitter.com/TheFHPod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices