Champions League Takeaway: Chelsea's Young Guns Fire, Liverpool Bite Back, Spurs Struggle & Real Madrid Eke It

Hello Rank Squad!It's been a wild World Cup, a magnificent month of football that culminated on Sunday with one of the greatest games that you're ever likely to see in your life, never mind on this kind of stage - and Argentina are once again Champions of the World, bringing to a close an era of European dominance that has lasted two decades. It was a fitting send off for (in our humble opinion) the greatest player of all time, leading his country to the pinnacle of the world game. Shouts out Leo Messi.We take a look back at the tournament as a whole, first discussing the wonderful chaos of the final, before picking our Team of the Tournament, throwing around some names who might have earned themselves a big move, as well as talking our favourite moments, the biggest shocks and the state of play in international football ahead of the 2026 tournament.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

20 Joulu 20221h 12min

Hello Rank Squad!It's finally here - 62 games later, we have our World Cup Final set, and it's Argentina vs. France in the showpiece. Can Lionel Messi finally achieve international football immortality or will France become the first side in over half a century to retain the crown? There's narratives galore, so we thought we'd dig deep into where this game is won and lost.We talk Messi vs. Mbappe, Alvarez vs. Giroud, the genius of Antoine Griezmann, Argentina's siege mentality, France's ability to get over the line, and tactical rigidity vs. tactical flexibility - as well as two cracking national anthems, and our predictions as to how it all goes.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

15 Joulu 202248min

...and then there were four!Hello Rank Squad! We have got down to our final quadrant of Nations left in this year's international piece de resistance, with Argentina, Croatia, France & Morocco the only teams remaining in the 2022 World Cup. Fresh from a round of shocks in the last ranking, we've decided to give it another go, with Dean taking each nation in turn and looking at their chances of winning the tournament in its entirety.Then, in Part Two, Jack talks us through some positives and negatives for each nation to be aware of ahead of the semi-finals, with a few tactical and a few emotional bits to keep an eye on in each of these two games. Will we have a repeat of the final last time out? Is this finally Lionel Messi's time? Can Morocco's fairytale express keep dropping masterclasses? It's all to play for.It's Ranks!And, for more from us, why not join our Patreon for after-the-whistle reactions, Christmas specials in the pipeline, and regular audio updates on the upcoming transfer window in January? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

12 Joulu 202245min

Hello Rank Squad!We're now 56 games into this World Cup, and eight teams remain in the competition as Quarter-Finalists. We have the bracket, we have the route, we have four games from each of them to analyse, so it's time to rank the Netherlands, Argentina, France, England, Croatia, Brazil, Morocco and Portugal on how likely each of them are to lift that famous trophy aloft on December 18.There's also time for us to have a look at some of our favourite managers, players and teams that we've had to say goodbye to, in a special 'fallen by the wayside' segment in Part 3!If you'd like to join the Ranks Community, and get our Matchday Drops on World Cup Daily, it's a great time to join our Ultras on Patreon, where there's tonnes of extra Ranks content for you to explore and listen to. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

7 Joulu 20221h 6min

Hello Rank Squad! We're over half way through the 64 games of the World Cup now, and after two rounds in the Group Stages, there are some things of note that we have learned - or at least you'd hope so, having watched every single minute of this tournament so far. Sam takes us through five intereting quirks that he's noticed across all the teams - from underdog nations really taking the handbrake off and going hard at favourites, attacking substitutions playing out in favour of those who make them, tactical formation changes in abundance, those for whom this World Cup might just have been a tournament too far, and squad numbers (especially for goalkeepers) being an absolute shambles. There's some Things We Love too, which focus on Ghana's Mohammed Kudus, Canada's Steven Eustaquio and Portugal's ghost goal that Cristiano Ronaldo was adamant was his; as we look through some of the best bits of the World Cup so far. It's Ranks! If you'd like to come and see what the fuss is about on Patreon, and get our daily podcast drops during this tournament, then click here!Or to take advantage of our deal with NordVPN, you can visit NordVPN.com/ranksfc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

30 Marras 202257min

Hello Rank Squad!We're now into the bulk of the World Cup, and we've seen our fair share of spills and thrills already, but this Friday brings us the Ranks Derby (and Dean's House Derby) between the USMNT and England in Group B. We're joined by a very special guest in the form of TSS's Taylor Rockwell to balance the equation as we look at three players from each side who could make all the difference in this clash across the Atlantic.Plus, we start things off by taking a look at Saudi Arabia's upset of Argentina, why France are ominously scary after their first game, and how come there's so much added time in these games!It's Ranks!If you'd like to get involved with our quickfire daily podcasts covering everything during the World Cup, why not have a look at our Patreon community? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

23 Marras 20221h 7min

Hello Rank Squad!The World Cup is nearly upon us, so it's time to get into the depths of what we can expect from every team at the World Cup ahead of the start on Sunday (!!). In this first part we're taking on Groups A-D - so you can expect discussions on (drum roll)... the Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador, Qatar, England, Wales, USA, Iran, Argentina, Poland, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, Denmark, Australia and Tunisia!We take each group as it comes, examining the favourites and making some predictions on who we think is making it to the Quarter Finals. Part Two is out now as well, so make sure you get over there for all the lowdown on Groups E-H, and remember that during the World Cup we're going to be doing daily drops on our Patreon - so there's never been a better time to join!And, if you'd like to take advantage of our NordVPN offer, visit nordvpn.com/RANKSFC for all your cybersecurity needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

16 Marras 20221h 8min

Hello Rank Squad!The World Cup is nearly upon us, so it's time to get into the depths of what we can expect from every team at the World Cup ahead of the start on Sunday (!!). In this first part we're taking on Groups E-H - so you can expect discussions on (drum roll)... Spain, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica, Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea!We take each group as it comes, examining the favourites and making some predictions on who we think is making it to the Quarter Finals. Part One is out now as well, so if you missed it, make sure you get over there for all the lowdown on Groups A-D, and remember that during the World Cup we're going to be doing daily drops on our Patreon - so there's never been a better time to join!And, if you'd like to take advantage of our NordVPN offer, visit nordvpn.com/RANKSFC for all your cybersecurity needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

16 Marras 20221h 7min