00:02Last night in an emergency Zoom session from the Power and Light District in Kansas City,
00:08while on the verge of dismantling his messy Legos, an elite committee of experts, broadcasters,
00:18and fans of gut health fought and toiled and burned the midnight oil to deliver the
00:23best segment in all sports. It's an honor and it's a privilege. It's time for World Cup
00:28quarterfinal tiers. Indeed it is. Only eight teams remaining on the tiers, which whenever
00:35we get down to this few teams, the tiers can look suspiciously similar to a power ranking.
00:43Oh my God. They better not. Each team... I could have got a USA Today for that much.
00:48No, that's for standings. USA Today does not. Could have gotten the FIFA rankings printed in USA Today.
00:54So this would not be the FIFA rankings. And that is an important distinction. However,
01:00it is one team per tier because... It's another eight mile. These... It's not an eight mile thing.
01:06You guys might as well reference One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Do you realize how old
01:11eight mile is? No one else has done it. Great move. It is because these 40 teams in the biggest
01:19World Cup ever have all been eliminated. For USA. For... Yeah. And Brazil. I hate to see it.
01:26All the hosts. Everybody. Oh, you did it in order, right? I just... You know what? It's not left to
01:32right,
01:32but I kind of did it as the... You know, my fondness. The... My flag knowledge has gone through the
01:38roof.
01:38Through the roof. That would be a fun game. Can you... I did... No. It was probably...
01:42That would be our Congo. Higher. All right. There you go. Bottom of the tiers.
01:48More than watches and chocolate. It's true.
01:52Switzerland. Did you know here are the four teams that have made at least the round of 16
02:00at each of the last four World Cups? France. They're pretty good. Argentina. They're pretty good.
02:07Brazil. They used to be pretty good. And Switzerland. Four consecutive trips to at least the round of 16.
02:16This is their deepest trip into the tournament since the 50s. Mm. They're the bottom of the tiers,
02:22but they're still there. There. 2011 maps. Question mark. Belgium. People thought they missed their window.
02:31People thought their best player... That's good. Was a little past his prime. People thought their other best players
02:38were definitely past their prime. We're talking about Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Sean Marion, Jason Terry,
02:45or we're talking about Lukaku, De Bruyne, and Belgium. Additionally, the path seemed impossible.
02:52For Belgium, it only gets... Maybe the U.S. didn't seem impossible, even though they were the underdogs,
02:59but you're staring at Spain, and then probably France, and then Argentina or England.
03:05Could they be the 2011 maps? Hmm. Odin, a.k.a. a literal Viking god. Oh. Listen.
03:14During the Norse mythology, Odin was the god of death and warfare! And I'm not saying that Erling Haaland is
03:22a violent man,
03:23but it felt like he inflicted violence upon me Sunday afternoon at New York, New Jersey Stadium,
03:30sitting in front of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kapu, watching all of us... They... I gotta be honest, I think I
03:37was a little more upset than those guys.
03:38Because they knew... I don't think that's why. I think it's a... You don't know how good you had it
03:44when we were there.
03:45Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a little... You missed us a little bit. Sure.
03:50Listen, Odegaard's awesome, and you've done a really good job, Dax, of throughout the tournament mentioning him.
03:55We mentioned Haaland, but I've never... And I don't think this is prisoner of the moment.
04:00I don't think it's hyperbole to say... He's at... I think he's now at 59 goals in 54 games in
04:10his career for Norway.
04:12It's genuinely incredible.
04:13I think it's more. I think it's more. I think it's way more.
04:17I... Have we dealt with that? In his career for Norway, I'm pretty sure he's at 54 games.
04:21And I... Maybe the goal's right around... Maybe it's at 60 now.
04:24But it's just... It's a huge sample of games played for Norway where he has averaged more than a goal
04:31a game.
04:31Okay.
04:32It's bananas. That's why Norway's where they are.
04:36Slayed all the giants, but won.
04:40We mentioned this earlier. Morocco against top ten opponents over the last couple years.
04:46But they have beaten Spain. They have... They drew Brazil. They beat the Netherlands. They beat Belgium.
04:52They have... Had such great history against the best European and South American teams in the world.
04:59Except for the semi-final against France. Which, again, was a good game.
05:03France scored immediately, and then it was 1-0 until late. France then added one late.
05:08They now... I'm certain the moment the brackets came out... Norway wasn't looking past anybody.
05:14Yeah.
05:14But they knew this was the game where they could get their get back. We'll see if they do tomorrow
05:19in Boston.
05:21Now or never, question mark for England.
05:25So, listen. England has an awesome group of 20-somethings on the roster.
05:29The... Declan Rice... Obviously, Bellingham is phenomenal.
05:34But the guy who is considered the best player in the history of the country, Harry Kane, is 32.
05:40They have also... They have really good and expensive goalkeepers on their roster.
05:47But their starting goalkeeper is also 32.
05:51England, that has come so close so many times, including losing back-to-back Euro finals.
05:58Being in the semi-finals of this tournament with Harry Kane.
06:02But has not lifted a national trophy in 60 years.
06:07This might be your best, last, best chance to do it with Harry Kane.
06:11See if they can. I'm sure they are very happy about their draw.
06:16Their side of the bracket. Their little region where they are big favorites over Norway.
06:21Writing their own fantasy, Argentina.
06:25And while writing their own fantasy, they're ruining everyone else's.
06:29Cape Verde was a Hollywood movie.
06:31Up to and including the guy running into the stands, like cartoonishly, in a way you wouldn't believe in a
06:36movie.
06:37And then Argentina ruins it for him.
06:40Egypt, after really going through kind of a lot of...
06:45Some tough moments for them during this World Cup.
06:49Off the field, dealing with different security and things like that.
06:53And their players being the deepest they've ever been.
06:56Being up 2-0, late, against Argentina.
06:59Saying nobody believed in us.
07:01And then Argentina, once again, writes their own fantasy.
07:06It is unbelievable, and Thierry said this himself, from a Hollywood perspective, that this could possibly be.
07:14That Lionel Messi, who three World Cups ago, it was discussed, or two World Cups ago, when they lost to
07:21France.
07:22Assuredly, this is Lionel Messi's last game with Argentina in the World Cup.
07:26To then come back and win it.
07:28And then maybe come back and win it again while leading the tournament in goals.
07:32It's unfathomable.
07:35K.W., I did this one for you.
07:37Last three World Cups for France.
07:4016 wins, one draw.
07:43That is...
07:44This is blasphemy.
07:47Everyone's gonna get their chance.
07:51So here is France at the last three World Cups.
07:57They have scored 44 goals.
07:59They have allowed 15.
08:01They are two games I'm not including because they were the final group stage game when they'd already clinched the
08:07group.
08:07Okay, yeah.
08:07So that's why...
08:08So in the last 17 games they've played that matter.
08:1216 wins, one draw.
08:15The draw was the World Cup final against Argentina.
08:18What many people think is the greatest game ever played.
08:21And they've been utterly dominant.
08:23So why are they not atop the tiers?
08:28Um...
08:29Because you can't lose a shutout.
08:31Now, let me tell you.
08:33I understand.
08:33Technically, while it would be 0-0, you're losing penalty kicks.
08:36I'm extending the shutout to penalty kicks.
08:38If your goalie never allows a goal, you can't lose.
08:41Game could go on for infinite time.
08:43Quite literally.
08:44So the sun burns out.
08:46But Spain, whose best player is yet to play that well in my opinion, has just utterly dominated on the
08:57defensive end to such an extent.
08:59Combined with the fact that I do think, you know, they believe they can beat France.
09:05They right now, out of respect for what they did against Portugal, are atop the tiers.
09:111-0 against Portugal versus 1-0 against Paraguay.
09:14To me, Spain gets the nod.
09:17Dax, your thoughts?
09:18Well, I think we can all at the desk agree that finally, finally, tiers is not tainted by Brazil.
09:26You know what, I'm looking over here.
09:29That hasn't been updated in days, alright?
