FIFA World Cup™ on FOX Programming Highlights: Sunday Morning, June 24
Today’s Schedule & Results (all times ET):
- England def. Panama, 6-1 (WATCH: 90 in 90: England vs. Panama)
- NOW – Japan vs. Senegal (FOX)
- 2:00 PM – Poland vs. Colombia (FOX)
- 7:00 PM – WORLD CUP NOW (Twitter)
- 10:00 PM – FIFA WORLD CUP TONIGHT (FS1)
- 12:00 AM – FIFA WORLD CUP TONIGHT (FOX / airs at midnight in all U.S. time zones)
ICYMI Saturday on FIFA WORLD CUP TONIGHT
This Morning’s Top Tweet:
Hey, @IanWright0, how you feeling after that first half? ???#WorldCup #ENG #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/lZv7R9g74q
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) June 24, 2018
This Morning’s Top Quotes:
Former England international Ian Wright praises England’s performance:
“That was a fantastic performance because of the way we started. We had to get on the front foot, simply because we had to take any impetus away from Panama, which they could have gained.”
Former England women’s international Kelly Smith adds:
“It was a good performance. Now they can relax, they’re through. Gareth Southgate can change it up and give other players experience coming into the World Cup. It’s just a really pleasing performance. Yes, people on Twitter are bashing the English side, saying they haven’t really played anyone yet, but you can only play what’s in front of you. What can you do? You come up against Panama and you put six past them. Some teams might struggle to do that, but England didn’t.”
FOX Sports lead studio analyst Alexi Lalas agrees:
“If this is the new England, then I’m on board. This is a team you want to watch; this is a team that scores goals; this is a team that’s ruthless.”
Lalas adds that a weak performance from Panama has to hurt the U.S. Men’s National Team and its fans:
“There are a lot of U.S. Men’s National Team fans and the U.S. Men’s National Team that are watching this, and this is painful. This should hurt, and this should hurt badly that this is a team that earned their spot here, but went instead of the United States. This should be a pain that doesn’t go away. Use it to remind you. Use it to fuel you and make sure that from a U.S. Men’s National Team perspective, you’re never in this position again, having to watch something like this.”
FOX Sports lead studio host Rob Stone says Panama is a better team than they showed today:
“We’ve seen better from the Canalmen. This was not indicative of who they are and where they’re going. But England on the day was absolutely flying.”
Play-by-play announcer Derek Rae and analyst Aly Wagner on Harry Kane earning a hat trick off a deflection: WATCH
Rae: “It will go down as a Harry Kane hat trick … Not that he knew a tremendous amount about it. He’s not going to be complaining.”
Wagner: “Cristiano Ronaldo put some pressure on him in the Golden Boot early on, not that he’d be thinking much about that. Well, he’s answering.”
Wright on England’s commanding first half:
“England have been very inventive. People have said it’s only Panama, but at the same time, you’ve got to beat who’s in front of you.”
Wagner says that despite tempered expectations, England fans are having fun watching this team:
“All the expectations for England were kind of put to rest by Gareth Southgate with this young squad saying, don’t expect too much from us. I think they’re enjoying the performances that are being put together by this young team.”
Wagner says Kane is showing no ill effects from an injury suffered with Tottenham:
“To think about how worried everyone was when Kane went down with that ankle injury with Tottenham late in the season. Didn’t seem to come back to form right away, but he kept on scoring, and he looks sharp as ever.”
Smith on England’s Harry Kane:
“He always finds himself in the right place at the right time. This is an instinctive player. You can’t teach this. He just understands where the ball’s going. He’s always on the move. You can’t teach this. You have to fine-tune it in practice.
“It lifts you up when you know you’ve got Harry Kane on your team.”
Lalas adds:
“Some people smell money. Some people smell fear. Harry Kane smells goals.”
Wagner says players want to play in matches, even when the team is already assured of going through:
“As a player, you want to play in those matches. Yes, you may be fatigued, but you end up doing the work anyways. You end up doing that difficult fitness or training on match days if you don’t get time, so you want to be in that lineup.”
Lalas on the English media leaking an image of what may have been England’s lineup:
“I think Gareth Southgate has handled this perfectly, because he has painted him and his team as the victim. It’s naïve and disingenuous for a coach and a team in an open training not to expect the reporters that are there to report on what they see.
“If a leaked 11 for England is what is going to derail this team against a team like Panama, then maybe this isn’t the new England team that we think it is.”
Smith says the media was in the wrong:
“Gareth Southgate has put an olive branch out to the media and tried to bring them in and build a rapport and a relationship, and I just feel like they’ve thrown it back in his face. I think it’s disgusting.”
Wright didn’t have a problem with Germany’s actions toward Sweden’s bench at the end of yesterday’s match:
“In their apology, they said it’s not their style. I think it just shows what a World Cup means.
“Of course, emotions are running high … I haven’t got a problem with them laughing in their face. I was disappointed with the way Sweden played. I thought they could have played a lot better. They showed that they could have attacked Germany. They didn’t do it.”
Smith disagrees and calls it disrespectful:
“It’s a little bit disrespectful. Go celebrate with your own team. It wasn’t even the players doing that – it was the coaching staff, so they must have been going at it that we didn’t see on camera time and time again. I think it’s really disrespectful. You go and celebrate with your staff, with your players on the pitch.”
Were Germany bad winners last night?@IanWright0, @kelly_smith10 and @AlexiLalas discuss the postgame altercation between the two benches. pic.twitter.com/v71cxrJayz
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 24, 2018
Smith has been impressed with England’s determination early in the World Cup, looking back to the team’s first match vs. Tunisia:
“What really impressed me is that they got that goal so late. England teams in the past probably would have been happy to settle for a draw. But they had that mental strength, that determination to push and push and push.”
Lalas on the dysfunction in Argentina’s team:
“Traditionally, we make fun of the French for the dysfunction of the French, and Argentina said, ‘Hold my beer.’
“This is the most dysfunctional team I have seen in a long time, on and off the field, and yet they have an opportunity to go through to the next round, which blows my mind.”
Argentina will NOT fire coach Jorge Sampaoli ahead of the team's critical final group stage match.@maxipalma has more from Argentina's impromptu press conference. pic.twitter.com/x8FfIrCXEv
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 24, 2018
This Morning’s Top Video:
Tomorrow’s Schedule (all times ET):
- 9:00 AM – FIFA WORLD CUP LIVE (FOX and FS1)
- 10:00 AM – Uruguay vs. Russia (FOX / JP Dellacamera and Tony Meola)
- 10:00 AM – Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt (FS1 / Glenn Davis and Cobi Jones)
- 12:00 PM – FIFA WORLD CUP TODAY (FS1)
- 1:00 PM – FIFA WORLD CUP TODAY (FOX and FS1)
- 2:00 PM – Iran vs. Portugal (FOX / Derek Rae and Aly Wagner)
- 2:00 PM – Spain vs. Morocco (FS1 / Mark Followill and Warren Barton)
- 4:00 PM – FIFA WORLD CUP TODAY (FS1)
- 7:00 PM – FIFA WORLD CUP NOW (Twitter)
- 10:00 PM – FIFA WORLD CUP TONIGHT (FS1)
- 12:00 AM – FIFA WORLD CUP TONIGHT (FOX / airs at midnight in all U.S. time zones)
