World Cup Draft: Picking our Best XIs ever... with a twist
The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 June 2026
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With the 2026 World Cup just around the corner, four of our writers were tasked with creating an all-time World Cup draft.
From your Yashin’s to your Mbappe’s, we’ll attempt to build the ultimate XI spanning all 32 editions of the competition.
Host: Duncan Alexander
Guests: Oli Kay, Jack Lang, Carl Anka, Felipe Cardenas
Executive Producer: Adey Moorhead
Producers: Jay Beale & Liam Warburton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic FC |
| 0:03.1 | Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal. |
| 0:10.5 | So our World Cup coverage starts right here. |
| 0:14.9 | We're going to be bringing you the very best news and insight into the biggest show on earth |
| 0:20.0 | all the way up until the final in New Jersey. |
| 0:23.2 | And we've got plenty between now and the start of the tournament for you to enjoy and just to |
| 0:28.5 | get you prepared for that feast of football. |
| 0:31.4 | Today, we're attempting to build an all-time World Cup draft from your Lev Yashins to your Killian and Bappes. |
| 0:41.2 | Our expert writers are going to build the Ultimate 11 spanning all 32 editions of the competition. |
| 0:48.8 | It's quite some undertaking and taking you through it is your host, Duncan Alexander. |
| 0:54.9 | With me, a four brilliant minds from the athletic, Olly Kaye. |
| 0:58.8 | Hello. |
| 0:59.6 | Jack Lan. |
| 1:00.3 | Hi. |
| 1:01.3 | Carl Anker. |
| 1:02.1 | Hello, though. |
| 1:03.0 | And Felipe Cardness. |
| 1:04.7 | Hello, gents. |
| 1:05.7 | First off, let's discuss the order we're going to do this draft. |
| 1:08.8 | I think given we're sat in a rough horseshoe |
| 1:12.1 | shape here, probably fairest to go back one way and then back the other. So that means starting |
| 1:18.0 | with Carl through to Olli to Felipe to Jack or vice versa. So I think given you two on the end, |
... |
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