The men who made the World Cup - The Sunday Story
6/21/202626 min
Nearly 7,000 men have played in the World Cup since it began in 1930. To capture some of their extraordinary stories, The Times' football reporter James Gheerbrant set out on a quest to track down 48 players from the 48 countries playing in this year's tournament. We hear the remarkable memories of 3 of them: One of the old surviving players, another who trained under the shadow of gunfire in Vietnam, and a final player whose team endured death threats.
Guest: James Gheerbrant, football reporter, The Times.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: 48 countries, 48 players: World Cup through eyes of men who played in it.
Further listening: Who is the “king of soccer" Gianni Infantino?
Clips: ITN, BBC, CNN.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsManveen Rana· Host0:00
[gentle music] From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is The Story on Sunday. I'm Manveen Rana. [upbeat music] It's here. You couldn't miss it if you tried.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:14
To the left, this is Marcus Rashford for England. Chopping back in, finishing it beautifully. [crowd cheering] Fantastic. What a brilliant England goal.
Manveen Rana· Host0:22
The World Cup is well underway, and this year is the biggest ever.
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:27
Most successful World Cup they've ever had. They've never sold tickets at that level. They've never sold that many tickets so quickly.
Manveen Rana· Host0:35
For the first time in history, forty-eight nations are competing, playing over a hundred matches, taking place in three different countries. FIFA sees it as a celebration of football's global appeal. Critics say it's priced supporters out, and it's stretching players to their limits. But what hasn't changed is what the World Cup means to players, to their families, to their countries, and to the army of supporters. Since the tournament began in nineteen thirty, nearly seven thousand men have taken to the pitch, some trained in war zones.
Ray Richards· Guest1:28
We went to Vietnam