00:00I think we are all ready to watch Argentina, especially since last match.
00:05It was so controversial.
00:07People are saying that FIFA is helping Argentina.
00:09They want that Messi, won again, win again a championship.
00:13But let's talk about this and so many other things to Hamid Mark.
00:19Hamid is in Florida.
00:21Hamid, how are you?
00:22The man of the million-dollar smile.
00:24What do you think about all this controversy?
00:26Do you think FIFA wants Argentina to win against the World Cup?
00:32I don't think there's any controversy.
00:35A lot of people are talking about the Egypt goal that was pulled back from VAR.
00:40I think that's just a problem in FIFA and in soccer in general with VAR
00:45is that it's taking away decisions that the ref should make on the field.
00:50VAR really should only be about if the ref gets it absolutely wrong.
00:56If you and me could agree that it was a wrong call, then VAR should pull it back.
01:01But other than that, I think it was a very good game.
01:04Egypt should be very proud of themselves.
01:07Honestly, they probably should have won that game.
01:09But credit to Argentina and the little genius called Lionel Messi
01:13because, man, they've had two great games against two amazing African teams.
01:19I also want to apologize to Cap Verde.
01:22I said they had a 0% chance, but after what they did,
01:25they had a 40% chance to win that game.
01:27And some could argue if they had a little bit more luck on their side,
01:30they could have won that game because they scored two amazing goals in that game.
01:34It gave Argentina a run for their money.
01:36I've been enjoying the knockout stages so far.
01:38It's been fantastic games.
01:40I think Argentina has earned everything that they've got so far.
01:43Every win that they have got, they have earned it.
01:45The teams have pushed them to the edge, and they have responded very, very well
01:48with their 39-year-old genius leading the way.
01:51So congrats to the Argentines, and let's see if they can do it against Switzerland.
01:56Let's talk about that little genius.
01:58Like you are saying, there is a race for the Golden Boot race.
02:04So far, Lionel Messi with the goal who scored yesterday, he's ahead, 8.
02:10Then you have Kylian Mbappé with 7.
02:13Erling Haaland, he has 7.
02:15We have a graphic too, if we can share that with the audience.
02:19It's going to help us to understand what's going on.
02:22Henry Kane has 6 goals, and Dembélé has 4 goals in that graphic.
02:31We can see that on the screen.
02:33The funny thing, there are two players from France who are in the top five.
02:37Who do you think is going to get the Golden Boot?
02:42Messi or Mbappé has a chance.
02:44All of them have a chance to keep scoring goals.
02:48Man, this is a very tough question.
02:51I mean, the top three in that race, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappé.
02:56I mean, these three are the pinnacle of footballing powers.
03:01Yeah, Messi, despite being 39, is still showing that he's one of, if not the best in the world.
03:05So, Erling Haaland is, if you have to create a perfect striker in a lab, Erling Haaland would be that
03:12player.
03:12He is absolutely fantastic.
03:14He proved it in the Brazil game.
03:15He barely got any touches, but he's the type of player that he don't have to get any touches to
03:19destroy a back line.
03:21And that's why he has 7 goals.
03:23And Kylian Mbappé is what I call a complete player in terms of attacking sense.
03:28He can take you on.
03:29He has the dribble.
03:30He has the pace.
03:30He has the shooting.
03:31He has the awareness.
03:32He has all the athletic abilities that you would need to be a perfect forward.
03:37So, this is a very hard question.
03:39I'm leaning a little more towards Kylian Mbappé simply because he has more help than I think Lionel Messi and
03:45Erling Haaland does.
03:46As great as they are, he has more help in terms of getting him the ball and breaking down defenses
03:52easier.
03:53So, I think he's going to win the golden boot when it's all said and done.
03:57But, man, it would be hard to bet against Lionel Messi.
04:00I mean, he's proving time and time again that age, father time is losing to this guy.
04:06And he's going to keep banging him in.
04:08And Erling Haaland, again, if they could get him more touches, he could probably score more goals.
04:12So, it's really up in the air.
04:14But my money would be on Kylian Mbappé.
04:18Hamid, I have another tough question.
04:20And I want to share with your production team, prepare what they consider the best three goals of this World
04:28Cup so far.
04:29I want to broadcast the segment.
04:32And then I would like to know which one you think it was the best goal.
04:40Okay, so I think the best goal in the tournament so far has been the one against Argentina, the Cape
04:47Verde game.
04:48Sydney, the young left back who is 23 years old playing for Benfica.
04:53I did not know this.
04:54Now that I know this, and I'm a big Arsenal fan, I want Arsenal to sign him.
04:57I think that was the goal of the tournament by far.
05:00I mean, he'll probably never strike a ball that perfect again in his life.
05:04He almost did in that same game in the free kick.
05:07He almost replicated on the opposite side.
05:10But, man, I think that was by far the goal of the tournament.
05:15Hamid, now let's see the three biggest controversies.
05:19The last one was yesterday with the Egyptian coach, Hossam Hassan.
05:23But we have a segment.
05:26It's recorded with an audio.
05:28Let's listen to that segment, and then you tell me what you think the biggest controversy in this World Cup.
05:36Starting at number three, Miguel Almiron's red card left fans completely confused.
05:40The Paraguayan captain was sent off after covering his mouth while speaking to Turkey A's right back during a Group
05:46D match.
05:47Many believed the punishment was far too harsh,
05:49and the incident quickly became one of the most debated refereeing decisions of the tournament.
05:53At number two is Croatia's disallowed goal.
05:56They all found the back of the net.
05:58But after a review, the goal was ruled out because the tournament's ball sensor detected an infringement in the buildup.
06:04The decision sparked a huge debate over whether technology should have that much influence on crucial World Cup moments.
06:10Taking the top spot is Folarin Balogun's overturned red card.
06:13The U.S. striker was sent off during the match against Bosnia after a foul,
06:17meaning he was set to miss the crucial knockout game against Belgium.
06:20But just before the match, FIFA overturned the suspension, allowing Balogun to play.
06:25The controversy grew even bigger when U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino
06:33to ask for the decision to be reviewed, rising questions over political influence in FIFA's disciplinary process
06:38and making it the biggest controversy of the tournament.
06:44My vote goes to Balogun's, Trump getting involved, Gianni Infantino has to accept what he said.
06:52What do you think of those three?
06:54Which one was the biggest controversy, Hamid?
06:57Yeah, I agree with you.
06:59I think the Balogun one is definitely the biggest controversy.
07:02Now, it would have been worse if USA beat Belgium.
07:05Then we would be talking about it more that the politics influenced the result of the game.
07:12Luckily for us, it hasn't come to that.
07:15Belgium put away USA very comfortably, and the Balogun situation became null and void.
07:20But that was definitely the biggest controversy in my lifetime.
07:24I can't remember someone getting a straight red card and then a team or a nation appealing it,
07:30and then the player gets to play it again.
07:32I don't remember in recent memory that ever happening ever.
07:36So that was definitely the biggest controversy, but it had no effect on the game
07:40because Belgium showed that there's levels to this, and USA is not there yet.
07:45Everyone believed the hype.
07:46They were beating Paraguay and people in their group, even though they lost to Turkey in their last group stage.
07:51They beat Bosnia again, ranked 64, I believe, in the world.
07:54Bosnia is not a superpower in terms of footballing power.
07:58So Belgium really humbled America.
08:00As for the Paraguay one, that's straightforward.
08:02After the incident with Vinny Jr. and the Benfica player,
08:06players cannot cover their mouth and say anything to another player
08:09because it can be deemed as something offensive.
08:12Even if it wasn't, the fact that you're covering your mouth
08:15deems that you don't want the cameras to do or say, and so automatic red card.
08:18And the Croatia one, it's really just unlucky.
08:22I've watched that replay maybe a million times.
08:25It probably grazed the hair of the Portuguese player.
08:30It took away a magic moment that could have been for Croatia.
08:33In the end, I think the call was right.
08:35But you just think if War wasn't a thing,
08:37it's taken away some of the special moments we've had with football without video replay.
08:41But definitely the Baloggan one is by far the biggest controversy in the World Cup so far.
08:49I don't agree with you, Hamid, about Baloggan.
08:52You said the red card, they say no.
08:56I mean, he can play.
08:57I think it affected on the match because I was really surprised the USA team,
09:03a home team co-host who beat Paraguay 4-1, they were losing that much.
09:08I mean, they were not energy, they were slow.
09:11Don't you think that all that situation, all that controversy could affect the USA,
09:16that the USA was better than the team that played against Belgium?
09:22I don't think it affected the USA.
09:24I think it affected Belgium because Belgium came there with a point to make.
09:29They basically came there saying,
09:30OK, all right, it's your home soil.
09:32We're on America.
09:34You know, your president is calling the FIFA president to overturn.
09:38So they had something to prove and to fight for.
09:42I think it affected more Belgium than America.
09:45And then obviously Belgium teasing America by doing the Trump dance after they put away America.
09:51But I don't think it affected the game per se in terms of what America was going to do for
09:57some reason.
09:57And I predict America to go to the quarterfinals and play Spain because I thought they looked pretty good under
10:03Pochettino.
10:04And I thought they were good collectively enough to be aging.
10:08And to be honest, not the best Belgium squad.
10:11But on paper, these Belgian players are better quality than the American national players.
10:18And they proved that.
10:19And they had something to prove as well because everything seemed to be against them with all the politics being
10:25involved in the sport.
10:27So I don't think it affected the game, to be honest.
10:30But if it did affect anything, it was definitely for the Belgian players than the American players.
10:36Hamid, Mark, thank you very much.
10:38I'm looking forward to talk with you about the final, semifinal, and the final.
10:43By the way, I love your jacket or your shirt you are wearing right now.
10:47Very beautiful.
10:48Thank you, Hamid.
