Hand Of Pod

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi and Fer review a weekend that saw mixed results for all our teams, including Guillermo Barros Schelotto's first defeat – and first victory – as Vélez Sarsfield manager. The group stages of the Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores are underway, and we have plenty of listeners' questions (including a couple Sam forgot last week).

This week's HOP is a long one, but not without reason: Sam, English Dan, Santi, Chris and special guest former professional footballer Andrés Gurrieri review Argentina's World Cup 2026 qualification and, more to the point, the 4–1 battering they handed out to Brazil right after their place in next year's tournament was confirmed. We also have some talk about the few domestic matches that have been played during the international break, Andrés tells us a bit about his career, and there are some listeners' questions.

This week Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés review a clásico de Avellaneda that saw the spoils shared and a disappointing result for River Plate, among other league games, before turning our attention to Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers away to Uruguay on Friday and at home to Brazil on Tuesday. Will the world champions seal their spot before we next record?

This week Sam, English Dan, Santi, Andrés and Chris look back on a weekend of action that saw the two Avellaneda sides get contrasting results ahead of their big derby this weekend. River Plate actually managed to impress Andrés for once (even though their finishing was awful) and Fernando Gago managed to keep his job at Boca Juniors for another week.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés are joined for the first time by Fer, the sport correspondent for the Buenos Aires Herald, who tells us why champions Vélez Sarsfield have been struggling so much for the last couple of months – which is perfect timing, as they sacked Sebastián Domínguez as manager after defeat to Huracán at the weekend. Dan is in a good mood thanks to Racing's authoritative win over Botafogo in the Recopa Sudamericana, and for River Plate it's the same old song ...

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris begin with a look at Boca Juniors' elimination from the Copa Libertadores at the second round playoff stage by Alianza Lima, who lost 2–1 on the night but won the penalty shootout. Is Fernando Gago under pressure? Are Boca improving regardless of this setback? We also review last weekend's league action and give live reaction as Vélez Sarsfield score their first goal (and claim their first win) of 2025.

This week Sam, Chris and Andrés look at a round of league action that saw Vélez Sarsfield lose again and Tigre and Central Córdoba continue their unexpectedly bright starts to the season. Both Boca Juniors and River Plate claimed narrow victories, though Boca's Libertadores playoff first leg away to Alianza Lima ended in defeat on Wednesday. And what on earth is Foster Gillett up to?

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés look at a round and a half of matches that have seen everyone who'd played up to the start of recording get mixed results (with the scores that came in after we wrapped up continuing that trend). One Argentine team who do have some consistency are the national under-20s, who've secured qualification for the U-20 World Cup later this year and have a showdown with Brazil on Thursday night to effectively decide the South American title. And what on earth is going on at Estudiantes?

Estudiantes beat Racing 2–0 in round 3, and as such are the only team with a 100% (winning) record. Sam, English Dan and Andrés run the rule over that match, River Plate's iffy 0–0 draw with San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors' 2–1 win over Huracán, among other games. We also have a review of the Sudamericano Sub 20 in the last week and answer some listeners' questions.

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Santi and Andrés look back on the first two rounds of the 2025 Apertura, in which the two Avellaneda giants took maximum points, River and Boca both looked rather iffy and champions Vélez Sarsfield lost twice, including managing to let in two goals against Tigre before the season was even ten minutes old. There's good news from the Sudamericano Sub 20 and plenty more besides.