Pitch and Power: How Soccer Shapes Everything

It’s been forty years since a ragtag Canadian team made its unlikely World Cup debut to mocking and ridicule. On this episode of Pitch and Power, host Eoin O’Callaghan and guests Jay Baruchel and 1986 team member Colin Miller unpack the public indifference and skepticism that greeted Canada’s soccer pioneers, who briefly stood on the world stage before vanishing from public memory. 

How have self-doubt, underfunding, and a series of inexplicable choices shaped Canada’s relationship with soccer? And can recent successes and the upcoming co-hosted World Cup break the cycle?

 

 

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In the summer of 1974, a bright-orange revolution swept the soccer pitch and the world. The first episode of Pitch and Power: How Soccer Shapes Everything tells the story of Dutch football star Johan Cruyff and the Netherlands’ Total Football movement—the dazzling skill, sex appeal and cultural swagger that defined it—and the heartbreak of a World Cup final that turned genius into myth.

More than 50 years on, we explore why this team still captivates the soccer world, whether their idealism was doomed in a colder era, and how their brief reign reshaped the game—and a nation—forever.

 

 

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Behind every World Cup is a larger story — about national identity and the historical moment in which the games unfold. Eoin O’Callaghan hosts Pitch and Power: How Soccer Shapes Everything, a Globe and Mail series that rewinds the World Cup to eight moments when the game crossed into politics, culture, and the public consciousness. These are stories about ambition, rivalry, grief, and triumph. About the highest highs and the lowest lows.

The first episode of Pitch and Power: How Soccer Shapes Everything arrives on May 28, 2026, from The Globe and Mail. Follow us now wherever you get your podcasts

 

 

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Argentina are world champions after one of the most thrilling games in World Cup history, which saw them beat France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw. In our final episode, we’re looking at the rollercoaster victory and reflect on Qatar 2022 as a whole. Plus, we look ahead to the World Cup in 2026  and the next four years of Canadian soccer.

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With Argentina knocking out Croatia 3-0 and France beating Morocco 2-0, the two heavyweight teams are set to faceoff on Dec 18. for the World Cup final. The stakes are high: France is going for its second World Cup win in a row, while Argentina’s Lionel Messi is vying to finally win a World Cup, and in what will be his last tournament. John and Sonja break down how each team and their star players are looking and who they think will win it all. Plus. Sonja speaks with David Miller, the former Toronto mayor and soccer advocate, about Canada’s journey to becoming a soccer nation and what the 2026 World Cup could mean for this country. And John and Sonja discuss the problem with referees.

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