This is ominous from Andrew Traynor (the last last mail before kick-off):

Hey Daniel. An Englishman living in the urban hellscape between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Yet to see a truly bad game yet (in fairness, I’ve missed a lot) unless you count the one-sided opener. But I’ve a feeling Switzerland and Bosnia are going to break that record.

As they say in my home country, eish!

Anthems done.

The Swiss was a little jaunty and sweet and over quickly, the Bosnian one was stirring and instrumental and, for some reason, made every Bosnian player wear a pained look on his face. Maybe that’s just how they look when they’re locked in.

As the players emerge from the tunnel, and the enormous flags stretch across the pitch of this humungous stadium, let’s take a couple last emails before kick-off.

Keep the correspondence coming, I just hope the game is so much fun I won’t have time to get to them all.

“I’m not sure I agree with my compatriot Steve Gisselbrecht that soccer needs quarterly ad breaks to succeed on TV,” says Ron Stack.

“NBC broadcasts the Premier League without them, and streamers show other European leagues the same way. I’m sure that broadcasters appreciate having additional ad blocks to sell, but I’m not sure that slouching toward the NFL TV experience is the only way to grow a fan base. I do agree that, if the breaks become standard, the game will change as teams start to strategize around them.”

James Humphries has the last word before the anthems start:

“Hiya Dan, You think you’ve got it bad, the new motherwell manager’s just been announced and he’s four years younger than me. I’m just hoping nobody at this world cup turns out to be the grandson of someone I remember watching (let’s face it, it’ll probably be a Schmeichel when it does happen).

“I used to be with it, and then they changed what it was, etc. Still, if Messi can do it at 39 then why can’t - *sleeps wrong, pulls muscle in neck*”

We’re going over old ground moaning about the ad/water breaks, but, to mix metaphors, that is a deep well.

Here’s Rachel Clifton from across the pond to share a take that I’m sure will resonate with most:

Football IS shown here on regular tv – the Premier League is on NBC and USA and the Champions League is on CBS. They do not break for ads during the game – and even have a couple of hours post-game without ads from time to time. As a Brit living here (12 years and counting…), I get very annoyed at this idea that football should change for US sensibilities but we should all accept them calling the Super Bowl winners “World Champions” when they play fewer than 20 other teams all from the US.

Karen Carney has just called Dzeko a “machine”. I’ve loved the old boys banging in the goals this tournament.

I turned 38 in June. One of the worst things about growing up as a sports fan is watching the list of players older than you rapidly dwindle.

I don’t really care who wins the tournament (I mean, South Africa aren’t going to do it). My only wish is that when the best XI is assembled every player was born before June 1988.

Some more mails:

“Hello Daniel,” says regular correspondent, Krishna Moorthy. “Can’t believe this is your first MBM!”

Good to be here!

“This will be a lively contest. Not many European teams understand or assess Bosnia properly . I will not be surprised if they notch up a win. I spent 8 months of 2025 in that country and boy! Are they passionate about their game! South Africa and Czech can make their plans for the summer. They can’t beat Mexico or South Korea . Tournament over for them.”

I agree, sadly. Anyway, here’s David Marriott:

“Greetings from sunny Vancouver Island, Canada. The parochialism is the same here in Canada, with TSN now going on about the black Canada kit. Having said that, we do have pretty good pundits in Kevin Kilbane and Steven Caldwell. The commercial breaks are there too, usually about two and a half minutes long -- sadly, the future of football, I think.”

I get it. Got to pander to the home crowd on occasion.

Glad to say we’re now seeing the experts analyse this game.

Steve Gisselbrecht has written in to provide some real world perspective on the water breaks:

Hi there. I just want to say, as someone born and raised in the US, that soccer will never be a truly major sport here until it’s shown on regular TV, and that’s not happening without ad breaks. I don’t write to praise US capitalism or the media landscape it produces! I only acknowledge that that’s the country I live in.

Fair play. But it still sucks. And not just because these are ad slots masquerading as drinks breaks. But because it disrupts the flow of games. I fully acknowledge that money makes the ball go round, but when it comes at the expense of the game itself then I don’t like it.

Another gripe now.

I’m watching the build up to this game on ITV and they’re banging on about England’s win over Croatia in great detail.

Look, I know it’s ITV, I know the majority of their audience are far more invested in Harry Kane than Dan Ndoye, but doe they have to be so parochial?

Oh, and now they’re going to the Scotland camp!

FFS.

Just had a glance at the weather in Inglewood California.

It’s a mild 22 C. Nowhere near hot enough to warrant a hydration break. But we’ll have one anyway.

Look, I know you’re bored of all the moaning about advert breaks drinks breaks, but this is my first MBM. So let me have that one if you don’t mind.

We’ve got our first email of the night.

It’s from Kári Tulinius who straddle the game that’s just gone and the game to come like a pro:

Hello Daniel,

You’re not wrong about Bafana Bafana’s performance, but the Czechs didn’t deserve a win after spending the second half being as proactive as a block of cheese. That’s how I feel about the Swiss performance against Qatar too, though they weren’t quite as negative. If other teams learn from the Czechs and Swiss not to try to sit on a one goal lead, that will be good for the competition.

To be fair ti Switzerland, they did create more opportunities to score a second against Qatar. They just wasted every one.

How about some analysis on the teams then.

Switzerland have made two changes to the side that fluffed it against Qatar.

In comes right back Silvan Widmer who replaces Denis Zakaria (who is more of a midfielder) and Fabian Rieder will hopefully provide more passing through the lines than Ruben Vargas.

Bosnia have handed a starting berth to their skipper and 40-year-old talisman Edin Dzeko. Ivab Sunjic replaces Ivan Basic and the 18-year-old winger Kerim Alajbegovic starts in place of Esmir Bajraktarevic.

It’s as if both teams are telegraphing their intent. Bosnia will look to break at pace and stick in the mixer as often as they can. Switzerland will want to boss possession.

I’m hoping we get to see Alajbegovic in a 1-v-1 situation against 33-year-old Widmer. I’ve got a feeling that could be a tasty match-up.

While we get through the gears and build towards kick-off, here are my two favourite bits from my colleagues today:

Jonny Liew (as you’d expect) is brilliant here:

And David Squires (as you’d expect) is brilliant here:

They are two very talented men, aren’t they?

South Africa salvaged a draw in the game that’s just concluded.

If you think I’ve been too harsh on my compatriots, drop Daniel Harris a line as he wraps up the blog on that one: