Hand Of Pod

Episode 567: previewing Argentina v England in the World Cup semifinal 14.07.2026 1sa 38dk

Saturday saw Argentina beat Switzerland and England beat Norway to set up a potential World Cup semifinal for the ages. Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi B review the nervy extra time victory over Switzerland and preview Argentina v England.

Episode 566: Argentina just refuse to make it easy for themselves 08.07.2026 1sa 25dk

This week Sam, Chris, Andrés and Julián sit down to attempt to analyse Argentina's advancement to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup, which came courtesy of an impossibly nervy 3–2 win over Cape Verde that was followed by a 3–2 win over Egypt that somehow managed to be even more impossibly nervy.

Episode 565: Argentina coast through 2026 World Cup group J 29.06.2026 1sa 43dk

We're back! Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi S review Argentina's near-perfect start to their attempt to defend the World Cup title, after they got nine points from three matches and conceded just once in group J. We ask whether Lionel Messi is any good at football (he might be), look at the defence and midfield and run the rule over the other CONMEBOL representatives.

Episode 564: Independiente Rivadavia win the clásico and Boca thrash Defensa 01.05.2026 1sa 36dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi B discuss a clásico mendocino that didn't go as expected for the first twenty seconds, but went very much to form thereafter as Independiente Rivadavia ran out 5–1 winners over Gimnasia de Mendoza. Boca Juniors also got a four-goal winning margin, while Riestra and River Plate both won by a couple. The playoff qualifiers aren't quite decided as we go into the last weekend of group stage action, but this is the final episode of the Torneo Apertura for us, because Sam's mate didn't consult Sam before deciding when to get married. We'll be back when the World Cup is underway ... unless you'd like to join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handofpod

Episode 563: Boca win the superclásico and ... are Newell's good now? 24.04.2026 1sa 29dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi S gather to discuss a superclásico win for Boca Juniors that was narrow – and might have escaped them had a refereeing call right at the death gone the other way – but deserved, as Chacho Coudet's reign at River Plate hits its first bump in the road. Elsewhere there was another win for Newell's Old Boys, who seem to have remembered how to play football and a seven-goal thriller in Santiago del Estero among other results.

Episode 562: River and Boca can both look forward to the superclásico 18.04.2026 1sa 32dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi S look at last week's league results and the midweek continental matches, both of which brought positive results for River Plate and Boca Juniors ahead of Sunday's superclásico. It was also a great week for Independiente Rivadavia.

Episode 561: Independiente win the clásico and the continental group stages begin 11.04.2026 1sa 27dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi S and Santi B discuss half a round of Torneo Apertura action that saw Independiente scrape a win over Racing in the clásico and – we hope you're sitting down for this – Newell's Old Boys win a second league game in a row. We also go over the action from the opening week of Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana group stage matches.

Episode 560: Scaloni edges closer to finalising Argentina's World Cup squad 04.04.2026 1sa 21dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi B and Santi S look back on Argentina's two friendly wins in the Bombonera over Mauritania and Zambia. We discuss how encouraging or discouraging the performances were, which players have done themselves favours (or done themselves no favours at all) in terms of getting into the squad for the World Cup and who we think will ultimately make the cut. We also take a look at the current standings in the Torneo Apertura group stage and preview Saturday's Avellaneda clásico.

Episode 559: Two teams hit five and the Copa Sudamericana group draw 21.03.2026 1sa 17dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi S get together to discuss a round of Apertura action that saw both Lanús and Defensa y Justicia hit five goals (not against each other), Coudet's River claim another win and Independiente Rivadavia get back to winning ways. We also give our reactions to the Copa Sudamericana group stage, which took place while we were recording the second half. If you enjoy the pod and would like more (including, this week, our reaction to the Libertadores draw that was taking too long for us to include it on the main episode), you can get extra episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handofpod

Episode 558: Fedorco rescues a dramatic point for Independiente 14.03.2026 1sa 20dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés look back on a midweek round of action that began with a wild draw in Avellaneda between Independiente and Unión, continued with a dull one in Junín between Sarmiento and Racing and ended (from our point of view recording before Estudiantes de La Plata v Lanús) with Eduardo Coudet winning his first match in charge of River Plate. All this and more awaits you ...

Episode 557: A week in the life of Chiqui Tapia 07.03.2026 1sa 18dk

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss a draw for River Plate in their last match prior to Eduardo Coudet's arrival as head coach, a good win for Racing and some cracking goals in Parque Patricios, but the main topic is a ridiculously dramatic week in the life of AFA President Claudio Tapia.

Episode 556: Gallardo leaves River and Lanús win the Recopa Sudamericana 28.02.2026 1sa 15dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Santi B and special guest Joey D'Urso look back on (almost) two whole rounds of Torneo Apertura action, which saw Marcelo Gallardo step down as River Plate manager, signing off with a 3–1 win over Banfield, Independiente Rivadavia continue their excellent start to the season and Independiente (de Avellaneda) have a torrid week in Mendoza (not for the first time). As well as all that, Lanús followed up last week's home win with an away win after extra time over Flamengo to claim the Recopa Sudamericana.

Episode 555: River scrape through in the Copa Argentina and Gimnasia finally draw 20.02.2026 1sa 13dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés look at River Plate's highly dignified win over Ciudad Bolívar in the Copa Argentina, a very dull La Plata derby that ended in Gimnasia's first draw in 22 matches and continued good league starts for Tigre and Independiente among others.

Episode 554: Gallardo in hot water at River but Tigre are off to a fine start 14.02.2026 1sa 24dk

This week Sam and English Dan review a couple of matches for some teams but just the one for most of them. It's been a poor week for River Plate, where Marcelo Gallardo is coming under pressure, but a great one for Tigre , who've made a flying start to the year. We also look at Racing's inconsistency, Boca Juniors' consistent inconsistency and more.

Episode 553: reviewing the start of the Apertura 07.02.2026 1sa 28dk

This week Sam, Santi B and Andrés cast their eyes over the first three rounds of league action in the 2026 Torneo Apertura, which have seen consistency (if nothing else) from Independiente, early group leads for Lanús and Independiente Rivadavia, and Juan Fernando Quintero playing like it's 2015 again for River Plate.

Episode 552: previewing the 2026 Torneo Apertura 23.01.2026 1sa 20dk

We're back for 2026, and this week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi B and Santi S look back over the summer break and the main transfer moves in Argentina and look forward to 2026 in Argentine football, including discussing whether anyone should really care about the league this year.

Episode 551: ¡ESTUDIANTES CAMPEÓN! 19.12.2025 1sa 9dk

This week Sam, Chris, Andrés, Santi B and special guest Andrés Gurrieri, who did NOT used to play for Exeter, meet up to discuss Estudiantes de La Plata's penalty shootout win over Racing in a less-than-classic Torneo Clausura final in Santiago del Estero. We also have a bit of news from San Lorenzo (for a lot more detail, and plenty more content besides, get over to our Patreon: https://patreon.com/handofpod) and the AFA as we head into the summer break. We hope you all have a good time whatever you're celebrating at this time of year, and we'll be back in your ears in mid-January.

Episode 550: Racing and Estudiantes edge two dull semifinals and the 2026 Liga takes shape 12.12.2025 1sa 16dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Chris and both Santis review two rather boring Torneo Clausura semifinals which saw Estudiantes and Racing advance to Saturday's final. We also look at the draw for next year's group stage and try to explain why the AFA and various clubs have had their offices raided by investigators.

Episode 549: two clásicos in the Clausura semifinals 05.12.2025 1sa 12dk

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés review last weekend's Torneo Clausura quarterfinals and look forward to Sunday and Monday's semis, which see an all-Big Five clash in the Bombonera between Boca Juniors and Racing and a clásico platense between Gimnasia and Estudiantes. There's also news of a thumping win for Argentina's women's team in the CONMEBOL Liga de Naciones (whose name also contains the totally unnecessary word 'Femenina') and listeners' questions (and our answers to them).

Episode 548: Estudiantes in hot water as the Clausura playoffs begin 29.11.2025 1sa 4dk

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi B review the first round of the Torneo Clausura playoffs, which saw ... um, champions? ... Rosario Central knocked out by Estudiantes following a controversial guard of 'honour' that broke a rule that didn't actually exist and has now seen Estudiantes president Seba Verón and several of their players suspended. Elsewhere, Racing are through after a wonderfully flawed win over River Plate, Boca Juniors saw off Talleres and there was plenty more besides.