Episodios
-
Last September, Alex Rose made athletics history by winning bronze in the men's discus at the World Athletics Championships. It was the first-ever medal at the championships for the Pacific island of Samoa.
What made the feat even more remarkable is that Alex isn’t a full-time athlete. He has to fit training around working and travelling as a sales engineer in his native Michigan – meaning he often has to train on his lunch breaks, or before or after work, trying to find facilities wherever he can.
In March of this year, Alex Rose talked to More than the Score’s Ade Adedoyin about his long road to making history for Samoa, and why he decided to compete for his father’s native land rather than the US. He also talks about the realities of raising two young sons while competing as a world-class athlete, and why his wife Samantha is his “rock”.
Unexpected questions and beyond the scoresheet chat. More than the Score tells stories from all over the world of sport. From Formula One to netball, MMA to figure skating, and Grand Slam tennis to Diamond League athletics. We've got interviews with extraordinary athletes, as well as the experts working behind the scenes, from football super-agents to the coaches keeping athletes in peak form. Plus, we've got the expertise of the BBC's top journalists, who share their insights from decades of covering sport at all levels.
And if you've got your own take on the stories we cover, we'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected].uk, or WhatsApp us on 0044 800 032 0470. You can find more information, along with our privacy notice, on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/morethanthescore
-
The New York Cosmos were the original Galacticos, the ultimate glamour club and now they’re back in 2026.
Lee James tells the story of the original club, which was founded in the 1970s and featured star players like Pele, before charting their rebirth in 2026.
He discovers the impact the Brazilian legend Pele had both on and off the pitch. Hearing from former teammates, including goalkeeper Eddie Edgar, finds out how celebrity fans including Mick Jagger followed the team, and learns about the cultural impact the Cosmos also had on the United States.
Lee also attends a training session at the new Cosmos club as they return to professional soccer and speaks to the former Manchester United forward Guiseppe Rossi, who is the Cosmos head of soccer and Erik Stover the CEO who tell us why competing in a league with promotion and relegation will change the domestic game in the US.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
¿Faltan episodios?
-
Argentina will face Spain in Sunday's World Cup final, after overcoming England in a semi-final that once again showcased their battling spirit - but will Lionel Messi lift the trophy again in New York?
Mani Djazmi is joined by South American football expert Tim Vickery and ESPN Argentina's Francisco Canepa to analyse why the Albicelestes are one game away from retaining their title. Francisco shares what it was like to be part of the crowd in Atlanta, and Tim explains how Messi's changing role with the squad has transformed their fortunes.
We also hear from Argentina's Geronimo Rulli, the Marseille goalkeeper who's taking part in his second World Cup, about his memories of victory in 2022 - and what it's like playing for coach Lionel Scaloni.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Spain produced a masterclass in control to beat pre-tournament favourites France 2-0 in Dallas and secure their place in just their second World Cup final.
BBC football reporter John Bennett tells Lee James why the performance of the European champions is one of the best he's ever seen at a World Cup. Spanish football journalist Ernest Macia explains why their current midfield, led by Rodri, can be compared to that of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta - the engine room of their 2010 World Cup winning side.
French football journalist Sara Menai explains where it all went wrong for Didier Deschamps’ side, while South American football expert Tim Vickery looks ahead to the second semi-final between defending champions Argentina and 1966 winners England. More than the Score's Delyth Lloyd joins the show from New York, where the atmosphere ahead of Sunday's final is building.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Mani Djazmi is joined by Loic Tanzi from L’Equipe and Juan Castro from Marca to preview the World Cup semi-final between France and Spain. France are many people’s favourites to win the tournament, while Spain head into the game on the back of a 36-match unbeaten run.
Mani also gets an Argentinian perspective from journalist Nicolas Rotnitzsky, who says their semi-final against England is one of the most important games in the national team’s history. He’s also predicting the 2026 World Cup final will see his nation meet France in the final, just as they did at Qatar 2022.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Nestory Irankunda, Antonio Rudiger and Alphonso Davies represented Australia, Germany and Canada respectively at the World Cup - and all have links to Africa as refugees.
Germany defender Antonio Rudiger tells the podcast how his brother was close to being forced into becoming a child soldier in Sierra Leone, and had to hide in a bag of rice to escape. Rudiger also discusses his childhood experience of living in a refugee centre in Germany.
John Bennett and Ian Williams are also joined by Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and chief executive of Global Refuge, a non-profit organisation which has previously worked with the US State Department to resettle refugees. They discuss the players’ stories, and the challenges refugees face.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Italy has six players inside the men's world top 50 including number one and four-time Grand Slam champion, Jannik Sinner.
Jasmine Paolini is flying the flag on the women's side while Sara Errani - one of the most successful doubles players in recent history - is still winning tournaments at the age of 39. The country has also won the last three Davis Cups and won the Billie Jean King Cup back-to-back in 2024 and 2025.
Delyth Lloyd is joined at Wimbledon by former player and current tournament director of the Italian Open and director of women's tennis at the Italian Tennis Federation, Paolo Lorenzi, to discuss what's behind the rise of the sport in the country. We also hear from Sinner and Paolini as well as Italian tennis journalist Ubaldo Scanagatta.
More than the Score tells stories beyond the scoreline from all over the world of sport. From the World Cup to F1, golf to figure skating, and Grand Slam tennis to Diamond League athletics. We've got interviews with extraordinary athletes like heavyweight boxing champion Fabio Wardley, Tour de France winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, trailblazing Samoan athlete Alex Rose and cricket superstar Smriti Mandhana, as well as the experts working behind the scenes, from football super-agents to the coaches keeping athletes in peak form. Plus, we've got the expertise of the BBC's top journalists, who share their insights from decades of covering sport at all levels. And if you've got your own take on the stories we cover, we'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected].uk, or WhatsApp us on 0044 800 032 0470. You can find more information, along with our privacy notice, on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/morethanthescore
________________________________________
-
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo wrote himself into Olympic history earlier this year, by breaking the all-time tally for gold medals won by a Winter Olympian. But this summer, he has been dividing his time between training and travelling back and forth to the US to support Norway at the World Cup.
More than the Score’s Lee James has been speaking to the Norwegian icon ahead of his fellow countrymen’s World Cup quarter-final against England. Klaebo compares his approach to training and recovery to that of Erling Haaland, and reflects on meeting the Norway striker and his exploits at the World Cup. Klaebo says Norwegians are proud Haaland chose to represent Norway over England.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Athletes' memoirs and autobiographies are among the biggest-selling books around the world each year - but often, the words aren't entirely their own. Many sports stars work with 'ghostwriters' - professional authors who turn their stories into bestselling prose.
In November 2025, More than the Score's Lee James and John Bennett talked to Jonathan Northcroft from UK newspaper the Sunday Times, who's worked on autobiographies and memoirs with stars including former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. How do ghostwriters help sportspeople turn their anecdotes, memories and personal stories into books, and how do they make sure their words do justice to their subject's story?
More than the Score tells stories from all over the world of sport. From Formula One to netball, MMA to figure skating, and Grand Slam tennis to Diamond League athletics. We've got interviews with extraordinary athletes, as well as the experts working behind the scenes, from football super-agents to the coaches keeping athletes in peak form. Plus, we've got the expertise of the BBC's top journalists, who share their insights from decades of covering sport at all levels.
And if you've got your own take on the stories we cover, we'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected].uk, or WhatsApp us on 0044 800 032 0470. You can find more information, along with our privacy notice, on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/morethanthescore
-
Plenty of players have made names for themselves at this World Cup, from goalkeepers like Cape Verde’s Vozinha and Paraguay’s Orlando Gill to New Zealand midfielder Elijah Just. But though they might not have been familiar to fans, the extent of modern scouting means clubs all over the world will already have known about many of them – so how have their heroics at the tournament affected their standing in the game, and their value in the transfer market? More than the Score’s Mani Djazmi speaks to Ben Littlemore from Transfermarkt, one of the world’s foremost football databases, about how transfer fees get calculated, and what effect the World Cup can have on a player’s price tag. They also discuss the curious case of Tim Payne – the New Zealand defender who became an unexpected viral sensation before the tournament, and now looks set to start a new chapter of his career in Paraguay. Mani’s also joined by Lutz Pfannenstiel, sporting director at Aberdeen, who’s played and worked all over the world in a professional career stretching back to the early 1990s. He explains how his team assesses transfer targets, and what effect major tournaments have on their thinking. More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
We’re at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup and four of the eight teams involved have never won football's greatest prize.
For Morocco to do so, they must first overcome two-time champions, France, in their quarter-final in Boston. Belgium face 2010 winners Spain. Erling Haaland's Norway must beat 1966 winners England to progress, while Switzerland face holders Argentina.
Former Switzerland international, Johan Djourou, won over 70 caps for his country and played at three World Cups. He explains to Lee James why his nation has a strong chance of knocking out Lionel Messi's side. North African football journalist, Maher Mezahi, discusses Morocco's chances against the pre-tournament favourites.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Lee James looks at whether co-hosting the men's Fifa World Cup will take football to another level in the United States. In many countries around the world, football is the major obsession - but the same can't be said about the US. The NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and NHL have a longer history and dominate the media coverage, the sponsorship deals and the national conversation. But has this World Cup changed that - particularly now President Trump has got involved? Lee tells the story of how soccer has made big strides in the country since it first hosted the men's World Cup in 1994. The women's team is a dominant powerhouse, and Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami has boosted interest in the men's domestic league, the MLS. Among the people we hear from are former head of US soccer Alan Rothenberg, the USA international footballers Eric Wynalda and Heather O'Reilly, MLS vice-president Dan Courtemanche, and South Korea captain Son Heung-Min, who made the move to the MLS from the English Premier League.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
As Vancouver hosts the last of its seven games at World Cup 2026, the city now faces a battle to keep its own MLS team. The Vancouver Whitecaps are for sale and have been linked with a potential relocation to Las Vegas. The Whitecaps say they’ve held serious talks with more than 100 potential interested parties, but no viable offer has emerged that would keep the team in Vancouver. Lee James speaks to former Canada internationals David Edgar and Paul Dolan, who both have links with Vancouver, to get their take on the situation. Isaac Fanin visits the city to speak to Whitecaps fans, journalists and former players to find out how people feel about a possible relocation to Las Vegas. We also hear from MLS vice president Dan Courtemanche about the possibility of the club relocating. More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Norway, aided by two goals from Erling Haaland, have reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time with a 2-1 win over Brazil – whose wait for their sixth title will stretch to at least 28 years.
Mani Djazmi is joined by Norwegian football journalist Lars Sivertsen and South American football expert Tim Vickery to reflect on what the results mean for both countries…
Lars discusses the influence of Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, the fact Erling Haaland wants to inspire young people to dream of playing for Norway and explains the shared football heritage of Norway and England ahead of the two sides facing each other in the last eight.
Tim derides the decision to take Neymar to the World Cup and to bring him on against Norway and says manager Carlo Ancelotti will now feel pressure around his position much greater than anything he will have experienced at Real Madrid or AC Milan.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Co-hosts Mexico have won four matches in a row at the World Cup, and are now set to face England at Mexico City’s legendary Azteca Stadium, with a place in the quarter-finals on the line.
Football is a way of life in Mexico - but did you know a group of Cornish miners helped introduce the sport to the country?
Henry Cowling has been investigating the role those miners played in Mexico's footballing story. This documentary first featured on Not By The Playbook.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
The Indian Wells tournament and the Players Championship are often unofficially referred to as the “fifth Grand Slam” and the “fifth major” of tennis and men's golf respectively. But could those nicknames ever become a reality – and who gets to confer that status on them? What makes some tournaments ‘major’, and why do they seem to matter more?
BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter talks to More than the Score’s Ade Adedoyin about how the Open, the Masters, the US Open and the US PGA came to be regarded as the four majors of the men’s game – even though other tournaments previously had that status too. What do they reveal about where power lies in the sport?
Ben Rothenberg, editor of tennis magazine Bounces, also joins the pod to explain what sets the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open apart from the rest of tennis. How much does entering their name into history still motivate golfers and tennis players today?
And if you've got your own take on the stories we cover, we'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected].uk, or WhatsApp us on 0044 800 032 0470. You can find more information, along with our privacy notice, on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/morethanthescore
-
Philadelphia may not have hosted an opening ceremony, and it won’t be the venue for the final, but the city certainly seems to have been one of the big winners of the World Cup.
Philadelphia Stadium – AKA Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles - has been full for games involving the likes of Brazil, France and Ivory Coast. In the first two weeks of the tournament, 250,000 people had been through the gates to watch games on big screens at the fan park.
Lee James and John Bennett examine the fan experience in the city, with John visiting a tailgate before the Brazil v Haiti game, chatting to fans and sampling the food on offer. Lee then visits all four of the main US sports teams in the city - the Eagles, Phillies, 76ers and Flyers - to learn more about Philadelphia’s sporting heritage.
He also hears from Meg Kane, the host city executive for Philadelphia Soccer 2026, about why the city wanted to host games and what benefits it brings.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
The United States have reached the round of 16 at their home World Cup just as they did the last time they hosted the competition in 1994. The USA did so by beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in Santa Clara. More than the Score's Lee James discusses this year's run with Kerith Gabriel, sports editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Lee also reflects on the World Cup 32 years ago with those involved in the big moments, including the scorer of the USA's first goal Eric Wynalda, Sunday Oliseh from debutants Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland's goalscorer Ray Houghton. We also hear from the man who ran the show, the former head of US Soccer and the organising committee, Alan Rothenberg. He reveals how they turned a sceptical public and football world around to produce what became the highest attended and most lucrative World Cup. This is a tale of two missed penalties and so much that happened in-between, as World Cup 94 became the American dream.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Cape Verde, in their debut World Cup, have already drawn with Spain and Uruguay and now they’re set for their biggest test yet, Lionel Messi's defending champions Argentina.
Playing ahead of their now famous 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, is Sidny Lopes Cabral, a defender who’s one of several Dutch-born players in a squad that has been taken liberally from the Cape Verdean diaspora.
He explains to Mani Djazmi his excitement ahead of facing Argentina and says they’re taking inspiration from Paraguay’s shock win over Germany.
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
-
Mani Djazmi is joined by German football expert Constantin Eckner and the BBC’s tactics correspondent Umir Irfan to reflect on Germany’s shock defeat against Paraguay at the World Cup.
The 2014 world champions haven’t won a knockout game at a World Cup since they lifted the trophy in Brazil, and heading into the Paraguay game they had never lost a World Cup penalty shootout. We discuss what went wrong for Germany, and what their defeat means for the future of manager Julian Nagelsmann.
We also hear from jubilant Paraguay fans and discuss how did Gustavo Alfaro's men pull off the biggest shock of the knockout stages so far?
More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. Search for More than the Score, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
- Mostrar más
