After 104 matches and more Timothee Chalamet, David Beckham, and Will Ferrell commercials than the world ever needed, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has come to a close.
Spain’s stifling defense and possession game proved too much for the sport’s GOAT – Lionel Messi – and his Argentinian teammates to overcome in Sunday’s 1-0 championship.
I knew of only one person to check in with after the finale to see how it went from their perspective: Stephen Miller.
Regular listeners of Conversations might remember Stephen because he first began talking about the 2026 World Cup on this show back in April 2025. He was so stoked for the event being in North America that he even planned his retirement from a career in K-12 education for June 2025 to ensure there would be no conflict for his attention during the past five weeks.
So, for your benefit and mine, I check in with Stephen again, and he surprises us with a pair of mini-Conversations of his own with longtime friends and fellow soccer fans who were at his Bellevue, WA, home yesterday for his final World Cup Watch Party. With that, I encourage you to listen to Stephen’s discussions with Dean Falvey and Dani Neal following my time with Stephen.