Link: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/08/kelly-cates-interview-presenting-world-cup-salford-2am-bbc

BBC TV and radio host on sportswashing, the brilliance of watching Argentina up close and why Donald Trump won’t be able to hijack the football glory

Getting up at 4am to watch a dead rubber group stage match is the traditional World Cup experience:

Cates says “we’ll still have a presence. For the Scotland matches, Eilidh Barbour’s going to be there and we’ll have people in the stadium. But when I think about the first Scotland game [against Haiti], I like the idea it’s going to be two in the morning. We won’t be in quite the same headspace as everybody who’s watching it in the pub, but we’re going to be in that slightly unreal, middle-of-the-night, mad World Cup kick-off time zone.