Radio Free CONCACAF

[WCQ Nov 2025] Nicaragua v Honduras

Welcome back / Bienvenidos / Yamni Balram to our beloved listeners!!Coming at you with coverage of the Nov 13 matchup between Nicaragua and Honduras - they face off in Managua with a World Cup berth on the line. Duking it out with fellow group mates Haiti and Costa Rica, only one will qualify directly, and only one will advance to the intercontinental play-offs.
Besides sharing a border, these two nations also share a rich indigenous culture - or more properly, cultures. Both nations see more Nahua / Mexica / Azteca influence on their western side, seen in town names like Choluteca and Tegucigalpa, and Managua, and the country Nicaragua, named for the Nicarao people. The nickname of the Nica national team, Los Pinoleros, comes from a Nahua word for ground and roasted maize. The same word is the root word for pinolillo, a very typical Nicaraguan beverage - a beverage that is also prepared by the Tarahumara people all the way up in the Sonoran Sierra Madre in Northern Mexico/SW USA!
On the eastern / Caribbean coast, a distinct group of people known as the Miskito have made their home for centuries, adapting their native culture to the various waves of English, Spanish and American influence that have arrived to their shores.
As you know, we break it all down for you, riffing on footy, history, and footy history, along with a match prediction! Thank you for tuning in, and we look forward to next time.
F&C

[CONCACAF WCQ] Jamaica v Bermuda

Greetings and welcome back!!
We are thrilled to bring you a new episode highlighting the return fixture of a fascinating matchup between Jamaica and Bermuda.While we were all raised with a robust awareness of the Bermuda Triangle, whether Bermuda forms a part of the Caribbean / West Indies is open to debate. Its history differs from many of the islands there - no indigenous population, isolated from any other island, etc...However, as we break down in our episode, there are plenty of links as well, with patterns of masked dancer traditions, demographics in flux, and footballers plying their trade in the UK, there is lots to explore.

Mexico vs Japan - Friendly - Sep 6

Konichiwa and Bienvenidos to the latest episode of Radio Free CONCACAF!
Bringing together two countries that share a passion for Dragon Ball Z, the Samurai Blue and El Tri will face off in Oakland, CA in a friendly next weekend. While they are many thousands of miles apart, they share a connection via the Pacific Ocean. Specifically, Spanish galleon ships that transported silver provided an axis for interaction as they sailed via Acapulco to Manila, connecting two key ports in the Spanish Empire. Manila was the capital of the Capitanía General de Filipinas and reported to the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain - Mexico City.
Sure, but how does Japan enter the picture? Well, eventually the Spanish and Japanese encountered each other via a series of naval incidents, during a time when the Shogunate was tentatively engaging with European naval powers like the Dutch and the Portuguese, courting their commercial as well as evangelical interest.
Eventually their courtship with the Vatican through the Iberian powers came to a head in 1613, when an embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga, an ambitious kirishitan samurai and ally of the ascendant Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai set out for Acapulco, sighting the California coast in December of that year. The goal was to establish links with Spain through Mexico, and then continue the journey onto Spain and later Rome...
We will cover the twists and turns that they encountered in this episode, including a perspective from Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, a prominent indigenous historian.
We'll also fill you in on the surprisingly recent (1998 World Cup was their first!) development of el futbol in Japan, the legendary King Kazu, as well as the latest on the resurgent gigante de CONCACAF - Mexico.
Thanks for listening!!

[Gold Cup] USA v KSA...Yes, Really!

Ahlan wa sahlan ya dear listeners, thanks for joining us for another rodeo! In this one we will indeed be saying howdy to the Saudis as they visit the USA for the 2025 (and 2027) Gold Cup after being "invited" by CONCACAF.
In this episode we'll trace the long path that brought us here, all the way back to the 1933 founding of the main "character" of this episode, the Arabian-American Oil Company, otherwise known as Aramco. After the UK and France locked down their concessions in Iran/Iraq in the early 20th Century, the USA settled for their western neighbor, co-founding the oil exploration company in the Arabian Peninsula alongside the nascent nation state led by the Al Saud family. After a few fruitless years, they struck black gold in 1938 at Dammam, in the southeast corner of the Saudi territory, and it's been all gravy ever since...
Well, maybe not the whole time - conflicts over relationships with Israel resulting in embargos and cartels, and the growing strength of its centralized state led the Saudis to slowly nationalize the company, culminating with Aramco being renamed Saudi Aramco in 1988. Alongside a boom in the USA's domestic oil production, both nations continue to collaborate on military and economic axes in a more independent relationship.
The Gulf petrostates have made significant inroads in club football over the years, with Saudi nationals owning clubs like Sheffield United, Newcastle, and Pyramids FC, and are working their way towards a foothold in the international world as well, with the most recent World Cup being held in Qatar.
Given the history we've outlined, it is perhaps not surprising that the Saudis are cozying up to CONCACAF, sponsoring the 2024 Nations League through their state sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and airline (Riyadh Air), as well as the recent W Concachampions. What might be a bit more surprising is that their investments have resulted in a berth for their (men's...) national team in the 2025 and 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cups!
We review the history of the Saudi team, as well as the recently announced lineups for each squad, and make predictions in this special BONUS episode!
F&C

[2025 CWC] RB Salzburg (AUS) v CF Pachuca (MEX) - Maximiliano Habsburg, Emperor of Mexico

Greetings to our dedicated listeners!
We have a juicy one for you today, with an unexpected matchup it he 2025 Club World Cup bringing to light an unexpected chapter in history.
When RB Salzburg of Austria faces off against CF Pachuca of Mexico in the Club World Cup on June 18, it will mark the first time that two football teams representing these two countries share the same pitch (we think!). 
However, there is a rich story to be told that involves both nations - the installation of the Austrian-born Ferdinand Maximilian Josef Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen, better known as Maximiliano I, as the Emperor of the Second Mexican Empire. Following in the footsteps of his ancestor Charles V, who was in charge of the Holy Roman Empire when it presided over the conquest of Mexico in 1521, Maximilian was brought in by Mexicans who missed the good old days of a strong monarch.
As we will describe in the episode, while he and his wife Charlotte did their best to endear themselves to the people of Mexico, the admiration was not mutual, resulting in a sharp conflict with the rise of Benito Juarez and the Restored Republic.
On the pitch, we will delve into the controversial history of RB Salzburg, specifically its takeover by Austrian conglomerate Red Bull, and we revisit the history of Pachuca that we covered in more detail in our April 2024 episode on that year's Concachampions semifinals.
It is our pleasure and our privilege to share our passion for footy, history, and footy history with you - enjoy and stay tuned for our next episode where we cover the Gold Cup showdown between Saudi Arabia and the USA!
F&C

Jamaica vs. St Vincent and the Grenadines - Gold Cup Qualification

Back again for part 2 of our March window double header, we cover a deeper cut between two nations with deeper-than-expected historical connections: Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They clash in Gold Cup prelims/qualification matches on March 21 at the famous Arnos Vale cricket stadium in Kingstown, SVG, and then March 25 in another cricket ground, Sabina Park, this time in Kingston, Jamaica.
Situated on opposite ends of the Caribbean, these countries were both influence by Guyanese Black Power activist Walter Rodney while he taught at the University of the West Indies (UWI) campus in Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. After his anti-colonial speech rubbed Jamaica's post-independence elites the wrong way, he was forcibly encouraged to leave his position at UWI. 
While that exit would push Rodney to achieve great influence across the Caribbean as well as in Africa, one of his most ardent defenders would later return to his native St. Vincent and become, as of 2025, the longest-serving democratically-elected state leader - Ralph Gonsalves. 
Rodney's anti-colonial influence lives on more in St. Vincent than in Jamaica, as SVG is party to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty while Jamaica prefers more traditional neoliberal free trade deals.
As you well know, after we run through these connections, we also run through the distant and recent past for both national team squads, and make our prediction for the matches!
Song - Protoje (son of a Vincentian calypso singer father and a Jamaican singer and lawyer mother) - Who Knows feat. ChronixxJam

Dominican Republic v Puerto Rico - March Friendlies

Welcome back radiofreeconcacaferos!
 
New episode, first half of a double header for this exciting March window!
Neighboring islands Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will have a double header of their own - a home and home series of friendlies on March 21 and 25.
While these two nations were populated by similar indigenous populations, and were both colonized very early on in the Castilian Nueva España era, their fortunes diverged as they reacted to other hegemonic powers in the region. The DR's contentious relationship with neighboring Haiti led them towards sovereignty, while PR never quite had the momentum to break free of Spain, and then found itself handed over to the USA.
 
While these two nations knock it out of the park when it comes to béisbol / pelota, they are both on an upward trajectory on the footballing front, and as you well know by now, we will break down the current squads after we handle the historical connections.
 
Song - Khe by Rauw Alejandro (PR) feat. Romeo Santos (DR/PR via El Bronx)

[Jan 2025 Friendlies] USA v Venezuela / Costa Rica

Welcome back esteemed listeners!!
January friendlies are famous for the US National team, as they represent a chance for MLS-based players to make a statement. This year, friendlies against Venezuela and Costa Rica in Florida created some interesting football moments and reminded us of some historical connections between the three.
 
Rómulo Betancourt was a classic middle of the road liberal leader, opposed to both authoritarian rule as well as communist philosophy, and his tenure as the President of Venezuela overlapped with a period of internal stability but external conflict with...you guessed it, the authoritarian and communist leaders throughout the Americas. An attempt on his life by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo helped to galvanize public opinion against "El Jefe" and set in motion his downfall. His centrism appealed to the United States at the time, and as we discuss in the episode, Betancourt won praise from two US presidents who agreed on little else - JFK and Reagan.
 
As far as on the pitch, we take a look at some previous exciting January moments, analyze the lineups coming into the match, and Cullen reports on his view from the Barra 76 supporters' section in Ft Lauderdale of debut goals from Jack McGlynn, Matko Miljevic, and Patrick Agyemang.
 
Thanks for listening!!
 
Music - Himno de Acción Democrática

[CONCACAF NL Nov 2024] USA vs Jamaica

USA and Jamaica face each other in the @concacafnationsleague QF in two weeks, with a spot in the @goldcup and the Nations League Finals on the line. Pochettino's first elimination matches, and a key moment for the @jamaicamnt to avenge their bitter loss in last year's edition.Your faithful co-hosts return from their hiatus to dish on the footy, history, and footy history involving these two nations.We'll look deeper into a few topics in this episode:The interactions between the two nations when they were both under British rule.The unique journey of Jamaica-born "Honest John" Brown Russwurm, an abolitionist publisher who ran the first Black-owned newspaper in the USA, and later ended up moving to Liberia.Similar ideas resurfaced 70 years later when another Jamaica-born leader also proposed resettlement as a solution to race relations in the Americas - Marcus Garvey.On the footy front, we'll fill you in on the latest with both national teams, the overall League A and League B setup, and of course predict the outcome!Check out our episode on Jamaica v Brazil from the Women's World Cup for more on Jamaican history (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4EEq8J1RjWnx23ZxrgOA2w)For more on the USA, our episode from earlier this year on USA v Panama in the 2024 @copaamerica covers that ground. (https://open.spotify.com/episode/5N2LjzZdfRJv9Z7jJAjvQR)

[2024 Copa America] Canada v Chile

Les Rouges vs La Roja!!The teams have limited but fascinating history inside the lines, with Chile twice competing in one-off Cups in Edmonton and at U of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, along with a 2007 U-20 meeting in Toronto which would foreshadow Chile's golden generation.Off the field, Fernando chats with Dra. Berenice Villagómez, scholar of Latin American history, on the diverse relationships that emerged between Canada and Chile during the latter's coup d'etat in 1973, While Canadian civil society orgs assisting those fleeing the new Pinochet regime, the Canadian government delayed their resettlement through cautiously scrutinizing their political ideologies.With a Chile team in transition away from their golden generation (only Bravo, Vargas, Bravo, and Isla remain), and Canada's prospects looking brighter than ever, this match could represent a defining moment for the Copa América's CONCACAF edition.