ESPN World Cup Analyst Taylor Twellman Talks USA, Messi, Ronaldo, More w/Rich

ESPN World Cup analyst Taylor Twellman joined Rich a week into the tournament buzzing, and the conversation swept from the United States' breakthrough to Lionel Messi defying time to why he thinks Cristiano Ronaldo is hurting Portugal.

The week leveled up, Twellman said, the day Mbappe, Messi, and Erling Haaland combined for seven goals, with Harry Kane following close behind. England, in particular, got his attention by throwing off the training wheels. A team used to winning 1-nil in pragmatic fashion turned loose with Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Marcus Rashford, and while Twellman still considers France the most talented side in the field, that version of England is dangerous. He was equally taken with Norway, which hadn't qualified since 1998 and committed to pairing two 6-foot-4-plus center forwards in a direct, old-fashioned attack, led by a Haaland he likened to Thor and to Gronk playing soccer.

On the United States, Twellman delivered his verdict on whether the win over Paraguay was the greatest performance in program history: if it's not 1A, it's 1B. He weighed it against Portugal in 2002 but argued the magnitude of delivering on a home stage, after three and a half years of negativity around the team, makes this one special. The Gio Reyna goal carried extra weight given the 2022 drama, and Twellman said that swagger, the ability to dictate against a Paraguay side that surrendered only six goals in qualifying, should be the standard. Looking to Australia, he called the performance very repeatable while warning of a different counterattacking threat that tests Tim Ream and elevates Chris Richards, prescribing a patient-but-chaotic approach behind a Christian Pulisic who was unplayable without even needing the ball.

The Messi section was pure awe. Twellman, who called Messi's Inter Miami magic in the same Kansas City building with Patrick Mahomes mesmerized in the booth, marveled that Messi turns 39 during the tournament and keeps doing things he's never done, becoming the oldest player ever to record a World Cup hat trick and both the youngest and oldest to score for Argentina. It's vindication, Twellman said, for everyone who claimed moving to MLS would stall his game, and he floated Messi winning the Golden Boot at 39.

The most pointed take was on Ronaldo. Twellman, who joked that every CR7 fan already has his face on a blog, said the 41-year-old has gone more than 1,000 minutes without a goal from the run of play and now stalls a Portugal team that has the best midfield in the tournament. His prescription was to make Ronaldo a super sub for the end of games, arguing Portugal would have beaten its last opponent if Ronaldo had let a ball slide across to Bruno Fernandes instead of trying to match Messi, Mbappe, and Haaland. He also gave Cape Verde a sliver of a knockout-round hope through the third-place tiebreakers, while noting its goalkeeper's Instagram following has rocketed past several NBA stars combined.

The lighter beats included the recurring debate over pronouncing the 2022 host country, a hydration-break bit Twellman turned into a real argument that broadcasts should stay in the stadium rather than cut to ads, and a closing exchange about the American Century Championship golf tournament, where Twellman, a plus-2.6 handicap, vowed not to fall flat on the 15th hole of the final round like last year, before allowing he'd just do it on the 17th instead.