MidDays with Gerard Gibert 2026-06-29

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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Get ready to go beyond the headlines and join a meaningful conversation with people from around the state. You're listening to MidDays with Gerard Gibert here on SuperTalk Mississippi.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:01)
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to MidDays, SuperTalk Mississippi. I'm your host, Gerard Gibert, along with Rhino in the Element Wealth Studio, guiding you through the middle of your day with facts, fodder, and fine music. Morning there, Rhino.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:18)
Howdy, howdy.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:19)
Bit of a long weekend you had there, huh?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:21)
Oh, yeah.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:22)
Took in some soccer, I assume?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:23)
Every bit of it.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:25)
Well, what's next for the American team?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:29)
We will play Bosnia and Herzegovina, which may seem unfair, but that is just one country. We're not playing two on one. That'll be Wednesday night at seven.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:40)
Okay.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:40)
So you don't have to miss any of the live shows here on SuperTalk Mississippi as soon as thunder and lightning wraps up with Brian Haydard Wednesday night. It'll be kickoff time for USA versus Bosnia Herzegovina. In the knockout rounds, this is the round of 32 And for a quick bit of context, America has made it to the knockout rounds in the last several World Cups.
America has only won one knockout round match in our history. Wow. That was back in 2002 against Mexico, Dos Acero. We beat them 2-0 to then get cheated out of semifinal and the quarterfinals against Germany with an uncalled handball on the goal line. But nobody's still bitter about that.
But yeah, this is also a golden opportunity for the USA because it's an easier matchup and a knockout round match than we've had previously. It's not to say Bosnia is going to be an easy match, but the way the teams play the game, USA's pressing attacking style should be enough to handle Bosnia, not looking past them or anything. But this is also an opportunity for America to show up and show out, because they're playing at Levi Stadium where the 49ers play.

**Gerard Gibert** (2:56)
Okay, so let me get this straight. If the US team wins in this knockout round, make history, right? Unprecedented is what you said.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:06)
It's not unprecedented. We've done it once. We got one knockout round win. Those would be our second.

**Gerard Gibert** (3:10)
Second. Okay.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:12)
But that would then put us at the round of 16 where we usually wind up. This is just an expanded tournament.

**Gerard Gibert** (3:17)
Okay.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:18)
And in the round of 16, we would play the winner of Senegal versus Belgium. And Senegal, we played them before the World Cup, beat them. That was a friendly. That's a glorified scrimmage practice kind of thing. So take it with a grain of salt. Belgium beat us in the knockout rounds back in 2014 And Tim Howard stood on his head, saved 16 shots, but still we lost.
This Belgium team is not as good as that Belgium team. This American team is better than that American team. So I feel good about that matchup, but we got to get through Bosnia first. That's Wednesday night. And what I meant about America showing up and showing out is this is the first knockout round World Cup match that the US will play in primetime ever.

**Gerard Gibert** (4:08)
Oh, okay. I didn't know that.

**SPEAKER_3** (4:09)
In 2002, it was being played in South Korea. So the knockout round matches we played there were in the middle of the night, like 1.3 and 2:30 a.m. 2014, our knockout round match was mid-afternoon.
You look at 2022 in Qatar, that was a weird one because it was like around Thanksgiving and the holidays. It was mid-afternoon, or that was actually an early morning kickoff. So this is the first time the US is playing in a match in the knockout rounds at primetime. So I imagine the ratings are going to be amazing.

**Gerard Gibert** (4:43)
Well so that's unprecedented, we can say.

**SPEAKER_3** (4:46)
Oh yeah.

**Gerard Gibert** (4:47)
Well that's pretty cool. Well I know one thing, if, it's kind of ironic, I would say, because it is the week of Independence Day, the 250th birthday of the great United States.
But the reaction from the visitors, especially from the Europeans, if that doesn't just tell you everything you need to know about how special this country is, we take it for granted, and not all of us, but many people do. What's even worse is we got idiots out there that want to tear it down and turn it in to be more like the places from which the people are coming and saying, I have no idea it was this great over here.