Ian Wright

Wright argued England should build its attack around Jude Bellingham, as Argentina does around Messi.

“absolutely we should be looking to say listen this is the main guy and we want the main guy up there”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 16:55

Wright rejected Tuchel's claim that the loss was not a structural problem.

“It was a structure problem, if you ask me, because we couldn't get out”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 12:08

Wright argued that England's defensive switch to a 5-4-1 after scoring could not work against Argentina.

“His strategy to bring on the defensive guys in the 5-4-1, it's not going to work”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 6:04

Wright picked Argentina to win the World Cup final.

“I'm probably going to go with Argentina simply because I just feel that they just can't be beat”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 32:23

Wright named Cape Verde's match against Argentina the best game of the World Cup.

“Cape Verde's game against Argentina for me is the best game of this World Cup for me so far”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 32:12

Wright predicted Argentina would target Lamine Yamal with rough treatment in the final.

“I can say for definite right now that Lamin Yamal will get some form of rough treatment”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 24:47

Wright said Messi winning a second consecutive World Cup would likely be the greatest achievement by any player.

“probably in respects of achievement, that would go down as the greatest achievement by any player, for him to have two out of all the so-called goats”

The Bill Simmons Podcast: Messi Takes England Out of the World Cup, Plus Preparing for Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' With Ian Wright, Anthony Dabbundo, and Sean Fennessey (Jul 16, 2026) · Listen from 9:17