Natalie Sawyer fronts the new World Cup podcast from The Times, publishing every night after the final whistle on every matchday. In our opening episode, Gab Marcotti, Henry Winter and James Gheerbrant join Natalie to look ahead to this summer in Russia.

The panel focus on Russia’s preparations to host the tournament and what shape England find themselves in, as they seek to end 52 years of hurt. Plus we run the rule over the contenders and pretenders looking to take home the trophy. Does the evidence suggest we should be writing off the Germans? Are Belgium under-prepared? And can Didier Deschamps drive the French Ferrari?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.