World Cup 2026: Thomas Frank column – watching the World Cup as a manager

I’ve loved the World Cup since I saw Denmark at Mexico ’86 as a boy – my dad would record the matches overnight so I could watch them with my sister before school the next morning, a lot like kids today are still doing 40 years later!

I can still enjoy it like a fan now, but of course I think like a manager when I am covering games as a pundit.

While I still get excited by the emotion and the whole spectacle of the supporters who are following teams like Scotland, Norway and the Netherlands at this tournament, I see matches more analytically – what the tactical trends are and what different coaches are doing.

I also love to see new players for myself. Even with all the data that is available about almost everyone, there are still some surprises out there.

You might find someone who you’ve not heard of who is interesting – or, with someone you do know about, get a chance to watch them properly yourself for the first time.

At this World Cup, for example, I’ve already done that with two Ivory Coast players.

RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande is the talk of the town for everyone at the moment and we actually looked at him when I was at Brentford, when he played for Spanish side Leganes.

He was always on our radar then so he is a player I have been aware of for a while, and of course I had seen him – but that was just a lot of clips maybe, or a few highlights from a downloaded game. That is how it is presented to you when you are scouting someone to sign them, unless it is a top priority and you would watch full games.

Now, though, I have just watched him play a whole match against Germany, so I saw everything about him. I will hopefully see him again over two or three, or even more, matches in the coming weeks too.

I could look up some clips or study his data any time, but now what he can do is stored in the hard disk in my head. As a coach, that is always how you prefer to remember players, and what they can bring.