Valair Shabilla of 615 Soccer is back with us to tell a story that's forty years in the making, Iraq is headed to the World Cup for the first time since Mexico 1986. The moment qualification was secured was witnessed by Valair down in Monterey, Mexico a few weeks back. He's here to tell us how it happened, why they were away for so long, what to expect from Iraq this summer and who the heroes of the campaign were.

You can follow all of Valair's work by following him on BlueSky and at 615 Soccer.

You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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This week Thomas is joined by Sam Lattof to talk about FIFA's latest new way to drive US consumer credit use levels to ever newer highs, the MBTA joining in on the fun, the Revs playing RIFC and the bright light of hope emanating from Burlington, Vermont.

You can keep up with Sam here on BlueSky and all our coverage of New England soccer at The Blazing Musket.

You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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Our podcast network covers all of New England's most popular soccer teams, you've heard a lot of their hosts right here on The Blazing Musket Podcast. This week we're giving you highlight segments from these great podcasts, have a listen and be sure to check a few of them out after if you haven't already!

Heard a great segment from one of our shows? Download some full episodes below:

United in Green podcast covering the Vermont Green

The Friggin Soccer Show podcast covering Portland Hearts of Pine

Raising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FC

The Average Fan Podcast that covers Hartford Athletic

The Swan Dive covering the Boston Legacy

You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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Hayden Bird is back just as qualification for the World Cup wraps up and the Revolution and Legacy's seasons are in full swing. We got Hayden's thoughts on how the Revs are doing early days with their new coach, the Legacy's slow start and how the final rounds of World Cup qualification shaped up. We also had a little more fun at Josh Kraft's expense.

You can follow Hayden on BlueSky and check out his Revs and Legacy coverage on Boston.com.

You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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The US Open Cup is delivering early season ups, downs and rivalries for the New England teams taking part. We discuss the first round and what to expect from the second. There's also Drumgate up in Portland and the upcoming last chance saloon to get to the World Cup later on this week.

Our guests join from:

United in Green podcast covering the Vermont Green

The Friggin Soccer Show podcast covering Portland Hearts of Pine

Raising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FC

The Average Fan Podcast that covers Hartford Athletic

You can find all these podcasts on The Blazing Musket as part of our podcast network along with Revolution Recap and The Swan Dive.

We hope you like this episode and be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review if you do wherever you get your podcasts from!

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The Boston Legacy kicked off their Inaugural season this past weekend at Gillette Stadium with 30,000 fans in attendance. Two of those fans, Andy and Courtney, have a podcast called The Swan Dive dedicated to covering the Legacy. We've signed them up to The Blazing Musket podcast network to complete our set of podcasts covering every independent pro soccer team in New England!

Andy and Courtney talked about starting the podcast, what you can expect from them and their impressions of the Legacy's preparation for 2026 and their first home game as well.

Find out more about The Swan Dive Podcast here and you can find the show wherever you get your podcasts from, thanks to Acast.

You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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The USL Championship and League One seasons have just begun, which means it time to get John back on the show and get us ready. He's with us this week to get us caught up on what to expect across both leagues, contenders, upstarts, expansion sides, all of it. John also touched on the ongoing labor situation and give his outside perspective on how New England's pro USL stable of teams will do in 2026.

John brings the knowledge like few others, be sure to check this one out!

You can follow the USL along with John at USL Tactics, Backheeled and BlueSky.

You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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

Soccer and sports are supposed to allow us time to not focus on all the rest, the things we have to think about and deal with that we'd rather not. In the last week, however, we've seen the USLPA vote to authorize a strike, a World Cup host country attack one of the teams that qualified for its tournament, an MLS partner enabling people to profit from war and death and the brave Town of Foxboro has stood up to FIFA.

Heady stuff, for sure, but it must be tackled and Oliver Scholes and Thomas are ready to go in studs up!

The best way to keep up with Oliver is at The Blazing Musket.You can follow Thomas on BlueSky.

Let us know what you think about the show, send us your suggestions and anything else at thebentmusketig@gmail.com.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

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