Back Of The Net

Whilst there are millions who enjoy football every week, the FIFA Men’s World Cup is the shop window for millions of casual football fans to get their footy fix that will see them through the four years until the next World Cup comes along.

Back Of The Net with Will Arnett was born with casual World Cup fans in mind. Whilst there are shows aplenty for deep tactical analysis and investigations into football’s labyrinth of issues, we wanted to create a light-hearted programme for the individual that doesn’t like their football too serious.

This show was a clash of personalities that all brought a unique perspective on the beautiful game. There was football superfan Will Arnett, who traveled from Beverly Hills to Qatar to be at the tournament in person. There was Samantha Mewis, a two-time World Cup winning midfielder for the USWNT, and then Marshawn Lynch, a larger-than-life American Football legend, whose ‘soccer’ knowledge was… limited (to put it nicely!).

On each podcast, recorded after each day of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, this mixture of Will’s enthusiasm, Sam’s expertise and Marshawn’s hilarious curiosity came together to discuss the highs and lows of each game, plus the incredible stories from around the world that always accompany this global football extravaganza.

We were joined by some incredible celebrity guests to give their hot takes on the tournament. This included Hollywood royalty in Will Ferrell and Jason Bateman, TV superstars Rob McElhenney, Sean Hayes and Rhys Darby, plus also legends of the game Abby Wambach, Brad Friedel, Kelley O’Hara, David James and Danny Mills… just to name a few.

But you didn’t need to have a glittering career on screen or on the pitch to be on this show. We also invited listeners to call in the show and share their thoughts of what they were seeing.

There is no one defined way to enjoy football, and Will, Samantha and Marshawn all embodied different relationships with the sport. The cacophony of those relationships was what enabled Back of the Net with Will Arnett to be a welcoming, inclusive and fun accompaniment to a memorable tournament.