Rio Defends Jeremy Doku and Cristiano Ronaldo & Picks His Top Front 3

Rio is poolside at his Beverly Hills Airbnb with Ste Howson and Joel Beya to discuss a pair of players who have been criticised heavily at the World Cup. Jeremy Doku has faced huge media pressure after he announced his intention to travel home from the tournament to be with his wife for the birth of his first child - Rio backs his decision and recounts his own experience at the births of his own children as moments where family puts football into perspective. After failing to score in his opening game - Rio’s former team mate Cristiano Ronaldo has been criticised and compared to other forwards who started the tournament in impressive fashion. Following Joao Neves’ comments on his captain’s role within the team - Rio details how Ronaldo bought into the team mentality in the Manchester United dressing room and shuts down any criticism of Ronaldo’s willingness to work as part of a collective. Rio also picks his front three of the tournament so far which will surprise some people and Ste asks you to get in touch with the teams, players and moments that have surprised you the most for the next podcast recording and Joel is left in the dark about an escapade booked by Rio and Ste for the trio to experience whilst they're in LA together. #WorldCup2026 #WorldCup #FIFAWorldCup #ThreeLions #England #Croatia #ENGCRO #ThomasTuchel #TuchelBall #JudeBellingham #MarcusRashford #ElliotAnderson #JohnStones #HarryKane #KylianMbappe #ErlingHaaland #LionelMessi #CristianoRonaldo #Ronaldo #Portugal #DRCongo #SquadDepth #TacticalAnalysis #RioFerdinand #JoelBeya #SteHowson #Five #FootballPodcast #BehindTheScenes #BeverlyHills #LosAngeles #LA #AirbnbLife Brought to you in partnership with Airbnb #ad 01:06 Giddy Outfits: Going All-Out Denim in the Los Angeles Heat 01:24 Punishing Tardiness: Doing Group Chat Press-ups in the Sun 01:58 Tournament Formulations: Rating the Best Strikers So Far 02:36 Standing Out: Mbappé's Finish, Olise's Creativity & Messi’s Age 38 Hat-Trick 03:10 Golden Boot Contenders: Assessing Kane, Havertz, Diomande & Lamine Yamal 03:47 The Selection Rule: Crafting a Top Front Three with One Player Per Nation 05:03 The Headline Magnet: Reacting to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Performance vs. DR Congo 05:57 Team Friendly vs. Record Obsessed: The Great Ronaldo Team Player Debate 08:52 Goal Nicking: Jermaine Defoe and David Bentley's Flight Confrontation 09:34 The Emotion Factor: Comparing Lionel Messi’s Expression to Ronaldo’s 10:10 Dialing Back: Clarifying When to Bench a 41-Year-Old Ronaldo 10:37 Belgium vs. Iran Analysis: Meeting Sir George Weah in His Slick Custom Suit 11:36 Romelu Lukaku’s Spaces & Frustrations Against Iran's Five-Back Low Block 12:21 Careless Slinging: Evaluating Kevin De Bruyne vs. Youri Tielemans' Impact 13:11 4K Stadium Ambience: Expecting the Absolute Best Tech Facilities in the USA 14:12 The Doku Birth Debate: Rio's High-Speed Midnight Drive Back to Manchester 15:32 Disgusting Presentation: Breaking Down the French Presenter's "Useless Dad" Quote 16:39 Quarterfinal Infection: The Real Reason Jeremy Doku Missed the Pitch 16:56 Next Up: Scouting England's Dynamic Physical Clash Against Ghana in London 17:55 Reshuffling the Back Four: Demanding Marc Guéhi for England's Left-Sided Center-Back 18:45 In-Your-Face Demands: Thomas Tuchel Scolding Pickford & Jed Spence 19:28 Notifications On: Clarence Seedorf Coming to the Beverly Hills Sofa for Rio Meets 20:00 Foot on the Neck: Teasing Upcoming Surprises with Kaká & Thierry Henry 20:24 Next Season Banger: Auditioning and Writing Ste Out of the Show 21:00 Outro: Armbands & Swimming Lessons in the Airbnb Pool Subscribe: http://bit.ly/15QO9WE Rio Ferdinand Presents: rioferdinandpresents.com Rio Ferdinand Presents Instagram:   / rioferdinandpresents   Rio Ferdinand Presents Twitter/X: https://x.com/RioMeets Rio Ferdinand Presents Facebook:   / rioferdinandpresents   Rio Ferdinand Presents TikTok:   / rioferdinandpresents   Rio Ferdinand Presents Threads: https://www.threads.net/@rioferdinand... Rio Ferdinand Instagram:   / rioferdy5   Rio Ferdinand Twitter/X: https://x.com/rioferdy5 Rio Ferdinand Facebook:   / rioferdinandofficial   Rio Ferdinand TikTok:   / rioferdy5   Rio Ferdinand Threads: https://www.threads.net/@rioferdy5