News
‘The Young and the Restless’ Eric Braeden Talks FIFA World Cup Finals: Predicts Spain, But Don’t Count Out Argentina with Messi

Sunday is the highly-anticipated finals of the FIFA World Cup between Spain and the defending World Cup champions, Argentina. Ahead of the big game, The Young and the Restless star Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) sat down on the Rich Eisen Show for a guest appearance on Friday, July 17.
Braeden, who has played competitive soccer, weighed-in on who he thinks will be taking home the FIFA World Cup when all is said and done. Will it be Spain with their young star Lamine Yamal, or Argentina with the GOAT, Lionel Messi, who at 39, this will mark his final game in World Cup competition.
Earlier this week, Braeden received the news he received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Eric had previously won once in the category back in 1998.

Photo: FIFA
Here’s what the Y&R icon shared below as his prediction for the Word Cup Finals, what he thought of the U.S. Men’s Soccer team’s loss to Belgium after the controversy surrounding the red card given to U.S. star Folarin Balogun where instead of Balogun sitting out the Belgium game, he was reinstated seemingly after United States President, Donald Trump asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to look into the referee’s call.
FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS PREDICTION
Braeden made his bold prediction in the hotly-contested finals: “I respect both teams enormously, and part of me wishes that Messi will win it one more time, because it’s the last time we see him in a World Cup. On the other hand, Spain is a fantastic team. Spain is the most disciplined team I’ve seen play. The point is that Spain is a team. They attack as a team. They defend as a team. When one of their players lose the ball, three or four, come right away. I think Spain will win. But with Messi, you don’t know.”
Clarifying the threat Lionel Messi can be to the opposing team, Braeden shared how England lost in the semi-finals to Argentina: “You don’t leave a guy like Messi alone ever. When I coached and played, you always made sure that the best player on the other team, you covered him with one of your worst players, but who was well-conditioned. You stay with him for the entire 90 minutes or 115 minutes or whatever. But you stay with him and nothing but that. It drives those players nuts. The brilliant players, even Messi, doesn’t like it at all. You stay with him. Wherever he goes, stay with him. They didn’t do that. I must say for the first time, I kind of felt for the Brits and I’m from Germany. We have a known, not very warm feelings for each other. But, in this case, I felt for them.”

Courtesy/Disney
ERIC BRAEDEN’S SOCCER PLAYING PAST
Eisen pulled out a photo of Braeden with the soccer championship, where Eric explained, “I’ve been here in the United States for over 60 years and have been involved in soccer, and won the U.S. National Soccer Championship (the National Challenge Cup Open) in 1973. I played for a team called the Maccabees and I was the token German on a Jewish team. I was a right fullback. ”
Sadly, Eric explained that he no longer had the soccer trophy in his possession, due to the January 2025 Pacific Palisades fire. Braeden explained, “I only have it in the picture, everything burned down in the Palisades Fire when I lost home.”

Photo: USMST
U.S. SOCCER TEAM AND FOLARIN BALOGUN CONTROVERSIAL RED CARD
Eric gave his thoughts on how well the United States Men’s National Soccer team played in the FIFA World Cup tournament until the Folorin Balogun red card controversy took hold and they eventually faced Belgium in the knockout round and lost and were out of the competition.
“I thought they were very good this year. I thought they had a chance. And I personally will tell you, as a player, they’re all very bright. They knew when that call came in from a certain gentleman to another gentleman to reverse the red card for Folarin Balogun. The players knew had they won that game, they would have forever been attached to the moniker of having rigged the game. The leader of the country rigged the game for them. I swear to you, they may not have said anything, but that influenced them very negatively.”
Braeden continued that the referee’s call on Balogun was wrong in the first place. “It would have been a different result, by the way, that was not a red card. Under no circumstances was that a red card,” insisted the Y&R star to Rich Eisen.
“Any player knows that immediately. There was no intentionality. It happened. But then the call (referring to President Trump) afterwards, I mean, obviously that smacks of interference on the highest level. Every player knows that. So you go into the game and say, ‘Oh, man, why am I doing this?’ As far as I’m concerned that is the reason that the American team lost as they lost.”
HOW TO WATCH THE FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS
The FIFA World Cup Finals air Sunday, July 19 on FOX beginning at 3pm ET/noon PT. EGOT winner and daytime talk show host, Jennifer Hudson is set to sing the U.S. National Anthem, with Justin Bieber, Madonna, Sharika and BTS performing at the halftime show. The finals will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
You can tune-in to the Emmy-nominated Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from Noon to 3PM ET on Disney+, ESPN+, ESPN Radio, and streaming on SiriusXM channel 80.
So, do you agree with Eric Braeden’s prediction? Will Spain win the FIFA World Cup, or will Argentina repeat as the champions? Make your picks and let us know via the comment section below. For the full enlightening conversation with Eric on the Rich Eisen Show, you can check it out his segment in full below.
I think Argentina will win the World Cup. But if Spain wins, I’ll be happy for Eric Braeden. Also, I didn’t know he lost his home in a fire or that he played soccer. Wow! I do hope he wins an Emmy, he deserves it. I have a lot of respect for him! He’s a power house!
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Jeff Kober Accepts His Daytime Emmy Award After Being Unable to Attend the Ceremony

Last night at the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Jeff Kober’s name was called as the winner of the Outstanding Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series for his role as murderer and all around misunderstood bad guy, Cyrus Renault on General Hospital.
Kober added a second Daytime Emmy to his collection for playing Laura Collins’ Genie Francis) half-brother. He previously won in the Best Supporting Actor category in 2022. He was also nominated the year prior.
Due to appearing in a “theater gig,” the actor revealed in a videotaped acceptance speech why he couldn’t be at the Hollywood Palladium on October 30 for the livestreamed ceremony.

Photo: ABC
In his acceptance speech, Kober shared, “I want to say thank you to all of the actors who made this happen, and thank you especially to GH and my GH family. What a treat it has been to be with them. Sorry I wasn’t there last night. I had a prior commitment with a theater gig.”
He added, “I’m really sorry I didn’t get to see Genie (Francis) and the recognition by the Emmys she so richly deserves. Love you guys. Oh, also, congratulations to my pal, Roger Howarth (Matt, Y&R, and ex-Franco, GH). Maybe now GH will bring our characters back from the dead. Who knows? I see a storyline. Love to all. Thanks.”‘

Photo: JPI
Last night, Genie Francis received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Television of Arts and Sciences for her body of work since she joined GH initially in 1977 as a young teenaged Laura Vining.
Meanwhile, Howarth made history for the longest gap between Emmy wins for actors. It had been 32 years since he won Outstanding Younger Actor for his performance as Todd Manning in One Life to Live back in 1994.
You can check out Jeff Kober’s video acceptance speech below. Then let us know, what you think about the idea of Cyrus Renault returning from the dead, via the comment section.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s Wil Traval Revealed to Be Jude Jacks; the Son of the Nefarious Jerry Jacks

On the October 29 episode of General Hospital, viewers learned that Jude is actually Jude Jacks, the son of Jerry Jacks (last played by Sebastian Roché) ending all the theories of just who his new mystery man played by Australian-born actor Wil Traval.
The reveal came when Jude came a calling to the Quartermaines. Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton), Jason (Steve Burton) and Tracy (Jane Elliot) were in for a shock when he introduced himself as Jude Jacks, the son of Jerry, cousin of Josslyn (Eden McCoy) and father of baby Phoebe!
In the story, Jude explained that he’d been searching for Delilah Wilson for many months and tracked her down to Port Charles. Sadly, he leaned she died, and he never signed his parental rights away so he wants his daughter. Later, Jude showed up at Miller & Davis law office to speak to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) about an urgent legal matter and she was floored to learn he was Jerry Jacks’ son too.

Photo: ABC
Wil Traval spoke to TV Insider about finding out he would be playing another member of the Jacks family who has quite the storied history in Port Charles.
“When they told me about the role, they said, ‘Audiences won’t see what’s coming with this guy. Just think of a James Bond villain and James Bond mixed.’ And then they told me the storylines and how I was connected to the entire world, and the history of my family. I was given a run-through of who the Jackses were, and I was like, ‘I must be one of the luckiest people, right?’ It’s such a gift to be so well entrenched and connected to the Port Charles universe and the GH universe that it feels like I’ve been there for 100 years. It’s so good.”
However, Traval knows there are no fans like soap fans and that speculation was running high he might be Jerry Jacks with a new face or some other incarnation.
FAN THEORIES IMP
Wil expressed, “I have a little thing about reading things before I’m on the air. I didn’t want to read too much in case it affected anything I was doing before we got into the swing of things, but I vaguely saw little snippets here and there of people going, ‘Oh, he’s gotta be part of the Jacks family.’ The GH audience isn’t stupid. They know what’s up, and I think they’re pretty clever, and they can read between the lines, which is good.”
As for how far the apple falls from the tree, Jerry’s son, Jude may not be too far behind his father in skullduggery, but time will tell. Traval said of Jude, “He knows how to get things done. And if he doesn’t get it done, then he knows that there are other routes, probably not so legal or ethical.”
Traval noted, “When you’re thinking about who his father is, think about the kind of man Jude might have been brought up to be. Always keep that in your back pocket.”
So, what do you think about Jude turning about to the the son of Jerry Jacks? Do you like the story twist? Who is Hudson Parker to Jude Jacks, since Hudson went and tracked down Ethan Lovett before Jude even showed up in town Weigh-in via the comment section below. But first, check out the scenes where Jude reveals himself to the Quartermaines.
Breaking News
Who Should Win Outstanding Lead Actor at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards? (Poll)

The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmys are just a day away, and one of the more hotly-contested contests is which of your favorite leading men will walk away with the gold statuette for Outstanding Lead Actor?
The 5 actors who are going for gold each have had quite the history with the Daytime Emmys with several already having racked up several wins. Let’s take a look and the take our Michael Fairman TV poll at the bottom of the post and vote for who you think most deserves this year’s Lead Actor Emmy.
The nominees are: Eric Braeden (Victor Newman, The Young and the Restless), Steve Burton (Jason Morgan, General Hospital), Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful), Thorsten Kaye (Ridge Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Christian Jules Le Blanc (Michael Baldwin, The Young and the Restless).

Photo: JPI
FIVE ACTORS HAVE ALL PREVIOUSLY WON GOLD
As far as the actors Emmy resumes: Eric Braeden has been nominated nine times for Lead Actor and won once in 1998. Steve Burton is a two-time Daytime Emmy winner, both in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for GH as Jason Morgan and Y&R as Dylan McAvoy. This nomination makes it Steve’s 10th overall, and his third time in the the Lead Actor category.
Scott Clifton has won three times previously in 2011, 2013 and 2017 and has the distinction of being the only actor to win in Younger Actor, Supporting and Lead. This is his 8th nomination Thorsten Kaye is a two-time Lead Actor winner in 2023 and 2024, while Christian LeBlanc has also won three times as Lead Actor in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and this is his first nod in over a decade.
The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are set to be handed out in a ceremony on Friday night, October 30 beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California. And while there is no network television broadcast partner this year, fans can watch the ceremonies livestreamed on the NATAS/Daytime Emmys You Tube Channel.
Now below, cast your vote for who you think should win Outstanding Lead Actor tomorrow night, and then in the comment section let us know who you are rooting for on Emmy night.
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