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

By Michael Fairman

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Eric Braeden, Lionel Messi
Photo: FIFA and Rozette Rago

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.

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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 Eva LaRue Talks Guest Performer Daytime Emmy Nod With Maurice Benard: ‘I Only Have a Nomination Because of You’

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It was back in episodes of June of 2025 that saw the undoing and ultimate death of Natalia Rogers-Ramirez after complex and poignant scenes delivered by soap opera vet, Eva LaRue on General Hospital. Prior to her demise, Sonny (Maurice Benard) had Natalia believing they were going to head out of the country and set up their lives together, only for Sonny to pull out at the last moment after learning of all of Natalia’s deception.

Throughout her run on GH, LaRue’s Natalia became one of the most hated characters of the year, especially because of the character’s bigotry against her own gay children, Marco (Adrian Anchondo) and Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez), and that she was revealed to be the ex-wife of Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota). But even with all that, Eva triumphed and secured a Daytime Emmy nomination going into the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on October 30 in the Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series.

LaRue faces tough competition from the other nominees that include: Christopher Sean (Paul, Days of our Lives), Jasmine Burke (June Hughes, Beyond the Gates), Jeff Kober (ex-Cyrus Renault, General Hospital), and Ray Wise (ex-Ian Ward, The Young and the Restless).

Outstanding Guest Performer Nominees

Photo: NATAS

EVA LARUE SCORED HER FOURTH EMMY NOMINATION

Now, on a new Sunday, October 11 edition of Maurice Benard’s mental health series, State of Mind, the two former co-stars talked about LaRue’s fourth Daytime Emmy nomination. She previously won an Emmy for her work as as Celeste Rosales on The Young and the Restless in this same category in 2020, and was nominated three other times including this year.

The others were for co-writing the song, “Dance with You Again” for All My Children in 2004 and in 1997 in the Supporting Actress category her role as Mario Santos on the beloved ABC soap opera.

Speaking on her nomination, LaRue says it’s Maurice who was truly helped her deliver her performances. “I only have a nomination because of you,” she said to the three-time Daytime Emmy winning Lead Actor. “You said to me that you were going to get nominated.” Eva added, “God bless the writers because they wrote some fantastic stuff for me to go out on.”

Maurice responded, “You had levels in your work that day that we did those scenes. But you were on fire!”

Sonny and Natalia, GH

Photo: ABC

MAURICE BENARD’S BOLD EMMY PREDICTION

Explaining the category she is nominated for to Benard, LaRue said, “I’m nominated for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series. So (the category) was those of us who were like not on contract, but we were there for a while. I mean now, I feel like that guest thing is so much more competitive than it ever was, because so many of the soap operas are taking people off contract, which then throws them into the Guest category.”

Benard, who shares he has great Emmy karma predicting the acting awards on daytime’s biggest night, made his bold 2026 prediction sharing his pick. “I would say you’re gonna win (to LaRue). And I would say if not, it’s between you and somebody else. There’s no reason why you wouldn’t win for the ‘Guest’ category.”

You can watch part 1 of the conversation between Eva LaRue and Maurice Benard on State of Mind below. With part 2 being released next Sunday on October 18.

Now, let us know, do you think Eva has a chance at grabbing the gold for her work as Natalia-Rogers Ramirez on General Hospital? Would you like to see her win? It’s been a very heavy time for Eva after just recently losing her brother. Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Who Winds Up Hitting the Sheets First? Jordan and Michael or Curtis and Monet?

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Curtis, Monet, Michael and Jordan

After today’s Friday, October 9 episode of General Hospital, Monet Mitchell (Blythe Howard) informs Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner), that not only is she Jordan’s (Tanisha Harper) half-sister, but the best damn lawyer there is to get him out of spending the rest of his prison sentence in Pentonville. Does he believe her?

If Monet can come through, would Curtis look at her in a whole new light, especially since his girlfriend, Jordan has headed to Europe with Michael (Rory Gibson) to visit the burn clinic to restore her face and remove the scars that have plagued her since the car accident with him?

It appears GH is ready to shake-up the couples and the romance on the long-running ABC soap opera. We already know Tanisha Harper previewed that the series is trying out the chemistry between Harper and her GH co-star Rory Gibson, and that Michael and Jordan might explore their burgeoning feelings for one another since both currently work together at Aurora Media, and understand what the other went through following horrific sets of circumstances that left them scarred.

Photo: ABC

As for Monet, she would like nothing more than to stick to her sister as their is still a deep troubled history between the two yet to be fully revealed. It would seem Monet would love to flaunt a relationship with Curtis. And knowing Curtis, he will be so eternally grateful to Monet for helping him gain his freedom that this might be a possible scenario. But the question becomes, who cheats on who first?

Do you think Jordan and Michael hook-up while away from Port Charles? Does Monet take advantage of Curtis, if and when, he becomes a free man? Does Curtis already sense Jordan pulling away from him but is keeping that inside, or will this all come as shocker if he were to learn Michael and Jordan have become closer?

Tanisha and Rory

Photo: ABC

While much of this is speculation, it does seem like the trajectory of the storyline; given that Michael’s recent love interest Jacinda (Paige Herschell) was written-out of the story, and it appears that Serena Baldwin (Kelly Kruger) is now being put in the romantic path of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).

GH spoilers for the week of October 12-16 indicate that on Wednesday, October 14, Michael reflects on his past, while on Thursday, October 16 Monet advises Curtis.

So, do you think that Jordan hits the sheets with Michael, and Monet and Curtis will hook up? Or, do you think it will all be a giant tease? If it becomes true, who would you be rooting for to end up together? Any of them? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of our Lives’ Rachel Boyd on the Return of Sophia Choi as She Makes Her Way To Salem: ‘I Wanted Her to Come Back Stronger Than Ever’

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Sophia Boyd

Next week on all-new episodes of Days of our Lives, the Peacock streaming soap opera will pick right back up from where Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) has tracked down a very much alive, Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd) in a diner in Kentucky. But what will happen when Sophia returns to her old stomping grounds of Salem?

In official spoilers for the week of October 12-16, look for Kristen to make a deal with the woman she supposedly killed, and by week’s end for the once-conniving Sophia to make her way back to Salem. Meanwhile, in a new interview with TV Insider heralding her return, Rachel Boyd, who did a tremendous job with Sophia’s original exit story, explains how she thinks this version of Sophia will be different than the last.

The exit story had Sophia setting out to kill Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman) by a demand made by Kristen DiMera. Sophia failed to end Johny’s life and Kristen lured Sophia to the bridge and clunked her over the head with a rock and pushed her over the rails to the steely waters below.

Rachel and Kristen

Photo: Corday Productions

Sophia’s body was never found, but she was declared dead. At the time, Boyd thought Sophia might be ‘dead-dead’ but in soap opera’s and especially Days of our Lives, nobody really ever truly dies!

WHAT’S DIFFERENT WITH SOPHIA CHOI COME FALL OF 2026?

Reflecting on her first run, which featured many an emotional scene, Rachel recalled: “As crazy as some storylines can be, working on a soap opera is truly a boot camp in acting because you’re given one take and you have to tackle really hard circumstances.”

Those dramatic circumstances included: “Giving birth in my bedroom alone, penning a suicide note, or even attempting to murder someone by blowing him up are all things a younger version of myself would be so intimidated by,” expressed Boyd. “But I learned that preparation is everything and as long as I do the hard work before I show up to set, then I am capable of it.”

Rachel ended her first run back in December of 2025, but due to DAYS tape schedule, the character of Sophia “died” five months ago on episodes on Peacock. Once she returned to the set for her second-go round, it was all systems go. “It was more like being thrown into the deep end, which honestly worked for me. I enjoy working under pressure and with momentum.”

The actress hopes viewers will see the internal change with the character as things move forward. “I knew I wanted her to feel distinctly different,” she explained. “I’ve always tried to keep the character constantly evolving and changing as she experiences new things and responds to trauma. But now that the audience hasn’t seen her for months, I had a great opportunity to fill in those blanks for myself and come back in a whole new way.”

DAYS fans should really began to notice the change on next week’s episodes. “I wanted her to come back stronger than ever,” admits Boyd. “Now that she’s survived a near-death experience and kept herself alive and hidden for six months, this version of Sophia is going to be much more independent and a fighter. I can’t say exactly what is going to happen, but as long as Sophia’s alive, chaos will follow!”

So, are you glad that Rachel Boyd is back as Days of our Lives Sophia Choi? What do you think she will do once she gets back to Salem? Turn a new leaf or be back to her scheming ways? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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