Mourinho claims he switched off the World Cup after 10 minutes

Portuguese manager José Mourinho has admitted that he did not follow the 2026 World Cup with the same enthusiasm he had shown in previous editions, stating that a number of first-round matches failed to live up to the standards of the world’s biggest football tournament, due to the significant disparities between some of the participating teams.

The Portuguese manager made these comments whilst appearing as a guest on the Beast Mode On podcast, hosted by former English striker Adebayo Akinfenwa, where he spoke candidly about his impressions of the tournament, noting that many matches lacked the competitiveness and excitement expected.

Some World Cup matches made me switch off the telly, says Mourinho

Mourinho did not hesitate to express his disappointment, saying:

I have to be honest, there are some matches where I switch it off after 10 minutes.

He clarified that his criticism was not aimed at the World Cup itself – which he described as the pinnacle of world football – but rather at the standard of play in some matches, which, in his view, did not live up to the tournament’s stature.

Veiled criticism of the tournament’s expansion

Mourinho’s comments contained an indirect criticism of the new format, which increased the number of participating teams to 48, after the group stage saw several shock results and matches decided by large margins.

He said:

I don’t like this feeling. For me, the World Cup is the highest possible level. The whole world breathes football and that’s wonderful, but there can’t be results like 7–1 or 5–1. This is the World Cup.

The Portuguese manager believes the tournament should feature evenly matched games between the world’s best teams, reflecting its stature and technical calibre.

Morocco v Brazil… the match that won Mourinho over

Despite his criticisms, Mourinho praised the clash between Brazil and Morocco, considering it one of the few matches that delivered the quality and excitement he expects from a tournament of the World Cup’s calibre.

He added jokingly that on some nights he preferred to enjoy a quiet dinner and go to bed early, rather than stay up until the early hours watching matches that failed to hold his interest.

Mourinho emphasised that he expects the quality of the matches to improve as the knockout stages begin, when the teams’ levels become more evenly matched and the competition intensifies.

He concluded by saying: “I think I’ll really start watching in the second half of the tournament,” suggesting that, in his view, the real excitement begins with the knockout stages.

Featured image via the Canary