The World Cup has begun. The Next Goal™ looks beyond it.
The World Cup kicked off this week, on 11 June 2026 in Mexico City, at the Mexico City Stadium — formerly the Estadio Azteca.
The world is watching football again.
Packed stadiums, big names, national pride, goals, missed chances and decisive moments. There is something magical about the World Cup. It brings people together, stirs memories and reminds us just how much sport can mean.
But if you only look at the score, you often miss the most important story. The real story lies beyond the spotlight.
Behind every achievement is a journey. A journey of making choices. Of training when nobody is watching. Of dealing with pressure. Of falling down and getting back up. Of people standing by you at just the right moment. Of character, discipline, staying on course and sometimes, starting again.
That is exactly where football meets real life.
My video podcast series The Next Goal™ grew out of that idea. Not as a programme simply about winning or losing. Not as a collection of sporting stories for a nostalgic look back. But as a platform where Rob McDonald talks to people who know what it takes to pursue a goal.
People from the world of sport, people with experience, people who have learnt that talent matters, but is never enough. Because reaching the top takes more than natural ability. It takes character. Guidance. Mental resilience. The right choices at the right moments. And the ability to look ahead again, even after a setback.
At a time when young people are under so much pressure, when achievements are visible but the journey behind them often remains hidden, these are the stories that matter.
A new conversation - with Ernie Brandts
Things may have been quiet for a while, but behind the scenes we have been working hard on new episodes of The Next Goal™. In the second half of 2026, my team and I are taking our mission forward: sharing inspiring conversations that go beyond sport.
In today's new episode (episode 3, June 2026), I sit down with Ernie Brandts.
Ernie Brandts played for the Netherlands in the 1978 World Cup final, in Argentina and against Argentina. A match etched into football's collective memory. But his story does not begin in Buenos Aires. It starts closer to home. In Nieuw-Dijk, in Didam, in a setting where talent needed nurturing, where family support mattered and where the right people around him helped shape his career.
From those beginnings, Brandts went on to become a professional footballer, a PSV player and a Netherlands international.
His story shows that a career is never defined by a single moment. Nor by a single match. A career is shaped by daily choices, by guidance, by discipline, by daring to make mistakes and learning from them, by managing expectations and by the ability to stand firm when the pressure is on.
The Next Goal™ also wants to show what goes on beneath the surface. What does it take for a young player to make the step up to the top? What role do parents, coaches, older players and trusted mentors play? How do you handle pressure? What do you do when you make mistakes on a big stage? And how do you stay grounded as a person in a world where performance so often seems to define everything?
That makes the conversation with Ernie Brandts valuable for football fans, but also for young athletes, parents, trainers, coaches and anyone involved in developing talent. Because the lessons from elite sport often reach far beyond the football pitch. They are about staying on course. About resilience. About taking responsibility. About learning from people who have already walked that path.
Find out more about Ernie Brandts and The Next Goal™ here
The mission of The Next Goal™
The Next Goal™ builds on earlier episodes featuring, among others, Martijn Meerdink and Richard Roelofsen, filmed by Marko Bajic. Those conversations gave us a wonderful and valuable starting point.
Now the project moves forward with a new series of conversations, in partnership with Helpgoed.nl, who share our mission.
The core remains the same: sharing stories that help young people, athletes and viewers look beyond the next match.
Because sooner or later, everyone faces a next step. A new choice. A disappointment. An opportunity. A goal that changes. A moment when you need to find your direction again.
Then it is not just about talent. It is about character.
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