World Cup 2026: The refugee stars at the World Cup

Nestory Irankunda, Antonio Rudiger and Alphonso Davies represented Australia, Germany and Canada respectively at the World Cup - and all have links to Africa as refugees.

Germany defender Antonio Rudiger tells the podcast how his brother was close to being forced into becoming a child soldier in Sierra Leone, and had to hide in a bag of rice to escape. Rudiger also discusses his childhood experience of living in a refugee centre in Germany.

John Bennett and Ian Williams are also joined by Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and chief executive of Global Refuge, a non-profit organisation which has previously worked with the US State Department to resettle refugees. They discuss the players’ stories, and the challenges refugees face.

More than the Score brings you more than the men’s football World Cup - the new teams, standout stars, trends and fandoms shaping the tournament in ways the stats don’t show. With 48 teams competing across Mexico, the US and Canada, BBC World Service promises to take you deeper - from the group stages to the final. Search for More than the Score wherever you get your BBC podcasts.