S1 E6: FIFA, Syria & Tiananmen Square: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Season 1, Episode 6, June 8th, 2014. Take a look back at the show's first deep dive on FIFA, plus a look at Bashar Al-Asaad's personal history, Angela Merkel on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and a rare Last Week Tonight performance by ... Right Said Fred. Of course.
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[@ethanganes9266]

Little does S1 John know how his relationship with horses would develop

[@Viceroy_Sundercles_III]

And rat erotica.

[@lady0ftheunderground]

😭😭

[@jaymiller5669]

More than S1 John could possibly know!

[@TheRealEvilkitten3]

was just thinking that XD

[@viviansytsui]

How far we've come xD

[@ultimatehawkeyefangirl]

Man, how the tone of “Fuck that horse!” has changed in this show!

[@tomokolovecraft3792]

John went from Fuck That Horse >:[ to Fuck That Horse ;3

[@publicuser2534]

That horse love though 😂

[@JuanPerez-cs1gx]

🤣 Season 1 -> Figuratively Current season -> Literally

[@Izandaia]

Ah, the first time they spent a silly amount of money on a gag. History in the making.

[@0Clewi0]

I wonder how weird it was, before this was a known thing, to receive the email explaining what they wanted to do.

[@LianteakaLia]

I was just thinking exactly that as I saw that. :D And it didn't take long did it? Episode 6, season 1.

[@ZT1ST]

@@0Clewi0 What's the over/under that the email chain was where John Oliver developed his desire to joke about people not knowing *where* a country they were talking about was situated?

[@ZT1ST]

@@0Clewi0 On the other hand, it does also make me wonder how much convincing they needed to get the musicians on board.

[@0Clewi0]

@@ZT1ST musicians likely are one of the easiest one to get on board, at least when it comes to politicians like another video about campaign trail music.

[@iamscythed]

From an exiled Syrian whom lost everything and almost everyone: I know it's the least you could do, thank you for it.

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Hope you're rebuilding your life in peace and love. ❤

[@milkgrapes6420]

You know. I was thinking of pirating episodes for LWT. Turns out I don't need to anymore. Thank you HBO and John Oliver. This is how you destroy piracy

[@sujimtangerines]

Literally just commented on how I used to wait for The Internet Truck™ to drop off episodes... rarely have to resort to that now.

[@rebeccaholder668]

Lol. I think it is less destroying privacy and current business daddy giving the finger to old business daddy.

[@angielott83]

AMEN!

[@sujimtangerines]

@@rebeccaholder668 Why not both? Kinda sounds like 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

[@superiorjrn1604]

@@rebeccaholder668my first thought was subscriptions aren’t what they want and they are helping that out with ad revenue

[@forgiveman]

This episode shows how much we have lost when we were not able to see the complete show. The song at the end was chef's kiss.

[@TheDriedfrogpills]

I love that even in the first season, the lengths John and his crew was willing to go has remained consistently beautiful. Thank you all

[@xelefonte]

John Oliver looks a million years younger but he’s still in his prime.

[@sevenprovinces]

He's a silver fox now really and, that being said, it is no wonder he fled the UK! Fleeing before turning into said fox.

[@TheJohtaja]

*In his HBO

[@Dr.Spatula]

Well, this was season 1...

[@LoveDiveChannel]

The way John Oliver converted how hot the temperature in Qatar is into American perspective and being understand by the audience is such a mind blowing

[@0Clewi0]

I feel it should at least be common knowledge to know around which temperature it's a fever in the other system.

[@Vysair]

I thought that was in the script or teleprompter lol

[@gustavouchida1]

The temperature in Qatar in the summer is 50 DEGREES CELSIUS ( silence ) 50 degrees Celsius is a 100 Fahrenheit (OOOOOhhhh)

[@airellevan9684]

i like how john did it again in the 2022 world cup and the audience reaction is unchanged haha

[@thegameshowgeek]

That’s why I intend to encourage my future children to learn Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions.

[@TangoCharlie-mz8lh]

Holy shit that D-Day stray caught me like a Private Ryan extra

[@andtherewerenone-ID]

26:20 Whoever screams with full power, thank you, I fucking laughed

[@HeinzTomatoKetchup]

YYEEEEAAAAA

[@JJGGYT]

In my flawed human memory I thought these were always two separate episodes. One where the main story was FIFA and the other where the main story was Syria. It’s interesting to see how the show started and what it’s evolved into over ten years

[@akamoreno]

The noise in the crowd lets you know, times where happier back then! Much love to all of you who get the message! ❤

[@Viviorkogaming]

It’s the same.

[@JJGGYT]

There was certainly a lot more hope for liberal/leftist people in 2014. I don’t think anyone in that audience could’ve imagined the Trump presidency, Covid, January 6th, or Biden being president at 80

[@Viviorkogaming]

@@JJGGYT what amazes me, we still have many of the same problems. Technically more. What the hell are those idiots in government doing!

[@simgem]

​@@Viviorkogamingcollecting a paycheck

[@LSnicket]

I'm Brazilian and this episode went viral in Brazil, and that's how I met John Oliver. So thanks so much for this, John! Thanks for saying to the world what we were trying to say with the protests, and thanks so much to Last Week Tonight for putting this episode and making me a fan since then.

[@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460]

*John Oliver should get another Emmy award just for these full uploads of season one!!!!* 🥰🤗🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@eflarsen]

FIFA did the same in Qatar for the recent world cup, where alcohol is actually illegal but FIFA was still allowed to sell beer in the stadiums.

[@steveng2896]

Actually I think Qatar was allowed to backtrack. Originally yes they said alcohol could be served in stadiums but Qatar changed that and it only allowed alcohol to be purchased in special facilities that weren't in the stadium. Also fifa just awarded the 2034 games to saudi arabia of all places

[@publicuser2534]

If it was changed, would’ve been smart from a health standpoint. It’s too bloody hot in Qatar! I felt like I was getting broiled when I was there. The U.S. Military is allowed to have alcohol on Al Udied Air Base…three beers a day was the limit when I flew through.

[@v8wr253]

rewatcching these makes it hit home how relevant a lot of this stuff still is...

[@ringo1692]

"you're a mom fearing asshole" best lyrics ever!!! 🤣😂😂

[@adv4287]

Oh young John Oliver. There’s so many things I want to warn you about.

[@stanis_gaming]

I have a feeling I’m about to see John Oliver age rapidly in my feed

[@forgiveman]

Season 3 onwards.

[@pacolemus2938]

Thanks so much for uploading the complete show, I never knew Right Said Fred was here

[@coalblooded]

Right, I'm so excited to finally see all of these things we didn't know we were missing!

[@Jozman2005]

This was obviously before their brains shrank in the great bullshit palaver of 2020…

[@lumioX]

Why does almost all of Oliver's episodes ends with me, almost to tears in laughter?

[@non0113]

The play back guitar that we don’t even hear is just amazing

[@nicole81678]

Pretty incredible going back and watching this FIFA segment after the recent one he made after the World Cup was held in Qatar, and all those predictions came true...

[@piedpiper1172]

It really is cosmically unjust that the Qatar World Cup produced one of the all time greatest finals. It tacitly legitimizes the venue and ensures memories of the event will often diminish the suffering that went into preparing for it as the timelessness of the final looms large.

[@publicuser2534]

Young Mbappe losing to the seasoned Messi in penalties was a fantastic finish for sure.

[@DeathMelodies]

God. John has so much liveliness here. The past decade has done many of us in.

[@transsnack]

That one guy who yelled "YEAH" when John said "I'm too sexy" was a good song... I wonder how he's doing. It is a good song, tbh.

[@DMBLaan]

Tim Roth is a great actor. I feel like his role in the FIFA movie was a similar experience to Michel Cain in Jaws 4 lol.

[@StefanMedici]

You know he got that bank, and in the words of Vincent Price "Someone's got to pay the bills".

[@yes-fx3pq]

Can you guys please categorize the episodes into a playlist for each season?

[@vonriel1822]

Sometime in the past 5 hours, they did just that.

[@Dr.Spatula]

It already was when the seasons were on sale

[@norsemaiden1108]

Wow. A Prairie Home Companion reference. Which did in fact actually go the fuck away.

[@misledprops]

Right said Fred coming in so badass

[@tee_es_bee]

Thank you for releasing the entire first season from a current HBO subscriber! 🧡💛🧡

[@sportsfreakize]

As a California Chrome and horse racing fan, when LWT announced that it would be uploading full episodes for Season 1, I could not wait for this specific episode so that I could finally watch the California Chrome segment (I had never seen it).

[@im2cre8iv2]

I was here when it happened

[@shepinchains1]

I was not. As with the rest of us.

[@wgooetrik]

As john oliver would say "cool"

[@The_Sleepiest_Socialist]

I was not.

[@DNGNDriver]

I remember watching this in high school... this takes me back!

[@harinisridharan1188]

Gawds! Their writing has been top-notch since the get-go!

[@nepenthe4929]

Nothing is so cathartic and hilarious! This show is the best. Thank you, Last Week Tonight team, for always delivering such insightful and entertaining content!

[@SurfingTacoMedia]

You guys should put the original air date in the description of all these. I've watched all the main stories for the past few years and I'm "re watching" so I can see the full episodes. I wonder how much ad revenue this is generating for HBO...worth it!

[@johnchessant3012]

S1 E6 (aired June 8, 2014)

[@KGI_KlikoNL]

Qatar WC was different. There suddenly it is possible to ban beer in the stadiums.

[@a3-radio]

Qatar government played fifa like a fiddle, they promised them EVERYTHING fifa wanted and then they said "nup you have to follow our rules, if you don't like it you can leave" and by that point fifa really had no other option, fifa thought they were the ruthless in control ones, turns out that against a government of uber rich oil oligarchs they can't do jack shit but bend the knee

[@billclockwell]

Qatar has more money than budweiser

[@dianaponce7314]

John Fn Oliver ❤️ one of the best comedians to ever exist

[@TroubledTrooper]

And now in 2026 we will have world cup in North America, with finals in *DALLAS* 💀

[@aliaamustafaaltabbaa4958]

On Syria God bless you... We need an update of everything throughout this decade

[@hagestad]

Yea US and Israel are at it for at least 6 decades. They even had original Jeffrey Epstein on the case en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Cohen . They also occupy Syrian oil fields as we speak. How not unlike Iraq.

[@joshuaharyono]

the songs mentioned are: Sexy and I Know It, Bizarre Love Triangle, Look at Me Now.... literally f*ck, marry, k*ll

[@EndPoliticalCorruption]

Milestone episode! First real deep dive on an issue. First time spending nontrivial amount of money to do something ostentatious.

[@ElementalofAir]

I remember John talking about LMFAO on the Bugle 😂

[@jenelaina5665]

It's on KZbin. Either Syria Update or The President's Playlist. My favorite episode ever lol. ("BISHAR! TURN THAT SHIT OFF!")

[@greciaedaenperezaguilera2386]

I guess my life is officially over after now I am morally driven to rewatch everything

[@billymckeon9762]

I miss the studio from this era

[@iceofwolf]

Finally, a good reason for Friends to exist.

[@randyastle3301]

I’ve thought more about soccer while watching Last Week Tonight clips than the entire rest of my life combined.

[@ogb1923]

"Even Hitler could paint" is a wild line

[@veggigoddess]

This is great, as I've never seen earlier episodes and I've never seen an episode in its entirety before this

[@aaronwurtzel7287]

The line... at least Hitler could paint. Wow that's dark.

[@JakeTPE]

haha West Ham catching a stray @14:00 in that graphic

[@user-je1sp3tn4x]

I am so so glad you guys were aired this I missed this episode I can't believe it this is awesome I've always loved I'm too sexy shout out Right Said Fred

[@gustavouchida1]

00:41 - Recap of the Week: Californian Crown race horse 01:29 - Fuck this horse! 03:08 - Germany's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 04:47 - 25th Anniversary of Tian'anmen Square Massacre 06:53 - Friends so popular in China 07:26 - Friends: The One With The Chinese Massacre Trivia 08:20 - I would like to show you my Sausage 08:29 - FIFA 2014 Word Cup 08:33 - Most excited Englishman you'll ever see on TV 08:52 - Soccer's a religion 09:59 - Brazil! 13:01 - FIFA pushing Budweiser 14:53 - Sepp Blatter & Corruption 17:11 - $27M on a film about FIFA starring Tim Robbins 18:05 - Best film about Sepp Blatter ever 18:34 - 2022 FIFA Worldcup in Qatar 19:24 - Truth about Working conditions in Qatar 20:36 - The church of FIFA 21:21 - And Now This - Chris Mattews & Tip O'Neal 21:41 - Syria 23:33 - Backstory 24:49 - The Whys 25:35 - iTunes playlist: LMFAO 26:12 - Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy 27:25 - Right Said Fred's You're Too Awful 28:30 - URADick

[@jiedcogahilme676]

#ThankyouHBO for making the complete episodes available. I can't even access HBO where I live.

[@lauren8135]

We are being blessed with fun tonight.

[@birbluv9595]

I cannot thank you enough for reposting these old episodes, which i didn’t get to see originally.

[@jssmith0225]

John before he discovered his true love of horses

[@Lord_Reset]

That intro!😊

[@xophyrvaio1123]

ouch, i miss 'a prairie home companion '. too soon

[@Damagedbyher]

I like how he took the extra second to hang up the fake phone

[@jeromedyson5247]

I find it both incredible and horrifying that these same issues are still persistent 10 years later. Syria is practically destroyed and still at war with Bashar al-Assad at the helm. FIFA still sucks. its crazy

[@morganmay9149]

“Yeah, I’m thinking I’m back”

[@tuckerbowen4626]

ironically the 2022 world cup actually DID ban alcohol, but people wouldn't shut the fvck up about how much they hated it

[@PramkLuna]

26:21 Respect to that one audience member for saying "yah"

[@Whalebarf79]

I am thrilled that Fred still has a career! That song is classic.

[@timstram]

Episode hits different with the student protests going on right now. Any time I try to make the connection in a comment it gets deleted somehow.

[@ultimatehawkeyefangirl]

KZbin auto censors have always been iffy. I’ve had completely innocent comments using the q word on gay TikTok compilations be deleted automatically. I actually timed it out as an experiment once, if your comment is going to get deleted, it will take about forty seconds. I mean, maybe the time has changed, it’s been a few years since I timed it lol

[@wendydabee]

John' s 'We'll be there for you *clapclapclapclap*' was criminally under-reacted to and deserved a much bigger laugh, IMO.

[@Vysair]

9:48 HAHAHA JOOHNNN WTH 😭😭😭😭

[@KeithChadwick-oc9xc]

In recent weeks, I have been watching John Oliver on KZbin. He makes me laugh like no other. And the points he makes are spot on. I do so love the fact that he doesn't play political favorites. If the country/party or person says or does anything wrong or stupid. He calls them out on it. Well done to John and his crew.

[@HeisntLegend]

That guitarist was definitely essential.

[@Zeb364]

Is it weird that that’s the best episode of Friends I’ve ever seen?

[@yoyojoe618]

Potatoes are good

[@TheRealEvilkitten3]

man i haven't thought about right said fred in forever lol. they look like they had fun there tho

[@Primo_extracts]

Legendary 😂😂

[@liliflower1376]

The beginning of the expensive spectacles, amazing

[@CHill-42]

Hereing that a dictator looks like the mouse from The Tales of Despereaux is something I would never imagine would happen in 2024. Nonetheless, releasing the old episodes has led me here, and I'm grateful for that

[@saltedpork647]

*that's why Brazil threw that 1-7 game with Germany in the finals.*

[@alsostephenking]

massive shoutout to the guitarist of right said fred, not playing a single note but nevertheless giving it his all

[@michaelg3088]

Not that I'm complaining. But why are they giving us the full episodes for this season?

[@brianwiltshire3847]

'Speaking of Germans losing things, it was the 70th anniversary of D-Day this week'

[@joannejohnson7006]

Another fascinating show And 😂

[@pavelmacek282]

I´m no football fan but the decission to host the world cup in quatar made me agry again...

[@DANNYonPC]

12:20 Amsterdam spotted let gooo

[@DANNYonPC]

Reguliersgracht to be exact

[@theubiquitouspotato]

That horse has a detailed map of florida on its forehead.

[@Easy_n_Fun]

Okie, I got the context of the song now. Listened to it before but so not get it.

[@yyyy-uv3po]

Pootin just pulled a Bachar recently.

[@dx5soundlabs939]

The D Day line was foul lmfaooooo

[@Daichi82]

Brazil was about to eat 7 goals from Germany and see the biggest soccer fans (Argentina) play in the finals.

[@rasaagresti1268]

Oh you can still see the light in his eyes, the world has ruined him..

[@jim6170]

it's scary how nothings changed except our lack of patience and morality

[@lpc9929]

I am infertile from eating scented candles

[@sissiwzx]

Oh dear can't believe it's almost the 35th anniversary...

[@samuelrosander1048]

The thing about Tiananmen Square is that it wasn't an isolated thing, just the only one Western journalists could get any coverage of. Across the country they were protesting the lack of democracy. The thing that is central to socialist/communist ideology, yet so many people claiming the label conveniently "forget" in their rush to fix everything according to what they believe should be done. That. Maoists are some of the absolute worst when it comes to democracy, no matter how much lip service they pay to it. Talk to them long enough, question them enough, and it becoems clear that "we need people at the top telling us what to do and who can participate" is what they really believe. It comes out every time in every conversation I have with them. But yeah, protests and uprisings across China back in those days because they weren't getting the democracy they were promised; they were allowed to voice their concerns and criticize their leaders (from the local factory managers on up), but there was no guarantee that their leaders would actually listen other than in the technical "We hear you, and your concerns are important to us" way. There's a documentary made in the 70s not long before Tiananmen Square that was meant to show how much they had changed from their feudal origins (one of the things people regularly "forget" is that the USSR, China etc all saw revolutions against feudalism. They didn't start off with fully developed capitalist economies and major trade empires, but that's what they're always compared to) called "How Yukong Moved the Mountains," and it showed some really great stuff about real democratization and real improvements to society...but it also showed hints at what was going on that was less flattering. Part of it was that they were being turned into a cult of "find ways to reinterpret the Writings of Marx/Engels/Lenin/Mao so that they apply to things...like making cloth," where one of the examples was "we applied the teachings of Engels about X to give us an idea for how to make cloth a different way." Really insane stuff. Another, and the most striking to someone who understands that socialism and communism are first and foremost about democratization, was how the workers in the featured factory would tell their leaders about issues, their leaders would acknowledge it and say "thank you for your criticism" (however they worded it), and nothing would change. Then at the next meeting the workers would be frustrated and point out the lack of action by their leaders, and the same "thank you for your criticism. We hear you, your concerns are important to us" line would be pushed. Over and over. The uprisings around Tiananmen Square were inevitable for a people reading "democratization of the means of production and the withering away of the state" but seeing "our leaders don't listen to us. It's not democratic. The state is getting more powerful, not withering away." You can't expect anything else in those conditions.

[@trennelstewart7698]

Catchy

[@TheKageRyu]

Cheap shot man - what do you have against Cocaine and Chainsaws?

[@anthonyfanchin1144]

That FIFA Qatar story aged like milk

[@JuanPerez-cs1gx]

Even MAFIA... I mean FIFA's controversies are one of those things that you don't know if it's something from the past or a recent event.

[@mtlart]

(taken directly from Wiki. Lead singer from Right Said Fred's) Views on Russian invasion of Ukraine Fairbrass has routinely commented on the 2022 war in Ukraine, often speaking in support of Russia's invasion and Vladimir Putin's justifications for the conflict. In December 2022, he published a tweet on his personal Twitter profile, calling on Putin to resist "western domination".[14] He has also described Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government as a despotic regime. Wonder what he thinks about Gaza currently? Im sure John would have liked to have edited this episode?