This hilarious Day Today clip of Alan Partridge’s ‘Soccermeter’ for the 1994 World Cup went viral again to welcome in the new tournament

The World Cup football tournament is upon us again, and its expanded format of a 48-team group stage is causing a certain amount of confusion.

But the World Cup group system has always been a little baffling as this following clip from the groundbreaking The Day Today goes to show. It features Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) in his role of sports reporter, demonstrating the intricacies of the points system with his ‘soccermeter’ contraption.

It goes just as well as you’d expect. It also reminds us that it’s been a good few years since we last watched The Day Today and that we really must rewatch it all again very soon.

Thanks to Mark O’Haire for sharing on Twitter.

Alan Partridge tries to explain the format of the 1994 World Cup finals with the never-to-be-forgotten Soccermeter. pic.twitter.com/xRZlxOrz8q

— Mark O'Haire (@MarkOHaire) June 9, 2026

Back of the net!

1.

This looks like a simplified version of this years competition

— stowspin791 (@stowspin791) June 10, 2026

2.

Every time I am about to try and explain something difficult at work I think about this.

— Pierre Duvall (@DuvallPierre) June 10, 2026

3.

Still think it's incredibly brave they used their own colour coding, not FIFA's

— Matthew Pennell (@Matt_building) June 9, 2026

4.

Massively helpful. https://t.co/WThEEfjiSY

— Not Edwin Waugh (@EdwinWaugh) June 10, 2026

5.

The 'owwww!' is probably the funniest Partridge moment ever. https://t.co/7hQkOC82WL

— Mike (@polobear_88) June 10, 2026

6.

That clears it up https://t.co/GGHjah67wY

— Doug Saunders (@DougSaunders) June 10, 2026

7.

The World Cup explained with the use of technology https://t.co/7oJRVdxQyJ

— Oneofthechosen (@Flies65) June 10, 2026

8.

It's called a footballmeter https://t.co/767EffNhYx

— Voros McCracken (@AngryVorosM) June 10, 2026

9.

The explanation of how the office sweepstake is gonna work this time was basically this in terms of complexity https://t.co/t90zarpd4N

— Steve Williams (@i_loathe_tweets) June 9, 2026

10.

This is pretty much how I expect this World Cup to go. Half arsed chaos. https://t.co/56Ici359Bz

— (@an_dy_moo_dy) June 9, 2026

And as a bonus, here’s Partridge’s classic Countdown to the 1994 World Cup, as shared by When Football Was Better.

Alan Partridge’s Countdown to World Cup ‘94… pic.twitter.com/YqVLPEdtMR

— When Football Was Better (@FootballInT80s) June 9, 2026

Source @MarkOHaire