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Ahead of Tyler's milestone World Cup final call, he sat down with fellow SBS World Cup commentator David Basheer, to discuss his approach to commentary and memories of covering football’s showpiece event.
“The truth is, I just try to be me,” Tyler told SBS Sport.
“It isn’t an act, it’s a bit more of a projection.”
The 77-year-old is wrapping up his eighth FIFA World Cup with SBS, a partnership that started at Italia 90.
Martin Tyler working for SBS during the broadcast of the 1990 World Cup Italia.
“They take it lovingly, respectfully and seriously when it needs to be taken very seriously.”
His advice to prospective commentators is simple, just be yourself.
“Don’t try to copy anybody else,” Tyler said.
“Show your love for the game, which is the most important thing of all. If you’ve got that and that’s not a given, you’ll want to do every game. The vocabulary has to come naturally, you have to find something.
"Not all goals for me are identically important and that’s the balance when you do see history unfold before your eyes, then there’s a level you need to find. Perhaps you can’t find that level without history happening. I just want to be accurate, I want to hit the right note in terms of the perspective and that experience does help in that respect.”
At first, Tyler was against the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 being staged in November, but he admits the decision to play the tournament at this time of year has worked.
62 games later, he’s preparing to call the final two games of the tournament, with Morocco to face Croatia in the third-place playoff and Argentina taking on France in the final.
“Every game you do in the World Cup is super special because you are honoured to be chosen, like the players on the pitch,” Tyler said.
“Football is a force for good in the world, I genuinely believe that. I’m very proud to be associated with a game that can bring so many people from different cultures, continents and countries together to share the joy.”
Like every FIFA World Cup game, Tyler will spend the next few days preparing thoroughly, to deliver the best call to Australian audiences.
It’s his preparation and dedication to the craft that he prefers to reflect on, instead of the many iconic World Cup moments he’s been behind the microphone for.
He’s called countless FIFA World Cup goals, but his first was in 1978, when Mexico was beaten 3-1 by Tunisia in Argentina, with Tyler recalling the importance of a fact-finding mission.
“I met the captain (Arturo Vazquez Ayala) and he took a penalty in a club game that Mexico was using as preparation for the tournament. I asked him whether he always put the penalty to the same side. He said yes, I always put it to the same side. So, the very first goal I had to call in my World Cup career was a penalty. I said he always puts it to that side and he didn’t fail me and scored.”
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has already confirmed the final will be his last FIFA World Cup match. But for Tyler, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will feature 48 teams, is still on his radar.
“Somebody said to me that it’s going to be your last World Cup game. I said are you telling me that? You never know, I think Messi can play another World Cup and he’s going, but I need to have a word with him,” Tyler joked.
“At the moment, the aim is still there, but I might have to pass a few fitness tests.”
How to watch the World Cup Third Place Play-off and Final on SBS
Sunday, December 18
Third-Place Play-off - Croatia v Morocco
1:30am - 4:30am (AEDT) - kickoff at 02.00am
LIVE on SBS and SBS On Demand
Monday, December 19
Final - Argentina v France
1:00am - 4:30am (AEDT) - kickoff at 02.00am
LIVE on SBS and SBS On Demand
