The US women return to play Friday night with a mix of youngsters and veterans as the team will play for the last time this year. In the last three matches the team opened with a shocking loss to Portugal, bounced back with a determined win in a rematch, and then trounced New Zealand 6-0 in a vintage performance. Naomi Girma is back and her presence will anchor the backline while in the midfield Lilly Yohannes will join Lindsey Heaps and Rose Lavelle to give options in creating the engine for the team and on the forward line Cat Macario, Emma Sears, Olivia Moultrie, Alyssa Thompson, and Jaedyn Shaw will provide options to create and score. The question is can they start to build some chemistry?
US Women’s Roster – Friendly’s Next Friday Nov 28, Dec 1 vs Italy
Former Carmel GK Eric Dick Wins USL Championship for Pittsburgh in Shootout
Awesome to see former Carmel Dad’s Club/Carmel High/Butler GK Eric Dick win the USL title this past weekend with Pittsburgh as he pitched the shutout then won the Shootout (5-3) – to win their first championship. The 26-year wait is over as the @RiverhoundsSC take down Tulsa to win the 2025 @USLChampionship final! (full Highlights). Dick was Man of the Match. Dick’s Impact.
Most Watched NWSL Championship Gothem Wins & Lavelle is MVP
The NWSL championship match between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit on Saturday averaged 1,184,000 viewers on CBS and Paramount+ (More) marking the match as the most-viewed NWSL game of all time. The average viewership marks a 22% increase from Orlando’s win in 2024, which held the previous viewership record, and a 45% gain from 2023.
American’s Shine in Champions League & Pulisic wins Derby
The CONCACAF capital of the world was in the Arctic Circle, where Juventus won 3-2 against Norwegian kings Bodø/Glimt with the USMNT’s somewhat forgotten man, Weston McKennie, heading home Juve’s second score, before Canada’s Jonathan Davidsealed the win in stoppage time with his first goal since August. Then, 2,255 miles away in the south of France, Tim Weahassisted 36-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Marseille’s winner over visiting Newcastle. Last weekend Christian Pulisic scored the winning Goal to win the Milan Derby vs Inter Milan.
Carmel GK Eric Dick Wins USL Championship for Pittsburgh
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GAMES ON TV
Thurs, 11/27 Europa 12:45 pm Feynord vs Celtic (Trusty) Fri, Nov 28 2:30 pm B MGladbach (Reyna, Scally) vs RB Leipzig 7 pm TNT, Max USWNT vs Italy Sat, Nov 29 9:30 am ESPN+ Union Berlin vs Heidneheim 10 am USA Brentford vs Burnley (Adams) 12 noon Para+ Juventus (McKinney) vs Calgari 12:30 pm ESPN+ Bayer Leverkusen (Tilman) vs Dortmund 2:45 pm Para+ AC Milan (Pulisic) vs Lazio 3 pm USA Tottenham vs Fulham 6 pm Apple TV Inter Miami (Messi) vs NYCFC MLS East Conf Finals 9 pm Apple TV San Diego, Vancouver MLS West Conf Finals 10 pm Telemundo Tigres vs Tijuana Sun, Nov 30 7 am USA Crystal Palace (Richards) vs Man United 9 am Para+ Pisa vs Inter Milan 9 am USA Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton 9 am PEacock Nottingham Forest vs Brighton 9 am Pea West Ham vs Liverpool 11:30 am USA Chelsea vs Arsenal 3 pm ABC Girona vs Real Madrid Mon, Dec 1st 7 pm TBS, Max USWNT vs Italy
USMNT gets better idea of who it could draw in 2026 World Cup
The World Cup Draw procedures are out. by Donald Wine II Nov 25, 2025, 1:01 PM EST Stars & Stripes
Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images
The United States Men’s National Team now knows who it could potentially face in each match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage. Today, FIFA released its World Cup Draw procedures, which will take place on December 5th. While it’s complicated, the USMNT’s matches get a bit clearer.
First, FIFA has divided each of the remaining teams into Pots, including the various playoff pathways. The USMNT, as a co-host, will be in in Pot 1 and pre-drawn into Group D. Mexico and Canada will also be pre-drawn into Groups A and B, respectively. They will be placed in the 1 position for those groups.
The pots for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw (FIFA ranking in parentheses):
Pot 1 – United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27), Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9)
Pot 2 – Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26)
Pot 3 – Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (50), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61)
Pot 4 – Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaçao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Playoff A winner, UEFA Playoff B winner, UEFA Playoff C winner, UEFA Playoff D winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 1 winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 2 winner
The USMNT learned that they will face a team from Pot 3 in their World Cup opener on June 12th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. They will face a Pot 2 team at Lumen Field in Seattle on June 19th, and they will close against a Pot 4 team on June 25th back at SoFi Stadium. The United States, Canada, and Mexico will be identified by different colored ping pong balls for the draw of Pot 1: Mexico in green, Canada in red, and the U.S. with a blue ping pong ball. The rest of Pot 1 will be the same color and then automatically assigned to position 1 of the group into which they are drawn.
Pots for the 2026 World Cup DrawSource: FIFA
FIFA has also created pathways to ensure the best teams avoid each other before the semifinals and final. Spain – ranked 1 in the FIFA world rankings – will be randomly drawn into the opposite pathway as #2 Argentina. This will ensure those teams, should they win their groups, will not meet before the World Cup Final on July 19th. The same will be done for #3 France and #4 England to ensure they would be on opposite sides of the bracket.
2026 World Cup PathwaySource: FIFA
No group can have more than one team from the same confederation with the exception of UEFA, which has 16 teams. Each group will have 1, but no more than 2 UEFA teams drawn into it on December 5th. This would include the placeholders for the UEFA Playoff winners as well as the 2 inter-confederation playoff winners in Pot 4. For the USMNT, it would mean that since each inter-confederation playoff team contains a team from Concacaf, the USMNT will not see an inter-confederation winner in Group D. Likewise, if they draw a team from UEFA in Pots 2 and 3, they would not see any team from the UEFA playoff out of Pot 4.
The full match schedule for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be confirmed on December 6th after the draw has taken place. This will allow fans to set their calendars and know where each of the 104 games will be taking place. It sets up some complicated drama for everyone at the FIFA World Cup Draw, but at least for the USMNT, they are a few days away from knowing who they will face in the group stage.
Champions League Projections
Arsenal, the only side left in the Champions League with a 100% win record, have a 23% chance of winning the tournament, according to Opta’s latest prediction. This comes after Mikel Arteta’s side beat Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Emirates, with the German side now projected to have a 19% chance of winning the tournament.
Holders Paris Saint-Germain, who have overtaken Bayern in second place on goal difference (see standings), have been given an 11.2% chance of winning the tournament following their 5-3 win over Tottenham. Inter Milan (4th) and Real Madrid (5th), who are also on 12 points, are given just 4.1% and 6.2% chances of taking glory, respectively. Kylian Mbappe is now the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals, helped by his four goals in Real’s 4-3 victory over Olympiakos, including a seven-minute hat-trick.
Despite losing 2-0 at home to Leverkusen on Tuesday, Manchester City are given the fourth-best odds at 8.3%, while Chelsea are given a 6.0% chance. Liverpool, who sit 13th in the league phase table following a 4-1 loss to PSV, are projected to have a 5.7% chance. Barcelona make up the rest of the top 10 with a 4.5% chance, even though they’re currently 18th.
Club World Cup Presents Surprises in the 1st Round
So I have to admit I did not think the Club World Cup would we be worth watching but boy was I wrong. Some of the games have been competitive – especially the South American teams. Of course awesome to see at least 1 MSL team Miami of course going thru to the Semi’s thanks to this sublime Messi free-kick . If you haven’t watched yet – check out the games on TBS/TNT/Univision.
US Men face Haiti Sun 7 pm Advance to Quarter Finals of Gold Cup
The US men – I think the US men look like an un-organized pathetic shell of its former self. A 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia on this Chris Richards Goal yes a set-piece k No cohesive plan – no organized attack, no finishing and just average defense at best. Of course despite what the Fox pundits Lexi, Landon and Edu are forced to say – honestly we have 2 starters on this team – Adams & Centerback Chris Richards – I think Ream of course will make the team along with 3 or 4 more of these guys on this roster at the most. I think Tillman has shown some good things against these pathetic teams lets see how he does against top 50 competition if we get to Canada or Mexico. Man I would love to have to play both of them. Jesse Marsch beating the US would be a nice slap in the face to US Soccer. I assume Poch will play the kids vs Haiti (aka Carmel High Varsity) on Sunday. (lots of stories below)
USMNT GOLD CUP DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (club/country; caps/goals):
Indy 11 Host Las Vegas Lights During Pride Night at the Mike Tonight 7 pm
Midfielder Jack Blake netted the game-winning goal in first half stoppage time off a smooth sequence from midfielder Aodhan Quinn to give Indy Eleven a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Pittsburgh Riverhounds & Carmel Goalkeeper Eric Dick last week. Defender Ben Ofeimu has been selected to the USL Championship Team of the Week for Week 15 after leading his team to its second consecutive clean sheet in a 1-0 win vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Saturday. The Boys in Blue have had nine different players named to the Team of the Week in 2025! It is the sixth time that the 24-year-old Ofeimu has earned this recognition since he was acquired by Indy Eleven on April 11, 2024, and his third first-team selection.Indy Eleven hosts Las Vegas Lights FC on Saturday at 7 pm ET on WISH-TV and CBS Sports Golazo Network.
TV GAME SCHEDULE
GC=Gold Cup, WCC = World Club Cup in US
Fri, June 20 9 pm TBS Bayern Munich vs Boca Juniors WCC 10 pm FS1 Guatemala vs Panama GC
Sat, June 21
7 pm TV8, Golazo Indy 11 vs Las Vegas Lights FC 7 pm FS1 Curacao vs Canada GC 9 pm TBS River Plate vs Monterrey WC 10 pm FS1 Honduras vs El Salvador GC
Sun, June 22
12 noon Danz Juventus vs Wydad Casablanca WCC 3 pm univision Real Madrid vs Pachuca WCC 7 pm Fox US Men vs Haiti Gold Cup 7 pm FS1 Saudi Arabia vs T&T GC 9 pm TNT Man City vs Al Ain WCC 10 pm FS1 Mexico vs Costa Rica GC
Mon, June 23 3 pm ?? Athletico Madrid vs Botafogo WCC 3 pm ?? PSG vs Seattle Sounders WCC 9 pm TBS Inter Miami (Messi) vs Palmeiras 9 pm Porto vs Al Ahly
Tues, June 24 3 pm Univision Bayern Munich vs Benfica 3 pm ?? Boca Juniors vs Aukland City 7 pm FS2 Guadaloupe vs Guatemala 7 pm FS1 Panama vs Jamaica GC 10 PM danz Chelsea vs ES Tunis 10 PM LAFC vs Flamengo 10 pm FS1 Canada vs El Salvador GC 10 pm FS2 Honduras vs Curacao GC
3 pm Uni/TNT Juventus vs Man City 9 pm Pachuca vs Al Hitlal 9 pm TNT Salzburg vs Real Madrid 8 pm TBS, Peacock US Women vs Ireland
Fri, June 28th
12 noon ?? Club WC QF 1A vs 2 B 4 pm :?? Club WC QF 1C vs 2D 7:15 pm FS1 Gold Cup QF 10 pm FS1 Gold Cup QF
Sun, June 29th
TNT, Peacock US Women vs Ireland in Cincy
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Our Indiana Refs before they left for The Midwest Regionals in St Louis last weekend. Well done follks!
Referees at this month’s FIFA Club World Cup will wear ‘body cams’ with the footage used in broadcasts of the game – but only if the images are of non-controversial incidents, FIFA refereeing officials said on Wednesday. The match referees in the tournament will wear a small camera protruding from their earpiece which will be able to generate video from the referee’s point of view. But while broadcasters will be able to offer unique angles on goals and saves – as well as close-up live video and sound from the pre-match coin toss – viewers won’t get to see penalty decisions or other disputable moments from the new camera angle.
“The objective is to offer the TV viewers a new experience,” said Pierluigi Collina, the Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee. Collina said that IFAB, which sets the Laws of the Game, had allowed a trial of the technology and suggested that footage of controversies might be part of a later phase in the future. “Let’s do things step by step. At the moment… this is a trial. We need to do something new and the simpler the better. So we fixed some rules within a protocol. We will offer these images in the future? Maybe when we learn to run, maybe not, maybe we will do,” he said. The live images will be broadcast via a private 5G network from the ref to the match production team, said FIFA Director of Innovation, Johannes Holzmuller, who said the live aspect would only be available in the six NFL stadiums being used for the tournament. What Club World Cup fans will be able to see are the VAR reviews, as seen by referees on the pitchside monitor, which will be broadcast on giant screens in the stadium. That video will then be followed by the referee announcing the final decision over the public address system and the television broadcast.
The tournament will also see the use of ‘enhanced semi-automatic offside’ technology which will use 16 cameras linked to AI technology and algorithms which will send an audio message to the assistant referee when an offside player touches the ball. The system will likely see the flag raised earlier for offside and reduce cases of play continuing after a clear offside until a later VAR review. The tournament will also be an early introduction of the new law that goalkeepers have eight seconds to release the ball after picking it up – or be punished with a corner. It replaces the previous law that keepers had six seconds to release the ball or give up an indirect free kick. The goalkeepers will be shown a five second warning by the referee who will count down showing the fingers of one hand.
USMN-B-T 1-0 Saudi Arabia. Remember People! It’s a Results Bizness Before an agonizingly empty stadium, our U.S. boys did just enough to overcome a weak Saudi Arabian squad who have been here for about five minutes but already seem to be the epitome of CONCACAF. The game itself felt like a chore to watch. The U.S. had 72% possession in the first half but conjured zero shots on goal against a physical opponent. The football was sparkless, tepid and lacking in ambition and ideas. To progress from the group will be a relief for Mauricio Pochettino but it is a bare minimum for a program who has won its first two games in this tournament 15 out of 18 times.Chris Richards Is a Great American The Crystal Palace giant out of Birmingham, Ala. was a man amongst boys in this game. That a pair of his blocks were two of the best three highlights on the night tells you all you need to know about the quality of the game. The other, of course, was his goal. A moment of stand alone quality, from the wicked Sebastian Berhalter set piece to the finish, first-time off a difficult bounce, which Clint called an elite striker’s technique. I am so happy for Chris. He is a lovely, thoughtful, sensitive human being who has had to grind his way out of Alabama, and summon a true tenacity to establish himself in the Premier League. He has a massive opportunity in this moment to become one of the true faces of the team. Watching him seize it is really edifying. Give that man all the commercial deals.Who Will Step Up, Fight, and Seize Their Chance to Make Themselves Undeniable? How was this performance so plodding? Pochettino has made it utterly explicit he wants players who will fight for him. So many of these boys have been gifted an unexpected opportunity they could never have dreamed of: To make themselves unignorable for that World Cup squad on home turf. Yet, the performance was flatter than the Texas Panhandle. The football was so deferential. No one seized their chance to grab a drowsy game by the throat and enforce their will upon it. Working out why that is will be the key for Pochettino. Malik Tillman has the skills and the club form to do that. Patrick Agyemang has the hype and the plaudits but was unable to summon the touch or the balance. All of these players have sacrificed so much to make it to this stage. One transcendent moment could change their lives. If only the football reflected that…I Do Love Me Some Diego Luna The one player who is running off the ball and trying to create a spark with his flicks and tricks. I ran into Diego in Austin and told him just how much we are hearing from so many of you about his fight, hustle, and mustache-tinged singular swagger. I asked him what goes through his mind when he gets on the ball, and he told me he tries to “be happy” and summon “the joy he felt playing as a kid.” I said that to Clint on last night’s show, and he said that when he was young his brother used to tell him, he “had to be serious about having fun.” A phrase I love and will think of whenever Diego is in possession. Even Spinal Tap Drummers Think Our No 9 Position Is Doomed Haji Wright’s injury is a real concern for our boys. With Agyemang crying out for competition, Haji did not dress, left out of the squad with an Achilles issue. Kyle Bonn reported, “After a big sigh, Mauricio Pochettino on Haji Wright‘s injury: “We will communicate something on his injury in the next few days.”” It does not sound good. His absence will be painful. Twenty-year-old German-American Damion Downs, this could be your time… Matt Freese Has Two Clean Sheets By Making Just One More Save Than You The goalkeeper battle between two Matts is psychologically intriguing. Matt Turner was the No 1 and has battled his way to a Premier League crevice, albeit with precious little playing time. For a player shorn of match practice, it must be an agony to have had a watching brief. NYCFC’s Harvard grad Matt Freese has been wicked smart in goal — two clean sheets off ONE SAVE TOTAL IN THOSE TWO GAMES. Guzan has to be watching and thinking that if he started smoking ciggies, he could maybe be the American version of Wojciech Szczęsny and make an unexpected return from exile. It Is Painful to See These Stadia so Empty for a United States Game On Home Turf a Year Out from the World Cup Watching the United States walk out to gapingly empty terraces is an agony for all those who love the game in this nation. You have all made it clear as to the reasons—the unfathomable cost of tickets, the political climate, the absence of the big-named players, and the mediocre run of form. Make no mistake, there is an inertia around this program and even its most diehard fans at the worst possible time. The comment which hurts the most to read is: “If the players don’t care, then why should we?” The media drumbeat going into this game was crickets. The only news stories gaining traction were those surrounding Tim Weah and Weston McKennie’s surreal White House visit. But the empty stadium spoke its own message so loudly and agonizingly. Something profound has broken between this team and its core fanbase and it cries out for a sincere and speedy effort to rebuild that trust and connection again. Anyone who followed them in the 2010 and 2014 cycles knows just how singular and beautiful that connection can be. We head to 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium on Sunday night to play Haiti. (Chuckles “I’m in danger.”) If you’re in the Dallas area and considering going to the game, use this link to get 10% off tickets to USA vs. Haiti. The Knockout Rounds Will Be Moment Of Truth Time We may play Costa Rica or Mexico. To better days ahead for all of us. We need to make noise. We need to be able to dream. Our gents will next play against the NBA Finals Game 7. We cannot catch a break…
The Club World Cup Is Going to Be Some Turbulent Journey What a surreal sight this tournament has been. Hastily thrown together from an organization perspective and even more shoddily marketed. Having Gianni Infantino be the face of his own creation was an almost vanity marketing campaign, with iShowSpeed bolted on for clout. The oft-shockingly empty stadia have been a startling humiliation. The action has been a slow boil. With shattered players battling dry pitches and blazing conditions in unbearable heat, Barney Ronay called it, “almost-football.” Action has been a slow boil. The only heat has mostly been of the brain-twisting, weather-induced kind. I will talk more about this surreal reality with Rory Smith on Monday in a Do It Live! after Seattle Sounders play PSG (kick-off @ 3 p.m. ET), but for now, congratulations to Inter Miami. They should not be in this tournament, as they were only jammed in for Messi marketing purposes, but they seized their chance, clipping a physically shattered Porto off this sublime Messi free-kick to become the first MLS team to beat a European opponent in competitive play. No small achievement.
Concacaf Gold Cup: How every team can qualify for quarterfinals
Dale JohnsonJun 21, 2025, 06:13 AM ET
The group stage at the Concacaf Gold Cup is well underway, and we’ll soon start to find out the first qualifiers for the quarterfinals.
Who can qualify on matchday 2, who has work to do, and what are the results to look out for?
Here’s how it’s all shaping up.
Qualified for quarterfinals (3/8): Mexico, Costa Rica, United States
Tiebreakers
1. Group points 2. Group goal difference 3. Group goals scored 4. Head-to-head in the game(s) between the teams in question 5. Goal difference in the game(s) between the teams in question 6. Goals scored in the game(s) between the teams in question 7. Disciplinary points (yellow and red cards) 8. Drawing of lots
*Kick off times show in ET (and in local time)
GROUP A
Group A
GP
W
D
L
GD
PTS
1 – Mexico (Q)
2
2
0
0
+3
6
2 – Costa Rica (Q)
2
2
0
0
+2
6
3 – Dominican Republic
2
0
0
2
-2
0
4 – Suriname
2
0
0
2
-3
0
Top two countries qualify for quarterfinals
Saturday, June 14, 2025 Mexico 3-2 Dominican Republic
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 Costa Rica 2-1 Dominican Republic Suriname 0-2 Mexico
Sunday, June 22, 2025 Dominican Republic vs. Suriname, 10 p.m. (9 p.m.) – AT&T Stadium Mexico vs. Costa Rica, 10 p.m. (7 p.m.) – Allegiant Stadium
The group was all wrapped up on Wednesday with Mexico and Costa Rica having both won their two fixtures.
It means that all that’s left to be decided when the two meet on Sunday is who wins the group.
Mexico have the better goal difference so will finish in first place with a win or a draw.
Costa Rica need a victory to climb into top spot.
GROUP B
Group B
GP
W
D
L
GD
PTS
1 – Canada
1
1
0
0
+6
3
2 – El Salvador
1
0
1
0
0
1
3 – Curaçao
1
0
1
0
0
1
2 – Honduras
1
0
0
1
-6
0
Top two countries qualify for quarterfinals
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 Curaçao 0-0 El Salvador Canada 6-0 Honduras
Saturday, June 21, 2025 Curaçao vs. Canada, 7 p.m. (6 p.m.) – Shell Energy Stadium Honduras vs. El Salvador, 10 p.m. (9 p.m.) – Shell Energy Stadium
Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Guadeloupe vs. Guatemala, 7 p.m. (6 p.m.) – Shell Energy Stadium Panama vs. Jamaica, 7 p.m. (6 p.m.) – Q2 Stadium
Canada are in control of the group, as the only nation to pick up three points from the opening round, and they will be through to the quarterfinals with a win over Curaçao.
No other team can advance on matchday 2.
GROUP C
Group C
GP
W
D
L
GD
PTS
1 – Panama
2
2
0
0
+4
6
2 – Guatemala
2
1
0
1
0
3
3 – Jamaica
2
1
0
1
0
3
4 – Guadeloupe
2
0
0
2
-4
0
Top two countries qualify for quarterfinals
Monday, June 16, 2025 Panama 5-2 Guadeloupe Jamaica 0-1 Guatemala
Friday, June 20, 2025 Jamaica 2-1 Guadeloupe Guatemala 0-1 Panama
Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Guadeloupe vs. Guatemala, 7 p.m. (6 p.m.) – Shell Energy Stadium Panama vs. Jamaica, 7 p.m. (6 p.m.) – Q2 Stadium
PANAMA
Win or draw: Qualify as group winners
Lose: Will definitely still qualify if Guatemala draw or lose.
If Guatemala win, three teams will have six points and it will go down to group goal difference. Panama (+4) look quite safe, however, as they would have to lose by 3 or more goals to go out behind Jamaica (0) and Guatemala (0).
JAMAICA
Win: Qualify if Guatemala draw or lose. If Guatemala win, three teams will have six points and it will go down to group goal difference. If Guatemala do win, Jamaica would need a victory by three or more goals to guarantee qualification — though they would also be through by winning by a greater margin than Guatemala.
Draw: Qualify if Guatemala lose. If Guatemala draw, places will first be decided on group goals scored, which Jamaica lead by one goal.
Lose: Can only qualify if Guatemala also lose, and it will again come down to goal difference, this time between Jamaica (0), Guatemala (0) and Guadeloupe (-4). Effectively, the team that loses by the lowest margin between Jamaica and Guatemala would be second (see Guadeloupe section).
If in each scenario goal difference finishes level between Jamaica and Guatemala (e.g. scorelines of 0-0 and 1-1 producing match goal difference of 2-2) then Guatemala are second on head to head.
GUATEMALA
Win: Qualify in second if Jamaica draw or lose. If Jamaica win, three teams will have six points and it will go down to group goal difference. As above, Guatemala would likely need to win by a bigger margin than Jamaica, though goal difference could still finish level.
Draw: Qualify if Jamaica lose. If Jamaica draw, places will first be decided on group goals scored, which Jamaica lead by one goal.
Lose: Can only qualify if Jamaica also lose, and it will again come down to goal difference, as above.
GUADELOUPE
Must beat Guatemala by at least two goals and hope Jamaica lose. If Jamaica lose by one goal, they finish second; if Jamaica lose by two or more goals, Guatemala will likely finish second having scored more goals.
If Guadeloupe win by three or more goals and Jamaica lose, Guadeloupe are sure to be second.
GROUP D
Group D
GP
W
D
L
GD
PTS
1 – United States
2
2
0
0
+6
6
2 – Saudi Arabia
2
1
0
1
0
3
3 – Haiti
2
0
1
1
-1
1
4 – Trinidad and Tobago
2
0
1
1
-5
1
Top two countries qualify for quarterfinals
Sunday, June 15, 2025 United States 5-0 Trinidad and Tobago Haiti 0-1 Saudi Arabia
Thursday, June 19, 2025 Trinidad and Tobago 1-1 Haiti Saudi Arabia 0-1 United States
Sunday, June 22, 2025 Saudi Arabia vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 7 p.m. (4 p.m.) – Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV United States vs. Haiti, 7 p.m. (4 p.m.) – AT&T Stadium
UNITED STATES
Have qualified and will top the group with a win or draw against Haiti.
If the U.S. lose, Saudi Arabia would need to win with a goal-difference swing of seven goals to steal first place.
SAUDI ARABIA
Win: Qualify, almost certainly in second place
Draw: Qualify, as long as Haiti do not win (see Haiti section)
Lose: Cannot qualify
HAITI
Win: They have a couple of routes. Haiti qualify as long as Saudi Arabia do not lose to Trinidad and Tobago by five or more goals (which puts Trinidad and Tobago through). If Saudi Arabia draw, it comes down to goal difference and goals scored, and Haiti are through if they win by two or more goals. If Haiti win by one goal and goal difference is identical (e.g. 1-0, 1-1) then Saudi Arabia are second on head to head.
Cannot qualify with a draw or loss.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Win: Have to get the victory over Saudi Arabia, and they will be through if Haiti draw or lose. If Haiti win, Trinidad and Tobago must win by five or more goals to finish second on goal difference.
Cannot qualify with a draw or loss.
Club World Cup: Is European soccer’s superiority being exposed as a myth?
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — European soccer’s superiority had, throughout the 21st century, become self-evident; inescapable and irreversible; extreme and presumed. It was apparent in the salaries and prices of players, in the exodus of talent from the Americas and Africa, in the prestige of the UEFA Champions League and, twice per year, on the field. At the former Club World Cup, the seven-team version played each winter, since 2007, European teams played 34 games. They lost once.
Their early stumbles have delighted fans from other continents. They’ve surprised Western pundits. And they’ve ignited provocative debate around a simple question: Is the supposed supremacy of European clubs a myth?
‘They are good teams too’
On one side, there are the raw results and the performances here over the past week. Flamengo didn’t just beat Chelsea 3-1 on Friday in Philadelphia; at times, it pummeled the free-spending English Premier League giants. And Fluminense — Brazil’s 13th best team last year — didn’t just hold Borussia Dortmund to a 0-0 draw; it outplayed what was, a month ago, the hottest team in Germany.
In almost every single match between South American and European foes, there was evidence that the gap is slimmer than most Europeans (and non-Hispanic Americans) realize. Botafogo’s upset of PSG was a so-called “smash-and-grab,” but even smash-and-grabs require a certain level of physical, technical and tactical quality. Boca Juniors, similarly, bellied up to Bayern Munich on Friday and snatched a second-half equalizer, before conceding late. It was a “really tough game,” Bayern’s Harry Kane said postgame.
Flamengo players celebrate during their statement win over Chelsea at the 2025 Club World Cup in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
On paper, per Opta, these were games between the 9th best team in the world and the 81st; between No. 15 and No. 238; No. 4 and 132; No. 7 and 131; No. 6 and 130; No. 8 and 77. On the field, though, they looked very different, and begged the question: Is Opta wrong?Are the assumptions of European preeminence wrong?Were we all wrong?
For four-and-a-half decades, after all, from 1960 until 2004, when the champions of South America and Europe met in the now-defunct Intercontinental Cup, the South Americans won 22; the Europeans won 21. Europe’s subsequent commercialization of the sport has seemingly shifted the balance of power, or at least wealth, but … perhaps the on-field gap never really widened?At this new-look Club World Cup, which everyone agrees is a better indicator than the old one, “the South American teams have caused big problems for some of the European teams,” Kane said, and perhaps the explanation is simple. As Kane’s teammate, Konrad Laimer, said: “Because they are good teams, too. Football is football.”
The European excuses
On the other side of the debate, however, there are excuses — or at least other explanations, some legitimate.There is the timing of this tournament, which falls at the end of 10-month European seasons, but mid-campaign for clubs from Brazil, Argentina and MLS. Whereas South American teams built up to the Club World Cup, weary European bodies and minds were ready to wind down. Most got a couple weeks off before reconvening with teammates 7-10 days before their Club World Cup openers, or after an international window. “There are many tournaments that they’ve had to play, and perhaps they’ll arrive with some fatigue,” Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez predicted before the competition began. “I think there will be some surprise results.”There is also the suffocating U.S. summer heat, which has seemed to affect European teams more than others.“We are used to the heat,” Al Hilal’s Brazilian winger Malcom said after his team hung with Real Madrid on a humid 90-degree afternoon in suburban Miami. Atlético Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Marcos Llorente, on the other hand, called an 88-degree afternoon in Southern California “impossible.”
There is travel to which the Europeans aren’t accustomed. There are distant time zones, and games that kick off after all their friends and family back home are asleep. There are all sorts of confounding variables that preclude the Club World Cup from being an accurate point of comparison.And most of all, there is the unavoidable sense, or narrative, that the European teams just don’t really care.Many players do, to be clear. But do they care, with every last ounce of their being, like some of their South American counterparts do?There has undoubtedly been an intensity gap that has neutralized the quality gap, and helped some South American sides show well. To them, these games are among the most significant in recent club history. To the Europeans, the Champions League and, in some cases, their domestic leagues were and are more prestigious.Public attitudes toward the Club World Cup have also colored this excuse. While European fans have stayed home, and in some cases slept through games, supporters of South American and North African clubs have filled stadiums with balloons, flags, banners and unceasing noise.
“We’ve all been a part of big moments; this is still something totally different,” Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany said Friday after experiencing the locura of Boca fans.
Kane confirmed: “It felt like an away game out there.”
That, too, is an equalizing factor.
The conclusion
None of that entirely explains the upsets. But there is nuance in the conclusion that the gap between Europe and the rest of the world is somewhat narrower than many thought — because there are also gaps within Europe and within that other broad category.There is a massive gulf, for example, between Bayern Munich, which ultimately outclassed Boca here on Friday night; and Porto, which finished third in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, closer to fourth-place Braga than to the top two.There is also a sizable gulf between Palmeiras or Flamengo, the two most powerful teams in South America’s richest league, and most of the other non-European challengers at this Club World Cup.
What we probably overestimated was the distance between the Portos and the Inter Miamis; between the Dortmunds and the Fluminenses; between the Benficas and Bocas; between the Chelseas and the Flamengos. Most of the teams Porto and Benfica play, weekend after weekend, are probably worse than the best of MLS — and certainly worse than Boca, River Plate and much of the Brasileirão. Some of the Brasileirão, and certainly the top two, meanwhile, could compete with the top halves of the top flights in Germany, Italy, Spain and France. They have enough money, enough intelligence, enough homegrown talent.There is still, though, a distance to the tippy-top.“There is an elite in football that is superior,” Flamengo coach Filipe Luis, who played for Atlético Madrid and Chelsea, admitted Friday. “Brazilian clubs are competitive at the second level of European football. Flamengo will not devalue themselves against any opponent. But the squads of the elite are better. That’s a fact.”What we underestimated, though, was how streetwise grit and pure desire and all the aforementioned variables could close the gap between those squads for 90 minutes. We underestimated how much a $100 million squad could trouble a $1 billion squad when it plays as an impassioned unit that’s “really emotional in some situations,” as Laimer said of Boca.South American teams have bumped and bruised and disrupted the sometimes-coddled Europeans here in Miami and Los Angeles, in New Jersey and Philly. They haven’t proven that they are better, but that they’re good enough to be better on a given day.
USMNT grinds way by Saudi Arabia into Gold Cup knockout stage
AUSTIN, Texas — Center back Chris Richards made two sliding plays on either side of halftime — the first stopped a shot on a dangerous transition to keep the game scoreless and the second finished off an inch-perfect free kick – to lift the U.S. to a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Thursday night in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
The result sent the U.S. through to the tournament quarterfinals, though the group finale vs. Haiti on Sunday will determine if the Americans go through in first or second place in the group.
Richards’ finish saved the U.S. in what was otherwise a listless appearance in front of a barren home crowd at Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium. The lackluster environment is only the latest instance of what seems to be a real apathy around a team that will host the World Cup in less than a year. The U.S. played in front of empty crowds at the Concacaf Nations League in Los Angeles in March. The group opener on Sunday in San Jose was not a sellout either.
It is a lack of excitement caused as much by high ticket prices as the general performance of the team.
On the field, Thursday’s win gave the U.S. back-to-back victories for the first time since January camp. Results otherwise have left plenty to be desired. The American team has failed to excited fans or generate much enthusiasm or momentum.
This Gold Cup is a chance to reverse that. But Mauricio Pochettino’s side needed to get results to start to build belief that it was headed in the right direction. The one-goal win over the Saudi did provide the result, if not necessarily the style points.
The U.S. tilted play through the left side and Max Arfsten in the first half, but the Columbus Crew wingback struggled to do much with his opportunities. The U.S. lost possession 60 times in the first half, per TruMedia, and Arfsten was responsible for 15 of those changeovers.
Saudi Arabia, a guest nation in Concacaf’s championship, had the best chances of the first stanza. Richards made a fantastic tackle in the 31s minute, sprinting back and making a last-ditch slide tackle to block Abdulrahman Al-Obood’s effort and keep the game scoreless.
The U.S. worked possession looking for ways to break Saudi down, but created very little of note through the first hour of the game. Then right back Alex Freeman earned a free kick when he was fouled cutting centrally with the ball in the 62nd minute.
Sebastian Berhalter, the son of former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, who once spent a season on loan with Austin FC, stood over the free kick and served a low curling ball into the box, where Richards slid with his leg outstretched to direct the ball home.
It was an important moment from the Crystal Palace veteran, who has been charged with being one of the leaders on this younger, inexperienced U.S. team.
The U.S. will close out group play on Sunday against Haiti at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with that result, coupled with Mexico and Costa Rica’s Group A finale, determining the quarterfinal matchups. A draw will be sufficient for the U.S. to top the group. The U.S. hasn’t lost to Haiti in their last nine meetings, a streak that dates back to 1973.
(Top photo: Omar Vega/Getty Images)
Winning fosters USMNT belief at a time when fans need a team they can trust
AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. men’s national team is just a few weeks removed from the bitterness of two friendly defeats, the second of which was particularly ugly. Not nearly enough time has passed to have forgotten completely the feeling those results wrought on the group.
“Enjoy that feeling,” Pochettino told the group. “Understand what that feeling is like and what you just had to do, all that emotion you put out on the field, because it doesn’t come easy. So you know what you have to do now. You need to continue to do and replicate that.”
It is one thing to believe that you have a process and that the process is working. It is harder to transmit that belief when the results are not going your way. That’s why the one-goal victory over Saudi Arabia was so important, even if it wasn’t pretty. The U.S. has now won back-to-back games. The confidence and belief in the group grows a bit more as a result. And Pochettino’s message resonates more, too.
“One of the important things to survive in this business … is to see things that maybe sometimes people cannot see,” Pochettino said. “And I think our point is not the knowledge about the game, is not about in the way that we want to approach the game, if we use different systems or not. It is to anticipate situations that people sometimes, like in all the business [don’t have] the possibility to see. That’s important. When everyone wants to destroy everything, sometimes you say, ‘No, we are [OK.]’ Because it’s difficult to defend when you don’t win. It’s difficult to say, ‘No, but we are in a good way.’ …
“I think [those bad results are part of] a process that is going to provide us the possibility to be more solid and bring the victories that we want.”
Mauricio Pochettino has the USMNT into the Gold Cup knockout stage (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
Pochettino clearly came into this summer with ideas he wanted to transmit through his decisions — on whom to bring, on what to say publicly, on how the team sets up and who is starting. The results didn’t happen right away. Pochettino said he was calm. He told the group to keep trusting.
So Gold Cup wins over Trinidad and Tobago and Saudi Arabia matter. Not because of the quality of the opponent or even the level of the team. But because results are what help foster buy-in.
“We lost two games, and then we lost another two games after. I was really, really relaxed. And you can ask the players after Switzerland, [I was] saying, ‘Hey, look guys, relax. Now it’s time to rest. Is to analyze the situation.’ And sometimes you need to be honest. And I think it was my mistake or our mistake, and [so I said], ‘Hey, calm, we are going to prepare, and for sure, we are going to arrive in a very good condition.’ And maybe these few words … when you tell [players] something and that [happens], then that is going to be a very good group, very united and [they are going to] trust each other and go and fight. Because we know that we are all [in it] together.”
Pochettino said his staff can sense it coming together. They can “smell it,” he said.
They have to hope that the positivity continues to permeate, because it was clear in Austin that the apathy around this program is very real. The results haven’t been good, and the vibes have been worse. Attendance at Q2 Stadium was just 11,727. That follows just 12,610 in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday against T&T. The optics probably won’t be any better vs. Haiti this Sunday at the cavernous AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
USMNT fans were conspicuously absent for Thursday’s Gold Cup match vs. Saudi Arabia (Photo by Noah Goldberg/Getty Images)
Fans are opting out of paying high ticket prices to watch a team that hasn’t been performing, which should be a glaring signal for U.S. Soccer. There is less than a year until the 2026 World Cup begins. The priority needs to be on getting full stadiums and generating momentum around the team. It puts enormous pressure on U.S. Soccer to set its ticket prices appropriately for its slate of friendlies in September, October, November, March and next June.
Price points haven’t been the only issue, though. The U.S. men need to get people to start believing that they’re worth coming out to watch.
There wasn’t a ton on Thursday that fulfilled that narrative. The Americans had the ball for most of the game, generating 67 percent possession and 469 passes. And yet they mustered just five shots and 0.70 expected goals.
It was an imperfect performance. But Pochettino is more worried about finding the moments he can pull from the game that underline his message.
It was Chris Richards sprinting back and sliding to block a shot on a clear Saudi transition attack that could have led to a goal. It was Sebastian Berhalter mixing it up with the Saudi team. Most importantly, it was the final scoreline.
USMNT GK Matt Freese embraces Chris Richards after the latter’s hustle and tackle prevented a great Saudi Arabia chance (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
The simplest way to relay what Pochettino said is this: In this business, it’s the results that matter. That’s it. And that’s what the U.S. has been lacking over the last 18 months. They need to start winning games. The style points are just a bonus.
This U.S. group has holes. Of course it does. We know about the guys missing from this tournament. We know about the weaknesses that exist even when many of those players are present. That was on display against Panama in the Nations League in March.
With time ticking down toward the summer of 2026, it’s about finding the right mentality and the right combinations and the right belief to start winning again.
Pochettino was asked about that goal – about how to coach it into a team.
“It’s the hardest part of coaching, it is difficult because it takes time, because it’s a process,” Pochettino said. “Coaching the offensive, defensive, tactical, and game aspects is something any coach or every coach has sufficient knowledge to do. After that, it’s the values you transmit as a coaching staff. Not just me, but my entire coaching staff. That’s what we want to create, that environment or that relationship that has to exist. The habits. The habits we think should exist in a team that wants to compete for big things, which have to be fundamental. … Culture is created through the habits you have. Culture isn’t created by talking, culture isn’t created by giving theoretical lessons, it’s created with decisions, with actions. We often talk now with the players, about not talking on the field, but rather speaking with actions, because we can all communicate well, and all of us in a football environment have that ability to communicate. …
“It can be very nice to say things, but then you have to translate it onto the field. … That’s what truly dictates what we are. And that requires, as I was saying before, actions. Creating good habits, the habits that we think are fundamental to being competitive in any team. Because otherwise we would be a group of players who don’t come together. We wouldn’t be a team. We would be a group of players who play together, and nothing more. And to achieve a team, you need a foundation of values that we all agree to respect and follow.”
Pochettino was then asked whether his team was there yet.
“We are currently under construction,” he said.
The 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia showed that. It was far from perfect. But it was a win. For a group that’s trying to become a team and craft its values, finding a way to get the three points was important.
The hope is that it now builds a little bit more. For the players in the locker room, for the players watching at home and for the fans who want to know whether they can start to believe again that this group of players can be the team they want it to be.
It will take a lot more — and there will most definitely be more setbacks. For now, this U.S. group will have to settle for a slight spark of belief that this can get back on track.
“It’s just that,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “It’s belief.”
Man I skip 1 week and lots of stuff happened. Awesome Scenes from Anfield as Liverpool clinched the EPL title at home Sat. – my coaching buddy Bill is thrilled!! Christian Pulisic Scored (highlights) Saturday to notch his 50th goal contribution in 2 seasons at Italian powerhouse AC Milan. I will be glued to Fox Sports 1 Wed night 8 pm as Messi & Inter Miami look to overcome a 2 goal deficit at home vs Vancouver in the 2nd leg Semi-Final of the Champions Cup. Awesome story on Bodo/Glimt below – the Norwegian side playing at Tottenham is in their 1st ever Semis of Europa – located just 30 miles from the Arctic Circle they have just 55 thousand people. We’ll see how many yellow toothbrushes get into Tottenham stadium. Games kicking off Thurs 3 pm on CBSSN and Golazo & Para+.
Champions League Tues/Wed, Europa Thurs
We are down to the Final 4 in Champions League Tues with Arsenal facing PSG on 3 pm and Barcelona hosting Inter Milan on Wed @ 3 pm on Wed on Paramount plus. Kind of sux that these games are not going to be on CBS or at least CBS Sports Network – of course they are gonna make us pay to see these games. Anyway lots over coverage below on the game coming up Tues/Wed.
Tues Champions League Arsenal vs PSG on Para+ 3 pm Wed Champions League Barcelona vs Inter Milan on Para+ Thurs 3 pm Europa League on Para+ Athletic Club vs Man United Tottenham vs Bode CBSSN Djurgarden vs Chelsea Real Bettis (Cordosa) vs Fiorentina
We Are Wrexham Wins League One – Back to Back to Back
Cool seeing the scenes from Wrexham as they became the first English team to ever win back to back to back promotions as they won League one – just 3 seasons after being in the lowest pro division in English soccer. The TV show on FX should be really exciting when it comes out following Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney as they chronical the club they purchased 4 years ago. On to the Championship now just 1 league below their aim of the EPL. Stories below…
Indy 11 hosts Detroit City Wed Night 7 pm @ the Mike
Indy Eleven: 1-2-2 (+1) will face Detroit City FC on Wed night 7 pm @ the Mike. Single-game tickets for all matches are available via Ticketmaster. Season, Flex Plan, Group, and Hospitality tickets are available here. For questions, call (317) 685-1100 during business hours or email tickets@indyeleven.com.
GoalKeeper Training for Carmel FC Is outdoors Coach James Pilkington will run sessions on Monday at Shelbourne 6-9 pm and Wed at Badger 6-9 pm. Keep your eyes here for info on the big Summer White Glove GK camp coming June 16-17 in Fishers. More info to come.
Always fun to ref with T Ray and Mike A – at The Girls Showcase this weekend at Grand Park. Got close to 30 miles on the legs reffing this weekend. Of course Nate Sinder’s Brisket was still the highlight of the weekend however. Best in the Midwest!
TV Games
Tues, Apr 29 Champions League
3 pm Par+ Arsenal vs PSG
Weds, Apr 29 Champions League
3 pm Par+, Uni Barcelona vs Inter Milan
7 pm ?? Indy 11 vs Detroit City
8 pm Fox Sport 1 Inter Miami vs Vancouver (0-2) Champ Cup
Thrus, Apr30 – Europa
2:30 pm USA Nottingham Forest vs Brentford
3 pm CBSSN Tottenham vs Bodo
3 pm Para+, Unimas Athletic Club vs Man United
3 pm para+ Real Bettis (Cordosa) vs Fiorentina
3 pm para+ Djurgarden vs Chelsea
10 pm FS2 Cruz Azul vs Tigrees Champ Cup
Fr, May 2
2:45 pm Para+ Torino vs Venzia (Busio)
3 pm Peacock Man City vs Wolverhampton
8 pm Amazon Prime Washington Spirit vcs ACFC NWSL
10:30 pm Gola, Para Seattle vs KC NWSL
Sat, May 3
7:30 am USA Villa vs Fulham (Robinson)
10 am Peaccok Everton vs Ipswich Town
12:30 pm NBC Arsenal vs Bournmouth (Tyler Adams)
2:45 pm Golazo, Para Inter Milan vs Hellas Verona
3 pm ESPN+ Barcelona vs Real Valladolid
2:45 pm Fox Atlanta United vs Nashville SC MLS
7:30 pm Ion Portland Thorns vs Orlando Pride (Marta) NWSL
9 pm FS1 San Diego vs Dallas MLS
10 pm Ion Utah Royals vs NC Courage NWSL
Sun, May 4
10 am CBSSN Monza vs Atalanta
11:30 pm Peacock Chelsea vs Liverpool
1 pm CBS Gothan FC vs Chicago Stars (Naher) NWSL
2:45 pm Para+, Juventus (Mckinney, Weah) vs Bologna
7 pm Apple TV Sporting KC vs LA Galaxy
8 pm Golazo, Para+ San Diego Wave vs Bay City NWSL
Mon, Tues May 7
2:45 pm Para+, FoxD Genoa vs AC Milan (Pulisic)
3 pm USA Crystal Palace (Richards) vs Nottingham Forest
Tues, May 6 Champions League
3 pm Par+, Uni Inter Milan vs Barcelona
Weds, May 7 Champions League
3 pm Par+ PSG (1-0) vs Arsenal
7 pm CBSSN Pittsburgh Riverhounds (Dick) vs NYC USL
7:30 pm Para+ Philly Union vs Indy 11 USL
USMNT midweek viewing guide: Johnny in Conference League semis
A fairly slow midweek features Johnny and Betis in the first leg of a semifinal.
Wednesday
FC Barcelona vs Inter Milan, 3p on Paramount+, TUDN USA, Univision USA, FuboTV, ViX: Diego Kochen may be on the FC Barcelona bench as they take on Inter in the first leg of a Champions League semifinal first leg.
Toronto FC vs CF Montréal, 7p on FS2, FuboTV, Sling TV: Jalen Neal and Montréal visit Toronto in the Canadian Championship.
Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps, 8p on FS1, TUDN USA, FuboTV (free trial), Sling TV, Tubi, ViX: Brian White and the ‘Caps visit Benja Cremaschi and Inter Miami in a Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal second leg. Vancouver leads 2-0 on aggregate.
Thursday
Real Betis vs Fiorentina, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Johnny Cardoso and Betis host Fiorentina in a Conference League semifinal first leg.
Also in action:
Mantova vs Cesena, 9a: Jonathan Klinsmann and Cesena visit Mantova in Serie B.
Palermo vs Südtirol, 9a: Kristoffer Lund and Palermo host Südtirol in Serie B.
June 16th: 9-4 / June 17th: 8-3 12383 Cyntheanne Rd, Fishers, IN $595 Register
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Bodo/Glimt: How a team from a small Norwegian coastal town became European semi-finalists
Assessing the Europa League semi-finalists, there is a clear outlier in relation to European success.Manchester United are one of Europe’s most decorated clubs and won this competition in 2016-17. Athletic Club had spent six seasons outside European competition before this term, but they had been a fixture in Europe through the 2010s and reached the Europa League final in 2011-12, beating United en route. Tottenham Hotspur have not won a European trophy since 1984, but reached the Champions League final in 2019. Like United and Athletic Club, Spurs were grouped among the favourites to lift the trophy in Bilbao on May 21. For their semi-final opponents Bodo/Glimt, who knocked out Lazio in the quarter-final to reach the final four, the prospect of European glory is relatively new. As recently as 2017, Glimt were in Norway’s second tier — a footballing galaxy away from Old Trafford, the Stadio Olimpico or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. After a season consolidating their position in Norway’s top flight, the club, based north of the Arctic Circle, finished second in 2019 to begin a rapid rise that has seen them become the nation’s undisputed top dogs.
Nikita Haikin saved two Lazio penalties in the quarter-final shootout win (Silvia Lore/Getty Images)
On their way, they collected four out of five Eliteserien titles between 2020 and 2024 and established themselves as a force in Europe, beating a Jose Mourinho-led Roma 6-1 in the 2021-22 Europa Conference League group stage, before thrashing Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic 5-1 over two legs in the play-off round.
This year, they’ve taken another leap, becoming the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of a major European competition. It’s the club’s greatest accomplishment and the outstanding achievement of any Scandinavian side this century.
“Bodo is a small coastal town in the north,” says Lars Magnus Roys, a football journalist for Norwegian broadcaster TV2, based in Bergen. “There’s not really much happening in Bodo other than football. What they’ve done in the past few years has been just remarkable.”
Now they have their sights on Tottenham Hotspur, and what would be their most remarkable feat yet — earning a place in the Europa League final.
Unlike most of football’s recent risers, Glimt’s ascent has not coincided with a takeover from a billionaire or sovereign wealth fund. After yo-yoing between Norway’s second and first divisions for the decade prior, Glimt won promotion in 2017 and implemented a plan to revolutionise their culture and playing style — catching Norway’s biggest clubs with solid practise, not cash injections.
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Led by Kjetil Knutsen, promoted to head coach in 2018 after serving as an assistant, Glimt left a counter-attacking style behind and began dominating in the opposition’s half.
“The history of Bodo/Glimt until 2018 is that they were a counter-attacking team,” former assistant coach Morten Kalvenes told The Athletic in 2022. “So what we had to change at the beginning of 2019, to adapt but use that (counter-attacking history), firstly was to press higher as a team. Move the whole team much higher up the field, when the situation required it. When we were forced to defend low, then we defended low, but every week we were constantly looking for the signal where we can go from low to high.”
Inspired by the principles of Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa, Knutsen is renowned in Norway for his “murderball” training sessions, preparing his players physically to carry out the energetic style that has provided the foundations for their success.
Knutsen is inspired by Marcelo Bielsa (Andrea Staccioli/Getty Images)
“Kjetil and I had a few meetings working on the preparation before pre-season,” said Kalvenes. “He told me, ‘No 1: when we do pre-season, I want you to highlight especially one thing, and that is the training culture, the training culture, the training culture’. That meant we raised expectations. We raised the bar in structure, discipline, consistency, everything.
“What I noticed immediately was how the players were in training. I felt that I really liked the attitude of the players, how they were reacting to our coaching, how open-minded they were about the feedback, how — if we are training for one hour — then all 60 minutes are of the same level of intensity. What I mean is that if you do some simple passing drills at the beginning of the sessions, then you get the players as focused even when you’re working on simple details.”
Knutsen’s success did not come overnight, despite these principles in place. After winning promotion from the second tier, Glimt lost four of their first five games in charge, and outside pressure began to grow. Still, the club did not flinch, believing in the style and culture he was building.“It was never, ever a discussion internally,” says sporting director Havard Sakariassen. “The way I see it, if you know something about football, you saw the team was on a really good path. The way we played was much more dominant than the years before. We didn’t manage to score a lot of goals, but we drew a lot of games. It was more, ‘If you go, we all go’. That was the internal thing.This is not a big club with a lot of decision-makers. There is no owner here. Nothing like that. In core, during that period, we were 100 per cent certain Kjetil was the right man — and he knew it.”
A joined-up focus between the coaching team and the recruitment strategy was crucial to the eventual success. Without hordes of cash to hoover up Scandinavian talent set for stardom, Glimt have typically recruited locally.
Only one senior player, goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, who was born in Israel and represents Russia, hails from outside Norway and Denmark. Patrick Berg, their midfield fulcrum and star player, is homegrown and part of a family dynasty. Berg’s grandfather Harald played 12 seasons for his hometown club and won 43 caps for Norway, and his three sons, Runar, Arild and Patrick’s father Orjan, also played for Glimt.
Patrick Berg scored 10 goals for Bodo/Glimt in the 2024 season (Kent Even Grundstad/Getty Images)
There’s never a guarantee of success when signing a player, but recruiting almost exclusively from Scandinavia brings unique challenges. Of the eight permanent signings Glimt have made in the last 12 months, only Jens Petter Hauge has featured for their national team in the past five years. Like Berg, who left for Lens in 2022 and returned six months later, Hauge was re-signed from Eintracht Frankfurt after leaving Norway for a top-five European league and struggling to adjust. Placed within an environment that allows incoming players to settle, it’s no coincidence that Glimt players tend to maximise their talent.
“The logistics are really, really hard,” says Sakariassen. “But the main thing is how you work with people because I know that we recruit good players. We have seen the potential. If they come here and don’t perform well for the first or second month, or everything is new, we still spend the time, and we try to get the potential out of them. We work hard with the people we have, and we believe that when we bring people in, we can help them release their potential. But it’s hard, and everyone is trying to do the same.
“We have a clear way of playing, which makes it easier to recruit players. We play 4-3-3. The demands of each role are really easy to identify, so we look for players with an X factor, players who can make a difference for us in Europe. We truly believe we can develop players and those players can get to their full potential. We need a blend of older players with experience, younger players and those peaking in performance, but they all have to be able to handle the intensity we demand, and that can be hard for older players.
“I think it has a value in itself, in your life, to be able to play at this level in your home town, also with your friends. So I think the culture in the club here is something they really enjoy. Also of course, over the years, we have become competitive in Scandinavia regarding salaries and the business part of it. But I think it has to be rare to be able to play football with your mates at this level anywhere in Europe, and that has a value.”
Time, which allowed Knutsen to thrive in his first job in Norway’s top tier and brought the best out of players who had difficulty with the initial adjustment, is a privilege not often afforded to big clubs in elite leagues. There is some parallel with Athletic Club, whose Basque-only policy emphasises long-term player development, but Ruben Amorim and Postecoglou are under pressure to deliver in Europe after disappointing league seasons at United and Spurs, respectively. As the leading light of Scandinavian football, there is regional pressure to maintain their relative overperformance, but the freedom to operate outside the intense microscope their semi-final counterparts are subjected to has helped their evolution.
“There is pressure around us, but not in the way you see in other clubs,” says Sakariassen. “That pressure is not just something for the club, but also with the players. If you get a lot of criticism, it’s maybe hard to perform. Bodo is 55,000 people, and it’s on another level. So it’s probably easier to get out their potential and have some time here, too.”
Bodo/Glimt fans salute Knutsen after the win over Lazio (Giuseppe Maffia/Getty Images)
“For us, it’s to ride the momentum, and that means that we have to be a performing club all the time. We have to work on that and try to be patient with the players that we have, to have the time to grow. Normally, it takes even the best players that we brought in… like Albert Gronbaek, it took him six to nine months. Hugo Vetlesen, it took him one and a half years before he showed his full self in the team. So patience is definitely a part of it. And luckily, we have people with some patience.”
Gronbaek later became a Denmark international and was eventually sold for €12million (£10m) to Rennes after two seasons in northern Norway. Vetlesen left for Club Brugge in 2023 and made seven appearances in the Champions League this term. While performance in European competition has propelled them into financial parity with Scandinavia’s biggest clubs, there’s an acceptance that when players shine, there will be interest from more affluent and prestigious sides.
Given this success has been under the watch of Knutsen, clubs around Europe have their eyes on the coach, too. He was reportedly on Brighton and Hove Albion’s list before they appointed Roberto De Zerbi in 2022 and had interest from Ajax and Celtic the following summer. As he has been the guiding light through this period, there’s an element of the unknown if he were to leave Glimt, but the club is confident that their culture — akin to Liverpool’s famous “boot room” succession plan — is strong enough to continue rising.
“Of course, Kjetil is one of the key personnel here. But we are very team-driven, also within the coaching room,” says Sakariassen. “Of course, Kjetil will take the decisions at the end, but it’s a kind of a flat structure where everyone is cautious on the pitch. Also, the way we work with the logistics, it’s not one person who makes the decisions; it’s not me who makes the decisions and ‘We do it this way’, we do it together. So I hope that if somebody quits or for other reasons can’t work in the coming year, we are spreading out the knowledge that could be a good and sustainable path into the future.”
The future appears to be in safe hands but all immediate focus is on the Europa League semi-final. Three Glimt players are suspended for the first leg, including Berg, and an injury to starting centre-back Odin Bjortuft in their 3-0 win over KFUM in the Eliteserien could weaken their preferred starting XI further. Glimt have learned to be savvy in European matches and have impressed away from home this season, including in a narrow 3-2 defeat away to United in November. But on the artificial pitch at Aspmyra, they truly fancy their chances against anybody.
“I think we will have the same belief that we had against Olympiacos, Lazio, Twente — it is not an easy way to play Tottenham,” says Sakariassen. “I hope we don’t focus on the occasion, play the game, and dare to be ourselves. Of course, it is a massive game, the interest around the club and the games are massive here in Bodo too, but I hope we have and I truly believe we have all the tools to be brave enough to go out in London and just be Bodo/Glimt.
“The experience that we have gained over the last few years makes us more confident in situations like this. I truly believe in the team and hope we make two great performances against Tottenham. Starting away.”
(Top photo: Tullio Puglia/Getty Images)
Champions League semi-finals: Breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of all four contenders
From 36 clubs at the start of the season, just four remain.
After four quarter-finals filled with tension, it is Inter and Barcelona, and Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain who face off in two blockbuster semi-final ties.
While the remaining quartet still represent some of Europe’s heavyweight clubs, there is a refreshing narrative that is guaranteed to occur this year. Arsenal and PSG are still looking to win the competition for the first time in their history while Barcelona and Inter have not lifted the trophy for a decade or more. In a period dominated by Real Madrid and other English powerhouses, a new chapter is imminent.
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As things stand, Arsenal edge it as the favourites to lift the trophy with a 28.7 per cent chance of victory per Opta’s Supercomputer. In truth, the margins are paper-thin between the final four — and you could make a strong case for any of the remaining clubs to go all the way.
Where might each tie be won and lost? Allow The Athletic to walk you through the tactical wrinkles for each side, with the added inclusion of a few data nuggets to whet the appetite for this week’s matches.
Arsenal
Forget the Premier League, Arsenal are on a rampage in Europe.
Mikel Arteta’s men were good value for their victory against holders Real Madrid after progressing to their first semi-final since 2009 — showing different sides to their game in and out of possession across both legs.
For all that they have come unstuck against deep defensive blocks in recent seasons, Arsenal’s attacking style is arguably more suited to the Champions League as they face up to teams more willing to go toe-to-toe with them.
With greater space for their wingers to stretch their legs, Arteta’s side have doubled down on width when going forward in Europe. Of the remaining semi-finalists, Arsenal’s 24 per cent share of attacking touches through the middle of the pitch is the lowest.
Bukayo Saka’s return to fitness and form has been unanimously welcomed by Arsenal fans, with the 23-year-old having a crucial impact in Arsenal’s victory over Madrid. His two fouls drawn allowed Declan Rice to steal the headlines with his subsequent free-kick strikes, with a dead-eyed dinked finish at the Bernabeu capping off a pair of memorable performances.
The game in Spain took a different form to the first leg at the Emirates. For long periods, Arsenal set up in their typical 4-4-2 out of possession at the Bernabeu — staying compact to force Madrid into wide areas and rarely through the centre of the pitch.
However, there were plenty of occasions when this defensive shape dropped even deeper.
Such was the strong organisation that Arteta’s side showed out of possession that you could map different sequences dropping into a back five, a back six, a back seven, and even a back eight across the duration of their second-leg victory — with Rice or Thomas Partey dropping between the centre-backs, or Saka and Gabriel Martinelli tracking back to support their respective full-back.
While you would not expect Arsenal to perform in the same way across the entirety of their semi-final tie against PSG, there may be occasions when similar penalty-box defending will be required.
Given the fluid rotations of Luis Enrique’s forward line, Arsenal will need to ensure that they do not break their structure too often across both legs. Fortunately, Arteta’s side thrive out of possession, boasting the second-strongest defensive record across Europe’s top five leagues when looking at their 0.83 expected goals conceded per 90 minutes this season.
A second successive Champions League semi-final is not to be underestimated for PSG, particularly given the context within which Luis Enrique has achieved the feat this season.
A Kylian Mbappe-less PSG is one that is far more cohesive, co-ordinated, and coherent than recent years, and it is clear that this is the closest iteration to Enrique’s ideals — both in and out of possession — since he arrived in the French capital.
A 3-1 first-leg lead over Aston Villa should have made for a straightforward second-leg at Villa Park but Unai Emery’s men gave PSG a scare with some aggressive, direct attacks through the heart of their defence.
“Villa never managed to equalise the tie but for 10 minutes, we wondered whether we could keep the ball, if we could get the ball out of midfield or play long,” Luis Enrique said after the game.
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“I don’t think this team has been so dominated by another team in that way, but this opponent has to take risks because they were going out of the competition. They attacked with great intensity and we were playing in front of a great crowd too.”
Many clubs can get swept up in the atmosphere of a Champions League night under the lights but PSG stood firm with some help from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma — and were deserving winners across the two legs.
Luis Enrique will be less pleased about PSG’s out-of-possession performance on that Tuesday evening at Villa Park, particularly when considering it has been one of the strongest parts of their game this season. A co-ordinated high-pressing approach has helped to force opponents to go long when building up as PSG look to regain the ball as quickly as possible and dictate the tempo of the game.
It feels disingenuous to discuss PSG’s defensive approach before acknowledging their incredible technical quality going forward. They might have had a slower start than they would have liked in this year’s Champions League but there is little doubt that they have clicked into gear at the perfect time.
Step off them and they have the technical quality of Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz to pop the ball around you, with any of them dropping outside of the opposition block to kick-start PSG’s progression through the thirds.
Get tight to them and they have the individual quality to make some of Europe’s best look rather ordinary. For context, PSG’s 27.9 take-ons per 90 is more than any other side in the Champions League this season, with one-v-one specialists across the forward line.
It was less frequent at Villa Park but any one of Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue or Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will frequently rotate across the forward line and pop up in different positions across the pitch.
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Throw in the running power of full-backs Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi — both of whom scored in their quarter-final second leg — to support attacks, and it is often a case of picking your poison when PSG throw bodies forward.
Mendes’ goal was a perfect example of the razor-sharp threat that Enrique’s side possesses. Third-man running, one-touch play and maximum width across the pitch make for a devastating combination.
It is fair to say that PSG were a little undercooked in their October game against Arsenal but Luis Enrique’s men have hit top gear in the months that followed. With a(nother) Ligue 1 title sewn up and a treble-winning season still on the cards, the momentum is with PSG as they look to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time.
Barcelona
A 3-1 second-leg defeat by Borussia Dortmund was an anomalous result for Barcelona.
Their 24-game unbeaten run had ended but a four-goal buffer from the first leg meant that Hansi Flick’s side were never likely to be at full tilt at Westfalenstadion, managing the tie more so than the game itself.
As well as their three strikes, Dortmund had the ball in the back of the net twice more after Pascal Gross and Julian Brandt made deep runs behind Barcelona’s defensive line to race through on goal.
Both efforts were chalked off for offside but the events were a microcosm of Barcelona’s season under Flick with a brave high line.
The numbers to support this are staggering. Barcelona have drawn opponents offside on 68 occasions in the Champions League this season, which is comfortably the most of any team to have made it into the knockout phase. For context, Aston Villa are the second-highest on the list with 34 — exactly half the number with the same number of games played.
With an average defensive line height of 33.7 metres — the highest of any side to make it to the knockout phase — Barcelona’s choreographed approach out of possession has been highly refined under Flick.
That being said, there are signs that such an approach is fallible. With Ronald Araujo coming into Flick’s defence against Dortmund, Barcelona fans must still wince when watching the bravery that is required to play such a high line.
That approach will gain increased focus against Inter’s attacking duo of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram. While neither has blistering pace to run in behind, their neat combination play is enough to worry any defence in European football.
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Of course, Barcelona’s strengths far outweigh any weaknesses under Flick as they push for another historic treble. Going forward, the versatility that they offer makes them perfectly suited to knockout football — resembling Luis de la Fuente’s Spain national team during their winning Euro 2024 campaign.
On the one hand, Flick’s side are one of the teams most likely to play nine-plus passes per sequence in the competition, regularly circulating possession with the technical quality of Pedri, Frenkie De Jong, and (earlier in the competition) Marc Casado.
However, do not be fooled into thinking Barcelona simply pass teams into submission. The pacy threat and tireless running of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha means that Flick’s side can punish you in transitional moments.
Eight of their goals in the Champions League this season have come from direct attacks, the most of any side in the competition. They might not employ it as frequently as others — for example, PSG boast double the volume of direct attacks this year — but when they do regain possession, Barcelona can pierce through opposition defences in the blink of an eye.
Raphinha has had a career-best season in Spain with 12 Champions League goals to sit alongside his 15 La Liga strikes — but Yamal is undoubtedly the jewel in Barcelona’s crown.
Many superlatives have already been attached to Yamal’s name but the teenager’s unpredictability is one of his strongest traits in his fledgling career. When mapping his progressive carries in La Liga this season, you can see below that he is equally likely to cut inside onto his stronger left foot, drive outside to his right, or direct his runs straight towards goal.
Whether Yamal will have the same joy against Inter’s defensive back five is another story. Simone Inzaghi’s side are one of the toughest teams in Europe to break down and will often double up in wide areas against opposition wingers — whether it is a supporting centre-back or midfielder to drop in and help their respective wing-back out of possession.
For all of the incredible talent on display for both sides, keep an eye on the flanks across both ties.
Inter
Inter might be viewed as underdogs but no remaining team has reached a Champions League final more recently.
The core of that side is still intact, with eight of the starters from the 2023 final — a narrow 1-0 defeat by Manchester City — still at the club. That continuity has allowed Inzaghi to mould the most tactically distinct team left in the competition.
While the other semi-finalists are broadly defined by high pressing and front-footed play, Inter favour a more measured, controlled approach. Of the teams to reach the last 16, only Club Brugge pressed less intensely, as shown on the PPDA graphic below.
Instead, Inter are comfortable sitting deep, holding their disciplined 3-5-2 shape, and building slowly from the back. Their direct speed — a measure of how quickly a team progresses the ball upfield — is slower than every Champions League side except for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
This restrained approach complements their out-of-possession game. Like classic Italian sides of the past, they are comfortable defending without the ball — no team has conceded fewer than their five goals in this season’s competition. Inzaghi often speaks of Inter’s willingness to do the hard yards out of possession; ahead of their quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich, he predicted the match would contain “moments where we’ll have to suffer”.
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That proved true across both legs as Inter conceded the bulk of possession to Vincent Kompany’s side. While they rode their luck at times, Inter’s methodical build-up means they are rarely caught out of shape when they forfeit the ball. They have conceded just 0.18 xG from fast breaks and their xG per shot against is the lowest in the competition.
Yet their disciplined approach should not be mistaken for being unadventurous. Inter are one of the most fluid sides in Europe, with positional rotations a key feature of their possession play.
Nicolo Barella’s touch map in this season’s competition reflects that fluidity — nominally a central midfielder, he has popped up on both wings, in deeper defensive zones, and in the final third behind the two strikers. Inzaghi gives his players the licence to rotate freely, making Inter unpredictable in attack and capable of creating overloads across the pitch.
Another strength of Inzaghi’s system is the blossoming partnership it enables up top between Martinez and Thuram. A two-man strike force is increasingly rare in modern football, but it has given Inter a unique edge.
Before facing RB Leipzig earlier in the competition, Inzaghi spoke of the importance of “keeping our shape, and knowing when to pick our moments”. Inter’s first goal away at Bayern was a textbook example — and the telepathic understanding between the two strikers was pivotal.
After launching a quick break, Thuram played an intelligent backheel from the middle of the box into the path of Martinez, who finished with the outside of his boot, in what was a real contender for goal of the competition.Against Barcelona, Inter will again likely be limited to fleeting moments on the ball. But with their defensive discipline, tactical flexibility, and ability to strike with precision, they remain more than capable of posing a serious threat.When Inter faced Barcelona in 2022, Inzaghi said: “It is a very delicate match, where we have to show our teeth.”Expect the same again. (Top photos: Bukayo Saka, left, and Lautaro Martinez; Getty Images)
Christian Pulisic ‘gave a lot’ during AC Milan Coppa Italia victory – Sergio Conceicao
AC Milan head coach Sérgio Conceição praised U.S. men’s national team captain Christian Pulisic on Thursday, saying he has “great confidence” in the midfielder.Conceição’s comments were made following Milan’s 3-0 win over rivals Inter in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals on Wednesday.Milan advanced to the finals with the 4-1 aggregate victory. A first-half brace from Serbian striker Luka Jović led the way for Milan, but Pulisic’s influence on both sides of the ball was also essential to the victory, according to Conceição.“He sacrificed himself for the team,” Conceição said in his post-game remarks. “He had a good game. We had to balance the central areas, he and Jovic were important on Asllani. He ran a lot, he gave a lot to the team.” Pulisic put in a 78-minute shift before being replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He had 41 touches during the match but lacked polish at times on the ball, completing 22 of his 28 pass attempts, though his defensive performance was sound. “Then it’s clear, he lacks a bit of freshness with the ball,” said Conceição. “When we spend more time without the ball, for players like Puli, it becomes more difficult. But I have great confidence in him.” Milan’s victory on Wednesday keeps their hopes of European soccer alive, with a spot in the UEFA Europa league awarded to the winners. Milan are in the midst of a bitterly disappointing league campaign and currently sit ninth in the Serie A table. The club are ever-present in European competition and have not missed continental play since the 2016-2017 season, when they finished seventh. They are eight points behind the final European spot awarded for league play. Those poor performances have put Conceição himself at risk. On Wednesday, he deflected questions about his own job security. “Conceicao is not important,” he said. “It is important to win against Venezia and then, when the final comes, we will be happy to do it. It’s not that we have already won it. I’m the same coach as two days ago, it’s not that everything is beautiful or everything is ugly. We need to find balance also on an emotional level, not just as a team.”
When Alexis Mac Allister struck the goal that made Liverpool’s title feel that bit more secure, the noise that followed prompted principal owner John W. Henry to adjust his hearing aid.
Yes, this isn’t baseball, John. This is football and this is Liverpool, where Henry and an entire generation of Liverpool supporters were experiencing something for the first time. It felt like the roof on the new Anfield Road stand was about to fly off. The boom at the other end seemed to rumble from the bowels of the Kop.
All day long in the city there was a sense that the place was going to go up, and at the moment of reckoning the detonation was even louder.
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The central figure in this scene was the referee, Tom Bramall. For four minutes of stoppage time, the focus of the crowd fell on him. With a blow of his whistle, all sorts of words applied: pandemonium, euphoria, mania. Scouse men, old enough to have been around when this club became relevant under Bill Shankly, were hugging one another. “Finally,” one said, though he did not seem to be talking about this game, but a much longer story.
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
It is easy to frown at such language and descriptions. After all, Liverpool emerged as champions elect some time ago. All they needed to do was get a point against opposition that had not won at this venue in 14 years. Their football now is methodical rather than thrilling, not the type to stimulate enthusiasm among neutrals — if they exist.
None of that matters to Liverpudlians who, it is fair to say, do not really care for the impressions of others anyway. This team has created its own mini-jeopardies along the way, adding to the suspense, and that included Spurs taking the lead via a former Liverpool player in Dominic Solanke. Yet inside 22 minutes of that goal, Liverpool were 3-1 up. And that was very much that.
It was tempting to look at the pitch during the celebrations, examining the reactions of the players. But the real stuff was in the stands. And by that, I don’t mean Henry and Mike Gordon, the man previously tasked with the running of Liverpool, high-fiving one another, or Richard Hughes, the sporting director less than a year into the job, earnestly shaking the hand of anyone congratulating him.
Arne Slot and John W. Henry share a moment after Liverpool’s title win is confirmed (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Nearby, the legendary defender Alan Hansen, having recovered from a health scare a year ago, was raising his fists. Hansen was the last Liverpool captain to lift the title in front of fans at Anfield. The tale after that achievement is well-told. Here are your medals. A few beers shared by the players. Enjoy the summer. See you in a few weeks’ time for pre-season training. We’ll be doing this again.
Except that did not happen. And even when it did, nobody was around to really share it. It explains why this meant everything.
To understand the scenes inside Anfield, you have to take a walk through the city and you have to wind back in time, stopping first at 2020. You have to stand at the Pier Head, overlooking the River Mersey, and remember the strangeness of the 24 hours after Liverpool secured their first title in 30 years.
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(Drew Jordan / The Athletic)
On the night that happened, crowds descended onto the streets around the stadium despite restrictions on mass gatherings owing to the spread of Covid-19. Dusk was settling and, within an hour, it was difficult to tell how many were there. Amid a whiff of cordite and the light of flares, shadows were everywhere. Everybody seemed faceless. There was energy and joy but the mood was thick with desperation and laced with danger.
Fans had to celebrate outside Anfield when Liverpool won the title in July 2020 owing to Covid-19 restrictions (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
It was a carnal reaction, but it felt synthetic and, in pursuit of the real, the party trudged on. There was no official organiser for the Pier Head, but everyone seemed to know where to go. Local match-goers hung around chatting, reaching into plastic bags for warming bottles of beer. Songs went up and, eventually, a teenager from Southport attempted to change the pace by directing a couple of fireworks at offices owned by rivals, Everton. His mates cheered. Not many others did. After thousands of pounds worth of damage to the Royal Liver Building, an arson conviction followed. Liverpool had won the league but the response, in very unusual circumstances, felt a bit tryhard.
On a glorious Sunday morning nearly five years later, with Liverpool hours away from becoming champions again, it is easier to draw distinctions from the same, albeit quieter, setting about what the achievement means for club and place. Much can be gleaned from the Pier Head because of its connection to brown, scudding waters and the riches the river brought through shipping and trades as grim as slavery, which helped finance the resplendence of the civic structures marking its frontage.
(Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
The spread of wealth in Liverpool, however, was spectacularly uneven. By the 1840s, as its port grew to become the second largest in the British empire behind London, life expectancy on the shores of the Mersey fell to just below 26. Seventy-five per cent of young men who volunteered for military service were turned away for being unfit and many headed for the docks, where the work was casual.
Unlike in the manufacturing towns of England’s north west, where shifts were brutal but income was steady, dockers from Liverpool would assemble at the gates of the shipyards twice a day not knowing whether they were going to be allowed in and ultimately get paid. On top of that, clocking-on times were determined by the unpredictable tides of the Mersey. Liverpool’s geography therefore contributed as much towards a less structured way of life as an overriding employment culture without contracts or certainty.
Its geography also accounted for enormous challenges after the heavy bombing of the Second World War, including the rise of containerisation, because the Mersey simply wasn’t big enough to accommodate ships increasing in size. By the end of the 1970s, Liverpool’s social and economic struggle was visible inside the stadiums of Liverpool and Everton, where attendances slumped despite a period of unprecedented success on the pitch for both clubs. In 12 of the 15 seasons between 1975 and 1990, the old First Division title was won by a team from Merseyside. Football offered salvation, but sites such as the disused Albert Dock, crumbling beside the Pier Head, became a symbol of decay.
In 1981, prime minister Margaret Thatcher had received a memo from her chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, which proposed the abandonment of Liverpool through a process called “managed decline”. With Conservative popularity in the city collapsing as fast as living standards, her many critics in Liverpool believe that Howe’s recommendation was carried out. By the time Liverpool’s dominance of English football ended in 1990, you only needed to look around for proof.
That achievement came 12 months after Hillsborough, where 97 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death. Though authorities in South Yorkshire and centrally were to blame for the disaster, some of the deceased were still fighting for their lives when those responsible started shifting the focus away from their own failings, buttressed by support from craven sections of the media.
The subsequent fight for justice ran parallel with the story of the city’s football clubs trying to get back on track. In 2020, Liverpool’s younger supporters were close to experiencing something for the first time in their lives when events way beyond anyone’s control altered what felt right. It’s strange how moments you have rehearsed in your mind for so long end up with a very different script.
It was once claimed that the steel birds sitting on top of the Liver Building would fly away if Liverpool won the FA Cup but after that happened in 1965 for the first time, they remained and the team marked the achievement with a civic reception on the balcony of the town hall.
Bill Shankly addresses guests at a civic reception at Liverpool’s town hall in 1965 (PA Images via Getty Images)
There were huge crowds in all directions, choking Water Street, Dale Street and Castle Street. You would have thought that such a scene would be regarded as one of the most famous in Liverpool’s history. Perhaps that would have been the case had it not been for a reaction to a loss to Arsenal in the final of the same competition six years later.On this occasion, when the squad returned from London, they assembled on the steps of St George’s Hall, a mile or so inland from the Pier Head. Shankly turned to the 100,000 people in front of him, telling them that he’d “drummed it into our players, time and again, that they are privileged to play for you. And if they didn’t believe me, they believe me now.”Secretary Peter Robinson concluded the Liverpool manager’s power was total; that if he told supporters to “storm through the Mersey tunnel and seize Birkenhead, they’d have done it”. Yet the imagery from that day had a more profound effect because the fortunes of the club Shankly and Robinson guided was connected to somewhere other than Anfield.In defeat, the matrimony between manager, club and city had never been more visible. Shankly could say anything and his followers would believe it. You can imagine, then, the effect of his belief that the league title was the club’s “bread and butter — that’s what we want to win, all the time”. Except for 30 years, Liverpool did not get there. Maybe that explains why, even with a 12-point lead at the top of the table and needing only one more, there remained some sense of caution in the city on Sunday morning. The “Liverpool Champions 2024-25” season t-shirts being flogged on the steps of St George’s were not exactly flying out. Liverpool had a slightly occupied feel to it. Everyone knew something was happening but until you got closer to the ground, it wasn’t clear exactly what that was.
(Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
The quickest route from the centre of the city to Anfield takes you via Scotland Road and through Everton, a district that defined the foundations of both of the city’s football clubs, as well as preconceptions nationally about Liverpool as a place. Everton has had several identities, but crucially in 1878, when the club that takes its name was founded, it was a desirable suburb for wealthy merchants who built mansions on the hillside and enjoyed the views. It was therefore more practical to build a stadium in the neighbouring borough of Anfield, but after a rent dispute 14 years later, Liverpool FC came along, pushing Everton further away from its roots and into Walton.
More development introduced a mass of terraced housing for working-class Catholic and Protestant communities and Everton became one of the biggest hubs of Irish immigration outside of Ireland. The influx contributed greatly to the way Liverpool feels about itself and how the rest of Britain tends to feel about Liverpool. A sense of otherness is at play on both sides. Some Liverpudlians do not think very highly of the rest of England and that augments the desire for its football team to prove itself as the best in the country.
From St Domingo Road, you can’t see Anfield, but on this day you knew exactly where it was because of the red cloud hanging over it. Ninety minutes before kick off, Liverpool’s squad had arrived.
Fans gather at Anfield before kick-off (Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
Closer more, in pubs like the Mere, the Grove and the Salisbury, it was impossible to avoid the chants of “We’re gonna win the league…” They were not quite saying they were champions yet. It was still too early. But a few hours later, it wasn’t.Liverpool were champions. Liverpool are champions. In the traditions of the past, it is now their job to keep it that way.(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
Before Yunus Musah could collect a pass from Kyle Walker early in the first half, a Fiorentina opponent was converging. The quick action should not have come as a surprise for the 22-year-old. Musah’s stock rose on the back of some precocious play with Valencia and the U.S. men’s national team, particularly as a box-to-box midfielder. When presented with space into which to run, his athleticism and close-control dribbling has allowed him to quickly progress upfield. When presented with little room to roam, he has shown a willingness to keep it conservative and recirculate. On April 5, however, Musah was not playing as a number 8. Instead, AC Milan manager Sergio Conceição lined Musah up in a double-pivot alongside Youssouf Fofana, facing Fiorentina’s three-man engine room. It was a more withdrawn role than his preferred utilization, but the hope was that the similar role description would still set Musah up to succeed. Back to that ball from Walker. In the seventh minute, Musah was moving toward his defense to collect a pass up the channel from the England international. Fiorentina’s numerical advantage put Nicolò Fagioli in prime position to quickly pounce, and Musah attempted to dribble around the Italian. It’s a natural maneuver on the wing, but one that requires precise execution in the heart of the park. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t so nimble on this occasion. The ball trickled away from Musah and right to Fiorentina, giving the visitors a chance for an unexpected short-field counter. Another midfielder, Rolando Mandragora, collected the ball and caught Fofana in two minds about whether to converge or let off and pick up another defensive mark. It created enough time for Mandragora to bypass Fofana with a quick pass to Albert Gudmundsson, who dribbled toward the touchline and crossed in front of the goalmouth for a clumsy tapped-in own goal.
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 5, 2025
Merely seven seconds passed from Musah’s dribble attempt to Fiorentina opening the scoring. After tracking back in vain, Musah looked to the sky in dejection. No teammate approached to console him.
Minutes later, Fiorentina doubled its lead. Musah had done well to recover and defend Walker’s usual terrain down the right flank, but when he forced his opponent to pass backwards, it was to a player standing where Musah would usually be in midfield. His unmarked cross flew into the box, leading to an easy squared assist for a Moise Kean finish.Even after his team halved its deficit, Musah was visibly shaken. In the 23rd minute, Conceição made a dramatic first-half tactical substitution, pulling Musah for another striker and dropping Tijjani Reijnders back into midfield. Although Milan rescued a 2-2 draw, this was a missed chance to make up ground in Serie A against a team directly above them in the table. It was also an awful shift for Musah, who has been an unused substitute in each of Milan’s two ensuing matches. As the 2024-25 campaign nears its end – and the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals vs. rival Inter Milan beckons on Wednesday – he looks to be a shell of the prospect who was among Europe’s most promising midfielders less than two years ago. For a player whose trademark characteristic is his smile, there’s been little to celebrate in a setback of a season.
At this point of 2023, Musah looked to have outgrown Valencia. Then just 20, he had drawn plenty of praise for his breakout performance at the 2022 World Cup, teaming with Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams to give the U.S. a coherent midfield trio. Musah didn’t have McKennie’s vivacious personality, nor Adams’ tireless work rate, but his technical ability and linking of both the defense to the midfield and the midfield to the forward line made him an essential part of Gregg Berhalter’s side. He had also become a mainstay for his club, logging 2,120 minutes in La Liga. By and large, those shifts came as a central midfielder, just as they had in Qatar. It was easy to see why Milan was among his suitors, as then-manager Stefano Pioli’s team had a clear need for a progressive box-to-box midfielder. They got their man, spending £17 million ($21.8 million) to sign Musah shortly after acquiring Pulisic.
While Musah was still filling other roles, especially out wide, this was the year that saw Valencia work to refine his game in the heart of the park. Previously, the club had alternated him between midfield and right wingback, enjoying his progressive dribbles as an outlet to build up the pitch. The concentrated focus in midfield helped show he could fit the role, and this was the year (and set of shifts) that ultimately won Milan’s favor. Throughout 2023-24, Pioli experimented more with a base 4-3-3 formation. It was a natural alternative to the 4-2-3-1 that Milan used heavily throughout Pioli’s tenure, and one that provided Musah with shifts in his preferred role. While Musah was needed to play other roles, from a deeper defensive midfield spot to a few roles along the right flank, he still logged much of his minutes in central midfield.
More importantly, it helped Milan to a second-place finish in Serie A after finishing fourth a year prior. However, Pioli announced his plan to depart the club as the season neared its end. Paulo Fonseca was appointed before the start of preseason in early June. Fonseca operated in a base 4-2-3-1, only sparingly shifting to a three-man midfield. Poor results led to his sacking in late December, with Conceição stepping in to start the new year. While his approach asked for more long balls and direct attacks than Fonseca’s, Milan still predominantly stayed in a 4-2-3-1 with a double-pivot at its midfield base. In Serie A, Milan has used a three-man midfield just three times since changing coaches. As a result, Musah has had less time in his preferred role than at any point of his senior career.
To understand why Musah’s ever-changing role could directly lead to his awful 23 minutes against Fiorentina, let’s strip the situation down to its basics.
Here is a young midfielder who was signed on the back of his box-to-box work. Currently, Milan does not play with a true number 8, leaving Musah to bring his approach to either defensive midfield or attacking midfield. The more advanced role invites a player to take more risks: more of the dribbles Musah enjoys taking, more high-risk passing. This is where Musah has spent the most of his time in 2024-25.
Against Fiorentina, those same actions (like the dribble leading to the own goal) are more dangerous when attempted in a player’s defensive half. There are fewer lines of teammates to bail someone out after a mishap, and less time to form a makeshift defensive shape. An opponent of their caliber will hardly be wasteful when such a gift finds them. Each role also asks a player to read a game in different ways. This isn’t a new issue for USMNT players at the club level, with McKennie and Pulisic having to change roles throughout their careers based on teammates’ availability and their coaches’ wishes. A young midfielder like Musah may drift even further from their eventual home as their athleticism outpaces their game reading. Before establishing himself as a defensive midfielder, Adams logged many shifts at fullback and wingback with his boyhood New York Red Bulls.Another midfielder on the 2022 World Cup squad, Kellyn Acosta, did similar time upon breaking through with FC Dallas. For years, his midfield shifts were scattered in between starts at either fullback position. In his “My Game in My Words” installment on The Athletic, Acosta recalled that shifts at outside back allowed him to “take multiple touches and find my pass” without the quick decision-making necessary to navigate a crowded midfield.“As I was younger, it was one of those things where you don’t want to make a mistake,” Acosta said in 2022. “You’re like ‘OK, I received the ball from my center back; the safe option is often to go back to the center back.’ Eventually, I started connecting passes and being more daring. I started being more comfortable with overlapping, finding space, taking shots, getting assists, crossing. As the games went on, I felt more and more comfortable.”Eventually, those reps were put into action as Acosta carved a role in midfield. Across 58 senior international caps with the U.S., the overwhelming majority were as a central or defensive midfielder.Of course, the 29-year-old Acosta has spent his entire career to date in MLS. With Dallas, the Colorado Rapids, Los Angeles FC and the Chicago Fire, Acosta has been a primary target each time he moves clubs. Colorado, LAFC and Chicago all signed Acosta to fill a specific role in their midfield.
When a young player like Musah leaves a relegation-zone side in La Liga for a Champions League qualifier in Serie A, his immediate role is best defined as “a squad option.” He’s there to patch holes, and the versatile skillset that made him seem like such a promising midfielder can be transposed to fill a lot of gaps as first-choice options are hurt, need a rest or are out of form.
Musah and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior vying for possession in the UEFA Champions League. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
Tack on Milan’s pair of coaching changes and sustained poor form over the last 10 months, and there’s no room for a coach to ride out a developing midfielder in hopes that time will refine his rough edges. The stakes are too high for Milan to exhibit that kind of patience, and players will be graded on the same pass/fail curve whether they’re young or old.ake a mistake like Musah’s against Fiorentina, and the ensuing first-half hook and two games as an unused substitute are a sad reality of the situation he signed on to enter.Playing for the best club possible still provides a player with trade-offs. For someone in critical developmental years like Musah, who hasn’t looked any more evolved than he did in Valencia’s most hapless stretches, it may be too great a sacrifice without a makeweight payout. Even the nature of this latest gaffe suggests that playing in the defensive half is too negative of an assignment given how Musah approaches the game. That dribble was his instinctive reaction to a converging defender, rather than a safer recirculated pass attempt or clearance out of bounds.Milan will need to retool its squad again whether or not Conceição is brought back. Musah’s name has understandably been in transfer rumors, with his status as a homegrown in England (after years in Arsenal’s academy) inviting links to Premier League sides like Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.If Musah leaves, the global status of his suitors ought to be of secondary importance. With time running short before the 2026 World Cup, the priority has to be getting him into a situation where he can dependably earn the right to play in his preferred slot. If he can return to his best form and improve upon it with consistent playing time in midfield, he could ensure that Mauricio Pochettino builds his squad with Musah at its heart. If not, then one of the breakout players of the 2022 World Cup could be a non-factor altogether just four years later.
USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps says salary cap issue to blame for NWSL departures
USWNT captain and Lyon midfielder Lindsey Heaps says the NWSL salary cap may be to blame for some of America’s top players leaving the league for Europe.A small wave of Americans left the NWSL for Europe this summer, highlighted by Naomi Girma who became the first million-dollar transfer in women’s soccer. Girma left the San Diego Wave for Chelsea for a world-record $1.1 million fee in January.Speaking ahead of Lyon’s Champions League semifinal clash with Arsenal, Heaps called the cap an “ongoing issue,” when asked why Americans are coming to Europe.“There’s a salary cap in NWSL and I think that’s an ongoing issue there that hopefully can be changed or increased,” Heaps said at Lyon’s press conference. “It’s a factor in the NWSL and for players coming overseas.”Heaps will square off against USWNT teammates Emily Fox and Jenna Nighswonger, both defenders on Arsenal, on Saturday. She described the matchup as “so cool, so exciting and also very special for me, because these moments don’t happen a lot.”There are “a lot of things” that attract Americans to Europe, Heaps said. “You have two very, very good leagues. (When) you play a lot of time in the NWSL, like I did, I wanted a different challenge.“It wasn’t anything against the NWSL, but I wanted to come play in Champions League again. I wanted to play for a big club like this. I think I just needed a different kind of challenge.“Maybe that’s also what these players felt. Speaking with Nay [Naomi Girma], speaking with Jenna [Nighswonger], speaking with Foxy [Emily Fox], that’s what they need. That’s what they needed at the time.” At their recent national team camp, Heaps said she teased Fox ahead of their Champions League clash. “I was giving Foxy [Emily Fox] as much crap as I possibly could and trying to just chip at her a little bit.”She said it was “special” to see her U.S. teammate’s excelling in an environment like Arsenal’s. “To see [Fox] go and make that big move and play well and be a very impactful player for the team as well, I think that’s really special for me to see as a captain.“I want all of my players to be doing well – just not this weekend, I hope.”
Before an agonizingly empty stadium, our U.S. boys did just enough to overcome a weak Saudi Arabian squad who have been here for about five minutes but already seem to be the epitome of CONCACAF. The game itself felt like a chore to watch. The U.S. had 72% possession in the first half but conjured zero shots on goal against a physical opponent. The football was sparkless, tepid and lacking in ambition and ideas. To progress from the group will be a relief for Mauricio Pochettino but it is a bare minimum for a program who has won its first two games in this tournament 15 out of 18 times.Chris Richards Is a Great American 
The Crystal Palace giant out of Birmingham, Ala. was a man amongst boys in this game. That a pair of 
How was this performance so plodding? Pochettino has made it utterly explicit he wants players who will fight for him. So many of these boys have been gifted an unexpected opportunity they could never have dreamed of: To make themselves unignorable for that World Cup squad on home turf. Yet, the performance was flatter than the Texas Panhandle. The football was so deferential. No one seized their chance to grab a drowsy game by the throat and enforce their will upon it. Working out why that is will be the key for Pochettino. Malik Tillman has the skills and the club form to do that. Patrick Agyemang has the hype and the plaudits but was unable to summon the touch or the balance. All of these players have sacrificed so much to make it to this stage. One transcendent moment could change their lives. If only the football reflected that…I Do Love Me Some Diego Luna 
The one player who is running off the ball and trying to create a spark with his flicks and tricks. I ran into Diego in Austin and told him just how much we are hearing from so many of you about his fight, hustle, and mustache-tinged singular swagger. I asked him what goes through his mind when he gets on the ball, and he told me he tries to “be happy” and summon “the joy he felt playing as a kid.” I said that to Clint on last night’s show, and he said that when he was young his brother used to tell him, he “had to be serious about having fun.” A phrase I love and will think of whenever Diego is in possession. Even Spinal Tap Drummers Think Our No 9 Position Is Doomed 
Haji Wright’s injury is a real concern for our boys. With Agyemang crying out for competition, Haji did not dress, left out of the squad with an Achilles issue. Kyle Bonn reported, “After a big sigh, Mauricio Pochettino on Haji Wright‘s injury: “
The goalkeeper battle between two Matts is psychologically intriguing. Matt Turner was the No 1 and has battled his way to a Premier League crevice, albeit with precious little playing time. For a player shorn of match practice, it must be an agony to have had a watching brief. NYCFC’s Harvard grad Matt Freese has been wicked smart in goal — two clean sheets off ONE SAVE TOTAL IN THOSE TWO GAMES. Guzan has to be watching and thinking that if he started smoking ciggies, he could maybe be the American version of Wojciech Szczęsny and make an unexpected return from exile. It Is Painful to See These Stadia so Empty for a United States Game On Home Turf a Year Out from the World Cup 
Watching the United States walk out to 
If you’re in the Dallas area and considering going to the game, 
The Knockout Rounds Will Be Moment Of Truth Time 
We may play Costa Rica or Mexico. To better days ahead for all of us. We need to make noise. We need to be able to dream. Our gents will next play against the NBA Finals Game 7. We cannot catch a break… 
What a surreal sight this tournament has been. Hastily thrown together from an organization perspective and even more shoddily marketed. Having Gianni Infantino be the face of his own creation was an almost vanity marketing campaign, with iShowSpeed bolted on for clout. The 
Dale JohnsonJun 21, 2025, 06:13 AM ET
Mauricio Pochettino has the USMNT into the Gold Cup knockout stage (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
USMNT fans were conspicuously absent for Thursday’s Gold Cup match vs. Saudi Arabia (Photo by Noah Goldberg/Getty Images)
USMNT GK Matt Freese embraces Chris Richards after the latter’s hustle and tackle prevented a great Saudi Arabia chance (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
Nikita Haikin saved two Lazio penalties in the quarter-final shootout win (Silvia Lore/Getty Images)
Knutsen is inspired by Marcelo Bielsa (Andrea Staccioli/Getty Images)
Patrick Berg scored 10 goals for Bodo/Glimt in the 2024 season (Kent Even Grundstad/Getty Images)
Bodo/Glimt fans salute Knutsen after the win over Lazio (Giuseppe Maffia/Getty Images)
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Arne Slot and John W. Henry share a moment after Liverpool’s title win is confirmed (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Fans had to celebrate outside Anfield when Liverpool won the title in July 2020 owing to Covid-19 restrictions (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
(Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
Bill Shankly addresses guests at a civic reception at Liverpool’s town hall in 1965 (PA Images via Getty Images)
(Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
Fans gather at Anfield before kick-off (Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
Musah and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior vying for possession in the UEFA Champions League. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
The Ole BallCoach 
