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Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS

FIFA, Seattle officials monitoring Iran's participation in World Cup

Sports / Soccer /

SEATTLE — The attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran could have an impact on the FIFA Men’s World Cup and at least one match scheduled to be played in Seattle at Lumen Field.

Iran’s participation in the World Cup was one of the uncertainties that arose amid myriad questions following Saturday’s attacks.

There were no official ...Read more

Elsa/Getty Images North America/TNS

Inter Miami to visit the White House March 5, Messi expected to attend

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Inter Miami will visit the White House on March 5 to commemorate the team’s 2025 MLS Cup championship, a club source confirmed Friday night.

The Athletic was the first to report the news.

The Miami Herald source added that “everyone” on the team will attend the ceremony with President Donald Trump, which indicates that team ...Read more

Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Inside Cavan Sullivan's biggest game yet for the Union, and not just because of his goals

Sports / Soccer /

PHILADELPHIA — If you wondered why this Union game, out of all of them, landed on a good TV channel, you weren’t alone.

The answer wasn’t just because FS1 had some time to spare at the hour when the Union’s second leg against Defence Force FC kicked off. Or just because Fox wanted to showcase the Concacaf Champions Cup, though that’s ...Read more

Leopoldo Smith/Getty Images North America/TNS

Messi knocked to the ground during pitch invasion, comes off bench to score winner in Puerto Rico friendly

Sports / Soccer /

Lionel Messi fans in Puerto Rico eager to see their hero in an Inter Miami friendly match Thursday night had to wait until the second half, and he delivered a memorable moment, scoring the winning goal on a penalty kick in a 2-1 win over Ecuadorean club Independiente de Valle.

Miami coach Javier Mascherano left most of the starters on the bench...Read more

Simon Barber/Getty Images North America/TNS

After El Mencho's death sparked violence, some worry about World Cup matches in Mexico

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — Gerardo Tavárez has been counting down the days for months.

The 25-year-old Los Angeles resident planned the perfect summer for his family.

He will get married on June 6, five days before the start of the World Cup. His honeymoon will be in Mexico, where he will watch the Mexican national team's debut at Azteca Stadium in ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Kevin Baxter: Why the record crowd at the LAFC-Inter Miami match was about more than Lionel Messi

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — More than 75,000 people packed the Coliseum for a soccer game Saturday night.

LAFC hosted the largest crowd for a soccer game in the world last weekend, the largest crowd for an MLS season-opening game and the second-largest in league history.

MLS moved the game from cozy BMO Stadium, LAFC's regular home, a few hundred feet ...Read more

Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/TNS

FIFA World Cup's base-camping nations viewed KC differently than we view ourselves

Sports / Soccer /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In this case, not playing host to some of the world’s biggest sporting events worked in Kansas City’s favor.

We’re speaking, of course, about KC’s status as a host city and base-camp mecca for this summer’s FIFA 2026 World Cup.

“We’ve never hosted a Super Bowl, we’ve never had an Olympics,” said Pam ...Read more

Rich Lam/Getty Images North America/TNS

LAFC manager Marc Dos Santos embraces expectations: 'A privilege to be under pressure'

Sports / Soccer /

When LAFC promoted Marc Dos Santos from assistant coach to manager two months ago, there were some perks that came with the new job. A raise, certainly. A better seat on the team charter.

But not as many as you might think.

"The office is a little bit bigger," he said. "My parking space is exactly the same."

The biggest perk, however, could ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Why a 2026 World Cup boycott is unlikely to be successful

Sports / Soccer /

Calls for a European-led World Cup boycott have grown louder and louder in recent weeks. Yet the possibility one could happen is "slim to none," said Alan Rothenberg, a man who knows a little bit about both World Cups and boycotts.

Rothenberg organized the soccer tournament at the 1984 L.A. Games, which was boycotted by 19 countries. Ten years ...Read more

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/TNS

Sean Keeler: Denver Summit FC set to crush women's sports record next month -- and the team's not done peaking

Sports / Soccer /

DENVER — The Summit isn’t done peaking.

“Obviously, our first goal was to break the record for the largest (professional) women’s sporting event ever in the United States,” Rob Cohen, controlling owner of Summit FC soccer club, Denver’s first professional women’s sports franchise, told me Tuesday. “But our latest goal is to set...Read more

Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Mauricio Pochettino isn't thinking yet about all the details of his USMNT World Cup roster

Sports / Soccer /

In a few months, U.S. men’s soccer team manager Mauricio Pochettino will have to make some of the toughest choices he has ever made in his decorated coaching career.

It will be hard enough to pick the 26-player squad for a World Cup on home soil. But it be will just as vital to decide how many players he’ll take at each position: centerback...Read more

Sergio Mejia/Getty Images North America/TNS

Inter Miami signs German Berterame from Monterrey in $15 million deal

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Lionel Messi will have another big-time striker alongside him as Inter Miami begins defense of its MLS Cup title in less than a month.

After weeks of negotiations, the club announced Friday that it signed Mexican national team forward German Berterame from Liga MX powerhouse Monterrey with a transfer fee reported to be $15 million.

...Read more

Mariana Bazo/Getty Images North America/TNS

Latest news as Messi, Inter Miami head to Colombia to play Atletico Nacional

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — The Lionel Messi preseason traveling show continues this weekend as the Argentine legend and his Inter Miami teammates head to Colombia to face Altetico Nacional in Medellin for the second game in their Champions Tour.

It will be the first time Messi plays for a club team on Colombian soil, and it figures to be a good test for Inter ...Read more

German soccer leader adds to calls for boycott of World Cup matches in United States

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — A growing number of international leaders are suggesting it's time to reconsider the idea of playing the World Cup in the United States this summer.

Oke Gottlich, vice president of the German Football Association, told a German newspaper last week that he wants to discuss a boycott of the tournament, much like the U.S.-led ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Christen Press wants to be a game-changer for women's sports in retirement

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — Christen Press welcomed herself to the U.S. women's soccer team by scoring twice in her debut in the first game of 2013. The team said goodbye Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park, honoring Press before its first game of 2026, a 6-0 win over Paraguay.

In between, Press played 154 more times for the U.S., winning two World Cups...Read more

Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kevin Baxter: Emma Hayes eager to see which top prospects can prove they belong on USWNT

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — When Emma Hayes took the reins of the women's national soccer team in 2024, one of her first goals was to plumb the depths of the team's talent pool. She knew what she had on the surface with veterans such as Rose Lavelle, Naomi Girma, Lindsey Heaps and Trinity Rodman. But what about the players under them? Who could step in in ...Read more

Yong Kim/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Bradley Carnell orchestrated the Union's success in 2025. His second season in charge matters more.

Sports / Soccer /

PHILADELPHIA — Nestled under all the success of last season for the Union is that their manager, Bradley Carnell, proved yet again that he’s one of Major League Soccer’s bona fide tacticians.

In his first season at the helm, he came within one point of the club’s record, a statistic that originally took more than a decade to amass. He ...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

Inter Miami camp opens as Jorge Mas shares updates on Berterame, Blackmon, Allende

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Defending MLS champion Inter Miami opened preseason training camp on Saturday and managing owner Jorge Mas was there to get a first glimpse of the 2026 team, which includes several new players following the retirement of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

Mas provided updates on negotiations to acquire MLS Defender of the Year Tristan ...Read more

Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Luigi Mangione's cousin signs with pro soccer team in Brooklyn

Sports / Soccer /

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione‘s cousin has signed with a professional soccer team in Brooklyn, the same New York City borough where Mangione is imprisoned for the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In a statement on Wednesday, Brooklyn FC announced that Peter Mangione, a 24-year-old midfielder from Hunt Valley, Md., will join...Read more

Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kevin Baxter: As 2026 World Cup nears, Alan Rothenberg reflects on US soccer's transformation

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — Alan Rothenberg has a story he wants to tell you. A lot of stories actually; enough to fill a book.

So he wrote one.

But that's not the first memorable work he's authored. As the man behind the 1984 L.A. Olympics soccer tournament and the 1994 World Cup, still the most successful in history, Rothenberg has arguably had more to ...Read more