11 h. ago How the US men’s national team values diversity, even in the Trump era

With World Cup 2026 on the horizon, the team has been reluctant to weigh in publicly as one of their pillars is politicizedLos Angeles will be in the spotlight during the 2026 World Cup. It’s where the US men’s national team will begin their World Cup campaign, and it’s where they’ll wrap up the group stage. It’s a city in the news lately due to the Trump administration’s deployment of Ice and the national guard, but it’s also a metro area synonymous with diversity. This US men’s national team, more than ever, reflects that diversity.“It’s not that there’s a record or anything of how many minorities have been on the national team before, but I feel like this has been the most diverse generation of national team,” said center back Chris Richards, who is poised to be a leader along the backline for the US next year. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Mauricio Pochettino said the US can win the World Cup. Now they can’t even win a game

The Americans have now lost four matches in a row, and the World Cup is one year away. Serious questions are starting to emerge about their high-profile coachIf you’re wondering why there seems to be so much hand-wringing over the US men’s national team’s current form, consider where head coach Mauricio Pochettino set the bar when he took over.“We need to really believe and think of big things,” he said in his introductory press conference in September. “We need to believe that we can win, that we can win all [the] games. We can win the World Cup.” Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago The US men’s national team has more of the last thing it needs: sports dad drama

The continued fallout from Christian Pulisic’s decision not to join the USMNT this summer has exposed the incestuousness of elite soccer in the United StatesThe United States men’s national team need a number of things. Some wins, after losing three straight games from March’s Concacaf Nations League through Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Turkey. A bit of momentum or indeed excitement for next year’s World Cup on home soil. A clear identity, or at least a rediscovery of the kind of grit that once made this team competitive. A goalscorer.The one thing the Americans do not need is another episode of parent-driven drama. But that’s what they have.Leander Schaerlaeckens is at work on a book about the United States men’s national soccer team, out in 2026. He teaches at Marist University. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Spain vs Portugal live: Result and reaction as Ruben Neves scores decisive penalty Nations League final

Portugal 2-2 Spain (5-3 on penalties): Roberto Martinez’s men are the first team to win the Nations League twice

Sport

2 w. ago USMNT add Walker Zimmerman, Paxten Aaronson, Nathan Harriel to Gold Cup training camp

DeJuan Jones, Folarin Balogun, Sean Zawadski ruled out Aaronson brothers could play together The US men’s national team have made changes to their pre-Gold Cup training camp roster, adding Walker Zimmerman, Paxten Aaronson, and Nathan Harriel to the squad that is set to play friendlies against Turkiye and Switzerland in the coming international break.All of the additions are injury replacements. They arrive in place of defender DeJuan Jones (who has what US Soccer called a lower body injury), midfielder Sean Zawadzki (knee injury) and striker Folarin Balogun (ankle injury). All of the replacements appeared for the US at the 2024 Olympics, in which the team made a run to the quarter-finals. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago With big names absent, USMNT hopes big personalities will fill the gap

Mauricio Pochettino faces an uphill battle to change the USMNT’s culture without their most important players.If the 2022 World Cup was the debutante ball for a shiny new generation of United States men’s national team players, the 2025 Gold Cup was supposed to be a general rehearsal for the big dance, next summer’s World Cup.Instead, still-somewhat-newish US manager Mauricio Pochettino will go into this summer tournament for the continental title shorn of a great many of his leading players. As such, his first and only chance to work with his team for an extended period of time before the start of the 2026 World Cup will present all kinds of challenges. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago With big names absent, USMNT hope big personalities will fill the gap

Mauricio Pochettino faces an uphill battle to change the USMNT’s culture without their most important players.If the 2022 World Cup was the debutante ball for a shiny new generation of United States men’s national team players, the 2025 Gold Cup was supposed to be a general rehearsal for the big dance: next summer’s World Cup.Instead, still-somewhat-newish US manager Mauricio Pochettino will go into this summer tournament for the continental title shorn of a great many of his leading players. As such, his first and only chance to work with his team for an extended period of time before the start of the 2026 World Cup will present all kinds of challenges. Continue reading...

Politics