San Diego is officially the newest team in MLS and as they prepare to make their professional debut in 2025, the franchise is rumored to have contacted the best Concacaf player of all time to manage their squad.
Rivalry Week in MLS is a special time. Chaos wrapped in pandemonium served with a side of unpredictability. The best sides find a way to rise above the volatility, to keep their heads when all about them are losing theirs. Rivalry week separates the wheat from the chaff, and MLS Matchday 14 embodied that.
Major League Soccer (MLS) awarded its 30th team to San Diego on Thursday, with the club set to make their debut in 2025 under the ownership of entrepreneur and investor Mohamed Mansour.
San Diego, which was a well-publicised front-runner to be awarded the expansion franchise, follows several other recent additions to the top-flight North American league, including St Louis City SC, which debuted this year.
In a word, forgettable. Following one of the most exciting matchdays of the MLS season, the league’s first foray into midweek play definitely did not live up to the billing, but there were still a few moments that caught our attention. Despite MLS Matchday 13 being promoted as a continuation of Rivalry Week, there were few games that truly fit that description, and it showed both on the field and in the scorelines.
El ránking FIFA dejó de estar solo a la hora de ganarse el odio de los aficionados del fútbol. Yay! Nuestra amada Concacaf anunció esta semana que tendrá su propio ránking de clubes masculinos para así determinar sembrados en futuras competencias regionales.
A la hora de crear el nuevo ránking, la Concacaf consideró como punto de partida los resultados a nivel de clubes en distintas competencias a nivel doméstico e internacional desde 2017 a la fecha. A saber:
Major League Soccer received a record $500 million expansion fee to field an expansion team in San Diego for the 2025 season, according to multiple reports Tuesday.
Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the local Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation are the owners of the new San Diego franchise, which will be the league's third club in Southern California after the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.
Updated chart of @MLS expansion fees:
The latest Salary Guide has been released by the MLS Players Association (MLSPA), revealing the highest paid MLS players 2023. There could be a change when the Secondary Transfer Window opens from July 5 to Aug. 2, but for now 31-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri has reclaimed the top spot after Lorenzo Insigne's record 2022 salary of $14 million was almost cut in half (the Italian has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 17 all-time league appearances).
Winning is great, but it’s even better when it’s against a rival. Goals mean more, away games are more demanding and everything is personal. Though the matches count just as much in the table, it's a day the fans circled on their calendars as soon as the schedules dropped. MLS Matchday 12 featured red cards aplenty, late winners and fans who went home filled with an anger that can only be felt after a loss in Rivalry Week.
The Colorado Rapids suspended midfielder Max Alves on Wednesday for an alleged connection to an illegal sports gambling plot, according to the Denver Post and ESPN.
Alves, a 21-year-old native of Brazil, is under investigation by prosecutors in his home country for being associated with match-fixing, per the reports. One of those matches reportedly was a Rapids game, and Alves allegedly was paid by match-fixers who asked players to shift their performance to the benefit of sports bettors.
Since its foundation nine years ago New York City FC has been looking for a place to call home. On Wednesday, the club took a massive step toward that reality by unveiling the latest renderings of their $780 million, 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in Queens' Willets Point neighborhood (right next to the New York Mets' Citi Field).