Opinion

The culmination of this week’s midweek U.S. Open Cup matches ensured that 14 of the teams in the tournament’s Round of 16 will be from Major League Soccer, equalling a record set in 2015, 2016 and 2019 for the most MLS representatives at this stage of the competition. The two non-MLS representatives are USL Championship sides Birmingham Legion FC, who beat fellow USLC side Memphis 901 FC 3-0, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, who pulled off the round’s only “cupset” as they knocked off Bruce Arena’s New England Revolution 1-0.

The summer transfer window must be approaching because the Christian Pulisic transfer rumors are back. A week after Olivier Giroud said that AC Milan would love to have Pulisic, Napoli and Juventus are also showing interest.

Shock results rocked the boat in MLS Matchweek 11, with upsets happening from Seattle to Miami and San Jose to Charlotte. Frontrunners have emerged in both the league standings and the MVP race as several big names set the scoresheets alight and dazzled in front of packed crowds. 

No one envies the job that U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has right now in trying to whittle down his roster to 23 for the World Cup. He will have many tough decisions to make, however one choice that shouldn’t be hard is including Lynn Williams.

The 29-year-old missed nearly all the last NWSL season with a hamstring injury she picked up in March 2022. In the offseason she made a move to Gotham FC and she’s off to an electric start to the 2023 campaign.

Matchups at the top and bottom of the table make for some interesting reading. The two best teams in the East faced off in Foxborough, while Kansas City played host to both the NFL Draft and a struggling Montréal side to varying degrees of success. In the West, dropped points from Seattle, St. Louis, and San Jose only gave more life to LAFC on their week off. 

Imagine if the UEFA Champions League final wasn’t played in Europe but instead in the United States of America. While the idea sounds far-fetched, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said on Tuesday that a plan to host UCL games in the U.S. has been discussed before.

Ceferin really peaked fans’ interest when he hinted that the final could be played in the states.

The league table is finally taking shape as the top teams separate themselves from the pack while the league's cellar dwellers cling to every point that will hopefully save their seasons. There were several struggling teams that earned massive wins while some top teams slipped up, making for another thoroughly entertaining matchweek.