USA

24-year-old USMNT goalkeeper Zack Steffen is two matches into his Fortuna Düsseldorf career, and so far he’s helped his club into the second round of the DFB-Pokal and collected Bundesliga Player of the Week honors after recording 10 saves in Düsseldorf’s league-opening victory over Werder Bremen on Saturday.

That’s one helluva start for a man who’s just beginning a year-long loan move from Manchester City, the club he officially joined from the Columbus Crew back in July for a transfer fee of $9.12 million. He’s already surpassed Landon Donovan’s achievements in Germany.

One week after mediation talks fell apart, a federal judge has set a trial date for the U.S. women’s national team’s equal-pay lawsuit.

A start date for the USWNT's gender discrimination trial has been set -- but it isn't entirely ideal. https://t.co/GIyGEHDqV0 pic.twitter.com/eGSXjZH976

FIFA is finally bringing back its street mode, now named Volta, amid many changes and enhancements to modes across the platform. Now, a big name, at least amongst Arsenal fans, is being added to help voice the new street mode. It's none other than Troopz from ArsenalFanTV. “Oh my days, fam!” as he would say.

ESPN has just officially secured the exclusive worldwide broadcasting rights to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). The deal, which gives ESPN the rights to both the regular season and playoffs, allows ESPN Player subscribers to broadcast NWSL matches in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia.

It’s that time of year again: FIFA has announced the 10 finalists for the annual Puskás Award, the trophy given to the player, male or female, “judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or ‘most beautiful,’ goal of the calendar year.”

This most certainly wasn’t the case last year when Mohamed Salah scooped the award after Liverpool and Egypt supporters spammed the fan vote. The goal Salah scored against Everton back in December of 2018 hadn’t even won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month, so it was an awful joke to see it given the prestigious Puskás Award.

Christian Pulisic’s first Premier League start and Stamford Bridge debut wasn’t exactly the stuff of dreams. The 20-year-old American lasted 71 ineffective minutes against Leicester City before being swapped for Willian with the score level at 1-1, which is how it would end.

Pulisic spent his time on the pitch in the pocket of Leicester right back Ricardo Pereira. The Portugal international was Leicester’s Player of the Season last campaign, and with support provided by Ayoze Pérez out wide, Pulisic completed only one of five dribbles while getting dispossessed six times. 

Another Zlatan Ibrahimović brace — giving him four goals in four days after scoring two against FC Dallas last Wednesday — wasn't enough to power the LA Galaxy beyond Western Conference rival Seattle on Saturday night. The Sounders earned a dramatic point after a comical own goal from Jørgen Skjelvik in the 82nd minute.  

The Women’s International Champions Cup kicks off Thursday — and it’s kind of a big deal. 

While the men’s International Champions Cup is just a glorified list of preseason exhibitions, the women’s version actually means something. Aside from the UEFA Women’s Champions League, it’s rare for women’s clubs to face off against clubs from other countries, let alone continents. There is no Club World Cup for women, so the Women’s International Champions Cup fills the gaps left by FIFA’s lack of commitment to the women’s game.

Kick It Out, an organization that advocates for players who experience racial abuse within the footballing world, has issued a call to action to social media companies in response to the Twitter abuse that Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has received over the past 24 hours.

Multiple reports have emerged confirming that the city of St. Louis, Missouri, will be the proud home of the 28th club in Major League Soccer. The official announcement from MLS is set to come early next week.

The team will likely join the competition for the 2022 season, following Miami and Nashville in 2020 and Austin in 2021.