MLS

Major League Soccer's (MLS) request to send their reserve teams to participate in the U.S. Open Cup, the country's oldest tournament, was denied by U.S. Soccer on Wednesday.

MLS clubs voted to send teams from MLS Next Pro, a lower division developmental league formed two years ago comprising of their reserve players, as the U.S. Open Cup was not a priority and because they wanted to reduce fixture congestion.

LONDON — Chelsea booked their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup on Tuesday, defeating Newcastle United 4-2 in a penalty shootout at Stamford Bridge after substitute Mykhailo Mudryk kept the Blues alive with a 92nd-minute equalizer.

Newcastle had appeared set to snatch a 1-0 win in west London until Kieran Trippier, on as a substitute, failed to cut out a Malo Gusto cross and allowed Mudryk, also on as a sub, to slot home, levelling the tie at 1-1 and taking it to penalties.

FIFA announced on Sunday that its revamped Club World Cup, to be held for the first time in 2025, will feature 32 teams and will be played from mid-June to mid-July.

Following are details of how the tournament will work:

- The United States will host the 2025 edition of the expanded event, which will be held every four years thereafter.

- The tournament will have eight groups of four with the top two teams from each group going through to the knockout stages -- the same format as the 2022 World Cup.

Major League Soccer will send teams from the MLS Next Pro development league to the 2024 U.S. Open Cup instead of the clubs' traditional first teams.

It will mark the first time in the history of MLS that its franchises do not send their top players to the annual domestic knockout tournament. The Athletic reported that the league will "reassess its first teams' involvement" after 2024 to decide whether to continue sending Next Pro teams to participate.

Former Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has decided to retire from professional football, the 39-year-old announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

Chiellini, who played for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Los Angeles FC this season, retires after losing the MLS Cup final 2-1 to Columbus Crew on Saturday.

Chiellini retires

Inter Miami and Lionel Messi are going worldwide in 2024 with the preseason schedule taking the Herons to El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and who knows where else. The Inter Miami preseason travel will be intense.

The idea of Miami touring the world and fans getting to see one last Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo game is exciting on paper. When you start adding up the miles that the club will travel you start to feel a little bad for the Miami players.

Here are the dates and opponents announced so far.

Inter Miami 2024 preseason schedule

The Columbus Crew outlasted LAFC 2-1 to win MLS Cup on Saturday in front 20,802 fans at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. An unbelievable Malte Amundsen assist to Yaw Yeboah gave the Crew their second and game-winning goal.

Amundsen might just have won himself the assist of the season as the Danish center back delivered an inch-perfect ball that cut LAFC’s back line wide open.

Amundsen assist vs LAFC in MLS Cup

TWO FOR THE CREW

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi was named Athlete of the Year by Time Magazine on Wednesday, thanks in large part to his decision to bring his talents to Inter Miami and ultimately raise the profile of Major League Soccer.

The honor comes just over a year from Messi's win with Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In July, the 36-year-old left Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain for Inter Miami.

In a recent interview in his home country of Argentina pertaining to his availability for the 2026 World Cup, soccer superstar Lionel Messi called Major League Soccer – his current home – "a minor league."

The comment to Star+ came in the context of laying out his priorities, which continue to be trying to support his national team to the fullest. That includes competing in next summer's Copa America for Argentina.