USA

Dragan Skočić has been dismissed as Iran head coach with little more than four months to go to the World Cup finals in Qatar, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

It said that Iran's football federation had decided to dismiss the 53-year-old, adding that "there are unconfirmed reports that several Iranian candidates have a good chance to replace Skočić."

The move comes after Skočić, who took over from Marc Wilmots as coach in February 2020, secured the Iranians a spot at the World Cup by topping their qualification group ahead of South Korea.

D.C. United is in a bad place right now. One of Major League Soccer’s flagship clubs suffered its worst-ever defeat on Friday night, a 7-0 humbling from the Philadelphia Union to fall to 13th in the Eastern Conference with the second-lowest point total in the league. So maybe these Wayne Rooney D.C. United coach rumors aren’t such a bad idea. 

Chelsea midfielders N'Golo Kanté and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not feature in the club's preseason tour to the United States due to their COVID-19 vaccination status, the Premier League side said on Saturday.

Entry rules for the U.S. say that all visitors over 18, barring American citizens and other limited exceptions, must be double vaccinated against the virus.

It was unclear whether the two players were unvaccinated or had received only one dose.

Matt Turner achieved a lifelong dream on Friday. The boyhood Arsenal fan made his debut for the Gunners, starting in goal and playing 68 minutes in their friendly against FC Nürnberg. Debuting for an elite European side is a big deal for Turner, especially as the 2022 World Cup approaches, and USMNT fans are still without answers as to who will wear the No. 1 shirt in Qatar. How exactly did the Matt Turner Arsenal debut go, and what does it mean for the USMNT? 

Luca de la Torre transfer news was announced Thursday night and the 24-year-old is set to make a $2 million transfer to LaLiga club Celta Vigo. Spanish news outlet Marca first reported the American’s move and the club confirmed it on Friday.

The USWNT is cruising right through the Concacaf W Championship. A pair of early Sophia Smith worldies helped the two-time defending world champion smoke Jamaica 5-0 on Thursday in Mexico. The result clinched a spot in the 2023 Women’s World Cup while inching the team closer to a spot in the 2024 Olympics. 

MLS Next Pro — a new third-tier league launched in 2022 that features mostly MLS reserve teams — is looking to change the game, literally. MLS Next Pro is in the middle of its first season and will be testing out two new rules effective immediately. One of the two new MLS Next Pro rules would be a game changer if it spread to the rest of the sport.

New MLS Next Pro Rules

The two new rules are called the Off-field Treatment Rule and the Red Card Suspension Rule. Let’s look at how they work.

Megan Rapinoe became the first soccer player to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Joe Biden bestowing the highest civilian award in the country on the USWNT star on Thursday at the White House. Biden also explained why Rapinoe was given Presidential Medal Of Freedom honors.

Last month, MLS club LAFC completed the signing of Giorgio Chiellini on a free transfer from Juventus. He's the league's second major Italian signing this summer after Lorenzo Insigne joined Toronto FC on a free transfer.