Pelé.
The mere mention of the name conjures grainy, black-and-white footage of a bright-eyed young man announcing his arrival on the world stage in Sweden. Of a triumphant, shirtless star carried off the pitch at the Azteca. Of a smiling veteran bringing the beautiful game to a new audience. Of a septuagenarian snacking on a Subway sandwich with swimming stud Michael Phelps.
Of the greatest footballer to ever walk the earth.
Pelé.
Beginning with opening weekend on Saturday, Feb. 25, the 2023 MLS season is suddenly less than two months away and preseason is right around the corner. We've already had key offseason events like St. Louis City's Expansion Draft and the SuperDraft, but what truly gets the pulse racing is the annual reveal of the latest 2023 MLS jerseys.
As is tradition, every club retains the kit it debuted in 2022 but the 2021 releases are replaced, so each team either gets a new home or away shirt in 2023. Here's everything we know so far about the new threads.
Where is Soccer City, USA? Apparently, it's not Portland, Oregon, which has long laid claim to that title. According to a new study released last month, Los Angeles actually tops the list of best soccer cities in America.
Portland finished third overall in the rankings, just behind their Cascadia rivals to the north, Seattle.
Major League Soccer opens a new season on Feb. 25 looking to ride a wave of interest from the Qatar World Cup as the league's 29th franchise St Louis SC makes its debut.
The first match of the 2023 campaign sees Nashville SC and MLS most valuable player Hany Mukhtar hosting New York City FC followed by the "El Tráfico" derby between MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC and Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl.
FBref.com last week published a map of its most-viewed soccer teams by state in 2022 and the results show the incredibly varied interests across the United States.
Across the 50 states there were teams represented from the English Premier League, MLS, La Liga, USL, NWSL, the EFL Championship, the English fifth-tier National League – and the U.S. national team.
“There were definitely some surprises,” Jonah Gardner, product marketing manager for FBref, told The18 in an email.
An aortic aneurysm caused the death of Grant Wahl, an American sportswriter who collapsed and died last week while covering a World Cup match in Qatar, his widow said on Wednesday.
"Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium," his widow, physician Celine Gounder, wrote in a statement.
An aortic aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website.
Soccer fans have a different circadian rhythm than others. They're up early to see what's going on in Europe, they're in bed late to follow along with MLS and Liga MX, they reach an emotional peak on Wednesday afternoons and frequently block off entire month-long periods in the summer for international festivals of footie. It's a delicate balance, but the 2023 soccer tournaments calendar is packed with both a Women's World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup to look forward to.
Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Alexi Lalas told us this would happen — it's one generation inspiring the next after watching Christian Pulisic deliver and Tyler Adams dominate.
"If Shaq Moore can get 20 minutes in a World Cup, why not me?" is what these kids are asking themselves around the country, and they're heeding Donovan's advice to stop counting the days and to start making the days count.
The Philadelphia Union agreed to transfer homegrown midfielder Paxten Aaronson on Thursday to German side Eintracht Frankfurt of Bundesliga for a multimillion-dollar transfer fee.
The Union will also retain a percentage of any future transfer fees for Aaronson, who will join Frankfurt in January.
Paxten Aaronson has completed his transfer from the Philadelphia Union to Eintracht Frankfurt. The deal is worth $4m + add-ons + a big sell-on%. No loan back.
All Times ET
N/A
FA Women's Super League
Everton vs. Manchester City, 10 a.m. (CBSSN)
Men's International Friendlies
Albania vs. Armenia, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Turkey vs. Czech Republic, noon (ESPN+)
Sweden vs. Algeria, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
FIFA World Cup