Christian Pulisic returns to club duty with AC Milan in a fragile state of mind after a difficult March window with the U.S. national team, and his place in the starting lineup for Monday's match at Napoli is very much in doubt.
The 27-year-old endured another goalless international window, missing several clear-cut chances against both Belgium and Portugal. His body language throughout suggested a player low on confidence, and his frustration boiled over against Portugal when a late challenge and a petulant kick earned him a yellow card. The scoreless streak now stretches to eight consecutive games for the national team, while he also hasn't scored for Milan since late December—a drought spanning 12 club matches.
Reports out of Italy suggest Pulisic could be left on the bench at the Maradona Stadium, with Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri reportedly weighing his options given Pulisic's psychological state upon returning from international duty. The situation is compounded by ongoing injury concerns around winger Rafael Leão, leaving Allegri potentially without his preferred attacking partnership.
Pulisic did score and assist in a previous meeting with Napoli this season, which could factor into Allegri's thinking. But right now, the U.S. star's confidence is clearly his biggest obstacle, and with the World Cup just two months away, the timing couldn't be worse.
Momentum is firmly on Monaco's side heading into Sunday's Mediterranean Derby against Marseille at the Stade Louis-II, with kickoff set for 8:45p local time.
The hosts enter riding a six-game Ligue 1 winning streak, which is the longest active run across Europe's top five leagues, while Marseille arrive having dropped points in each of their last two matches, most recently a 2-1 defeat to Lille.
Much of the spotlight falls on two Americans with World Cup aspirations. Folarin Balogun has been in sensational form for Monaco, scoring in each of his last five league matches. The striker, who featured for the U.S. in the March window, could become just the fourth Monaco player in the 21st century to score in six consecutive top-flight games. His nine Ligue 1 goals this season make him a pivotal figure in Pochettino's World Cup plans.
On the other side, Tim Weah should start at right back for Marseille, who face an uphill battle without suspended winger Mason Greenwood, which is a massive blow given how dependent the club has been on the Englishman's output this season.
Historically, Monaco has been prolific against Marseille, and with Balogun in this kind of form, the hosts will be confident of extending their winning run while further tightening the race for Champions League qualification.
Americans Conclude the March International Window With Another Defeat
The United States closed out its March international window with another dispiriting result, falling 2-0 to Portugal in a friendly at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday—the country's eighth straight loss to European opposition.
Fresh off a 5-2 dismantling by Belgium just three days earlier, Mauricio Pochettino shuffled his lineup with six changes and made the bold call to deploy Christian Pulisic as a central striker, hoping the positional shift might jolt his star forward out of a prolonged scoring drought. It didn't work. Pulisic was subbed off at halftime, extending his scoreless streak to eight consecutive national team appearances. He hasn't found the back of the net for club side AC Milan since late December, either.
Francisco Trincão broke the deadlock before halftime, capitalizing after a midfield turnover that Bruno Fernandes turned into an assist. João Félix, who came on as a substitute, put the game away in the second half with a polished volley from outside the box off a set piece, a goal that underscored how much space the U.S. defense repeatedly surrendered.
It's worth noting that Portugal was missing both Cristiano Ronaldo, sidelined with injury, and Bernardo Silva, who wasn't included in Roberto Martinez's squad for the window. Yet the visitors still had more than enough quality to control large stretches of the match.
Goalkeeper Matthew Freese, starting ahead of Matt Turner, made several sharp saves to prevent the scoreline from getting worse. The result leaves plenty of uncertainty heading into the summer. Pochettino still has two more warm-up matches—against Senegal on May 31 and Germany on June 6—before the World Cup kicks off. The Americans open Group D play on June 12 against Paraguay in Inglewood, with Australia and Türkiye to follow.
On This Day in 2002, Claudio Reyna Gave Sunderland the Breathing Room They Desperately Needed
When Claudio Reyna slipped through the door at Sunderland in December 2001, he did so in a manner entirely fitting for a man who would spend the rest of the season defying expectation. He signed his five-year deal minutes before the midday deadline on December 7, having played for Rangers in a UEFA Cup tie at Paris Saint-Germain the night before. He touched down on Wearside jet-lagged and anonymous, and was starting in the Premier League eight days later.
The early returns were promising. A debut at Southampton was modest, a 20-yard shot saved, a 2–0 defeat, but the following week, in his first home match against Everton, Reyna scored the only goal of the game. The Stadium of Light had a new favorite.
Then winter turned complicated. The goals dried up, the wins dried up, and by the time April arrived, Sunderland had taken just three victories from their previous 14 league matches following that win over Everton. What had looked like a comfortable mid-table season on Boxing Day, when the club sat ninth, had curdled into a survival fight. Manager Peter Reid called the visit of Leicester City on April 1 a must-win match, and he meant it literally. Three points separated Sunderland from the drop zone.
Leicester arrived at the Stadium of Light in worse shape than their hosts, with the Foxes at the bottom of the table, almost certainly doomed, their relegation a question of when rather than if, but they had won their previous match against Blackburn and carried the dangerous looseness of a side with nothing left to lose. Reid was without Patrick Mboma, still nursing the knock he had taken against Arsenal, and Kevin Phillips, Sunderland's top scorer, had only just been passed fit after his own injury scare. Niall Quinn was on hand to deputize upfront if needed.
The tension in the ground was palpable from the first whistle, the kind that settles over a stadium when fans understand the stakes but dare not say them aloud. Reyna, as he had been since December, was everywhere from the start. Three minutes in, he made the anxiety irrelevant, briefly. Finding space 20 yards from goal, he caught a loose ball on his left foot and drove it into the top corner. No buildup, no warning. A goal from nothing.
What followed was maddening. Leicester equalized in the ninth minute through a sequence Sunderland supporters would argue about for weeks. Referee Neale Barry awarded a free kick against Darren Williams for a foul on Paul Dickov, overruling his own assistant, despite replays suggesting Dickov had led with his elbow. Stefan Oakes swung the ball into the box, Matt Elliott powered a header that Thomas Sorensen could only deflect onto the post, and Dickov bundled the rebound over the line. The goal was legitimate by the letter of the law. It didn't feel that way in the stands.
Sunderland's confidence, always fragile that season, wobbled visibly. Reid left his dugout to make his feelings known to his players. The crowd grew restless. But Reyna didn't wobble. In the 17th minute, Muzzy Izzet dragged down Phillips on the edge of the area, and the American stepped up to the free kick from 25 yards. Ian Walker set his wall. Reyna bent the ball up and over it into the top corner. Walker didn't move in the right direction until it was already in the net.
Reyna nearly had a hat-trick before halftime. A 42nd-minute volley from outside the area beat Walker cleanly and rattled the outside of the post. The ground groaned. The second half was survival football of the most nerve-shredding kind. Walker made a brilliant stop to deny Phillips in the 65th minute. Sorensen came up enormous at the other end, twice denying Dickov as Leicester pushed desperately for the equalizer. When the final whistle came, the relief was audible.
Reid's assessment afterward was characteristically unvarnished: "Claudio was outstanding — a calming influence. Apart from his two goals, it was a good job he was on the pitch. I don't think we are safe yet. But that has given us a little breathing space." Leicester manager Dave Bassett, gracious in defeat, put things plainly: "This was a big relief for Sunderland, and I think they will have enough points to stay up."
He was right, barely. The six points of breathing space Reid mentioned would prove to be almost exactly the margin that kept Sunderland up. The final weeks of the season brought defeats at Leeds and Liverpool, a thrashing at West Ham, and a scrappy draw at Charlton. A home draw with Derby on the last day of the season confirmed survival in 17th place. They finished as the Premier League's lowest scorers, with just 29 goals all season.
Reyna ended the campaign having led the United States to a remarkable run at the World Cup that summer—a quarterfinal appearance, a famous win over Portugal, a narrow loss to Germany. He had proven in the toughest weeks of a difficult season that an American could carry a team on his back, on the biggest stages, with the math brutally simple and the margin for error gone.
The two goals against Leicester weren't glamorous. They were necessary. Sometimes that's more important.
On This Day in 2004, Beasley's Goal in Plock Gave the US a Morale Boost, and Arena His First European Win, Ahead of a Crucial Qualifying Campaign
The calendar had turned to 2004, but the United States Men's National Team was still searching for its footing. World Cup qualifying loomed like an approaching storm, with the first leg against Grenada in Columbus set for June 13, and the Americans were running out of time and opponents to sharpen themselves against. Europe was consumed by preparations for its own continental championship that summer, and South America was already deep in its own qualifying cycle, leaving Bruce Arena scrambling to find meaningful matches wherever he could.
What he found instead was a rocky stretch of results that offered little comfort. A 1-1 draw with Denmark in January was followed by a deflating loss to the Netherlands in February. Then, in March, the Americans could only manage another 1-1 tie against Haiti—a result that raised eyebrows and blood pressure in equal measure. Three matches, no wins, and the clock ticking toward a qualifying campaign that would define the program's trajectory toward Germany 2006. Arena acknowledged the situation plainly: finding quality opponents had become genuinely difficult. "A lot of opponents are taken," he said. "To be honest, that hurts us a little bit."
It was against this backdrop that the Americans arrived in Plock, Poland, for a March 31 exhibition—one Arena viewed less as a standalone event and more as a final audition before the curtain rose on what really mattered. With Landon Donovan sidelined by illness, Arena turned to a roster built heavily around his European-based contingent, naming seven of them to the starting eleven. Kansas City's Kerry Zavagnin and Chris Klein, who had stepped in as a late replacement for Donovan, were specifically identified by Arena as players with something to prove. "Any time you put a player on the road in Europe," he said, "it's a real test."
There was history lurking beneath the surface, too. Nine players on the American roster had been part of the squad that suffered a 3-1 group-stage defeat to Poland at the 2002 World Cup, which was the lone blemish on an otherwise magical run to the quarterfinals. Arena was careful to downplay the revenge narrative. "We're not on a revenge thing," he insisted, before adding with a knowing candor, "but the players remember they spanked us at the World Cup." Six of those men had been on the field that day. They didn't need reminding.
One man returning with particular significance was Brad Friedel, back in the starting eleven for the first time since the 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany in 2002. The Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper, who had become something of a folk hero during that World Cup run, where he earned the nickname "The Human Wall" after saving two penalty kicks in regulation play, a feat only one goalkeeper in World Cup history had achieved before him, had been away from the international stage for nearly two years. His presence alone steadied things.
The match itself unfolded in a compact stadium ringed by heavy security, with Polish police having deployed more than 500 officers outside the ground amid terrorism concerns, but inside, it was the Americans who imposed their will. Josh Wolff provided the first real threat in the 15th minute, forcing Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek off his line to smother the chance. Poland had their moments too: Grzegorz Rasiak found himself clean through in the first half after Gregg Berhalter stumbled, but his weak effort curled tamely past the left post.
The decisive moment came in the 26th minute, and it was built on the kind of quick, incisive combination that Arena had been trying to draw out of his midfield all year. Claudio Reyna, the captain Arena would later identify as one of the two most important players on the pitch, found Chicago Fire midfielder DaMarcus Beasley with a flicked pass that cut through the Polish shape. Beasley didn't hesitate, pushing the ball past Dudek without breaking stride. His fifth international goal, and all the Americans would need.
The second half brought chances and near-misses in roughly equal measure. Conor Casey—the 22-year-old forward making a case for a World Cup qualifying roster spot on the strength of 12 goals for Karlsruher SC in Germany's second division—had his foot on Bobby Convey's pass directly in front of goal in the 50th minute, only for a defender to clear it off the line. 14 minutes later, Clint Mathis had a clear look but took too long to bring the ball under control, and the chance evaporated. Friedel, meanwhile, was barely troubled until the 67th minute, when he came out decisively to smother a drive from Jacek Krzynowek. "He made two great saves," Arena said afterward. "It's comforting having a quality goalkeeper out there."
The final whistle confirmed a 1-0 victory, and with it, something that had eluded Arena through six previous attempts and a decade of American futility on European soil. The U.S. had not won on the continent since a 1968 exhibition victory over Austria, a streak that spanned 11 matches. "We've lost some difficult games along the way — like to Holland, Germany, Italy," Arena said. "But we knew we would win one." He allowed himself a rare moment of satisfaction. "It feels good."
The result carried weight beyond the final score. For a team still calibrating its identity after the highs of 2002, the win over a Polish side that had entered on a seven-game winning streak offered a genuine confidence boost. Arena had seen enough to feel encouraged about the qualifying campaign ahead, singling out Reyna and Beasley as the day's standouts. The European-based players had answered the call, and the domestic contingent had held their own.
But the day also quietly closed a chapter. Brad Friedel would announce his retirement from international football the following February, making the clean sheet in Plock the final entry in a distinguished international career that had spanned 12 years, 82 caps, and one World Cup run that a nation would not soon forget. He had started against Canada in 1992, kept out Tony Meola's shadow long enough to earn his place, and ultimately became the steadying force behind the most unexpected American run in the sport's history. He deserved a clean sheet for a send-off.
Ahead lay Grenada, with friendlies against Mexico and Honduras first, then a summer of qualifying matches that would test the squad's depth and resolve. The Americans had proven they could win in Europe. Now came the harder question: could they sustain it where it counted?
The Two Nations Have a Storied History, Including Two World Cup Matches
The United States and Portugal have met just seven times in their history, producing a series full of memorable moments—none more dramatic than their two World Cup encounters.
The early meetings were one-sided affairs. Portugal won the first matchup 1-0 in Setúbal in September 1978, and followed that with a 1-0 victory in Oporto in December 1990. A 1-1 draw in Lisbon in 1980, with Ricky Davis getting the American goal, was sandwiched between those defeats. The U.S. finally broke through on June 3, 1992, when Roy Wegerle's lone strike secured a 1-0 victory at Soldier Field in Chicago in the U.S. Cup, which was the Americans' first-ever win over Portugal.
The most celebrated chapter came at the 2002 World Cup in Suwon, South Korea. John O'Brien opened the scoring in just the fourth minute, Landon Donovan's cross deflected in off Jorge Costa for the second, and Brian McBride's diving header from a Tony Sanneh cross made it 3-0 at halftime. Portugal rallied with two goals, one from Beto and an unfortunate Jeff Agoos own goal, but the U.S. held on for a stunning 3-2 victory, one of the greatest results in program history.
Twelve years later, in the Amazon heat of Manaus, the two sides produced another thriller. Nani struck early, Jermaine Jones equalized with a thunderbolt from distance, and Clint Dempsey put the U.S. ahead in the 81st minute—only for Cristiano Ronaldo to cross for Silvestre Varela to head home in stoppage time, forcing a gut-wrenching 2-2 draw in the 2014 World Cup group stage.
The most recent meeting was in November 2017, a 1-1 friendly notable for several American debuts, including a young Weston McKennie, who opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Tuesday marks just the eighth chapter of this rivalry.
Coming Off a Draw With Mexico, Portugal Provides Another Stern Test for the Americans
After Saturday's 5-2 humiliation against Belgium, the United States has precious little time to lick its wounds. Tuesday brings Portugal to Mercedes-Benz Stadium—a side ranked fifth in the world and among the favorites to go deep in this summer's tournament.
The good news for the Americans is that Portugal arrives in Atlanta without their all-time leading scorer. Cristiano Ronaldo is sidelined with a hamstring injury he suffered while playing for Al-Nassr in February, leaving Roberto Martínez's side to rely on Paris Saint-Germain striker Gonçalo Ramos as their primary attacking threat up front. The squad is still laden with talent, however, with Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, João Neves and Pedro Neto among those expected to feature.
Portugal's most recent outing, a 0-0 draw against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on Saturday, offered the U.S. some encouragement, though perhaps not as much as the scoreline suggests. The Portuguese created a handful of clear opportunities: Ramos curled a shot onto the outside of the post in the first half, João Félix threatened early with a half-volley that looped just wide, and João Cancelo headed off target in a promising late position. Martínez's side looked sharp in spells but ultimately could not find a way through a disciplined Mexican defensive structure.
Still, a team that drew with Mexico should not inspire false confidence in a U.S. side that just conceded five goals to a Belgian squad missing both Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois. The Americans will hope to give their anxious fanbase something to feel better about on Tuesday, and with Chris Richards potentially returning from a knee injury to shore up a leaky backline, Mauricio Pochettino's side will need every available boost they can get.
Midfielder Scores First National Team Goal Since 2023 in Belgium Defeat
Saturday was a tale of two halves for Weston McKennie—a moment of redemption quickly swallowed by a tide of Belgian dominance.
The Juventus midfielder provided the afternoon's brightest moment for the home side, netting his 12th international goal in the 39th minute to put the U.S. ahead. The finish was characteristically opportunistic: Johnny Cardoso set a pick to free McKennie, who darted in front of Nicolas Raskin and volleyed Antonee Robinson's corner kick past keeper Senne Lammens. It was his first international goal in three years, and the roaring crowd of 66,867 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium responded accordingly.
It was, in many ways, McKennie doing exactly what he does best. At Juventus this season, which has been one of the finest of his club career, he has registered eight goals and five assists in all competitions, operating as a box-to-box force who can arrive late into dangerous areas and make things happen. Saturday's finish was a snapshot of that ability.
But the goal proved to be the high-water mark of his afternoon. McKennie was substituted off in the 70th minute, having completed just 55 percent of his passes, won none of his ground duels and contributed nothing defensively. The stat sheet told a story of a player who flickered without ever truly imposing himself on the contest.
Still, McKennie was measured in his post-match assessment, declining to sound the alarm. "I don't think it's a worrisome result for us, because within the team, we know we can do better," he said. "We know what went wrong, and we also know and believe fully that we can play with a team of this caliber."
Whether McKennie can translate his elite club form into consistent national team performances remains one of the most pressing questions facing the U.S. this summer.
Despite Making a Few Saves, the Goalkeeper Couldn't Slow Down the Belgian Attack
Matt Turner's return to the United States starting lineup on Saturday was one of the most closely watched storylines heading into the Belgium friendly, and it did not go the way anyone had hoped.
Turner, 31, made his first national team appearance since a 4-0 loss to Switzerland last June, ending Matt Freese's run of 12 consecutive starts. Coach Mauricio Pochettino framed the decision as prudent planning. "For the World Cup, circumstances can happen," he said, suggesting the move was more about evaluating a backup option than signaling a change at the top of the depth chart.
To his credit, Turner had moments of genuine quality. He finished with five saves and kept the U.S. competitive during a difficult first half against a dangerous Belgian attack. "I felt like I did have some really good moments," Turner said afterward. "I just wish I could have one or two of them back because I don't think the scoreline really reflected the balance or flow of the game."
Still, five goals went in, and the optics were brutal. Analyst Alexi Lalas was blunt in his assessment, saying Turner "didn't do anything to get the job back or to change anyone's mind," adding that being associated with conceding five goals carries consequences regardless of context.
The situation was complicated further by the shaky defensive setup Turner was working behind. With center backs Chris Richards and Miles Robinson both sidelined by injury, he faced Belgium's attack with a makeshift backline—hardly an ideal test environment.
Turner acknowledged the difficulty with characteristic resilience. "I'm just going to continue to claw and dig," he said, "and nobody does that better than me." Freese is expected to reclaim the starting spot against Portugal on Tuesday.
The United States men's national team suffered a sobering 5-2 defeat to Belgium on Saturday in Atlanta, a result that raised serious questions about American readiness just 76 days before their World Cup opener.
Weston McKennie gave the hosts a dream start, netting his 12th international goal in the 39th minute by volleying Antonee Robinson's corner kick past keeper Senne Lammens. It was his first international strike in three years. The lead proved short-lived. Defender Zeno Debast equalized just before halftime with a stunning long-range effort, and Belgium never looked back.
The second half turned into a nightmare. Amadou Onana put the Red Devils ahead in the 53rd minute, and Charles De Ketelaere converted a penalty in the 59th after U.S. captain Tim Ream was whistled for a handball. Substitute Dodi Lukebakio then twisted the knife, scoring twice in 14 minutes from distance to make it 5-1 before Patrick Agyemang pulled one back late for the Americans.
Matt Turner, making his first appearance since last summer, endured a rough return between the posts. The defense as a whole crumbled repeatedly under Belgian pressure, and Christian Pulisic, the face of the U.S. program, squandered three clear chances to change the game's complexion.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino tried to keep perspective afterward. "Of course, 5-2 is always difficult to accept. It's painful," he said, adding that feeling that pain might ultimately be valuable.
The result snapped a five-game American unbeaten streak and extended Belgium's winning run against the U.S. to six straight. The last American victory over the Red Devils came at the very first World Cup in 1930. Tuesday brings another stiff test: fifth-ranked Portugal at the same venue.
On This Day in 1985, the North American Soccer League Suspends Operations, Closing the Book on American Soccer's Most Ambitious Experiment
On March 28, 1985, acting commissioner Clive Toye stood before reporters in New York and announced what anyone paying attention already knew: the North American Soccer League was suspending operations, effective immediately. With only the Minnesota Strikers and the Toronto Blizzard remaining from what had once been a 24-team league, and with neither willing to play a season alone, there was nothing left to save. "We simply ran out of time," Toye said, in the kind of understatement that only makes sense when the full weight of the preceding decade is considered. The league that had introduced Pelé to American stadiums, filled Giants Stadium past 70,000 and dared to imagine soccer as the next great American sport had quietly hemorrhaged franchises, money and credibility until there was almost nothing left to bury.
The NASL had never been a modest enterprise. Born in 1968 from the merger of two rival leagues that had simultaneously overestimated American soccer appetite and underestimated the cost of feeding it, the league spent its first years teetering on the edge of extinction. Attendance cratered to under 3,000 per game in 1969. Five of the original teams folded after a single season. The league's offices relocated to a stadium basement in Atlanta. It was, by any measure, a failure—until it wasn't.
What saved the NASL in the early 1970s was a combination of modest ambition and genuine grassroots momentum, culminating in a 1973 Sports Illustrated cover declaring "Soccer Goes American" after the Philadelphia Atoms won the championship in their inaugural season. Attendance grew steadily. West Coast expansion brought the sport to new markets. And then, in the summer of 1975, the New York Cosmos signed Pelé, and everything changed at once. 10 million viewers tuned in to watch his debut. Home attendance at Cosmos matches tripled. CBS came back. ABC signed on. By the late 1970s, the Cosmos were drawing 40,000 fans per match at their peak, sharing the field with Franz Beckenbauer, and selling out Giants Stadium for the 1978 Soccer Bowl. Johan Cruyff followed Pelé to Los Angeles, doubling that team's attendance in a single season. The Minnesota Kicks averaged over 23,000 fans across four straight division-winning campaigns. For a brief, electric moment, it looked like American soccer had genuinely arrived.
But the boom years contained the seeds of what would become an almost textbook collapse. Chasing the Cosmos became the league's defining pathology. Franchises spent recklessly on aging foreign stars, accumulating payrolls that consumed over 70 percent of team budgets while average attendance never cracked 15,000 across the full league. An ownership committee had warned as early as 1977 that the league needed to slow expansion and shore up existing franchises—advice that was promptly ignored as six new teams paid $3 million each to join for the 1978 season, ballooning the league to 24 teams. Many of those new owners had no particular soccer expertise and even less patience for losses. When the broader American economy turned sharply downward in the early 1980s, unemployment reached its highest point since World War II in 1982, and the financial scaffolding holding up the league gave way almost entirely. The league ran a collective deficit of roughly $30 million in 1980. Every team lost money. And then they did it again in 1981.
The MISL's emergence as a viable indoor alternative accelerated the death spiral, pulling franchises, fans and players away from the outdoor game while also forcing the NASL into a costly indoor competition of its own. By the time the 1984 outdoor season tipped off with nine teams, the Cosmos—the organization that had once defined glamour in American sports—were scrambling to sell their best player, Roberto Cabanas, to a Colombian club just to cover basic operating costs. The league ejected the Cosmos two weeks before the suspension announcement for failing to post a required letter of credit. When the organization that had once signed Pelé couldn't meet a basic financial threshold to play, the end was no longer a question of if.
For the players who had built careers in the league, the announcement carried a particular grief. "You think about all the happy years and all the places you've played," said Strikers midfielder Ray Hudson, a seven-year NASL veteran. "Now it's just evaporated right in front of you." Teammate Alan Willey, who had come over from England in 1976, acknowledged the inevitable logic while still feeling the loss: "I would have liked to have kept playing because you don't know what it's going to be like if they start up again (in 1986). It would have been worse if crowds were still good. But you could tell what was going to happen the way it was going the last few years. What makes it easier to take is that we're in the MISL now. The team is playing well. So I don't think anybody is thinking about the NASL right now."
Toye held out cautious optimism for a restructured league in 1986, and he wasn't alone—Strikers general manager Tim Robbie spoke of using the dormant summer to rebuild public awareness and scout new cities, noting that markets like San Jose, Seattle, and Calgary had already expressed interest. But that optimism proved hollow. The NASL never returned. What it left behind was a complicated legacy: a league that had genuinely popularized soccer among American youth, introduced the game to cities that would eventually sustain MLS franchises, and proven, through both its heights and its collapse, exactly what American professional soccer could and could not sustain.
For a generation of players, that pragmatic pivot to indoor soccer was the only lifeline available. For American soccer itself, the NASL's failure would become the cautionary tale that shaped everything that followed—MLS's salary caps, its single-entity structure, its deliberately conservative growth—a sport that had finally learned that building something durable required patience the NASL never had.
Both Center Backs to Miss the Belgium Match, Causing Some Lineup Issues
The USMNT heads into Saturday's friendly against Belgium at Mercedes-Benz Stadium already undermanned at center back, with both Chris Richards and Miles Robinson ruled out of the contest due to injury.
Robinson, the FC Cincinnati defender, suffered a groin injury during training earlier this week and has been ruled out of both the Belgium match and Tuesday's follow-up friendly against Portugal. The 29-year-old is in the mix for a starting spot at right center back in Mauricio Pochettino's three-back system—a position that carries enormous importance with the World Cup roster announcement on the horizon.
Richards' situation is somewhat more complicated. The Crystal Palace defender played 75 minutes in his club's Europa Conference League match in Larnaca on March 19, but began experiencing knee discomfort after reporting to camp. He was able to participate in portions of training earlier this week before being unable to finish a session on Wednesday. Pochettino confirmed Richards is out for Saturday and expressed doubt he would be available for Tuesday's Portugal match either.
"We hope that it is nothing important," Pochettino said of Richards, "but for tomorrow he is out, and I don't believe that he can arrive Tuesday."
The absences put significant pressure on the remaining center back options. Tim Ream, who has served as captain for much of the past year, is expected to slot in at left center back, with Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty the most natural partners. Pochettino also floated Joe Scally and Tanner Tessmann—neither a conventional center back—as possible options on the right side of the backline.
Pochettino acknowledged the disruption, but framed it as valuable preparation for the unexpected challenges a World Cup run can bring.
Manager is Ready For the Final International Break Before the World Cup
With fewer than 100 days until the World Cup kicks off, Mauricio Pochettino is using this March window as both a final audition and a moment to reinforce the identity he has been building since taking over in September 2024.
The Argentine drew inspiration ahead of camp—the 2004 Disney film Miracle, based on the 1980 U.S. hockey team's stunning run to Olympic gold. Pochettino admitted he was moved to tears watching it, and the parallels he drew to his own group were clear when he addressed his players in training this week.
"Why not us?" he asked his squad, in words that echoed the film's famous pre-game speech. "If I don’t believe in you, it’s difficult, and if we don’t believe in you, it’s difficult to compete. Why not us?"
That rallying cry sits at the center of Pochettino's philosophy. The USMNT enters the Belgium match riding a five-game unbeaten streak against World Cup-bound opponents, and while oddsmakers give the U.S. long odds for tournament glory, Pochettino believes home advantage and the emotional charge of playing on American soil can be equalizers.
Off the field, his methods have been equally deliberate. Players describe a coach who is simultaneously demanding and deeply personal — one who pushes hard in training but also takes time to learn about players' families and lives away from the game. The word that keeps surfacing among the squad is "family."
"He's wanting to have personal conversations," veteran Tim Ream said. "He's wanting to know about your family. He's wanting to understand and know everybody on a much deeper connected level."
Crucially, Pochettino has stressed that this World Cup roster will be built around the right 26 players—not simply the best 26—prioritizing chemistry, coachability and character alongside raw ability.
Playmaker Given Another Chance Despite Club Struggles
Few selections on Mauricio Pochettino's roster for this window raised more eyebrows than Giovanni Reyna's, and the 23-year-old was candid enough to acknowledge it himself.
Reyna has managed just 26 minutes of playing time for Borussia Mönchengladbach in all of 2026, failing to appear in eight consecutive league matches—first due to a muscle injury picked up in late January, then as an unused substitute in the games that followed. It is a difficult club situation that stands in stark contrast to Pochettino's typical preference for players who regularly feature at the club level.
Yet Pochettino made an exception, and Reyna was quick to express his gratitude. "I guess you could say it was sort of one of his more difficult decisions, or I guess controversial decisions to maybe bring me in," Reyna said. "I can't appreciate it enough. Love this team, love this staff, love this group of people. So just always honored to be here."
The faith isn't entirely blind. Reyna was one of the standout performers during November's international window, scoring the opener in a victory over Paraguay before adding an assist off the bench in a dominant win over Uruguay. That kind of impact in a national team shirt has clearly left an impression on Pochettino, who called Reyna a "very special player" and suggested his quality could prove useful even without consistent club minutes.
Christian Pulisic echoed that confidence. "He looks good in training," Pulisic said. "Off what he's done for this team and in big moments, he deserves to be here."
Reyna himself remains undaunted. "So if the chance comes up in the next two games, I have confidence in myself and the team that I can do some good things and make good impact," he said.
Saturday's opponent brings a rich footballing tradition to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, even if Belgium's famed golden generation has given way to a transitional squad still finding its identity under first-year manager Rudi Garcia.
Garcia, who took charge in January 2025 after previous club stints at Lille, Roma, Marseille, Lyon and Napoli, has his work cut out for him in assembling a cohesive unit ahead of this summer's World Cup. Belgium qualified comfortably from their group but arrived in Atlanta facing a notable injury crisis. All-time leading scorer Romelu Lukaku, who has an extraordinary 89 goals in 124 international appearances, is sidelined with a thigh injury, a significant blow to a side that has long relied on him as its focal point up front. Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken and Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard are also absent due to physical issues, leaving the squad notably lighter than originally planned.
Even so, the talent on hand remains formidable. Kevin De Bruyne, returning to the squad after his own injury absence, anchors a midfield that also features Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and Nicolas Raskin. That is a group capable of controlling any game at the international level.
Up front, Garcia has no shortage of options to replace Lukaku. Jeremy Doku, Charles De Ketelaere, Alexis Saelemaekers and Lois Openda all offer pace, creativity and goal threat. De Ketelaere has been a consistent presence leading Belgium's attack and figures to do so again here.
In goal, Nottingham Forest's Matz Sels is the likely starter with first-choice keeper Thibaut Courtois not in the squad. Belgium's World Cup group, which features Egypt, Iran and New Zealand, is navigable, but Garcia will want answers from these two North American friendlies before June arrives.
History Favors Belgium, But the USMNT Knows How to Make It Memorable
The all-time series between the United States and Belgium is lopsided, with the Americans holding a 1-5-0 (WDL) record against the Red Devils. But what the history lacks in American victories, it more than makes up for in dramatic moments, including one of the most memorable individual performances in World Cup history.
The lone U.S. win came in the most significant setting imaginable: the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. On July 13 of that year, Bart McGhee, Tom Florie and Bert Patenaude each found the net as the Americans cruised to a 3-0 victory—the first World Cup match in the history of both nations.
What followed was a run of five consecutive defeats spanning two decades, beginning with a 1-0 friendly loss in April 1995. Belgium won again in February 1998, 2-0, courtesy of a brace from Nico Van Kerckhoven, then claimed another 1-0 friendly result in September 2011. The only previous meeting on American soil took place in Cleveland in May 2013, when Belgium prevailed 4-2, with Clint Dempsey and Geoff Cameron netting for the U.S.
The series's most storied chapter arrived on July 1, 2014, in the Round of 16 in Brazil. The match went scoreless through 90 minutes before Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku struck in extra time to put Belgium up 2-0. Julian Green pulled one back for the U.S., but it wasn't enough, and Belgium advanced 2-1.
The enduring image from that afternoon was goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made a World Cup-record 15 saves and earned the unofficial title "Secretary of Defense" from an adoring internet. Saturday offers the U.S. a chance to rewrite a bit of that history on home soil.
On This Day in 1995, U.S. Lets Two-Goal Lead Slip Against Uruguay in Dallas
The summer of 1994 had been a triumph. The United States had hosted the World Cup, advanced to the second round, and introduced soccer to millions of new American fans. But the months that followed were a reminder that success is fleeting.
The post-tournament friendly schedule had been sobering—a 2-0 loss to England in September, a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in October, a 1-0 setback at Trinidad and Tobago in November, before a 3-0 win over Jamaica provided some relief and a 1-1 draw with Honduras closed out the year. Four games, one win, and mounting questions about where this team was headed.
Those questions had grown louder by March 25, 1995, when the U.S. arrived in Dallas for a friendly against Uruguay at the Cotton Bowl. Coach Bora Milutinovic, whose contract had expired three months earlier, had yet to sign a new deal with U.S. Soccer. Rumors linked him to the Colombian national team, while former Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz was reportedly due in the country in late April to discuss a possible role with the federation.
The roster reflected a program in genuine transition. Tony Meola had retired, for now, to pursue an acting career on Broadway. Fernando Clavijo had hung up his boots to coach indoor soccer in Seattle. Eric Wynalda was sidelined with a broken ankle. Three key veterans from the World Cup run we gone.
What remained was a mix of proven names and promising youth. Alexi Lalas, the first American to play in Italy's Serie A, was back. Cobi Jones, now at Coventry City in England, was in the lineup. So was Earnie Stewart, whose winning goal against Colombia had been one of the defining moments of the American World Cup. Among the younger players was 19-year-old Jovan Kirovski, who had scored in each of the U.S. team's final two matches of 1994 while netting 15 goals in 30 reserve games for Manchester United.
Several key midfielders were unavailable—John Harkes, Tab Ramos, and Thomas Dooley all absent, along with forward Roy Wegerle. Milutinovic was using the occasion to assess his options ahead of a consequential summer featuring the U.S. Cup in June and Copa America in July. Uruguay arrived without their own stars. Daniel Fonseca, Ruben Sosa and the elegant Enzo Francescoli all occupied with club commitments, but remained a legitimate top-25 ranked side known for physical, quick-passing soccer.
"With success comes added pressure," Lalas said. "We can't rest on our laurels. We had some success this summer and now we want to keep going."
From the opening whistle, the Americans played with an energy that briefly silenced the doubters. In the eighth minute, Jeff Agoos launched a long ball forward, Jones ran onto it with pace and centered it across goal, and John Kerr arrived to slam a shot from 25 feet into the net. It was Kerr's second international goal and his first appearance in a U.S. shirt since June 1988, a gap of 147 games that set a national team record for the longest stretch between caps.
The Americans continued to dominate, with Uruguay collecting four yellow cards in the first 70 minutes as Jones pulled the strings in midfield. The second goal came in the 67th minute when Jones delivered a left-footed cross and Stewart met it crisply—two-nil, and the United States looked fully in control.
"Considering how many new guys we had on the field, I thought we played well," Lalas said at halftime, his trademark candor on full display during an ESPN interview in which he compared his unlikely journey to Serie A with buying a questionable pair of shoes at K-Mart.
With 15 minutes remaining, Uruguay began to find their footing. In the 75th minute, Omar Otero flicked a shot that slipped through the legs of goalkeeper Juergen Sommer. American players erupted in protest, insisting Otero had been offside. Stewart was blunt: "That was a joke. The linesman was blind."
Eight minutes later, a loose ball bobbled free in the American area, and Sommer fumbled it directly to Uruguay captain Gustavo Poyet, who slid the rebound into the open side of the net. Two-two, and then the sky itself intervened. Driving rain and 40 mph winds ripped through the Cotton Bowl, blowing advertising boards onto the field and sending the crowd of 12,242 scrambling for cover. Referee Antonio Marrufo halted play with seven minutes remaining and, after a ten-minute delay, abandoned the match entirely—the first time on record a U.S. national team game had been cut short by weather.
"It was really wet and the ball got away from me," Sommer said. "I should have held on."
Uruguay coach Hector Nunes made no secret of his frustration. "When the storm came in we were rolling. If play had continued, I thought we had a good chance to win."
For Milutinovic, whose animated presence on the touchline suggested a man still very much invested in his job, the evening offered genuine encouragement alongside the late disappointment. His team had controlled the game for 70 minutes, blooded valuable young players, and shown real technical quality. Four starters had fewer than five international caps.
"We're in a different situation than other countries," Milutinovic said. "When some of these guys get more experience over the summer, there will be better results."
The goalkeeping question remained open, with Sommer's errors offset by several excellent saves and Brad Friedel, Meola's backup at the World Cup, now at Danish club Brondby, waiting in the wings. With Belgium next on April 22 in Brussels, followed by the U.S. Cup and Copa America, the summer would provide sharper answers. The 1994 World Cup had given American soccer something to build on. As the storm-swept Cotton Bowl had reminded everyone, the work of building it was just beginning.
On This Day in 2021, the Defender's Strike From Distance Sets the Tone in Friendly Win Over Jamaica
The last time the United States Men's National Team had played a full senior international with the first-team players, it was November 2020—a pair of matches in Austria that had snapped a long pandemic-enforced silence with a goalless draw against Wales and a 6-2 dismantling of Panama. Four months later, Gregg Berhalter's squad returned to the same Austrian city with a roster that carried the weight of genuine expectation.
Christian Pulisic, the face of American soccer's new generation, was back in camp for the first time in 526 days after a difficult stretch at Chelsea under new manager Thomas Tuchel. Alongside him was Sergiño Dest, the Barcelona fullback who had just scored twice in a La Liga rout days earlier. And Yunus Musah, the 18-year-old Valencia midfielder, was making his first appearance since permanently committing to the United States over England earlier in the month. The talent was undeniable. Whether it could click together after four months apart was the open question.
"The chemistry is good right now, off the field and on the field," Dest said. "But if you play more often, it's only going to get better."
Jamaica arrived as a team with their own complications—missing several regulars due to a financial dispute with the Jamaican Football Federation that had lingered since 2018 World Cup qualifying. But Berhalter wasn't interested in scheduling gifts. With a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Honduras looming in June and eight World Cup qualifiers on the fall schedule, every minute in Austria was preparation for something bigger.
Against a disciplined Jamaican defensive block on March 25, the Americans spent much of the opening half circling for an opening. Pulisic and Dest found pockets of chemistry on the left side, and Gio Reyna came close to breaking through early when he found Josh Sargent near goal, only to see the effort deflected wide.
The breakthrough came from an unexpected source, and in spectacular fashion. In the 34th minute, Dest collected the ball near the midfield stripe from Musah and drove forward with purpose. He cut inside off the left flank, created space with a sharp touch to his right, and from 28 yards out, lashed a curling right-footed shot that sailed past a diving Jeaden White and into the corner of the net. His first international goal, coming days after his brace for Barcelona, announced his arrival as a genuine attacking weapon for the national team.
Berhalter brought Brenden Aaronson on for Pulisic at the break, and the Red Bull Salzburg forward wasted little time making his mark. Just past the hour, Sargent drove into the penalty area, turned his marker, and rolled a low cross to Aaronson arriving at the near post. The finish was clinical and it was his second goal in as many matches.
"Sergiño's sick, he's so good," Aaronson said afterward, characteristically deflecting credit.
Jamaica pulled one back in the 70th minute when Jamal Lowe caught the American defense on a counterattack and chipped a soft shot over Zack Steffen—a moment of genuine danger that briefly tightened the scoreline. But Sebastian Lletget had the final word. The LA Galaxy midfielder, a model of quiet consistency through three different coaching regimes, put away a one-timer from the top of the area in the 83rd minute and added a second in stoppage time to seal a 4-1 final.
It was Lletget's first international brace, and his fourth goal in the previous four matches.
"I'm pretty low key," he said of playing alongside the sport's rising American stars. "I hope they keep getting in the limelight — they deserve it."
For Berhalter, it was a promising but incomplete performance. The victory extended the Americans' unbeaten run to eight matches, with seven wins and a draw over that stretch, outscoring opponents 23-3 across four straight friendly victories, which also included a 7-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago during the January MLS camp.
Four days later in Belfast, the Americans completed a successful international window with a 2-1 victory over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park. It was the United States' first win on European soil since a comeback victory at Germany in June 2015.
Berhalter kept faith in Pulisic, starting him alongside Reyna for the second consecutive match. It was a decision that paid dividends. Reyna broke the deadlock just before the half hour when his shot from the top of the area took a wicked deflection and wrong-footed Northern Ireland keeper Conor Hazard. Steffen did his part before halftime, getting down sharply to deny a stinging drive from Shayne Lavery and preserve the lead at the break.
Pulisic put the result beyond doubt shortly after the hour, drawing a penalty when Danny Ballard tripped him across the area, then stepping up to convert it himself. The goal—his first since returning from injury—felt like a statement of intent after a difficult stretch at club level.
Northern Ireland pulled a late consolation back through Niall McGinn, who crashed home a volley over Steffen to deny the keeper a clean sheet, but it wasn't enough to disturb the final result.
Bryan Reynolds earned his senior debut off the bench, and Musah, playing his fourth match, became officially cap-tied to the United States, closing the door permanently on his eligibility for England.
“We think it’s important for us to continue to challenge this group,” Berhalter said. “It was a good opportunity to do so tonight.
With Switzerland next in May, followed by the Nations League semifinal against Honduras in June, and World Cup qualifying set to open in September, the direction of travel was clear. This group was building toward something. In Austria and Belfast, they had taken another confident step forward.
Striker Scores in His Fifth Straight League Match in Victory Over Lyon
Folarin Balogun continues to cement himself as one of Ligue 1's most dangerous forwards, and Sunday's victory over Lyon was another statement performance from the 24-year-old American.
With Monaco trailing at half-time, it was Balogun who delivered when it mattered most. After Maghnes Akliouche drew the sides level and won a clear penalty, Balogun stepped up with composure and slotted home to make it 2-1—his ninth Ligue 1 goal of the season and 15th across all competitions. Manager Sébastien Pocognoli had praised Balogun's work in the build-up play throughout the contest, and his clinical finishing ultimately proved the difference at the Groupama Stadium.
The goal extended an impressive scoring streak of five consecutive Ligue 1 matches, with standout contributions against top sides such as PSG and Lens. Add five Champions League goals to his Ligue 1 tally, and the picture of a striker hitting peak form becomes impossible to ignore.
With the 2026 World Cup on home soil fast approaching, those numbers are drawing serious attention. Competing for the USMNT starting spot alongside Ricardo Pepi, Balogun's current trajectory gives him a compelling case to lead Mauricio Pochettino's attack and he shows no signs of slowing down.
Midfielder Finishes Off Splendid Cross in Draw With Heidenheim
Malik Tillman heads into the international break with a timely confidence boost after getting on the scoresheet for Bayer Leverkusen in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Heidenheim on Saturday.
The 23-year-old American midfielder broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute, finding space at the back post to slot home first-time from Aleix García's cross from the right. It was a composed, well-timed finish and a welcome one, ending a nearly two-month scoring drought for Tillman since his goal against Eintracht Frankfurt back in January.
The strike was his fifth in his debut Bundesliga season, adding to two more in the Champions League, and it came with a 76% pass accuracy across his 82 minutes on the pitch. Despite his contribution, Leverkusen ultimately had to settle for a point after Heidenheim twice fought back from behind to deny Kasper Hjulmand's side three points they desperately needed.
That dropped point stings for Leverkusen, who remain sixth in the Bundesliga and now sit four points behind third-place RB Leipzig with Champions League qualification hanging in the balance. For Tillman personally, though, the timing couldn't be better. He now joins the USMNT riding a wave of form ahead of what promises to be a pivotal stretch for the program, with a home World Cup on the horizon.
Winger Breaks Cold Streak With an Assist Before the International Break
Christian Pulisic was at the heart of Milan's victory once again on Saturday, picking up another assist as the Rossoneri edged Torino 3-2 at San Siro to keep the pressure on league leaders Inter.
The American winger's contribution came nine minutes into the second half. Receiving a clever pass from Luka Modrić inside the box, Pulisic showed sharp awareness to square the ball across goal for Adrien Rabiot, who tapped home at the back post to restore Milan's advantage.
It was another understated but vital moment from the 26-year-old, whose influence on this Milan side continues to be reflected in the numbers. Since arriving at the club in 2023, Pulisic has tallied 31 goals and 20 assists in Serie A, making him the only player in the division to reach both thresholds across that period.
With eight games remaining and Milan sitting five points behind Inter, every contribution counts, and Pulisic keeps delivering them. Heading into the international break, he joins Malik Tillman and Folarin Balogun as USMNT players arriving in top form at a pivotal moment for Mauricio Pochettino's squad.
U.S. Soccer and Nike have pulled back the curtain on the kits the USMNT will wear when the FIFA World Cup comes to American soil this summer, and unlike the widely panned designs from Qatar in 2022, these ones have players genuinely excited.
The two jerseys draw directly from the stars and stripes of the American flag. The "Stripes" kit features bold red-and-white horizontal stripes that call back to the beloved "Waldo" jersey worn from 2012 to 2014, a design that players had specifically requested during the collaborative process. The "Stars" kit takes a subtler approach—a rich navy blue shirt with barely visible black stars that only reveal themselves in certain light. Attacker Folarin Balogun, who named it his personal favorite, praised its hidden detail and understated elegance.
The design process was notably player-driven, a direct response to the backlash that followed the 2022 unveiling. Nike held multiple workshops and listening sessions with squad members, consulting them on everything from aesthetic preferences to technical details like fabric weight and seam placement. The jerseys also feature a newly designed "Stars and Stripes" font for names and numbers, along with an "Inner Pride" mark inside the collar representing each player's personal motivation.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of this kit cycle is its scope: for the first time in U.S. Soccer history, all 27 national teams, including the four-time World Cup champion women's side, will wear the same two designs, creating a unified identity across the entire federation.
Fans will get their first look at the kits in action when the USMNT faces Belgium on March 28 in Atlanta, followed by a clash with Portugal days later. The team's World Cup campaign then kicks off June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Midfielder Stakes World Cup Claim With Stunning First-Half Display
Sebastian Berhalter produced a Man of the Match performance as Vancouver Whitecaps thrashed Minnesota United 6-0 on Sunday at BC Place, making MLS history in the process. The 24-year-old American midfielder capped a remarkable first half with a goal and two assists inside 45 minutes, putting in the kind of display that demands the attention of USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino ahead of this summer's World Cup.
Berhalter opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute before turning provider twice before the break, helping Vancouver establish an emphatic 4-0 halftime lead. The Whitecaps' victory, which was their fourth straight to open the season, made them the first team in MLS history to start consecutive seasons with a 4-0-0 (WDL) record and a plus-13 goal differential. It was a stunning response to their 3-0 midweek defeat against Seattle Sounders in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
"It doesn't mean we're a bad team losing one game," Berhalter said. "For us, it was just about doing what we do and sticking to our principles."
His underlying numbers backed up the eye test. Across 65 minutes, he completed 32-of-40 passes, drove seven balls into the final third, created two chances, including one big chance, and made six defensive contributions—a reflection of the two-way engine he provides from the base of midfield. Vancouver manager Jesper Sørensen has been unstinting in his praise, noting that Berhalter is the only player to have started every game this season and describing him as the fulcrum around which the team's style is built.
With Pochettino's USMNT squad announcement for the March friendlies imminent, Berhalter is doing everything possible to make himself impossible to ignore.
Striker Continues Stunning Run of Form as Monaco Beat Brest
Folarin Balogun is in the form of his life. The American striker scored for the sixth time in six games in all competitions as AS Monaco cruised to a 2-0 victory over Brest at the Stade Louis-II on Saturday evening, extending the Principality club's unbeaten league run to eight matches.
The 24-year-old's recent run has been nothing short of remarkable. It began with a brace against PSG in the Champions League in February, followed by league goals against Lens and Angers before he scored and assisted in Monaco's stunning 3-0 win at the Parc des Princes against the reigning European champions earlier this month. Saturday's effort made it six goals in six games across all competitions—a streak that has transformed Monaco's season.
Against Brest, Balogun struck in the 19th minute to break the deadlock. After Lamine Camara intercepted a Brest pass and played him in, the forward finished coolly into the corner to give Monaco the lead. It was his eighth Ligue 1 goal of the season and fourth in consecutive league appearances after not scoring in Ligue 1 since early November.
The underlying numbers tell a mixed story. He registered eight touches inside the opposition area, but he also missed two big chances and managed only a 17% dribble success rate. Nevertheless, when the moment counted, he delivered. Monaco manager Sébastien Pocognoli was full of admiration, describing Balogun as a player reaping the rewards of his dedication and professionalism, and noting how much he has to play for between now and the summer — a pointed reference to World Cup ambitions.
With Lyon and Marseille on the horizon, Monaco's European push is gathering real momentum. And Balogun, in this kind of form, looks central to everything they're building.
Midfielder Picks Up New Injury Scare as Elite Clubs Circle
Tyler Adams' injury troubles are far from over. The Bournemouth and USMNT midfielder was a surprise absentee from the Cherries' matchday squad for Saturday's 0-0 draw at Burnley, having picked something up in training the previous day. Reports suggest the issue is purely precautionary and nothing serious, but the timing is far from ideal given that the 27-year-old returned to action so recently.
Adams had only just recovered from an MCL sprain sustained back in mid-December—a lay-off that kept him sidelined for two months. He had started three consecutive games upon his return, including the full 90 minutes in Bournemouth's previous outing against Brentford on March 3. Manager Andoni Iraola had said on the eve of the Burnley trip that there were no fresh injury concerns in the squad, making Adams' late withdrawal all the more unexpected.
The concern now shifts to the international stage. USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino is set to name his squad shortly for friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta on March 28 and 31, respectively, and Adams' fitness will be closely monitored ahead of that announcement. Missing those matches would be a significant blow for a player still working his way back into full rhythm.
Adding another layer of intrigue to Adams' situation is the growing transfer speculation surrounding him. According to reports, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all keeping close tabs on the midfielder, with United currently leading the race for his signature. Bournemouth are under no pressure to sell, with his contract running until 2028, but could reportedly consider offers in the region of £45 million.
For now, all eyes are on Adams' recovery. If the injury is as minor as suggested, he should be back quickly. Whether he stays at Bournemouth long-term, however, is a very different question.
Midfielder Plays Well Despite Boro's Late Heartbreak Against Bristol City
Aidan Morris turned in another commanding midfield display for Middlesbrough, but his individual brilliance couldn't prevent a gut-wrenching 1-1 draw against Bristol City at the Riverside on Saturday, as Adam Randell's 96th-minute header snatched a point for the visitors in devastating fashion.
The 24-year-old American racked up 104 touches across the 90 minutes, completing 72 of his 78 passes for an accuracy rate of 92%, numbers that reflect just how central he was to everything Boro tried to build. He also drove 12 passes into the final third, won 8-of-12 ground duels, and made 10 recoveries, demonstrating the relentless work rate that has made him such a vital component of Kim Hellberg's side.
Morris came closest to breaking the deadlock before the opener, forcing a sharp save from Radek Vitek that rebounded to Alan Browne, who wastefully fired straight at the goalkeeper from close range. It was one of several moments where Boro's afternoon could have taken a very different shape. He also created two chances and completed both of his attempted dribbles, underlining his confidence and composure in tight spaces.
His performances haven't gone unnoticed. Hellberg has been effusive in his praise, highlighting how Morris presses intelligently, always demands the ball, and brings a bravery to it that the head coach actively encourages. Alongside captain Hayden Hackney, Morris has helped form arguably the best midfield partnership in the Championship this season.
Morris himself has spoken about the importance of staying focused on the present rather than getting distracted by promotion speculation—a mentality that has clearly served him well. His numbers against Bristol City were, frankly, outstanding. The frustration is that on a day when he delivered, Boro's afternoon still ended in agony.
Defender Provided the Setup for Gladbach's Second Goal in their Victory
American right back Joe Scally played a key role as Borussia Mönchengladbach claimed a vital 2-0 victory over fellow relegation-threatened side St. Pauli at Borussia-Park on Friday evening in the Bundesliga.
With Gladbach sitting just one point above the relegation playoff spot coming into the match, the stakes could hardly have been higher. Kevin Stöger's stunning free-kick broke the deadlock just before halftime, but it was Scally's contribution in the second half that put the result beyond doubt.
12 minutes after the restart, the 23-year-old United States international drove forward and delivered a precise cut-back into the box, which substitute Franck Honorat converted, with a slight deflection off Adam Dźwigała helping the ball over the line. It was the decisive moment of the match, and one that underlined Scally's ability to contribute at both ends of the pitch.
The New York-born defender was industrious throughout the 90 minutes, recording 50 touches and completing 23 of his 32 passes. He also showed his defensive reliability, making two tackles and two clearances while winning four of his six ground duels, ensuring St. Pauli found no joy down his flank.
Scally finished the match with that one assist, one chance created, and two successful dribbles from four attempts—a well-rounded performance that reflected his growing importance to Eugen Polanski's side. His expected assists figure of just 0.04 highlights how much better the actual delivery was than the underlying numbers might have anticipated.
The victory lifts Gladbach to 28 points and 12th place in the Bundesliga table, opening up a more comfortable gap above the relegation zone. For Scally, it was another solid showing as he continues to establish himself as one of the more reliable performers in a squad fighting hard to secure their top-flight status.
On This Day in 2025, the American Forward Delivered a Masterclass to Fire Coventry Back Into the Play-Off Places
The story of Haji Wright at Coventry City has never been a straight line. It has been a tale written in bursts of brilliance, interrupted by setbacks, and defined by the moments that matter most. By the time March 15, 2025, arrived, Wright had endured nearly four months on the sidelines after sustaining an ankle ligament injury in a November away trip to Sunderland—the very club that would now arrive at the CBS Arena as his next victims.
That November meeting felt like a lifetime ago. Wright had been in fine form before the injury, finding the net against the Black Cats in that earlier encounter, only to limp out of the contest and disappear from Coventry's matchday picture for the best part of the winter. In his absence, Frank Lampard had been appointed head coach at the end of November, inheriting a side that was drifting and rebuilding simultaneously. What followed was one of the Championship's most compelling mid-season surges.
Coventry's 2024-25 campaign had been a study in inconsistency before Lampard steadied the ship. The early months under Mark Robins had seen the club oscillate between genuine promise and damaging slumps, their league position fluctuating with each passing week. By the time Robins departed in early November, his nearly eight-year tenure had ended with the club languishing in the lower half of the table, and Coventry had won just six of their opening 19 Championship matches.
Lampard's arrival triggered an almost immediate transformation. Eight wins from nine league games through the turn of the year and into the spring had propelled Coventry into the top six, with the CBS Arena becoming something close to a fortress, with one defeat in 11 home Championship matches, and three consecutive home victories heading into the Sunderland fixture. That most recent home win, a dramatic 3-2 comeback against Stoke City, settled by Bobby Thomas's stoppage-time header, had summed up the new energy running through the club. Only two teams in the Championship had scored more home goals than Coventry's 31 from 18 games.
Yet the week leading into the Sunderland match had introduced a note of anxiety. Coventry had travelled to Pride Park on Tuesday, where Lampard came up against his former club, Derby County, and came off second best. A 2-0 defeat had ended a five-match winning run and left the Sky Blues just two points clear of Bristol City in seventh. The very next day, Bristol City leapfrogged them by beating Norwich, nudging Coventry out of the play-off places entirely. The Sunderland game had gone from a chance to cement their position to an urgent mission to reclaim it, all within 48 hours.
Sunderland, meanwhile, arrived in good recent form of their own. They were three unbeaten, sitting fourth in the table with automatic promotion still mathematically possible, though the eight points separating them from the top two with nine games remaining made it an increasingly steep climb. Regis Le Bris's side had won three of their previous four away league games, bringing genuine quality to a fixture that carried weight at both ends of the table. Into this pressure-cooker context stepped a man who hadn't started in nearly four months and who was about to remind everyone exactly what he was capable of.
From the first minute, Coventry went at Sunderland in a way that felt different from the Derby defeat. The Sky Blues moved the ball with purpose and tempo, pressing high and winning it back almost immediately after losing possession. Victor Torp, deployed in an advanced central role he made entirely his own across the 90 minutes, was pulling the strings. His early free-kick was flicked towards goal by Bobby Thomas, a warning shot that Sunderland struggled to heed.
The opener arrived in the 21st minute, and it was Torp again at the heart of it. His through ball found Wright running onto the right channel, and what followed was a demonstration of a striker fully in command of his craft. One touch to receive, another to turn the defender and shift the ball onto his left foot, and then a low, clean strike into the bottom corner past Anthony Patterson. The CBS Arena erupted. Wright himself later reflected on the simplicity of it. "I struck it clean enough," he said, "and it glided over the pitch and went in." But there was nothing simple about the movement and confidence required to produce it after months away from the game.
Sunderland barely had time to regroup before Wright had his second. Skipping past Chris Mepham with a directness that left the defender no option, he was brought down inside the area. The penalty was inevitable. Wright placed it straight down the middle, Patterson committed to his right, and the ball was in the net before the goalkeeper had time to reconsider. "I'm always confident when it comes to penalties," Wright said afterward. "I know what I can do." Two goals in nine first-half minutes, and the CBS Arena was rocking.
The second half brought intermittent Sunderland pressure. Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor both sent efforts off target in quick succession after the hour mark, but Coventry absorbed it with the composure of a side that believed in themselves completely. "In general, you could see they didn't want to play against us," Wright would reflect. "When they got the ball off us, we had it back almost immediately."
The hat-trick arrived in the 73rd minute, and it was the best goal of the three. Torp, producing a performance of genuine excellence throughout, threaded a pass into space behind the Sunderland defence with the precision of a man reading the game three moves ahead. Wright ran onto it in full stride and, with Patterson rushing off his line, produced a delicate dinked finish with his left foot that arced over the keeper and nestled in the net. The stadium rose as one. It was Wright's first hat-trick since August 2021, which was for Antalyaspor in Turkey, and his first for Coventry City.
When Lampard withdrew him in stoppage time, the crowd gave him a standing ovation that filled every corner of the ground. Wright, for his part, looked like a man rediscovering something he had feared he might have lost. "I felt great today," he said. "After being out for so long, I felt quick, I felt fresh and light on my feet. I was itching to play again after so long, and I'm just happy to be back."
Lampard was unequivocal in his assessment. He told BBC CWR it was the best performance he had seen from his Coventry side since taking charge—the level of the opponent taken firmly into account. "Today was an outstanding individual performance from him," the head coach said of Wright. "To have success, you want those players at the top end of the pitch, so to have that confidence and to be able to play the way he played was brilliant." Le Bris offered no excuses for his Sunderland side, acknowledging with candour that his team had simply been outclassed: "When we are at that level, we are punished."
The Sunderland hat-trick proved to be more than a moment; it was a springboard that validated everything Lampard had been building. Wright finished the 2024-25 season with 12 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions, a remarkable return given the four months lost to injury. The hat-trick took his Championship tally to 10 from 19 league starts, numbers that would have been considerably higher had the ankle held up through the winter.
Coventry's late-season form carried them all the way to fifth place in the Championship, accumulating 69 points and securing a play-off spot with wins over West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough in the final weeks. The CBS Arena atmosphere that had roared Wright through his hat-trick became a recurring theme. A season-high crowd of 31,452 turned out for that final home game against Middlesbrough, a testament to a fanbase that had reconnected with its club through the highs and dramas of the second half of the campaign.
The play-offs, though, would bring heartbreak familiar to Coventry supporters. Sunderland—the very side Wright had dismantled on that March afternoon—awaited them in the semi-finals. The first leg at the CBS Arena ended in a 1-2 defeat, and despite a valiant 1-1 draw in the second leg at the Stadium of Light, Coventry were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate, their promotion dream extinguished once more in the most painful of fashions.
For Wright, however, the season's conclusion carried a different meaning. On the day of that hat-trick, he had sent a message not only to the Championship but to Mauricio Pochettino, the United States national team manager preparing his squad for the CONCACAF Nations League in March and the Gold Cup in June, without his first-choice forwards. Ricardo Pepi was sidelined, Folarin Balogun was only just returning from a shoulder problem, and Wright—once firmly on the outside—had planted himself back at the centre of the conversation. The World Cup on home soil was less than a year away, and the man who had scored against the Netherlands in Qatar, who had struck twice in extra time against Jamaica in Arlington, had reminded everyone that the story was far from finished.
Coventry remained in the Championship. But Wright's afternoon against Sunderland, the power of the first, the nerve of the second, the artistry of the third, had written another chapter in a career built on exactly these kinds of days: the ones where the lights are brightest, the pressure is highest, and the man from Los Angeles refuses to look away.
