They said Lionel Messi made a big mistake leaving soccer’s cathedrals in Europe three years ago to sign with a fledgling Inter Miami team that sat in last place in Major League Soccer and played at a temporary stadium.

Sure, MLS would benefit greatly by signing the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and captain of the defending World Cup ...Read more

The World Cup reminds us Americans that soccer, “the beautiful game,” transcends language, geography and how much money your parents make.

Sometimes that’s tough to reconcile if your Minnesota summers are like mine, ferrying kids to soccer games across the metro or beyond. You pay the hotel bill for that out-of-town tournament and take ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS – The English and French teams wish they were not in South Florida this weekend.

They would prefer to be in New York, preparing to play in the World Cup final. Instead, they will play in the bronze final at Miami Stadium (aka Hard Rock Stadium) at 5 p.m. on Saturday, the day before the championship match.

“Nobody of these ...Read more

Forty-eight days.

That’s how long the 2026 FIFA World Cup was in Kansas City. The nearly seven-week span was longer than the quadrennial soccer tournament itself.

Games across North America began June 11 and will end Sunday with the Argentina-Spain final at New York New Jersey (MetLife) Stadium. But for Kansas City, it started when Argentina...Read more

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If something happened once, it can happen again. That's kind of what Yogi Berra was getting at when he said "it's like deja vu all over again."

Berra, the late Yankee catcher and once New Jersey's unofficial poet laureate, spent most of his life within walking distance of East Rutherford, N.J., where history could ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt tends to exude a self-possessed public presence no matter the topic or occasion.

Even when it comes to memories or the legacy of his father, Lamar — the franchise founder who also was a catalyst for the rise of soccer in this country — the son is apt to be sentimental but not flash ...Read more

Futbol Club Barcelona’s No. 10 jersey is the most famous shirt in soccer, a sort of maroon and blue vertical striped cape passed down from one superhero to the next.

“The world goes on and new geniuses emerge,” said Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

Diego Maradona wore it during his time with Barca in the 1980s.

So did Rivaldo, the ...Read more

South Florida’s final World Cup match is Saturday.

The day before Spain and Argentina play for the world title, England and France will play for the bronze medal at Miami Stadium (aka Hard Rock Stadium) at 5 p.m.

Although players on both teams had their eyes on the championship, the bronze medal offers a consolation. The winning side in the ...Read more

Just when it seemed Argentina couldn’t possibly pull off one more late-game comeback, that 39-year-old magician Lionel Messi had finally run out of game-saving tricks, they stunned England with a pair of heart-stopping goals on Wednesday to win the World Cup semifinal, 2-1, and book a spot in Sunday’s final against Spain.

It will be the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — While every World Cup introduces viewers to new young stars, this tournament featured eight players who were older than 40 — one more than the number of over-40 players in the previous 22 World Cups combined.

Among them were Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, and Mexico's Memo Ochoa, 40, who were playing in their sixth World ...Read more

ATLANTA — The jury is still out on whether Lionel Messi is the greatest soccer player ever. But there should be no doubt he's the greatest to ever play in a World Cup.

And you don't need the records, the wins or the goals to prove that — although he certainly has enough of those. You just need to see Messi at his most magical, as he was ...Read more

SEATTLE — For three months, Rainier Beach basketball star Tyran Stokes was a one-man rock band in Seattle. To actually sit down and watch the nation's top recruit might require that you take in the freshman and JV games, too.

The same was true of Michael Porter Jr. — also the No. 1 high-school prospect — when he played at Nathan Hale nine...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Not that “Ted Lasso” with Kansas City’s own Jason Sudeikis and the FIFA World Cup were destined to converge or anything, but …

“A long time ago,” co-creator Brendan Hunt joked Saturday, “we thought it would be good for (Sudeikis) to be born here.”

Or at least grow up here after being born in Virginia.

That...Read more

Diego Maradona’s genius and gifts were matched only by his appetites and demons, his off-the-field excesses as legendary as his brilliance on the pitch.

The Argentine superstar who routinely did the seemingly impossible with a soccer ball also thought nothing of partying with Pablo Escobar at La Catedral, the luxurious, private prison the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Folarin Balogun insists that the red card controversy surrounding him during the World Cup was not the reason the U.S. lost 4-1 to Belgium in the round of 16.

But, the breakout American star said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, "it didn't help."

"As an athlete, you go into a game that's already difficult enough with everything ...Read more