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Messi unlikely to play as Inter Miami faces Leagues Cup elimination vs. Leon

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Lionel Messi could return to South Florida as early as Wednesday after spending time with family in Rosario, Argentina, following the funeral of his father, Jorge, over the weekend.

A24 news channel in Argentina reported that Messi, his wife and three sons were scheduled to board a private plane late Tuesday night and head back to ...Read more

Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle/TNS

'We tricked them.' Why 'Ted Lasso' probably deserves some credit for US soccer boom.

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — In the summer of 2020, the year "Ted Lasso" debuted on Apple TV, the largest audience for a televised soccer match in the U.S. was 1.7 million. Shortly before the soccer-based sitcom returned for a fourth season last Wednesday, nearly 63 million viewers in the U.S. watched the World Cup final.

Brendan Hunt, the actor who plays ...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

Inter Miami loses 2-1 to Monterrey in Leagues Cup amid grief for Messi's father

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Inter Miami was forced to play without Lionel Messi Saturday night as he returned to Argentina to be with his family after the death of his father, Jorge, and the Leagues Cup game ended on a somber note after Miami gave up a 90th minute goal to lose 2-1 to Mexican team Monterrey.

It was Miami’s first loss since May 2 and snapped an ...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

Inter Miami plays on in Leagues Cup vs. Monterrey amid grief for Messi's father

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Lionel Messi returned to Argentina on Saturday to be with his family after the death of his father, Jorge Messi, who passed away at age 68 following a long illness.

Inter Miami was forced to play without its captain in the second Leagues Cup group stage game against Mexican team Monterrey. Messi’s teammates wore black armbands as a ...Read more

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jorge Messi, father and business manager of soccer legend Lionel, dies at age 68

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Lionel Messi’s father and business manager, Jorge Messi, died early Saturday morning at a hospital in Rosario, Argentina, after a long illness. He was 68.

The news was announced by the Sanatorio Centro hospital, the Rosario-based Newell’s Old Boys club, CONMEBOL, the South American soccer federation, and confirmed to the Miami ...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

Inter Miami's Segovia returned home to volunteer in Venezuela after earthquakes

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — While most of his Inter Miami teammates spent the World Cup break on vacation with family and enjoying the tournament, midfielder Telasco Segovia was back home in Venezuela offering humanitarian aid after the devastating earthquakes that claimed more than 6,000 lives and left countless others homeless.

Segovia, who plays for the ...Read more

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Messi scores brace as Inter Miami beats San Luis, 4-2, in rainy Leagues Cup opener

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Lionel Messi returned to the Inter Miami starting lineup Wednesday night for the first time since leaving the World Cup Final in tears after Argentina’s loss to Spain.

Seventeen days have passed since that emotional match and after a 10-day vacation and a shift off the bench against the Columbus Crew over the weekend, Messi took the...Read more

Carl Recine/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kevin Baxter: Gianni Infantino's Kushner-linked World Cup scheme jeopardizes his FIFA reign

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — When Gianni Infantino was chosen to replace Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA, he was seen as a reformer, someone who would bring transparency and openness to soccer's international governing body, which had long been mired in scandal and deceit.

A decade later the reformer has been exposed, hoisted by his own petard after a ...Read more

For Larry Berg, a life in soccer became 'a calling' in quest to be MLS commissioner

Sports / Soccer /

NEW YORK — There are plenty of fun stories to tell about Larry Berg’s Cherry Hill roots, from his lifelong Eagles fandom to playing in New Jersey’s state high school soccer tournament against Peter Vermes’ Delran High in the 1980s.

But Berg’s introduction as Major League Soccer’s next commissioner on Tuesday wasn’t just a time to ...Read more

Jamie Squire/Getty Images North America/TNS

Here's how Mauricio Pochettino will start his second term with the USMNT

Sports / Soccer /

The long road to the 2030 men’s World Cup, and Mauricio Pochettino’s second term as U.S. men’s soccer team manager, will kick off in late September.

FIFA this year combined the September and October windows into one long stretch in which teams can play up to four games. The U.S. will play all four, against a combination of familiar ...Read more

US Soccer still isn't saying much about the ongoing Gianni Infantino FIFA scandal

Sports / Soccer /

NEW YORK — U.S. Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson was among the VIPs at Larry Berg’s introduction as Major League Soccer’s next commissioner on Tuesday. After the event, Batson took questions from the media. But that didn’t mean he offered detailed answers to all of them.

That was particularly true when questions about FIFA president ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

How the World Cup became 'a great dry run' for the 2028 LA Olympics

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — Like most good stories, this one requires planning. Organizers with the L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission spent nearly nine years preparing to bring the FIFA World Cup to L.A. The most popular sporting event in the world was just the start of a mega-event trilogy that turns the page to Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium and ...Read more

Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

MLS's new commissioner will be Larry Berg, a LAFC part-owner

Sports / Soccer /

NEW YORK – Larry Berg, a member of Los Angeles FC’s ownership group with roots in Cherry Hill, Pa., has been elected as the new commissioner of Major League Soccer.

He will officially take the reins on Jan. 1, with current commissioner Don Garber keeping the job until then. Garber will then take the role of chairman.

“Thanks to the ...Read more

Mauricio Pochettino stays on as USMNT manager, and promises things won't stay the same

Sports / Soccer /

PHILADELPHIA — Mauricio Pochettino has signed a new contract to remain the U.S. men’s soccer team’s manager through the 2030 World Cup, U.S. Soccer announced Monday morning.

“I really believe that this is an exciting situation and moment for soccer in the USA,” Pochettino said in a roundtable talk with The Philadelphia Inquirer and ...Read more

Rich Storry/Getty Images North America/TNS

Messi, De Paul return as Inter Miami settles for 2-2 tie against Columbus Crew

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul were back in uniform for Inter Miami on a soggy Saturday night at Nu Stadium, 13 days after playing in the World Cup Final for Argentina.

De Paul was in Miami’s starting lineup against the Columbus Crew and Messi came in off the bench in the 53rd minute to a rousing ovation and chants of “Messi! ...Read more

Brenden Aaronson looks back at the World Cup, and ahead to his future with the USMNT and Leeds United

Sports / Soccer /

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Though the World Cup only just reached the rearview mirror, the soccer world is already speeding toward the new European club season.

Brenden Aaronson is proof.

After taking the three-week break that FIFA’s rules allow for players after major tournaments, the Medford, N.J., native returned to work at his club, Leeds ...Read more

What's it like to be a player in the 'Welcome to Wrexham' fishbowl?

Sports / Soccer /

If you watch the popular “Welcome to Wrexham” TV show, you might think you’ve gotten to know the Welsh soccer team’s players. And if you’re in Philadelphia, local favorite Rob Mac’s role as part-owner offers another reason to watch.

But the scenes that unfold are real life, with real players in a real English soccer league. They ...Read more

Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Infantino backlash grows as UEFA, CONCACAF demand FIFA reckoning

Sports / Soccer /

The rapid unraveling of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to privatize the football governing body’s commercial business has left his future in growing doubt, after two key regional associations demanded a reckoning for his leadership.

UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, issued a scathing rebuke of Infantino on Saturday, calling ...Read more

Carl Recine/Getty Images North America/TNS

Analysis: Why Gianni Infantino's secret attempt to sell World Cup stake backfired so spectacularly

Sports / Soccer /

LOS ANGELES — Heading into the final weekend of this summer's World Cup, the Guardian reported that support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino had climbed to record levels. More than 200 of FIFA's 211 member associations formally endorsed Infantino's bid for a fourth term as head of world soccer's governing body, the paper reported, making ...Read more

Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

FIFA, Gianni Infantino scrap plan to sell World Cup stakes after global backlash

Sports / Soccer /

MIAMI — FIFA president Gianni Infantino scrapped his proposal to privatize stakes in the World Cup after global backlash, including the resignation of one of his top advisors and threats of a boycott by European nations.

Infantino had proposed creating a $20 billion subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the World Cup and other ...Read more