MIAMI — Finally, after more than two months at his new job as Inter Miami coach, Javier Mascherano’s heart and refrigerator are full.

The Argentine former FC Barcelona star sheepishly admitted that until his wife, Fernanda, and three children arrived for an extended February visit, he had little food in his kitchen since replacing Tata ...Read more

Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates disembarked from their team plane in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday bundled up in ski hats and parkas. A few hours later, the Argentine captain scored in frigid conditions to give the visitors a 1-0 victory over Sporting KC in their Concacaf Champions Cup opener at Children’s Mercy Park.

The game was...Read more

MIAMI — Lionel Messi has a half-dozen new Inter Miami teammates this season, and they will play their first game that counts Wednesday night on the road against Sporting KC in the Concacaf Champions Cup opener, which was postponed from Tuesday due to a snowstorm.

Those newcomers, who will be bundled up in ski caps and gloves for the sub-zero ...Read more

INDIO, Calif. — San Diego FC had yet to play an MLS opponent when the team's players filed onto one of the manicured fields at the Empire Polo Club earlier this month to take on New York City in a preseason exhibition. Spotting one player in particular, a small army of kids rushed the white picket fence guarding the field and broke into a ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Officially, it was a soccer friendly. A random, meaningless exhibition game between two teams with neither roots nor rationale for spending a Friday night in Tampa Bay.

And yet, standing above the tunnel leading from the locker room to the field in Section 118, it felt more like a religious experience. A pilgrimage in pink.

...Read more

A crowd of 42,000 showed up at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Friday night for Inter Miami’s final preseason game against Orlando City and based on the sea of pink No. 10 shirts, many of the fans were there to show love for Lionel Messi on Valentine’s Day.

They saw an entertaining game that ended in a 2-2 tie. The Miami equalizer was...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When Angel City selected Alyssa Thompson with the No. 1 pick in the NWSL draft two years ago, she had two choices: take what the team offered or pass up the chance to play in the NWSL.

But last month, when the team came to Thompson and her sister, Gisele, with contract extensions, their choices were almost unlimited.

“They ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Every once in a while, people talk about the English Premier League playing regular-season games in the United States.

Not just the summer exhibitions that have brought big English clubs over here for years, and will probably do so again this year. Philadelphia has gotten a taste of that in recent times: the six-team Premier ...Read more

Lionel Messi and the rest of Inter Miami’s key starters are expected to play extended minutes Sunday as the team faces Sporting San Miguelito in Panama City, Panama.

The preseason match, which kicks off at 5 p.m., is the third in the club’s Americas Tour, which also includes a game against Olimpia in Honduras next Saturday. Miami won its ...Read more

DENVER — Mellody Hobson is not sweating the $110 million expansion fee that the new Denver NWSL franchise paid to get into the league. And she’s not worried about the millions she and the ownership group will pony up to build a new stadium, either.

In fact, Hobson, whose sports ownership portfolio includes the Broncos, White Sox, WNBA and ...Read more

Lionel Messi received a hero’s welcome from 80,000 fans at sold-out Estadio Monumental in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday night, as Inter Miami won its preseason match against Universitario in a penalty kick shootout.

The game remained scoreless after regulation and went directly to PKs. All five Inter Miami players made their shots, starting with ...Read more

NEW YORK — The complaint has grown louder in recent years, whether from players, coaches, or fans: Major League Soccer teams play too many games for their own good.

Sure, it’s a lot of entertainment, and that’s a big part of what pro sports are supposed to be for the public. But in a league with a serious salary cap and roster size cap, ...Read more

Major League Soccer and Apple announced details of this year’s MLS Season Pass streaming package on Wednesday. And this time, the details weren’t just about MLS and Apple.

After two years of making fans pay through Apple to get the package, it will now be available through traditional cable and satellite TV subscribers to Comcast Xfinity ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The 2026 World Cup kicks off in less than 500 days and there is mounting concern that the U.S. is not ready to welcome the more than 6 million visitors who will flood North America for the tournament.

Fans, politicians and other stakeholders, including FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, fear rigid immigration rules and ...Read more

EL CAJON, Calif. — San Diego FC star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano’s playing career has been a rough-and-routinely-tumble series of absorbing fouls.

Opponents tackle him to slow his dangerous passing gear. They bump him out of exasperation because of his elite ball-handling.

They do what they can, when they can, to get him off his game.

The...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Angelina Anderson was sure the call would never come.

After playing every minute in goal for the U.S. in the U-17 women's World Cup in 2018, she thought maybe the senior national team would call. It didn't.

After pitching a shutout in her NWSL debut, helping Angel City to its only playoff appearance in 2023, she thought maybe ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The 2026 World Cup is 17 months away and South Florida soccer fans got an up-close preview Saturday afternoon of some of the players who could wind up on the sport’s biggest stage as Team USA beat Venezuela, 3-1, in a friendly at Chase Stadium.

Three players who made an impression were midfielder Jack McGlynn and ...Read more