KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In this case, not playing host to some of the world’s biggest sporting events worked in Kansas City’s favor.

We’re speaking, of course, about KC’s status as a host city and base-camp mecca for this summer’s FIFA 2026 World Cup.

“We’ve never hosted a Super Bowl, we’ve never had an Olympics,” said Pam ...Read more

When LAFC promoted Marc Dos Santos from assistant coach to manager two months ago, there were some perks that came with the new job. A raise, certainly. A better seat on the team charter.

But not as many as you might think.

"The office is a little bit bigger," he said. "My parking space is exactly the same."

The biggest perk, however, could ...Read more

Calls for a European-led World Cup boycott have grown louder and louder in recent weeks. Yet the possibility one could happen is "slim to none," said Alan Rothenberg, a man who knows a little bit about both World Cups and boycotts.

Rothenberg organized the soccer tournament at the 1984 L.A. Games, which was boycotted by 19 countries. Ten years ...Read more

DENVER — The Summit isn’t done peaking.

“Obviously, our first goal was to break the record for the largest (professional) women’s sporting event ever in the United States,” Rob Cohen, controlling owner of Summit FC soccer club, Denver’s first professional women’s sports franchise, told me Tuesday. “But our latest goal is to set...Read more

In a few months, U.S. men’s soccer team manager Mauricio Pochettino will have to make some of the toughest choices he has ever made in his decorated coaching career.

It will be hard enough to pick the 26-player squad for a World Cup on home soil. But it be will just as vital to decide how many players he’ll take at each position: centerback...Read more

MIAMI — Lionel Messi will have another big-time striker alongside him as Inter Miami begins defense of its MLS Cup title in less than a month.

After weeks of negotiations, the club announced Friday that it signed Mexican national team forward German Berterame from Liga MX powerhouse Monterrey with a transfer fee reported to be $15 million.

...Read more

MIAMI — The Lionel Messi preseason traveling show continues this weekend as the Argentine legend and his Inter Miami teammates head to Colombia to face Altetico Nacional in Medellin for the second game in their Champions Tour.

It will be the first time Messi plays for a club team on Colombian soil, and it figures to be a good test for Inter ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Christen Press welcomed herself to the U.S. women's soccer team by scoring twice in her debut in the first game of 2013. The team said goodbye Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park, honoring Press before its first game of 2026, a 6-0 win over Paraguay.

In between, Press played 154 more times for the U.S., winning two World Cups...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When Emma Hayes took the reins of the women's national soccer team in 2024, one of her first goals was to plumb the depths of the team's talent pool. She knew what she had on the surface with veterans such as Rose Lavelle, Naomi Girma, Lindsey Heaps and Trinity Rodman. But what about the players under them? Who could step in in ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Nestled under all the success of last season for the Union is that their manager, Bradley Carnell, proved yet again that he’s one of Major League Soccer’s bona fide tacticians.

In his first season at the helm, he came within one point of the club’s record, a statistic that originally took more than a decade to amass. He ...Read more

MIAMI — Defending MLS champion Inter Miami opened preseason training camp on Saturday and managing owner Jorge Mas was there to get a first glimpse of the 2026 team, which includes several new players following the retirement of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

Mas provided updates on negotiations to acquire MLS Defender of the Year Tristan ...Read more

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione‘s cousin has signed with a professional soccer team in Brooklyn, the same New York City borough where Mangione is imprisoned for the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In a statement on Wednesday, Brooklyn FC announced that Peter Mangione, a 24-year-old midfielder from Hunt Valley, Md., will join...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Alan Rothenberg has a story he wants to tell you. A lot of stories actually; enough to fill a book.

So he wrote one.

But that's not the first memorable work he's authored. As the man behind the 1984 L.A. Olympics soccer tournament and the 1994 World Cup, still the most successful in history, Rothenberg has arguably had more to ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — A month after Mexican star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano said “my mentality is to be here” with San Diego FC, the club had a different message for the man regarded as the face of the franchise in its inaugural season:

Adios.

Sporting director Tyler Heaps announced Friday that the 30-year-old left wing is no longer in the club�...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Next summer's World Cup will be the largest, most complex and most lucrative sporting event in history, with 48 teams playing 104 games in three countries. The tournament is expected to draw a global TV audience of nearly 5 billion and FIFA, the event's organizer, is hoping for revenues of between $10 billion-$14 billion — ...Read more