Username
Password
Remember me
By entering your email address, you agree to receive Soccer America Today newsletter and other email messages from Soccer America.
Username
Password
Forgot?
Become a Soccer America Pro member today to get complete website access to all articles and all discussions and receive all of Soccer America’s newsletters for just 50¢. This premium subscription level includes Soccer America Daily, Soccer on TV, Soccer Talk, the Game Report and Soccer America Confidential. Soccer America Pro members may read, share and comment on all articles from these paid premium newsletters.
Username
Password
Forgot?
The USA will begin the U-20 Men’s World Cup without many key players, either not released, held back until the knockout phase, injured or suspended, leaving it with just 13 field players for the opener against Ecuador. One of them is Philadelphia Union forward Quinn Sullivan, who scored six goals for the USA in Concacaf qualifying. Photo: Concacaf.com The weekend marks the return of the Under-20 Men’s World Cup after a four-year absence. There are again 30 games in MLS, the NWSL and USL Championship. Soccer on TV: Weekend viewing SATURDAY • USA vs. Ecuador (Under-20 Men’s World Cup, 2 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Plus, Telemundo) The USA will open play in Argentina against Ecuador, which eliminated it, 2-1, in the quarterfinals in 2019, the last time the tournament was held. The Americans have an unmatched record of reaching the quarterfinals of the last three U-20 World Cups, but they have made it to the semifinals only once (1989) and never reached the final. • SA Reading: U-20 Men’s World Cup … Mikey Varas on the USA’s foes: ‘Our flexibility is going to be one of our biggest strengths’ Goalkeeper Gaga Slonina: Set for major role on world stage USA Preview: Calculated risks, six key players, and overall expectations • Major League Soccer MLS’s rivalry action continues with such meetings as Inter Miami vs. Orlando City (Florida Derby), FC Dallas vs. Houston (Texas Derby). Colorado vs. Real Salt Lake (Rocky Mountain Cup) and Vancouver vs. Seattle (Cascadia Cup). • SA Reading: Confident FC Cincinnati ready for Ohio derby The highlight will be the first St. Louis City-Sporting KC meeting, a battle of teams headed in the opposite directions. City SC is 1-4-1 in its last six games after opening with an expansion record five straight wins. Sporting has two wins and a draw in its last three matches after starting out 0-7-3, and it has climbed out of the MLS basement, where the LA Galaxy now sits. Saturday: APPLE TV/MLS SEASON PASS Charlotte FC vs. Nashville SC 7:30 pm. FC Cincinnati vs. Columbus 7:30 pm. D.C. United vs. LA Galaxy 7:30 pm. Inter Miami vs. Orlando City 7:30 pm. NY Red Bulls vs. CF Montreal 7:30 pm. Philadelphia vs. New England 7:30 pm. Austin FC vs. Toronto FC 8:30 pm. Chicago vs. Atlanta United 8:30 pm. FC Dallas vs. Houston 8:30 pm. Colorado vs. Real Salt Lake 9:30 pm. (free) *St. Louis City vs. Sporting KC 9:30 pm. (free) LAFC vs. San Jose 10:30 pm. Portland vs. Minnesota United 10:30 pm. Vancouver vs. Seattle 10:30 pm. *Also on FS1 and Fox Deportes. Note: All times ET. • National Women’s Soccer League What a difference a year makes. A year ago, the defending champion Washington Spirit opened the regular season with a victory, then went winless in its next 16 games. In 2023, the Spirit sits atop the NWSL standings with 15 points (4-0-3). With a win or tie against the Orlando Pride, the Spirit will set a new club record for an undefeated streak to start a season. OL Reign’s 2014 team currently owns the NWSL record for the longest unbeaten start, having won or tied 16 straight matches to begin the season. Ashley Hatch leads the Spirit with five goals, while Trinity Rodman has three goals and two assists. Saturday: CBS SPORTS GOLAZO NETWORK/PARAMOUNT+ KC Current vs. Racing Louisville 8 pm. PARAMOUNT+ NC Current vs. Angel City FC 7 pm. Orlando vs. Washington 7 pm. Houston vs. San Diego 8:30 pm Sunday: CBS SPORTS GOLAZO NETWORK/PARAMOUNT+ OL Reign vs. Gotham FC 6 pm. PARAMOUNT+ Portland vs. Chicago 5 pm. Note: All times ET. • USL Championship Defending champion San Antonio FC set a club record with a 7-0 victory at the Eastern Conference leader Charleston Battery a week ago. On Saturday, SAFC will see what it can do when it travels to Detroit City, last in the Eastern Conference with a 1-7-1 record. SAFC got a hat trick and two assists from Nigerian Tani Oluwaseyi – just the second time that’s ever happened in a USL Championship game – in the win over the Battery. Those five goals he was involved in match the total number of goals DCFC has scored in 10 games. Saturday: ESPN+ Charleston vs. Monterey Bay 5 pm. Hartford vs. Loudoun 7 pm. Indy Eleven vs. Colorado Springs 7 pm. Miami FC vs. San Diego 7 pm. Pittsburgh vs. Las Vegas 7 pm. Detroit City vs. San Antonio FC 7:30 pm. Birmingham vs. El Paso 7:30 pm. Rio Grande Valley vs. Tampa Bay 8:30 pm. Sac Republic FC vs. Oakland 10 pm. Orange County SC vs. Phoenix 10 pm. Note: All times ET. SUNDAY • West Ham United vs. Leeds United (Premier League, 8:30 am. ET, USA Network, Telemundo) Leeds’ American crew (Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson and the injured Tyler Adams) will kick off at London Stadium knowing if it faces a match for survival on the second-to-last game of the Premier League season. Leeds enters the weekend in 18th place with 31 points, one less than Everton (at Wolves on Saturday) and three less than Nottingham Forest (at home against Arsenal on Saturday). Leicester City (in 19th place with 30 points) is the other team Leeds must worry about, but it doesn’t play until Monday when it’s at Newcastle. • Augsburg vs. Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga 11:20 am. ET, ESPN+) Dortmund will be in a position that it needs to take three points at Augsburg to effectively stay alive in the league title race if Bayern Munich, which leads by one point and 19 goals in goal difference, beats RB Leipzig on Saturday. On the other hand, a Bayern slip-up on Saturday would allow Dortmund to regain the lead with one game remaining if it wins at Augsburg. What will the role be for Gio Reyna, who scored his fifth goal off the bench in 2023 in last week’s 5-2 Dortmund win over Borussia Moenchengladbach? Coach Edin Terzic admitted, “Gio in particular is not making it easy for me to always only be bringing him on [from the bench]. He pushes the others every day. We want to have that performance mindset in the team.” • Club America vs. Guadalajara (Liga MX, Torneo Clausura semifinals, second leg, 10 pm. ET, Univision, TUDN). America will take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg at Azteca thanks to a goal on an angled shot to the near post by Mexican-American Alejandro Zendejas, his 11th goal in 33 games in the 2022-23 Liga MX season, in Thursday night’s first leg. America is the higher seed so it will advance even if it loses the second leg by one goal. The Liga MX tiebreaker goes to the team with the better regular-season record. (There is no overtime until the final and no away goals rule.)
