Alexi Lalas Soccer Analyst We are evil, but you respect us? That makes no sense at all. Let me set this all up. On the latest episode of the “Pulisic” series on Paramount+, Christian Pulisic (along with Tim Weah and Christian’s father, Mark Pulisic) talked about criticism and comments made by former USMNT players-turned-pundits. Like myself. Here’s what Christian said: “I’d say the most annoying thing, and for me, the biggest cop-out of all time, is when all the pundits want to say: ‘They didn’t want it. They didn’t have the heart. You know, back in our day, we would fight, and we would…

Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist After missing Inter Miami’s last two games with a leg muscle injury, Lionel Messi returned to MLS action on Saturday night, coming off the Herons’ substitutes’ bench at halftime and scoring the match-winning goal with six minutes to play and adding an assist in an eventual 3-1 victory over the LA Galaxy.With his team leading the defending MLS Cup champions 1-0 at the interval on a Jordi Alba strike, Miami coach Javier Mascherano inserted Messi for Venezuelan winger Telasco Segovia.It took the Argentine World Cup winner time to settle into the contest. Joseph Paintsil then equalized…

Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist While a couple of less prominent leagues are already underway, the 2025-26 European club season really kicks off on Friday, when England’s Premier League, France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga all begin the new campaign. In Italy, Serie A starts next week, as does the German Bundesliga. We’vew already given you our Top 20 clubs to watch this term. But what captures the imagination of fans who watch the world’s most popular sport is the players. Here are 11 fascinating characters to keep an eye on between now and next May. Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) (Photo by…

Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist With the 2026 FIFA World Cup under a year away, all eyes will be on the upcoming English Premier League campaign, which kicks off today with a matchup between Liverpool vs. Bournemouth.The EPL is home to some of the biggest and brightest stars in world soccer, many of whom will star for their countries in next summer’s 48-team tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.EUROPE’S BEST TEAMS: WHERE BARCELONA, PSG, LIVERPOOL RANK AMONG TOP 20Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy last season after an outstanding 84-point season and added more attacking talent this season with…

Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist With the 2026 FIFA World Cup under a year away, all eyes will be on the upcoming English Premier League campaign.The EPL is home to some of the biggest and brightest stars in world soccer, many of whom will star for their countries in next summer’s 48-team tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.EUROPE’S BEST TEAMS: WHERE BARCELONA, PSG, LIVERPOOL RANK AMONG TOP 20Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy last season after an outstanding 84-point season and added more attacking talent this season with big-money transfers for Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz. But is this…

Just hours after being left out of Paris Saint-Germain’s squad for Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup final against Tottenham, star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma posted a message saying he is leaving the club.When PSG named its squad for the match earlier on Tuesday, goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, who recently joined from Lille for just over 40 million euros ($46 million), was included along with backup goalies Matvei Safonov and Renato Marin.Chevalier’s arrival was expected to signal Donnarumma’s departure, with the 26-year-old Italy international unlikely to accept being No. 2 if coach Luis Enrique decided so. Donnarumma then posted a message in Italian, English…

Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist How do we fill the days until the 2026 World Cup? By keeping up with some of the world’s top sides in what will be an action-packed European club season. Three of the continent’s Big Five circuits – England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and Ligue 1 in France – kick off this weekend, with Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A following on Aug. 22 and 23, respectively. In other countries, domestic league action is already underway. But these are the 20 clubs to watch, loaded with the stars we’ll be seeing next summer. Ahead of the top…

Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé and England forward Chloe Kelly are among the contenders to win the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or award.The 30 men’s and 30 women’s nominees were revealed Thursday by France Football magazine, with the winners to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on Sept. 22.The 28-year-old Dembélé was inspirational in leading PSG to its first Champions League title after years of falling short and helped the French club complete a treble. He scored a career-high 35 goals overall for PSG last season.Teenage star Lamine Yamal, whose mesmerizing performances lit up the Champions League and helped…

Manchester City midfielder Rodri could be sidelined for the start of the Premier League season because of an injury sustained at the Club World Cup, manager Pep Guardiola said.The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner sat out nearly all of last season after tearing his ACL, and Guardiola described the Spain international’s latest setback as a “big injury.”It is believed to be a groin problem this time and occurred during City’s 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup on June 30. Rodri was a second-half substitute but left the game in extra time.”Rodri’s getting better, but he had a big…

Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist The 2025 Leagues Cup field has now been whittled down to just eight teams — with four each from MLS and Liga MX left standing. We’ll get to those quarterfinal matchups, but let’s assess the tournament so far.Liga MX Giants Bow Out; Messi, Miami RemainThe revamped format – fewer MLS participants, inter-league-only contests until at least the first knockout round – improved the product on the field. But it still wasn’t enough to prevent MLS clubs from continuing to get the better of their Mexican counterparts in a competition staged entirely on American and Canadian soil. (Liga…