The brightest stars command—and take command of—the biggest stages. When it comes game that inflames the passions of billions around the world, there is no bigger stage than the World Cup. Superstars can thrive in the top leagues of Europe and capture the most coveted prices in club
World Cup Day 5 delivered a quartet of draws, each of which was fascinating in isolation. Collectively, the four mean that groups G and H are a wide open affairs going into Matchday 2; with one of the presumptive challengers for the World Cup trophy in Group H and Group
I'm not sure I believe there's a good answer for "How many teams is the right number of teams for the World Cup finals" if the question is about inclusion and competition and not about the logistical problem of holding more than 100 games.
Saturday. The first day of the 2026 World Cup that delivered three games in a single day—unless you live west of the Mississippi—in which case it was four. Australia v. Turkiye kicking off at midnight eastern, an hour after the end of the Haiti v. Scotland game in
I'm twelve hours on from USA 4, Paraguay 1 and while some of it might be lack of sleep or too much caffeine, my buzz is strong. The soccer team I have cared more about than any other in the history of my soccer experience—and the very
World Cup Day 1 gave us a colorful opening ceremony that even too much of Gianni Infantino's bald pate couldn't ruin, a not-so-convincing Mexico win marked by three dismissals, and as South Korea triumph over Czechia in Guadalajara. Fly With The Soccer Eagle For
There's nothing quite like the feeling of roiling internal turmoil brought on by the most exciting sporting event in the world arriving in your country against the backdrop of a war being waged by one of the host nations against one of the tournament participants—among other drains
World Cup kickoff week is thankfully here and while there seem to be a few...um...administrative issues around some rather important elements of holding the world's biggest sporting tournament in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, I'm almost certain games will be played and we&
It's June. The World Cup starts in June. That means the World Cup is here. Practically. It's certainly here in my brain, where a chaotic mess of thought threads has already formed around the tournament and what's about to land when the games actually
It's time again for Good Soccer/Bad Soccer, the weekly news roundup from Soccer Eagle. This week, GS/BS is fully embracing the World Cup insanity with a collection of items that lean into the good, bad, and super weird that comes with holding the biggest sporting event
Thanks to the top notch reporting of two American soccer journalism's top men, Pablo Maurer and Jeff Rueter, the USMNT roster will land later today with a decided paucity of drama. That development (the roster leak) is maybe more fascinating to me than the roster itself. Pablo and
Good Soccer/Bad Soccer makes a triumphant return this week following a brief intermission for work and personal reasons. The former involved Morning Kickaround's trip to Pawtucket, Rhode Island for a live broadcast that was unfortunately beset by a) poor weather (match day in Pawtucket was the only
MLS
Before we get to the meat of this Tuesday's newsletter, I need to promte: MORNING KICKAROUND IS GOING TO RHODE ISLAND. Our little American soccer show that focuses on the growth of the game from the bottom up will be broadcasting live from Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket,
good soccer bad soccer
It's time again for Good Soccer/Bad Soccer, our weekly roundup of soccer happenings from around the Amerisoccersphere. This week, we're adding the word "North" to our typical regional purview for reasons that you can probably guess. Before we dive in, share this newsletter
MLS
Two-and-a-half months on from the first troubling cries that the situation in Vancouver for the Whitecaps might truly be dire, new reporting is shedding light on just how far down the relocation road MLS is with the Canadian outfit. It's decidedly not good. I'
good soccer bad soccer
Welcome back to Good Soccer/Bad Soccer, your weekly home for an extremely random collection of American soccer stories. This week's bag of soccer news runs the gamut, which is great because who doesn't love getting to use the word "gamut"? A reminder: If
MLS
I think I have a problem. I, like almost everyone else on the planet, really like good soccer. The kind of soccer than makes you scream OOOH! when something remarkable happens. I'm a big fan of saying "GOOD BALL" when a pass is made that cuts
good soccer bad soccer
Welcome back to Good Soccer/Bad Soccer, our weekly roundup of exciting, distressing, and/or otherwise interesting soccer new from around this weird and wild soccer nation of ours. If you have a tip for GS/BS, drop in the comments or find me on Bluesky. Give That Man A
USMNT
First, I think I need to make a quick apology for how sporadic Soccer Eagle has been over the last week. My 5-year-0ld brought home preschool cold germs, the most insidious of all the cold germs, and I've been slowly trying to work my way out
good soccer bad soccer
Now Are We A Real Soccer Country? This week's GS/BS can't help but start with the most talked about story in American soccer: Christian Pulisic's Raya profile. Why are we talking about Christian Pulisic's Raya profile? Because Christian's ex
agyemang
Patrick Agyemang is the first legitimate World Cup roster candidate to be eliminated from World Cup consideration thanks to a devastating Achilles tendon injury the forward suffered on Sunday playing for Derby County. We knew the soccer fates would come for someone, we just didn't know who. And,
USMNT
Finally, for sure this time, the window of experimentation and audition is over for the USMNT ahead of the most important World Cup in the history of the sport in the United States of America. I think. Certainly Mauricio Pochettino is out of chances to see players first hand in
good soccer bad soccer
Welcome to Good Soccer/Bad Soccer, a weekly roundup of American soccer things that your friendly neighborhood Soccer Eagle (that's me) came across during his soccer travels. Since this is the first edition of GS/BS, let me give you a sense of what we're doing
USMNT
Declaring that there was plenty good in the USMNT's 5-2 loss to Belgium in Atlanta on Saturday is a reasonable thing to do that is nevertheless something of a tough sell. The number "5" causes discomfort. "Discomfort" is a good word to describe