Hey friends,

Welcome to the 76 new footy fans joining us this week. It’s Max and Mason here churning out delicious content for you like our life depends on it.

Here’s what we’ve got kicking around today…

• ⏯️ Match Day 34 Recap

• 🇺🇸 Yanks Abroad Update

• 😥 The Bottom Dwellers

• 🏆️ Club World Cup and Gold Cup Venues

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

Match Day 34 Recap

7 teams clinched a playoff spot. Deadline day is looming.

New York bleeds blue. NYCFC clinched a playoff spot after dismantled the Red Bulls 5-1 on the road (goal highlights). It was their first MLS win in nine games. Alonso Martinez had a brace to further prove he’s one of the best #9’s in the league. Nick Cushing is now 4-1-1 against the Red Bulls.

The Red Bulls got Emil Forsberg back and clinched a playoff spot (due to other results) for the 15th consecutive year, the longest active streak in major American pro sports. But they are hobbling into the playoffs with just one win in their last eleven games.

I’m starting to feel like the Colorado Rapids are more pretenders than contenders. Two weeks ago they lost to SKC 4-1 and Saturday they lose 3-0 to Minnesota. They’re holding on to the final home playoff spot by a thread but don’t be surprised if Seattle snags it.

LAFC are back on track. A mid-week US Open Cup win broke their streak of four straight finals losses. Then they go on the road and beat FC Cincinnati 2-1. The French connection of Lloris ➡️ Giroud ➡️ Bouanga got the winner. They’re the only team to make the playoffs and get to 50 points in each of the last three seasons.

The Shield Race would have gotten really interesting had Columbus beat D.C. United, but Christian Benteke had other plans. He scored a brace to extend his Golden Boot race lead. He has 21 on the year and remains D.C.’s only attacking hope.

Meanwhile Cucho had an insane assist and goal. Is he now the MVP favorite? We think so. If the Crew lose to Inter Miami today Miami will win their fist Supporter’s Shield in club history.

Americans Abroad

Josh Sargent’s outside-of-the-foot assist was one of the better one’s you’ll see this week. He’s scored 16 league goals since January 1st, three more than any other Championship player. You’d have to imagine a move to the Prem is coming soon.

Folarin Balogun scored again, making it two league games in a row with a goal. He became the 5th USMNT player in the last 40 years to score 30 goals in the top 5 European Leagues.

Ricardo Pepi got his first start of the season, bagging a brace in PSV’s 2-0 win. His first goal came from a free kick header, and his second came from a good angled run across the box. Of players born in 2003 or later, only Elye Wahi (29), Xavi Simons (28), Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala (25) have scored more goals than Pepi (22) across the Top 10 European leagues since the start of the 2022 season (credit: Optajack).

Christian Pulisic scores again. He has 5 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 matches for Milan. Anytime a goal scorer has a run of form like this transfer rumors start flying, with Liverpool already supposedly knocking at the door. He’s the only Serie A player to have at least 20 goals and 10 assists since the start of the 2023/24 season.

His form over past few months in all competitions has been world-class.

The Bottom Dwellers

Several clubs already have one foot on the plane to Cabo. St. Louis, San Jose, Sporting KC, and Chicago have already been eliminated from the playoffs. Austin, New England, and Nashville are not far behind. Let’s dig in to a few of them…

Sporting KC

A US Open Cup Final loss and another disappointing regular season. Is Peter Vermes tenure going to come to an end? Probably not. It’d be hard to upgrade over him. They need to add attacking talent with their 2 open DP spots. Alan Pulido has scored double digit goals only once in his 5 seasons and he’s now 33. That ain’t cutting it.

San Jose Earthquakes

Your 2024 Wooden Spoon Winners. What else is there to say? One of the worst seasons in recent MLS history. They’ve given up 72 goals on the year. With three games left they will likely break FC Cincinnati’s 2019 record of 75 goals allowed. At least Christian Espinoza and Hernan Lopez look like good DP signings. Other than that a full rebuild is needed.

Austin FC

Fans are parading the city in a video billboard truck demanding Josh Wolff gets fired. A couple months ago they were flying “Wolff Out” banners from a plane. I guess there’s a wealthy Austin FC fan who’s fed up.

To add to the dismay, DP Sebastian Druissi reposted tweets saying to fire Josh and move on from him. This is ugly. Change is coming, I can smell it.

2025 Gold Cup and Club World Cup Venues

The 2025 soccer calendar is absolutely packed. It’s going to be awesome.

The Club World Cup will feature 32 clubs from each FIFA governing body playing in 12 stadiums mostly across the East coast. The final will be held at MetLife Stadium. As the 2022 Concacaf Champions League winners, the Seattle Sounders have already locked in a spot in this tournament. One other MLS team will join them. There’s speculation that they’ll have it be Miami so they can get Messi involved but Columbus are the other likely option.

The Concacaf Gold Cup will feature 16 countries playing in 14 stadiums across 11 cities spanning most of West Coast. The USMNT will seek to win it’s 8th Gold Cup.

A proper dress rehearsal for the big shebang in 2026.

Goal of the Week

He overtook Evander for MVP after this game.

Meme of the Week

Crew fans will never let this go hahaha

Quick Hits

• MLS announces partnership with OneFootball (Link)

• Data on who MLS fans think is each teams’ biggest rival (Link)

• Every goal from Messi’s Inter Miami career (Link)

Alright, enough from us. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Max & Mason