Happy humpday,

Hope you’re week is going well. Here’s what we’ve got kicking around today…

• 3️⃣ 8️⃣ MLS Match Day 38

• 🇺🇸 Yanks Abroad

• 🎟️ Crazy World Cup Ticket Prices

• 🐍 The Philadelphia Union are Shield Champions

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

MLS Match Day 36

FC Dallas beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 to stay above the playoff line. Petar Musa tied the club’s all-time scoring record with his 18th of the season. It’s their 8th straight game unbeaten and their 23rd point earned this season from a losing position. Dallas has some fight in them, and they could be a frisky outing in the playoffs if they’re able to secure a spot.

It was a bad week for Austin FC. They lost mid-week in the US Open Cup final to Nashville, and then the hangover continued into a 3-1 loss to St. Louis City at home. However, due to San Jose’s loss, they secured a playoff spot for the second time in club history. I don’t have much faith they’ll be able to win a 3-game series, though.

San Diego FC has completed the greatest expansion season in league history. They beat 2018 LAFC’s point record (57) with 60 and St. Louis City SC’s wins record with 18. Powered by another Anders Dreyer brace San Diego overwhelmed Houston and officially ended the Dynamo’s season. San Diego will play for the top seed in the west against Portland on decision day.

The remaining two play-in spots in the West are up for grabs still, with FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake the favorites to snag them. Salt Lake beat the Rapids 1-0 in the Rocky Mountain Cup to all but eliminate them from the playoffs. After winning just 1 of their previous 6, Salt Lake got 6 points from their last two and just need to win one of their remaining two games to secure the spot.

FC Cincinnati relied on its star talent again to take all three points in its 1-0 win over the Red Bulls. Kevin Denkey scored a superb golazo from deep. This is Cincy’s 11th road win of the season, the second straight year they’ve reached that mark, and the 4th time it’s happened in league history. Even though they didn’t lock in home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it doesn’t seem like it will matter.

Yanks Abroad

Mauricio Pochettino called up 26 players for the October camp to take on Ecuador (October 10th in Austin) and Australia (October 14th in Commerce City, Colorado). Both Ecuador and Australia have already qualified for the World Cup. Here is the full squad.

In other USMNT news…

Christian Pulisic’s AC Milan dueled Weston McKennie’s Juventus to a 0-0 draw. Pulisic missed the game-winning penalty, only his second penalty miss of his career. The two shared an embrace after the match and will lead the USMNT this week in their friendlies.

Noahkai Banks scored his first Bundesliga goal, and what a volley it was. Skip to about 20 seconds in for the goal, but the entire highlight reel is worth watching. It’s a bit of a surprise that Pochettino didn’t include Banks in this camp after he had gotten the call up in September.

Haji Wright scored his 8th goal in 9 games. He leads the Championship in goals this season. It’s no surprise Poch included him in the October camp roster.

Patrick Agyemang scored his first Championship goal with this flying header. Excited to see him up top for USMNT during the International window.

World Cup Ticket Prices

The Visa Presale lottery opened up last week for those that were chosen (check your email if you applied!). Unsurprisingly, there was unprecedented demand for tickets. So much so that FIFA already raised prices for 9 games in response to the demand.

FIFA made about 1M tickets available in the Visa presale, about 15% of total ticket inventory. The rest will be made available throughout the remaining phases.

FIFA launched their own resale platform where tickets were quickly listed by scalpers for several times what they paid for. FIFA charges both buyers and sellers a 15% fee for any tickets sold through their platform. Resale tickets are also available on Stubhub. 

FIFA also have a digital collectables platform, FIFA Connect, where fans can purchase “Right to Buy” tokens to bypass the lotteries. These “right to buy” tokens don’t include a ticket but simply give you access to buy them without getting accepted through the lottery.

Here’s a rough comparison of ticket prices between this World Cup and 2022 in Qatar. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised by any of this. FIFA is profit driven. Soccer is a game for the people but the people are being priced out. It’s just the sad reality of it.

The Union are Regular Season Champs

The Philadelphia Union secured their second trophy in franchise history on Saturday after beating NYCFC 1-0 to win the Supporters Shield. The win clinches the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference with home field advantage throughout the playoffs, plus a spot in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Absolutely nobody (including us) had the Union winning this trophy coming into the season. After only winning 9 games last season, losing a legendary coach, and not making any big additions to the squad, everyone’s expectations were low. The job that Bradley Carnell has done in his first season in charge is nothing short of sensational.

With Carnell, the Union instituted a high-pressing system that suffocated opponents. It was combative and vertical. Michael Uhre’s game winning goal on Saturday was the perfect example. They pressed, forced a turnover, and quickly transitioned into the attack to catch NYCFC off guard. Per American Soccer Analysis, the Union played the fewest passes in the league in their own third of the field. This led to just 33 goals allowed, a league low. They’ve done all this with one of the league’s lowest payrolls and without making big splashy signings. They’re one of Major League Soccer’s model franchises.

St. Louis City SC must be furious for letting Carnell go midway through last season. He’s found a new home that’s embraced his style of play and proven everyone wrong. In his post game press conference, Carnell immediately scoffed at a question about being fired by St. Louis. You can tell he’s also happy to be in Philly.

Soak it in, Alejandro Bedoya!

Goal of the Week

He scored two from outside the box. This was his second.

Meme of the Week

All jokes aside, congrats to Nashville for securing the first trophy in franchise history and the first professional title won by a team in the state of Tennessee. They deserved it. They are one of 5 expansion clubs in league history to make the playoffs in 5 of their first 6 seasons. A trophy was coming sooner than later. Now they’ve got it.

Quick Hits

• Hartford Athletic are USL Cup Champions (Link)

• MLS legend Darlington Nagbe set to retire at the end of the season (Link)

• Tata Martino to LAFC rumors heat up (Link)

• Jordi Alba will retire at the end of the season (Link)

• Messi’s hat trick of assists against New England (Link)

That’s all. If you have any feedback, please let us know!

Max & Mason