Ryder Cup 2025: Team Europe latest qualification standings as Bob MacIntyre moves behind Rory McIlroy
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The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
MLS teams are losing their home field advantage – and that's no bad thing
For nearly two decades, Major League Soccer's home teams enjoyed a striking edge. When fans filled stands in cities from Miami to Vancouver, they could typically count on seeing their team win about 60% of the time. It's a notable mark. The Premier League saw home teams win just 45.7% of matches between the league's inception in 1992 up to the start of the 2024-25 season. But as 2025 unfolds, MLS home-win percentages have slumped to the mid-40s – putting the US and Canada league roughly in line with English and European norms. Rather than suggesting decline, though, the shift signals maturity: an American league evolving into a globally competitive, balanced championship. In its early years, the competitive balance of MLS was shaped by the league's geography and infrastructure. The vast distances between cities, frequent long-haul flights across multiple time zones, high-altitude arenas like Colorado's and patchwork playing surfaces made away games gruelling. And home teams capitalized. Data covering the last 15 seasons shows how a rise in home win percentage came to a peak at 56% in 2017. But since then, it has steadily declined to the current all-time league low for the 2025 season of 44%, almost precisely in line with the Premier League average. This stark dominance of home teams in MLS was always seen as somewhat unnatural – results shaped by a concoction of quirky conditions rather than sheer sporting merit. When refereeing decisions skewed towards 'home cooking', stadiums were hostile and travel wreaked havoc on routines, the raw result was a clear disadvantage for away sides. MLS was an outlier compared to its top European counterparts not because its teams were vastly better at home, but because away fixtures were uniquely punishing. The geography of MLS road fixtures hasn't changed, but the response to it has. Clubs now send players on charter flights, design travel routines to combat jet lag and ensure sleep and training adhere to circadian science. In an interview with the Guardian before leaving LAFC, striker Olivier Giroud discussed the physical toil of an MLS travel schedule and the need to prioritise proper rest and recovery. 'Here, I've already done 20 hours of flight in a month,' the French striker said. 'So it's important to be even more professional in your recovery – sleeping well, eating well and doing the treatments you need to be fit.' Members of the Vancouver Whitecaps staff once publicly stated that the club adapts training, meal timing and sleep schedules to match West Coast rhythms and reduce circadian disruption ahead of arduous road trips. Dr Ben Sporer, who was part of the club's sports science team, explained to the St Albert Gazette they 'keep them on the same pattern that they've been used to' to maintain performance across long travel trips. 'Basically from the standpoint of the players,' he added, 'they don't feel like they're dealing with this circadian rhythm change that throws you off and makes you feel fatigued later in the day.' Another factor that has likely contributed to a flattening of the home-away playing field is a continual uptick in refereeing accuracy, as MLS has embraced VAR and invested in referee training, which reduces home bias. Academic research, including Carron and Paradis' 1992 report on home advantage in sports, shows that officiating bias is one of the most consistent drivers of home field advantage. With VAR in use, decisions over marginal offsides or fouls are less likely to tilt toward the home side. MLS' Professional Referee Organization (Pro) has publicly acknowledged past officiating errors and committed to greater transparency, aligning the league with global standards. Less referee bias equals fewer undeserved points for home teams, levelling the competitive field. The tactical revolution MLS has undergone over the last decade is another contributor. Teams now travel with play strategies built around pressing systems that suppress opposition creativity in a more aggressive manner than the kind of sit-back-and-defend approaches more common in the past. Bolder tactical systems call for midfielders not to drop back and augment the defense – thus inviting pressure and ceding possession – in away games but to press high and control tempo. The archetypal away performance is now one of tactical discipline and ruthless exploitation of hard-earned openings, not bodily surrender and hoping for set-piece serendipity. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion Large crowds once translated into bigger margins for home teams, but that effect is diminishing, too. In 2006, research showed an extra 10,000 fans delivered about 0.1 extra goals per match in England. Yet, while new stadium designs often seek to amplify crowd noise, and although passionate fan cultures have developed, their impact on results appears mitigated by the improved preparation of visiting teams and greater referring scrutiny. MLS' trajectory mirrors other professional leagues. Home advantage across sports has declined as travel has improved, refereeing has become more consistent and tactics more sophisticated. A little past the midway point of the 2024-25 Premier League season, home wins had fallen to just 39% – eventually rising to 41% by the end of the campaign – a level only seen during the Covid era of empty arenas. This shift has implications: the value of home advantage for playoff qualification is now contextual rather than assumed. Teams that still rely on fortress mentality must now invest in tactical flexibility, squad depth and mental resilience. As parity reigns, home games still matter, but they're no longer automatic points. Away teams are better prepared, travel strategies refined, referees more consistent and coaches smarter. The geography might still bite, but not as deeply as it once did. The shift towards home and away parity suggests that MLS has graduated from a quirky outpost in the global soccer landscape to a structured league where points are earned, not gifted. There are plenty of factors that make MLS wonderfully unique within the wider football world, but the shifting home-away dynamic shows that in terms of play, preparation and infrastructure, US soccer's top division is now a match for its European counterparts. For a league still looking for global respect, aligning its home win percentages with European norms is a sign of convergence in competitive standards. MLS's tumbling home-win rate isn't evidence of decline – it's proof of growth.
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
Canadian teen speedster McIntosh takes aim at Ledecky's throne
NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Canadian teen sensation Summer McIntosh is coming for American legend Katie Ledecky's crown as the swimming portion of the World Aquatics Championships kicks off in Singapore on Sunday, marking a tantalising new chapter of their rivalry. Ledecky has kept a tight grip on the 800 metres freestyle, winning four Olympic golds and hoping to become the first swimmer to win seven world titles in a single event when she takes on the distance in Singapore. In May, she shattered her own world record, bettering the mark she set nine years previous. "I've always approached each race with a mindset that something like that could happen," Ledecky told the outlet SwimSwam after the race. "Even as that didn't happen for many, many years, I still maintain that approach." Only the 18-year-old McIntosh appears capable of standing in her path at worlds. She came within two seconds of the 28-year-old American's mark last month, signalling the chance that fans could soon see a changing of the guard. She famously ended Ledecky's 13-year unbeaten streak in the event in 2024, when she bested the American by nearly six seconds at a sectionals meeting in Orlando, Florida. "Anytime I get to race Katie, it's a learning experience and it's always a good race," she told reporters this month. "We bring the best out of each other." McIntosh completed one of the greatest weeks in swimming history with a hat-trick of world records in June, becoming the first to break three different individual long-course records in one meet since American Michael Phelps in 2008. She broke the world marks in the 200m and 400m individual medleys, as well as the 400m freestyle, another event where she will face off against Ledecky in Singapore. McIntosh and Ledecky finished second and third on the podium, respectively, in the 400m at the Paris Olympic Games, behind Australian Ariarne Titmus, who is not competing at worlds. McIntosh's goal in Singapore is to become the first since Phelps in 2007 to win five solo golds at a single World Aquatics Championships, with the 200m butterfly, 200m medley and 400m freestyle also on her agenda. She hopes to compete in five individual events at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, as well. "I'm trying to see this new challenge and see if I can do five events individually and how well I can do in them and how I can manage it... doing that run through now, three years out, is definitely something that will give me lots of confidence," she said.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
World Pool Championship 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Fedor Gorst into last 16 TODAY but Jayson Shaw CRASHES OUT
THE World Pool Championship 2025 is rapidly heading to a dramatic conclusion in Saudi Arabia! All eyes will be on Fedor Gorst to see whether he can win a record-equalling THIRD world title after a dramatic triumph over Eklent Kaci last year. The reigning champion is into the last 16 after a big win on Thursday, but British icon Jayson Shaw has now CRASHED OUT of the tournament, losing 11-9 to Jefrey Roda. This year, there is a record-breaking prize pot of $1million (£850,000) with a staggering $250,000 awaiting the champion. Follow ALL of the latest updates below... 21st Jul 2025, 16:01 By Nyle Smith Welcome to the World Pool Championship 2025 The world's best cueists will once again battle it out for the crown jewel of the Nineball Tour as the World Pool Championship returns for 2025! Fedor Gorst held off a sensational Eklent Kaci fightback to win last year's incredible final 15-14. The Ghost seemed as if he was set to run away with the win after securing an early 3-0 lead, but a combo of misplaced shots and mistakes saw the match go into the final rack with a 13-13 score. However, an accidental scratch dashed Kaci's hopes of becoming world champion, which led to Gorst methodically clearing the table to earn his second title. It also meant that Gorst etched his name in history as the youngest ever to win multiple World Pool Championship titles. A win this year would put him level with Earl Strickland on three titles for the most ever. But the Russian-born American resident will have to compete with a field looking better than ever. Gorst's biggest rivals, such as 2024 finalist Eklent Kaci, Spanish sensation Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Singaporean star Aloysius Yapp, American idol Shane van Boening and Scottish superstar Jayson Shaw, will all be among the 128 players in action.
