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Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Projecting USA's 2026 World Cup squad: Tillman, Luna leapfrog Reyna post-Gold Cup
FIFA Men's World Cup Projecting USA's 2026 World Cup squad: Tillman, Luna leapfrog Reyna post-Gold Cup Published Jul. 22, 2025 5:45 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Just because the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup ended in tears for Mauricio Pochettino doesn't mean the U.S. men's national team coach didn't get what he wanted this summer. Sure, winning the tournament was the priority. After a hastily thrown-together group of Americans — a group that was missing star forward Christian Pulisic and about a dozen other regulars — willed their way to the final before losing a hard-fought match to rival Mexico in front of 71,000 mostly El Tri fans, of course it hurt. But Pochettino learned an awful lot about his players in June and July — lessons that will help inform the many difficult decisions he must make next May, when the co-hosts' 26-man roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup must be submitted to global soccer's governing body. Ten months out, who projects to make the cut? Here are our best guesses as things stand today. Goalkeepers (Photo by Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images) Starter: Matt Turner Backups: Matt Freese, Zack Steffen Just missed out: Chris Brady, Diego Kochen, Patrick Schulte, Gaga Slonina Although Pochettino was determined to give another keeper a look during the Gold Cup — Freese became the beneficiary when Steffen and Schulte withdrew from the squad because of injury — Turner projects to reclaim the No. 1 job. He should at least get the chance: The 2022 World Cup starter is expected to leave Premier League Nottingham Forest for French club Lyon before the Ligue 1 season kicks off next month. Turner, 31, would replace Brazilian Lucas Perri, who has drawn interest from England this summer. ADVERTISEMENT Freese probably played his way onto the 2026 roster at the Gold Cup; his three saves in a shootout win over Costa Rica (and legendary Ticos backstop Keylor Navas) sent the Americans to the semifinals. The third spot is still up for grabs. But the smart money is on veteran Steffen. Had he not been sidelined, the 31-year-old former Manchester City backup would've been Pochettino's Gold Cup pick. Defenders (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images) Starters: Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee "Jedi" Robinson Backups: Max Arfsten, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Walker Zimmerman Just missed out: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, John Tolkin, Auston Trusty When the 2022 World Cup ended, few expected then-35-year-old Ream to continue with the USMNT. Almost three years later, nobody else has beaten out the wily left-footed center back for the open spot next to the rock-solid Richards, who was a revelation for the USMNT at the Gold Cup. That could still happen between now and next summer. As it stands, though, the job belongs to Ream, who served as Poch's captain throughout the regional championship. Dest and Jedi both missed the Gold Cup while recovering from injury but are clear locks at fullback if healthy. Freeman and Arfsten emerged this summer as their likely understudies a year from now. Holding midfielders (Photo by) Starters: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie Backups: Johnny Cardoso, Sebastian Berhalter, Yunus Musah, Tanner Tessmann Just missed out: Gianluca Busio, Luca de la Torre, Aidan Morris For the U.S. to succeed on home soil, they'll need Adams and McKennie on the field. Poch could even reunite those two with Musah, who together formed the impressive "MMA" midfield that shut down pre-tournament favorite England at Qatar 2022. Berhalter is the biggest mover behind them, and the son of former USMNT Gregg Berhalter's accuracy on set-pieces gives him an advantage over the more experienced De la Torre. Lyon's Tessmann should return after being left home for the Gold Cup. Meantime, Cardoso remains an enigma at the international level. An ankle injury limited the 23-year-old box-to-box type to just 10 Gold Cup minutes, but it didn't prevent Spanish titans Atlético Madrid from dropping a $35 million transfer fee on him last week. Attacking midfielders (Photo by) Starter: Malik Tillman Backup: Diego Luna Just missed out: Jack McGlynn, Gio Reyna With three goals in six games, Luna got much of the buzz at the Gold Cup. Not only did Tillman match that production, his quality, maturity and toughness were on display all tournament. There's no reason to think that the 23-year-old won't take that confidence into the European season with new club Bayer Leverkusen, which Tillman joined last week following back-to-back titles (and UEFA Champions League knockout stage appearances) with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven. Then there's Reyna. The oft-injured playmaker seems as far away from the USMNT as ever after logging only 12 minutes off the bench during Borussia Dortmund's run at the FIFA Club World Cup. He's made just one cameo under Poch. Multiple European reports have the 22-year-old headed to Italy's Parma, which could be an ideal fit. As it stands today, however, it's obvious that Reyna is on the outside looking in. Wingers (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/AC Milan via Getty Images) Starters: Tim Weah, Christian Pulisic Backups: Brenden Aaronson, Haji Wright Just missed out: Paxten Aaronson, Damion Downs, Quinn Sullivan Even if Pochettino elects not to summon Pulisic for the September friendlies against Japan and South Korea after Pulisic skipped the Gold Cup, the coach and his most irreplaceable player need each other. They'll find a way to get onto the same page in the lead-in to the World Cup, where Pulisic will be front and center for the USMNT. But the classy, fleet-footed Weah is almost as important on the other side, where he can stretch defenses and open up space for teammates. As Poch's Gold Cup selections showed, there is a dearth of true wingers in the American player pool after Pulisic and Weah. Wright would've gotten more of a look but left camp with an Achilles problem after scoring in the group stage opener. Still, he's performed under Poch and can also play as a center forward. And while Aaronson doesn't seem to be the coach's cup of tea, there isn't an obvious alternative. While Downs saw more time off the bench in the knockout stage, most of those minutes came in a central role. Striker (Photo by Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images) Starter: Ricardo Pepi Backups: Folarin Balogun, Josh Sargent Just missed out: Patrick Agyemang, Brian White Not only is Pepi fully healthy again following surgery to repair a torn meniscus he suffered after scoring the game-winning goal over Liverpool in a Champions League match last January, he enters the new campaign as PSV's first choice striker following the departure of club legend Luuk de Jong. That's huge for the 22-year-old Texan. Balogun should also be fit after an injury-plagued 2024-25; an ankle issue forced the Monaco man out of Gold Cup consideration. It's an open race between those two — one Agyemang has been leading with Sargent overlooked by Poch this summer. But projecting out 10 months, Sargent might have the advantage. Word is he's returning to the German Bundesliga with Wolfsburg, which would be the perfect step up for a player who was the best at his position in England's second tier Championship last season. Either way, Agyemang's own move comes with significant risk. The rangy (6-foot-4) 24-year-old just left MLS's Charlotte for Derby County — a club that finished 19th in the Championship last term and scored just 48 goals in 46 games — and will surely need time to settle on and off the field. Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. 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Vancouver Sun
26-06-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
FIFA World Cup cost to B.C.: Is it $624M or $740M? Still worth it, says tourism expert
The provincial government and City of Vancouver provided some answers to the long-simmering FIFA World Cup funding questions on Wednesday, and promptly raised a host of new questions. The overall costs of planning, staging and hosting seven FIFA World Cup 2026 matches will cost the province between $532 million and $624 million — a total split between several jurisdictions — and one counterbalanced by a predicted revenue of $1 billion for the tournament. But in their estimation of gross revenue of $448 million to $478 million, strictly derived from taxes, venue rentals fees and transportation, is a line of $116 million in a federal contribution. Which, since it's funded by taxpayers, could actually make the total cost as much as $740 million, not $624 million. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. A provincial spokesperson provided a response, but not quite an answer: 'The Government of Canada's commitment of up to $115.660 million is counted as revenue as it offsets gross core hosting costs (operational and capital expenditures) related to the hosting of the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup in Vancouver.' The bid to be a World Cup host city, a roller-coaster in itself, was a polarizing process. Even as recently as last July, an Angus Reid poll showed that B.C. residents felt it 'wasn't worth it' by a three-to-one margin . But that is short-term thinking, said Professor Jarrett Vaughan of the UBC Sauder School of Business. 'As expert in the field of tourism, it is an excellent thing for this city and this province — and we need more of this,' he said. 'We need more events like the World Cup coming to Vancouver to showcase our city on the world stage — because we have something to showcase. Cities who don't have something to showcase need these events to bring people in one-time. We need these events to bring people back a second, third, fourth and fifth time, because once they experience it, they typically want to come back. 'These world-class events are really important for us, because I think people underestimate how important tourism is to our province and to our city. It is our second largest industry after forestry. We can't ignore these things … these are very important job providers to our local economy. … They create jobs that people can continue to try to afford to live in this very expensive and inflated economy that we live in.' The estimate of $1 billion in revenue was in a report conducted by B.C. Stats and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport in partnership with Destination B.C., based on data from Sport Tourism Canada, and separate from a FIFA-derived report claiming a $1.9 billion bump. And Vaughan agreed he thought the billion-dollar claims were realistic ones, with Vancouver's history — including the Women's World Cup, 2010 Olympic Games, annual surge of cruise ship passengers and Expo 86 — providing an accurate road map of what to expect. The 2010 Winter Games laid claim to a $1.884 billion revenue total, offset by the massive infrastructure upgrades needed to host. The World Cup will only have one venue — B.C. Place — and various training sites located around town and at UBC. PavCo, the Crown corporation that runs B.C. Place , is undergoing retrofitting and renovations that will run between $171 million to 181 million, including the hydroponics to keep a natural grass turf alive for the duration of the tournament. 'When these kind of numbers are produced, they're generally based on things like tourism, tourism receipts, looking at the number of people that are anticipated to enter the city, the number of people that are anticipated to be spending money in hotels, based on average daily rates, average spends at restaurants, the average number of dollars that people have to spend on retail and transportation,' he said. 'So these are fairly predictable measurements, because we know how many seats are in the stadiums, and that helps experts anticipate these revenue numbers.' More than 350,000 visitors are expected to come to Vancouver for the World Cup games next year, and the organizers repeatedly pointed to data that shows first-time visitors to B.C. are likely to return four times over their lifetime. The Province forecast an additional one million visitors in the five years above the norm following the World Cup, and an additional $1 billion spread out over that time frame. 'If the games are successful, if there's no significant issues, and if the weather is reasonable while people are here, it's very reasonable to think that's possible. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who comes to Vancouver on a sunny day who doesn't want to come back,' he said. But Vaughan says Vancouver hosting the event is not without its challenges. 'We don't have enough hotel rooms in the city. We don't have the capabilities to hold enough people in the city, because the cost of land and the incredible bureaucracy of both the province and the city of Vancouver imposes on developers. So the removal of these things are really important so we can continue to hold these events, because they're the lifeblood of the city. 'I hope to see more things like this. … It doesn't get much bigger than the World Cup. But there's still lots of huge events around the world, especially related to sports, that we could be able to host in due time, and maybe one day we'll see the Olympics return to Vancouver.'
Fox Sports
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo Reportedly Agrees to New Deal With Al Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo will remain with Al Nassr. The all-time soccer legend is set to sign a new deal with Al Nassr, insider Fabrizio Romano reported Wednesday. The contract will reportedly be a one- or two-year deal. Ronaldo, 40, joined Al Nassr in January 2023, signing a record-breaking deal at the time to leave Manchester United. As his contract was set to expire on Monday, there were rumors that Ronaldo could leave the club. Ronaldo has continued to play at a high level for Al Nassr in his two-plus seasons with the club. He led the Saudi Pro League in scoring in each of the last two seasons, scoring 25 goals in league play and 35 goals across all competitions in 2024-25. But Al Nassr has yet to win a Saudi Pro League title with Ronaldo, finishing third this past season. This is a developing story and will be updated. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily. recommended Get more from FIFA Men's World Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Business Insider
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Business Insider
Photos show how the FIFA Club World Cup is playing to half-empty stadiums
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup kicked off on June 14. If you didn't know it was happening, you're not alone. Photos show the tournament, which is being held in US stadiums, has been poorly attended thus far. From June 14 to July 13, some of the best soccer teams in the world will be playing each other across the US in the 21st FIFA Club World Cup. If you're thinking, "Wait, isn't the World Cup in 2026? What's the Club World Cup?" you're right to be confused. The FIFA Men's World Cup is in 2026 and will be played in stadiums across the US, Mexico, and Canada by teams representing entire nations, similar to the Olympics. The Club World Cup, revamped this year to compete with other popular tournaments like the typical World Cup, the Champions League, and the Euros, features clubs from across the world instead of countries. It'd be like if the Dodgers played the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Unfortunately for these world-class players, some of the stadiums for the first round of the tournament have been less than packed. The BBC reported that during the opening round of the tournament, there were 979,373 available seats across the first 16 games. Of those, 556,369 were filled, leaving 423,004 seats empty. The Guardian puts average attendance at 43% capacity. One first-round game was filled to just 13.6% capacity. The Ringer said there's been "no tangible momentum or excitement" for the tournament, held just a year before the better-known World Cup. Some of the teams don't have huge fan bases outside of their local markets, since they don't typically play on a world stage. Other potential reasons for low attendance could include the time of the games — many have been held in the middle of the workday — and soaring temperatures. Ticket prices don't appear to be the problem. Late Friday, June 20, tickets were available in almost every section for the June 21 game at MetLife Stadium. Prices start at $31.79, with tickets in the seventh row from $66. The Athletic reported before the 2025 competition kicked off that students were being offered a five-for-$20 deal for games — essentially $4 a ticket. That's not to say all the games have been poorly attended. The most-attended game of the first round, per Inside FIFA, was the June 15 match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Atlético Madrid at the Rose Bowl, with 80,619 people in attendance. (That left almost 10,000 empty seats.) FIFA has not responded to a request for comment from Business Insider regarding the low attendance thus far. Here are 16 photos showing how the stands have looked during the first stage of the Club World Cup. At the first match, held at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on June 14 between Egypt's Al-Ahly and Inter Miami FC, there were plenty of empty seats. The next day, Brazil's SE Palmeiras played Portugal's FC Porto at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The lower stands were full, but the seats up top were almost empty. Across the country in Seattle, things were not faring much better at the Seattle Sounders match against Botafogo of Brazil. This photo of Chelsea fans at the June 16 match against Los Angeles FC in Atlanta looks like the "Ted Lasso" intro. Here's a wider view of the game, showing some filled seats but lots of empty ones. The stadium holds 70,000 people. Attendance was 22,137. On June 17, Fluminense FC (Brazil) and Borussia Dortmund (Germany) faced off at a half-empty MetLife Stadium. West Coast games weren't faring any better. We feel for this lone fan at the Monterrey/Inter Milan game at the Rose Bowl on June 17. Per the BBC, the lowest-attended match, though, was on June 17 in Orlando's Inter & Co. Stadium. In the stands were 3,412 fans, who were there to watch South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns FC play South Korea's Ulsan HD. That's 13.6% of the stands' capacity. On June 18, sections were empty at the match between Manchester City FC and Wydad AC, a Moroccan team, at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field. Down the coast, many seats were available at a match between Real Madrid CF and Al-Hilal Saudi FC at Hard Rock Stadium. There were 5,282 fans at this game between CF Pachuca (Mexico) and FC Salzburg (Austria) in Cincinnati. That's 20% capacity. Source: BBC Not even Lionel Messi was a big enough draw to pack the stands at Inter Miami's match against FC Porto in Atlanta.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Atlanta's FIFA Club World Cup matches kick off this week
The FIFA Club World Cup takes over Atlanta starting on Monday. There will be six matches over the next three weeks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium featuring some of the biggest soccer clubs in the world. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Atlanta officials expect to draw thousands to the matches and use the FIFA Club World Cup as a trial run for the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup. Advertisement Atlanta's World Cup Hosting Committee gave an update on its readiness last week. Chair Dan Corso thinks Atlanta is moving forward parking with soccer's international governing body. 'I mean, we are a big event city. We know how to work together. We know how to make things happen. But we also know that we're ready because we get great feedback from FIFA,' Corso said. FIFA Club World Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium June 16, Group D: Chelsea vs. LAFC, 3 p.m. June 19, Group A: Inter Miami vs. Porto, 3 p.m. June 22, Group G:Manchester City vs. Al Ain, 9 p.m. June 29, Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up, Noon July 1, Group F winner vs. Group E runner-up 9 p.m. July 5, Winner match 51 v Winner match 52, Noon You can click here to see tickets for each game. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
