Somewhere along the journey through this odd, compacted hiccup of an MLS season, things became muddled for Los Angeles FC, its impeccable early-season and back-from-World Cup form dissipating through a tedious series of ties and losses that turned a legitimate title contender into “they’re not going to miss the playoffs, are they?” The past two […]
Scott French
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
‘Last Guest’: A gay soccer redemption
How two young filmmakers — with help from Robbie Rogers and, in a roundabout way, Charlie Davies — created the year’s most penetrating documentary portrait and provided a long-lost English/NASL standout a new lease on life. WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Two inexperienced filmmakers, new in town with no significant credits to their name, stumble upon […]
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World Cup 2026 postscript: The full picture
It was the best of World Cups, it was the worst of World Cups. Yeah, so cliché, sorry, but Dickens nailed this one: The biggest, bestest, mostest, worstest World Cup we’ve ever seen, a parade of magic and light, and — Clockwork Roja aside — a parody of achievement. A collision of great performance and […]
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LA rivalry ‘El Trafico’ on the crest of MLS’s World Cup wave pursuit
Major League Soccer returns this week from a two-month pause, ready to take the reins from a rousingly vibrant World Cup — on the cusp of this weekend’s Spain-Argentina final — and lure into its fold millions of unattached North American fans (and a few more across the globe) who’ve been devouring the world’s game […]
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Spain’s art of control has smothered its foes. An explosive France awaits.
Spain doesn’t impress like France does. There’s none of the bravado, nothing resembling the explosion of the French attack — so pacey, so patient, so deadly — nor much of the flash the three geniuses at its fulcrum so casually summon. Les Bleus thrill. They blow you away. Spain might lull you to sleep. It’s […]
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Spain is right where it aimed to be
It’s mostly been about France and Argentina so far this World Cup, insofar as championship chatter goes, and with good reason. Who’s not excited about France and Argentina? Messi and Mbappe and Olise and Dembele and such paving the inevitable path to a July 19 showdown in East Rutherford? Count us in! Their extraordinary runs […]
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Etch Stephen Eustaquio’s name among the legion of Canadian heroes
It was, Richie Laryea proclaimed, “a moment I don’t think Canadians will ever forget.” A “moment of magic,” Alistair Johnston put it. “A monumental moment,” noted Liam Miller, one that “can change the perspective of our country forever.” Add Stephen Eustaquio to Canada’s pantheon of sports legends after his stoppage-time strike took down South Africa1-0 […]
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USMNT takes ‘gut punch’ but priorities are elsewhere
So the United States doesn’t sweep through Group D, heads into the World Cup’s knockout stage off defeat — and what a stunning defeat, right at the last tick of the clock — and sees all that momentum built through the invigorating victories over Paraguay and Australia disappear into the mist. So what? Thursday night’s […]
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Cristian Roldan wants to play
Cristian Roldan is living the dream, a key piece of a U.S. team that has galvanized the nation with searing World Cup victories over Paraguay and Australia, inspired true belief that a final-four run, maybe even — dare we say it? — a championship could be within reach, and has done so in his backyards. […]
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Group G thrown on its head as ‘shameful’ Belgium struggles
This was supposed to be the simple group, the slam-dunk group, the start of a final, satisfying sendoff for Belgium’s “golden” generation.