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Good morning! Today is the day the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards for soccer’s top players, coaches and teams will be handed out. Americans Emily Fox and Lindsey Heaps are up for the Ballon d’Or Féminin.

Soccer America Daily is edited by Paul Kennedy and Mike Woitalla.

MLS

Playoff races: How things stand

With three weekends left in the 2025 MLS regular season, the races for the Supporters’ Shield and conference regular-season championships are wide open.

We’ll have a better idea how things stand after this week. The focus will be on two red-hot teams, one in each conference.

• Eastern Conference: NYCFC, which has won its last three games, hosts Inter Miami at Citi Field on Wednesday in one of the three games the Herons have to make up. They trail Philadelphia by eight points but would claim the lead if they win all three extra matches. NYCFC then travels to Harrison to face the NY Red Bulls, whose 15-year consecutive playoff appearance streak is in serious jeopardy.

NYCFC keeper Matt Freese. (Photo: NYCFC)

Standings:
1. ✅ Philadelphia (18-7-6), 60 points
2. ✅ FC Cincinnati (18-9-4), 58 points
3. ✅ Charlotte FC (17-12-2), 53 points
4. ✅ NYCFC (16-9-5), 53 points (won last 3 games)
5. Inter Miami (15-6-7), 52 points
6. Orlando City (14-7-9), 51 points
7. Nashville SC (15-11-5), 50 points (lost last 3 games)
8. Columbus (13-7-11), 50 points
🏁 9. Chicago (13-11-6), 45 points
10. NY Red Bulls (12-12-7), 43 points
11. ❌ New England (8-15-8), 32 points
12. ❌ Toronto FC (5-13-12), 27 points
13. ❌ Atlanta United (5-13-12), 27 points
14. ❌ D.C. United (5-16-10), 25 points
15. ❌ CF Montréal (5-17-9), 24 points
Note: 🏁=last playoff spot

• Western Conference: Vancouver, which has also won its last three games, trails San Diego FC by two points but has two games in hand on the expansion team. Both of the Whitecaps’ games this week are Cascadia Cup matches: at home against Portland on Wednesday and at Seattle on Saturday.

Thomas Müller (left) celebrates with Sebastian Berhalter and Belal Halbouni after scoring to give the Vancouver Whitecaps a 3-2 win over St. Louis City. (Photo: Imago/ZUMA Press)

Standings:
1. ✅ San Diego (17-8-6), 57 points
2. ✅ Vancouver (16-6-7), 55 points (won last 3 games)
3. ✅ Minnesota (15-7-9), 54 points
4. ✅ LAFC (14-7-8), 50 points (won last 3 games)
5. Seattle (12-9-9), 45 points
6. Austin FC (12-10-8), 44 points
7. Portland (11-10-9), 42 points
8. Colorado (11-14-6), 39 points
🏁 9. FC Dallas (9-11-10), 37 points
10. Houston (9-13-9), 36 points
11. San Jose (9-14-8), 35 points (lost last 3 games)
12. Real Salt Lake (10-16-4), 34 points
13. St. Louis City (7-17-7), 28 points
14. ❌ Sporting KC (7-18-6), 27 points (lost last 3 games)
15. ❌ LA Galaxy (4-17-9), 21 points
Note: 🏁=last playoff spot

• Concacaf Champions Cup: Both conference regular-season champions and two next best Supporters’ Shield teams will earn berths in the 2026 tournament.

AMERICANS ABROAD

Joe Scally stands out for Gladbach

Joe Scally (Imago via ZUMA Press/ISI Photos)

Malik Tillman opened the scoring for Bayer Leverkusen against Borussia Moenchengladbach, but it had to settle for a 1-1 tie when Gladbach scored in stoppage time with its first goal in four Bundesliga matches.

Of the three Americans who played at the BayArena, the standout was Joe Scally, who returned to the Gladbach starting lineup after sitting out last week under new coach Kasper Hjulmand. Scally had two great chances, making a strong case for a recall to the USMNT after six months away.

Gio Reyna, Scally’s New York buddy, was back on the bench, though. He entered the game for the last 10 minutes.

🎥 Watch: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach highlights

🇺🇸 Weekend review: Big 5 European leagues
🇩🇪 Germany: James Sands‘ St. Pauli lost its first match of the season when it dropped a 2-0 decision at VfB Stuttgart, but it sits a respectable fourth, tied on points with FC Cologne. (Bild weekend ratings: Scally 2, Tillman 3, Sands 4 … 1=high; 6=low.)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Chris Richards‘ Crystal Palace climbed to fifth and remained unbeaten with a 2-1 at West Ham United. Richards was again the stalwart of the Palace back three with a game-high 12 clearances … Antonee Robinson did not dress for Fulham, raising doubts about his availability for the USMNT’s October window. (Sky Sports weekend ratings: Richards 8, Aaronson 7, Adams 6 … 1=low; 10=high.)

Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards during the Premier League match against West Ham United. (Photo: © Imago via ZUMA Press)

🇫🇷 France: Folarin Balogun did not get off the bench for Monaco, which crushed Metz 5-2 to move into second place. Coach Adi Hütter gave German teen Paris Brunner a start and brought on former Barcelona protégé Ansu Fati, who came off the bench and scored two goals. (L’Equipe weekend ratings: Tessmann 7, McKenzie 4 … 1=low; 10=high.)

🇮🇹 Italy: After both started in midweek Champions League action, Weston McKennie (Juventus) didn’t play, and Yunus Musah (Atalanta) was limited to a three-minute cameo. (Gazzetta dello Sport weekend ratings: Pulisic 8 … 1=low; 10=high.)

From the Press:
🇮🇹 Gazzetta dello Sport on Christian Pulisic: “He returns to the starting lineup and is the absolute star of the game. Two goals, an assist. Opponents are almost always forced to foul him. True… Captain America.” (Gazzetta rating: Pulisic 8 … 1=low; 10=high.)

🇪🇸 Spain: Johnny Cardoso (Atletico Madrid) remains sidelined with an ankle injury. Diego Simeone‘s struggling Colchoneros sit in 12th place after a 1-1 tie at Mallorca.

• PSV 2-2 Ajax: An 88th-minute equalizer from Oscar Gloukh extended PSV’s winless streak at home to three games, the longest since September 2016.

Sergino Dest. (Photo Imago via ZUMA Press)

• The first Ajax goal came after a clumsy foul by former Ajax defender Sergiño Dest on Victor Edvardsen.

• Several of Ricardo Pepi‘s best chances were set up by Appleton, Wisconsin product Esmir Bajraktarević, who made his longest Eredivisie appearance, entering in the 38th minute for injured Ruben van Bommel (knee injury).

🎥 Watch:  Gianluca Busio (Venezia) beat Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena) from penalty spot

SCORING CHARTS

Dénis Bouanga scored three goals in LAFC’s 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake to move into a tie for the lead in MLS’s Golden Boot race with Inter Miam’s Lionel Messi on 22 goals.

In the last three weeks, Bouanga has scored eight goals in four LAFC matches (including two hat tricks) and a had hat trick for Gabon against the Seychelles in World Cup qualifying.

• Record hat tricks: LAFC is the first team in MLS history to have a player score a hat trick in three consecutive matches. Besides Bouanga’s two three-goal games, Son Heung-Min scored three goals in Wednesday’s 4-1 win at RSL.

Denis Bouanga had another good day at the office. (Photo: LAFC)

MLS:
1. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), 22 goals (+1 +2)
1. Dénis Bouanga (LAFC), 22 goals (+1 +3)
2. Sam Surridge (Nashville SC), 21 goals

NWSL:
1. Esther González (Gotham FC), 13 goals
1. Temwa Chawinga (KC Current), 13 goals (+1)
3. Ludmila (Chicago), 10 goals

USL Championship:
1. Cal Jennings (Charleston), 16 goals (+1)
2. Francisco Bonfiglio (Miami FC), 13 goals
3. Phillip Goodrum (Louisville City), 12 goals
3. MD Myers (Charleston), 12 goals (+1)
3. Taylor Calheira (FC Tulsa), 12 goals (+1)

Sunday:
• MLS: Results | Standings
• NWSL: Results | Standings
• USL Championship: Results | Standings
• USL League One: Results | Standings

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Lindsey Heaps header helps keep OL perfect

Lindsey Heaps scored OL Lyonnes’ first goal in a 2-0 win over St. Etienne a week after Lily Yohannes scored in Lyonnes’ season-opening 3-1 win over Marseille.

Yohannes also started for Lyonnes while Korbin Shrader replaced Heaps in the 61st minute. Next weekend, the first-place Lyonnes face third-place Paris Saint-Germain, now 1W-0L-1T after a 5-2 win over Nantes. Eva Gaetino started for PSG but Crystal Dunn did not dress.

🎥 Watch (👇): Heaps score her first goal of the season

• England: A crowd of 8,665 fans set a women’s game attendance record at Manchester United’s Leigh Sports Village. They witnessed a 0-0 tie in which American keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made a clutch save on an Olivia Smith shot. Emily Fox started for Arsenal in the tie that has both teams on seven points after three games. Chelsea, with Catarina Macario playing the first 45 minutes and Alyssa Thompson coming on at halftime, won its third straight, 1-0 over Leicester. Californian Celeste Boureille started for Leicester.

BALLON D’OR

Storms create conflict for champion Parisians

Ousmane Dembele of Paris Saint-Germain speaking ahead of the 2025 UEFA Champions League final in Munich. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

So you think soccer and bad weather is confined to the United States?

The Ballon d’Or ceremonies were thrown into flux on Sunday when PSG’s match at Marseille was rescheduled for Monday night due to storms. 

Le Classique — France’s biggest rivalry game — will kick off at the same time as Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremonies at the Théâtre du Châtele in Paris. That’s a problem because a record nine Paris St. Germain players are on the 30-year shortlist for Ballon d’Or and were expected to attend the ceremonies. 

MONDAY MORNING: WHAT WE’RE READING

• The inspiration behind soccer commentator Ray Hudson’s creative superlatives By Matt Ozug and Scott Detrow (NPR)

• USWNT coach Hayes pays tribute to late Beard By Seth Vertelney (Pro Soccer Wire)

• Hartford Athletic match abandoned by players, staff due to alleged use of racially offensive language By Ronan Himelrick (wtnh.com)

• A year on, Manchester City’s legal experts have the Premier League in a corner By Barney Ronay (The Guardian)

🎟️ World Cup 2026 tickets: What you need to know about public sale

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