Soccer
Seven-goal barnburners in Charlotte, Frisco and Cincy, five each in Music City, KC and Gotham, and a statement game or two from teams with something to prove.
MLS Matchday 5 was a wild one, giving everyone in the league at least something to chew over as we shift into a massive March international break. Let’s serve it up.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 23, 2026
Messi shaves, goes yard
On Wednesday night, Nashville SC stunned North American soccer (and beyond) by advancing past Inter Miami in their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series via the away-goals rule, a painful setback for a Herons side intent on adding that trophy to their fast-growing collection.
Here’s one possible metric for how much that setback stung: Lionel Messi shaved his beard afterwards, making a fresh, clean start for Sunday’s visit to Yankee Stadium for a matinee duel with New York City FC. You could argue it worked, too.
The GOAT clanged a few shots off the woodwork before finally beating Matt Freese with a deflected free kick, his fourth league tally of the season, as the Herons and Pigeons treated us to a pulsating thriller that eventually broke in the visitors’ direction. Messi’s incision and a late Micael header fueled a 3-2 comeback, bounce-back win for Miami head coach Javier Mascherano, branded “absolutely crucial for a whole bunch of reasons.”
Read my colleague Harrison Hamm for the full context of a victory which “showed everyone we’re still champions,” in the words of IMCF homegrown Ian Fray.
“In the second half, the boys showed great character by turning the result around. We had control and they got ahead of us – it’s not easy to reverse this,” said Mascherano in Spanish.
“What happened on Wednesday was a hard blow. We had so much hope of being able to continue, but what happened, we can’t change.”
Nasty Nashville
We talked at midweek about Nashville’s CCC besting of Miami as a milestone result for an ambitious team on the rise, and B.J. Callaghan’s side emphatically restated their big-boy bona fides with a 5-0 home hammering of woebegone Orlando City on Saturday.
Paced by a hat trick from early MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi leader Sam Surridge and all-around brilliance from newcomer Cristian Espinoza, the confident Coyotes could easily have drilled a few more past Maxime Crépeau and the Lions, who made clear that the issues in Orlando run deeper than departing head coach Oscar Pareja.
“Coming into this game, we wanted to have an elite mentality. We want to have a mentality that, no matter the circumstances, we want to be the aggressor,” said Callaghan of his side’s dominance. “The energy here in the stadium gave us that boost early on.”
Beyond being one of MLS’s four CCC quarterfinal survivors, Nashville now top both the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings with a 4W-0L-1D record, ahead of LAFC, the league’s only other remaining undefeated side, on goal differential.
Hold steady
For their part, LAFC again displayed what’s been their superpower thus far in ‘26 with a 0-0 draw at Austin: Rock-solid defensive fidelity.
The Black & Gold are the only team in MLS yet to concede a single goal in league play. And while a side with their wealth of attacking genius have good reason to consider this trip to Central Texas two points dropped, it’s an acceptable result given their heavy Concacaf Champions Cup exertions in Costa Rica Tuesday night.
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 18, 2026
LAFC needed a last-gasp golazo from David Martínez to advance past LD Alajuelense and set up a mouthwatering quarterfinals clash with Mexican heavyweights Cruz Azul next month. So for now, the old Concacaf mantra ‘win at home, draw on the road’ may suit Marc Dos Santos & Co.
“Acceptable” also describes the 0-0 draw earned by another CCC participant, Seattle Sounders FC, on their chilly Sunday visit to James Rodríguez’s Minnesota United.
Though James made his home debut off the bench for the Loons, this one wasn’t the most memorable of matches, and that’s just fine for the trophy-hunting Sounders, who’ll soon cross swords with mighty Tigres UANL in the CCC quarterfinals.
Where did that come from?!?
Caution and structure have been a central focus under Dean Smith at Charlotte FC, so perhaps the weekend’s biggest surprise was The Crown’s attacking explosion on Saturday, with Pep Biel and Wilfried Zaha leading a 6-1 demolition of unlucky Red Bull New York before another big, vibrant crowd at Bank of America Stadium.
CLTFC had only scored four goals across their first four matches. So even with a 53rd-minute red card to Gustav Berggren, their relentlessness was striking.
Turns out Smith prepared his team for this game by playing clips of the ferocious off-ball work that powered Liverpool and Manchester City’s great recent squads, setting the tone for their aggressive outlook vs. the young Red Bulls.
“You just saw the intent from the boys. We were absolutely buzzing. The boys were flying, winning their battles, and we just looked energetic,” said Australian striker Archie Goodwin after he bagged a brace off the bench.
“He wants us to engrave that in our game, win our battles, be an aggressive team and just win everything, be on the front foot at all times. I think tonight that showed.”
If Charlotte really are serious about being more assertive, it could push them to another tier this season.
A Lone Star hoedown
Nowhere was the Matchday 5 action more feverish than the Texas Derby scrap at Toyota Stadium. FC Dallas edged old rivals Houston Dynamo FC, 4-3, in a chaotic classic that started 2-0 in FCD’s favor, then flipped on its head as H-town’s new Brazilian star Guilherme masterminded a furious fightback to snatch a 3-2 Dynamo lead before halftime.
Dallas’ Croatian 2026 FIFA World Cup hopeful, Petar Musa, entered after halftime and changed the game again, instigating a Houston own goal before stabbing home a dramatic late winner that confirmed what some of us have been saying for a while now: Eric Quill’s FCD are for real.
If you watch nothing else from this one, though, make it the truly special skill shown by Musa’s partner in crime, Logan ‘Hot Dog’ Farrington, on his jaw-dropping first-half goal:
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) March 22, 2026
“I saw Shaq [Moore], he locked eyes with me and played a great ball over the back shoulder of the defender. I knew if I could bring it down, I’d have a chance to get a shot off,” Farrington said later.
“I’m confident in my touch, but that one surprised me; it was even better than I planned. I hit a fake shot to make him commit, then went right through his legs into the far corner.”
Big wins, and a first win
The San Jose Earthquakes, too, appear to be for real. The Quakes shook off last week’s Seattle setback by jetting north to British Columbia and dealing Vancouver Whitecaps FC their first league loss, grinding out a 1-0 away W after Beau Leroux smashed this stunner into the top corner just before halftime:
SCREAMER FROM LEROUX 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ly9fCTIge4
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) March 22, 2026
So Timo Werner gets the best of his old Germany teammate Thomas Müller, and the Quakes draw level with the ‘Caps in second place in the West on 12 points apiece, extending their excellent start.
“Vancouver is a very good team, and they’re coming off a tough, congested schedule,” said San Jose head coach Bruce Arena. “We may have had a slight physical edge tonight because of that, but I don’t want to take any credit away from our players. We played here last year and were embarrassed, so this shows how much progress we’ve made as a team.”
The three points tasted extra sweet for St. Louis CITY SC, as they banked their first victory under first-year boss Yoann Damet with a well-deserved 3-1 defeat of New England at Energizer Park, clinched by a gorgeously clever long-range hit from Marcel Hartel.
This was a vital result for a CITY squad still grieving the recent passing of influential star Eduard Löwen‘s wife, Ilona, a shot of belief after playing well yet often going empty-handed in their early games under Damet.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 22, 2026
The Colorado Rapids also showed out at an early juncture in the Matt Wells era, posting their third win in four via a four-goal outburst at Sporting Kansas City, highlighted by some inspired counterattacking. The seeing-eye backheel from Rafa Navarro to set the stage for Paxten Aaronson’s opener is my pass of the week:
Darren serves it up on a platter and Paxten does the rest🍽️😤#SKCvCOL pic.twitter.com/nhbVbExZ8d
— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) March 22, 2026
Meanwhile, in the basement…
Now only two teams remain winless in 2026 league play, and it’s a duo we’re accustomed to ranking among the East elite: Philadelphia and Columbus.
A dispiriting 2-1 home loss to Chicago takes the Union to 0W-5L-0D, which makes them the last side without a single point to their credit, and combined with their midweek ConcaChampions elimination at the hands of LIGA MX giants Club América, it constitutes a four-alarm fire for last year’s Shield winners.
“If this were Europe, this is a relegation-type feel,” said boss Bradley Carnell afterwards, calling his team “a little fragile” given all their recent struggles.
“We track things in five-game blocks, and that’s probably one of the worst five-game blocks I’ve ever been a part of,” added the 2025 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year. “So we’re going to use this [international] window now to set the tone, set the rights from the wrongs and make sure we do our due diligence and get to the bottom of it.”
The Crew, for their part, let slip an early lead at Toronto FC and could muster a mere 0.9 expected goals over 90-plus minutes as TFC beat them 2-1 on the back of a late winner and some inspired defensive play from veteran Walker Zimmerman. The fluid Columbus attacking sequences of years past are only appearing in spots and patches, with Diego Rossi and Steven Moreira chief among those who look like shadows of their best selves.
“It’s still a little bit [like] we played with the hand brake [on]. Very disappointed,” said head coach Henrik Rydström. “We can use the word ‘soft,’ that we concede too soft goals.”
Read MoreNancie Badon