Soccer <\/p>\n
After 15 rapid-fire matchdays, Major League Soccer hit the pause button Sunday night, calling a timeout not quite halfway through the 2026 campaign as the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> looms across North America. On Monday, participating players \u2013 including a long list from this league \u2013 must report to their respective national team camps for final preparations.<\/p>\n For the next 52 days, the world\u2019s biggest and most popular tournament will play out at 16 venues<\/a> across the continent, including five MLS stadiums, plus many more facilities utilized for training bases, viewing parties and more.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a high-intensity sprint to this point, and players, coaches and staff alike will be grateful for the extensive rest and reflection ahead, before the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs race resumes in mid-July.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how the first half wrapped.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Music City chorus<\/strong><\/p>\n Your current MLS pacesetters as we slide into a nearly two-month World Cup side quest: Nashville SC<\/a>, just a single point ahead of Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a> on 33 points from their first 14 matches.<\/p>\n With Saturday\u2019s tight 2-1 victory<\/a> over New York City FC<\/a>, the Coyotes are unbeaten in their last eight, undefeated at GEODIS Park (6W-0L-1D) and still own just one single solitary loss in league play (10W-1L-3D).<\/p>\n While we\u2019re all quite accustomed to raving, with good reason, about stars like Hany Mukhtar<\/a>, Sam Surridge<\/a> and Cristian Espinoza<\/a>, this win epitomized the sturdy collective crafted by head coach B.J. Callaghan & Co.<\/p>\n Maxwell Woledzi<\/a> thumped home a powerful header to claim the points, his first career MLS goal and a fitting reminder that the Ghanaian center back\u2019s been arguably the league\u2019s premier defensive signing of the year thus far. And the pinpoint cross came from Bryan Acosta<\/a>, the veteran midfielder\u2019s third goal contribution in as many matches, the Honduran having really stepped up with usual starters Eddi Tagseth<\/a> and Patrick Yazbek<\/a> out injured.<\/p>\n Freshly robbed of their venerable linchpin Maxi Moralez<\/a> by a tragic ACL tear<\/a>, NYCFC were plenty good here, tabbing more ball possession and superior expected goals, particularly down the stretch. You might have thought it was a US men\u2019s national team<\/a> starter in goal for Nashville, not NYCFC, based on the shot-stopping of\u00a0Brian Schwake<\/a>, the previously-unheralded young \u2018keeper who we reckon outshone his opposite number Matt Freese<\/a> on balance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re really proud of the group, the mentality that they’re putting in, the contributions that we’re getting from multiple players, the amount of experience in big games that guys are getting,\u201d said Callaghan. \u201cThat’s going to pay real big dividends for us as we move into this second part when we resume.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these experiences that you go through, you have to become sort of battle-tested, and we’re exposing a lot of guys to those elements.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Miami maelstrom<\/strong><\/p>\n Inter Miami<\/a> and the Philadelphia Union<\/a> apparently watched Saturday\u2019s battery of wild results and decided to one-up everyone.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the closest thing to an explication we can muster for the Herons\u2019 unhinged 6-4 win<\/a> over Philly Sunday night, last year\u2019s MLS Cup presented by Audi and Supporters\u2019 Shield winners throwing down an unprecedented eight combined goals in the first half as tropical showers washed across Nu Stadium.<\/p>\n Milan Iloski<\/a> bagged a hat trick in the most defense-optional first half you\u2019ll lay eyes on, only for the grizzled legend himself, Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a>, to roll back the years with a hattie of his own as Miami pulled away down the stretch. It was a game with few equals in MLS history<\/a>.<\/p>\n What tosses all that in the shade, however, is the injury concern that prompted an early exit<\/a> for Lionel Messi<\/a>, as millions \u2013 maybe billions \u2013 of eyes around the world will watch and wait for news of the GOAT\u2019s status ahead of Argentina\u2019s World Cup title defense.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n FC SIXinnatti<\/strong><\/p>\n Fifty minutes in, and things were looking pretty, pretty good for Orlando City<\/a> on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Locked in an Eastern Conference dogfight with FC Cincinnati<\/a> at TQL Stadium, one of the league\u2019s more imposing venues, the central Floridians had just drawn level at 2-2 via Mart\u00edn Ojeda<\/a>\u2019s second strike of the night. They\u2019d made the perfect start to the game, pressing high to discomfit Cincy and snatch an early lead, while another such tally had been chalked off by an offside decision.<\/p>\n Then\u2026 well, Evander<\/a> dialed up his Evander-ness to 11.<\/p>\n FCC\u2019s Brazilian maestro tore Orlando’s wobbly defense to shreds, scoring his second strike and assisting on two others as Cincy reeled off four unanswered goals to shell their visitors by a final score of 6-2<\/a> that was not at all a fluke, as their expected-goals total of five suggests. Evander finished the night with an astonishing five goal contributions<\/a> (2g\/3a) and 10 key passes; for perspective, Anders Dreyer<\/a> leads MLS in that category with 44 TOTAL this season.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s taken his game to another level in this moment,\u201d head coach Pat Noonan said of his side\u2019s silky No. 10, \u201cwith production, with consistency in his play, and the scary thing is, there’s more.\u201d<\/p>\n This victory lifts Noonan\u2019s men to seventh in the East going into the World Cup pause, a timely course correction after their Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> campaign sapped their league fortunes. The Ohioans have scored at least two goals in eight straight matches, and while the fact that they only won three of those games is an indictment of their defensive frailties, Cincy look a lot more like the trophy contenders we expected in 2026.<\/p>\n As for Orlando\u2026 they\u2019re well below the playoff line at 4W-9L-2D, have conceded by far the most goals in MLS (44 in 15 games, a record-smashing pace), and will surely contemplate comprehensive changes during the break. At least they\u2019ve got Antoine Griezmann<\/a>‘s arrival and a US Open Cup<\/a> semifinal in September to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Wilf says goodbye<\/strong><\/p>\n Some 13 minutes into Charlotte FC<\/a>\u2019s 1-0 defeat<\/a> of New England<\/a> on Saturday, Wilfried Zaha<\/a> looked primed to delight the 24,640 fans at Bank of America Stadium.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Receiving a pass in a dangerous pocket just outside the Revolution\u2019s penalty box, the Ivorian-English star got double-teamed, yet immediately left both defenders for dead with a genius swivel that allowed an open shot at close range. Alas, with goalkeeper\u00a0Matt Turner<\/a> at his mercy, Zaha fired his finish straight into the goalkeeper\u2019s gloves.<\/p>\n Skillful, promising, committed, just not quite fully clicking: It felt like a summation of his mercurial 17 months or so on loan in North Carolina. The English Premier League legend announced his departure<\/a> with a classy social-media post on Sunday, and while The Crown still bagged the win, digging up a deserved goal from Idan Toklomati<\/a> and hanging on at the end after a costly David Schnegg<\/a> red card handed the Revs the advantage for the final stages, we\u2019re left with a vague sense of \u2018what might have been.’<\/p>\n As usual, Zaha was the most fouled player on the pitch \u2013 he\u2019s the most-fouled player in the league and has regularly complained about officiating \u2013 and conjured up some decent chances for himself and others with his unmistakable quality.<\/p>\n Charlotte are in the playoff places at sixth in the East and are undoubtedly better when he\u2019s on the pitch. Yet they\u2019re essentially playing .500 ball, with just a +1 goal differential, and Zaha\u2019s 13g\/14a in 44 regular-season games is good but not quite good enough for the club to make him an offer he can\u2019t refuse, instead opening up a Designated Player spot for the summer transfer market.<\/p>\n With his Galatasaray contract up, Zaha is a free agent and can\u2019t be blamed for exploring the open market, either. Maybe he wants to go home to London. Maybe he wants to find one more big payday. Heck, maybe he\u2019ll even wind up somewhere else in MLS come July. Wouldn\u2019t that be intriguing?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n District of Chaos<\/strong><\/p>\n We have a confession to make.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a dirty, some might even say shameful habit, one that likely disgusts the purists. But we love sloppy, slipshod defenses. Not for any team we\u2019d be supporting ourselves, mind you; this is very openly the preference of a neutral observer who values drama, wide-open tempos, and goals upon goals above all.<\/p>\n So despite the guts on display in Nashville and the freewheeling fun of Cincy-Orlando, D.C. United 4-4 CF Montr\u00e9al<\/a> is our must-watch of the weekend \u2013 a spicy, messy smorgasbord of a match at rainy Audi Field in which the hosts led 3-1 in the 51st minute, then 4-2 as second-half injury time arrived, yet still managed to fumble away two points in a highly entertaining manner.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the excellent Prince Owusu<\/a> would not be denied, notching a hat trick thanks to a Video Review penalty-kick decision before teeing up Hennadii Synchuk<\/a> for a point-blank equalizer in the 96th minute.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure either of these teams are making the playoffs. But I sure had fun.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Nashville top the East and league tables. Out West, the Vancouver Whitecaps and\u00a0San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> share the lead on 32 points (though the \u2018Caps own pole position thanks to a game in hand and thus a slightly higher points-per-game average) after both banked confident intra-conference road wins on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Vancouver made fast work of San Diego FC<\/a>, 4-2<\/a>, via a first-half brace from Brian White<\/a>, while a Preston Judd<\/a> double steadied the Quakes\u2019 ship for a 3-1 defeat<\/a> of the Portland Timbers<\/a>, also made possible by six saves from Brazilian goalkeeper Daniel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Those excellent \u2018Caps are the only team who have beaten FC Dallas<\/a> lately. Even with spearhead Petar Musa<\/a> already off to join Croatia\u2019s World Cup squad, the North Texans churned out a 2-1 win<\/a> at Colorado<\/a> Saturday to cap a 4W-1L-0D May and climb up to fourth place in the West. We\u2019ve seen enough: FCD are legit.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nAround the grounds<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n