"To represent my country in a soccer game, there's just nothing better than that."

— Christian Pulisic, 2020

Never mind.

— Christian Pulisic, last week

With the World Cup, one the U.S. will play at home, just 380 days away, Captain America has decided to take a pass on the national team's last major competition ahead of the tournament.

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LOS ANGELES — Carlos Vela, the first player signed by LAFC and still the club record-holder in goals, assists, games and minutes played, announced his retirement Tuesday. The team said in announcement that Vela will work with LAFC as its first Black and Gold Ambassador. He will also be honored on Carlos Vela Night at BMO Stadium on Sept. 21.

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SAN DIEGO — If you went to Saturday’s soccer game in Mission Valley, you won’t soon forget how it ended.

The game-winning goal and the explosion of joy it unleashed was a reminder of why sports events remain king in the country’s crowded media market, and why fans put up with the hassle of traffic and other inconveniences to attend ...Read more

Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates headed to Philadelphia with a palpable sense of urgency to defeat the first-place Union on Saturday, fueled, in part, by a players-only meeting Sunday night after the team’s 3-0 home loss to Orlando City.

Despite its star-studded lineup and lofty preseason expectations, the team has slipped to sixth ...Read more

Inter Miami delivered much-needed good news to its fans Thursday amid a slump during which the team has just one win over the past six games.

The club announced that it signed star left back and 2024 MLS All-Star Jordi Alba to a contract extension through the 2027 season.

“I’m happy to renew my contract because I have the desire to ...Read more

How does an iconic team that has had just one home for the past 133 years pack up all that history, culture and tradition when it comes time to move across town?

Very carefully.

Everton FC has been playing at Goodison Park, just north of central Liverpool, since the Victorian Era. And in that time the so-called Grand Old Lady has hosted more ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Women's World Cup will expand to 48 teams and 104 games in 2031, making it the largest and longest women's tournament in history, FIFA announced Friday. The event is widely expected to be held in the U.S., the only country to bid for the rights to the competition.

FIFA is scheduled to announce a host country next summer.

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CHICAGO — Chicago Stars striker Mallory Swanson and her husband, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, announced Wednesday in a joint Instagram post that they’re expecting their first child.

Mallory Swanson hasn’t played this season after the Stars released a statement Jan. 27 that she wouldn’t be participating in training camp for “personal...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Growing up Japanese American in Southern California, Saki Watanabe had plenty of role models who showed her she could be whatever she wanted to be. There were baseball players, judges, politicians and actors. Writers, artists, teachers and business leaders.

But there was nobody doing what she wanted to do, which was play soccer....Read more

MIAMI — A crowd of 60,000-plus awaits Lionel Messi and his teammates for the second weekend in a row as Inter Miami takes on the Columbus Crew at Cleveland’s Huntington Bank Field in a Saturday afternoon battle of the only unbeaten teams in Major League Soccer.

The game was moved from the Crew’s cozy 20,000-seat Lower.com Field, which ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo will step down at the completion of the season and return to Germany, the club announced Friday.

"It is an honor to be the head coach of LAFC," Cherundolo said in a statement. "After much reflection and discussion with my family, we made the decision that at the end of this year we will return to...Read more

MIAMI — Inter Miami is about to embark on arguably the toughest back-to-back road trips in club history and Lionel Messi will have two newly signed teammates along for the journey, 18-year-old Ecuadorean forward Allen Obando and 21-year-old Argentine midfielder Baltasar Rodriguez.

Obando is on loan from Barcelona SC of Guayaquil and ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The first question about any new sports franchise is whether its games can be entertaining enough to attract and retain fans.

San Diego FC, the new soccer squad in town, has gone for broke on the pitch since the first whistle blew. That style earned respect. But, without special talent, tactical gusto goes only so far.

Turns out,...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Saturday's women's soccer friendly between the U.S. and Brazil was billed as a rematch of last summer's Olympic final. That was a bit of a misnomer since two-thirds of the women on the 23-player U.S. roster weren't in Paris last August.

Even the uniforms weren't the same.

As for the result, only the score was different, with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Trinity Rodman is taking a coffee break.

Not a break for coffee. A break from coffee. Specifically espresso.

Last summer Rodman and teammates Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson (née Smith) combined for 10 goals and five assists to lead the U.S. to its first Olympic title in women's soccer in a dozen years. One of the three had ...Read more