MLS All-Stars fall to LIGA MX All-Stars
The LIGA MX All-Stars earned revenge in the 2024 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target, securing a 4-1 victory over the MLS All-Stars.
Garber “encouraged and excited” by Indianapolis expansion talks
MLS Commissioner Don Garber has left the door open to more expansion clubs teams joining the league in the future, specifically regarding early and ongoing discussions with Indianapolis, Indiana.
The All-Star Game is over and it’s time to start focusing on the second edition of a full-scale Leagues Cup. Some teams have a tougher path to a trophy than others. That starts with their first two games. Here’s who’s got the most to worry about during the group stage.
(I’ll be honest, most of these seem pretty straightforward if you’re actually a good soccer team.)
15. West 3: St. Louis CITY SC, FC Dallas, FC Juárez
14. East 5: New England Revolution, Nashville SC, Mazatlán FC
13. East 7: Atlanta United, Santos Laguna, D.C. United
12. East 2: Orlando City SC, Atlético de San Luis, CF Montréal
There’s not a clear favorite in any of these groups because, well, none of them are all that great at soccer right now and haven’t been all year. Only one of these MLS teams is higher than ninth place in the standings and it’s an Orlando side that only recently has started to get their life together. The highest Liga MX finisher in last season’s Clausura is Juárez and they finished 12th out of 18 teams. They have one draw and three losses in their first four games of the Apertura.
Your guess is as good as anyone’s as to which two teams come out of these groups.
11. West 4: Toluca FC, Sporting Kansas City, Chicago Fire FC
Toluca finished third in last year’s Clausura, outpacing Monterrey, Tigres, Chivas and Pachuca. They’re undefeated through four games this year. They are the absolute surest bet to make it through their group of any team in the competition.
10. West 7: LAFC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Club Tijuana
9. East 1: FC Cincinnati, New York City FC, Querétaro FC
8. West 8: Houston Dynamo FC, Real Salt Lake, Atlas FC
7. West 2: Chivas de Guadalajara, San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy
6. East 3: Tigres UANL, Puebla, Inter Miami CF
5. West 1: CF Monterrey, Pumas UNAM, Austin FC
There are two teams in each of these groups that seem to have a spot in the Round of 32 waiting for them. But a misstep against another good team can make that extremely winnable game a lot more nerve wracking.
That doesn’t change the fact those extremely winnable games are extremely winnable. Xolos, Querétaro, Atlas, San Jose, Puebla and Austin all have a steep uphill battle ahead of them.
4. West 6: Seattle Sounders FC, Minnesota United FC, Club Necaxa
It didn’t feel fair to put this group in the trying their best tier and it didn’t feel right to put them in the tier with two clear favorites. There’s still reason to believe Seattle and Minnesota can get it together here.
The Sounders have actually been somewhere around good to great when they’ve been able to keep all 11 players on the field. They’re on a 1.75 points-per-game pace in the 20 games they haven’t gotten a red card. They’re 0W-3L-2D when they get someone sent off. They would very likely be a top-four team in the West without those mistakes. And now, DP attacker Pedro de la Vega is starting to get consistent minutes.
Meanwhile, Minnesota United have been going through it over the last two months. They were never quite as good as their record suggested, but they’re certainly not as bad as their 1W-2D-7L record since June 1. They were noticeably different with players like Tani Oluwaseyi and Dayne St. Clair away on international duty. Now, they have a chance to get back on track during Leagues Cup while they work on bringing in a DP to replace Bebelo Reynoso.
Oh, and Necaxa technically finished in the top half of Liga MX last year. Don’t overlook them too.
3. East 6: Pachuca, New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC
The reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winners will definitely have their hands full with a good Red Bulls side and may end up getting more than they bargained for from Toronto FC. That might be generous to Toronto - like really, really generous - but they still have Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne. They can pull magic out of a hat at any moment. That’s enough to make them potentially disruptive. They are still technically in a playoff spot, by the way.
2. East 4: Philadelphia Union, Charlotte FC, Cruz Azul
Cruz Azul should have more than enough juice to advance here, but don’t count out Charlotte and Philadelphia. You should know by now that Charlotte are one of the best defensive sides in the league, but we’re just finding out what they look like in an attack with two DP forwards. Karol Swiderski is still reintegrating into a team that looks a lot different since he left. A Charlotte side that can score a little more often is one that can make a deep run in this tournament.
Then there’s Philadelphia. It’s been, to be blunt, a total nightmare of a season. But it’s not a total wash yet. Their underlying numbers are still decent and they’ve looked a lot more like themselves lately. They steamrolled New England 5-1 last week and followed it up with a 3-0 win over Nashville. They have a long way to go before they’re back to the standard we expect, but maybe, just maybe, they’re starting to get hot at the right time.
1. West 5: Club León, Portland Timbers, Colorado Rapids
It feels odd, but León, the 2023 Champions Cup winners, might be the weakest team in this group. Colorado and Portland have been playing some of the best ball in MLS for a while now. Both are one of the five teams this year who have scored 50 goals and they’ve been trending upward over the last couple of months. They may still be a step short of contender status in MLS, but the upside for both is remarkably high. Meanwhile, León struggled through last season and have started this year winless in four. Still, they’re not far enough removed from a major trophy to count them out.
New York Red Bulls sign Carmona to new contract: The New York Red Bulls have signed midfielder Wiki Carmona to a new contract through 2027 with an option for 2028. Carmona, 21, is in his fourth season with the Red Bulls. The Venezuelan youth international has 5g/4a in 67 career MLS appearances.
- Columbus Crew players got an "incredible" reception at the MLS All-Star Game.
- The game delivered a full-circle moment for Columbus.
- Catch up with Diego Luna, Hugo Lloris and more.
- The East won the 2024 Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Game.
Good luck out there. Make yourself at home.
