USA

Houston Dynamo forward Amine Bassi made MLS history with his 65th-minute penalty goal in the Dynamo's 3-0 win over the LA Galaxy on Saturday night. Bassi became the first player in league history to score on a penalty in four straight games.

As calm as Bassi's penalty was, the lead-up was chaos. The Dynamo (3-3-0, 9 points) had great pressure and were working through the Galaxy box when a Dynamo player went down but no penalty was called.

A terrifying Mal Swanson injury overshadowed the USWNT’s 2-0 victory vs. Ireland in a friendly match at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.

Swanson went down injured twice in the first half. The first came when Swanson collided with goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan after Ireland’s Aofie Mannion shoved Swanson in the back. The star American forward was down for several minutes with what appeared to be a neck injury.

The United States men’s national team plays soccer better than the likes of Germany and rivals Mexico. FIFA confirmed this on Thursday in the latest world rankings.

FIFA last released the men’s rankings on Dec. 22, 2022.

The USMNT didn’t see any movement as the Stars and Stripes remain the 13th best nation in the world. Germany sits 14th while Mexico fills out the top 15.

By the time the USWNT and Ireland wrap-up their two-match friendly series next Tuesday at CityPark, there'll be less than 100 days before the start of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

So although the U.S. holds a 13-0-0 advantage all-time against the Girls in Green (outscoring them 48 to one in the process), there'll be plenty of internal battles to focus on at Q2 Stadium in Austin on Saturday before the second game in St. Louis three days later. 

With one victory, Leeds United climbed from 18th and relegation to the comfortable heights of 13th on Tuesday night at Elland Road. But with nine matches still to play and the gap between Leeds and 20th-place Southampton just six points, there's still a lot of post-Jesse Marsch ball to come this campaign.

Leeds got strong performances out of Luis Sinisterra, Jack Harrison and Marc Roca in a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest while there was also special praise for Weston McKennie alongside Roca in the team's two-man midfield.

In a shocking twist to Chelsea’s managerial merry-go-round, the London club is talking to former player and manager Frank Lampard for a potential reunion. Lampard would be a caretaker manager until the end of the season as the club figures out a long-term manager.

Lampard oversaw Chelsea from July 2019 through January 2021 when he was replaced by Thomas Tuchel. Lampard then spent a year managing Everton from January 2022 until January 2023. He was sacked after Everton sat 19th in the league.

After a hectic 167-game regular season, the Major Arena Soccer League is on the verge of its exciting postseason. The playoff format is new for this season and will see ten teams competing for the Ron Newman Cup throughout April and May. Best of all, you can tune in to watch all the action for free as the games are streamed live on Twitch.