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Morning Espresso, 3.7: No Messi for Miami last night, World Cup qualifying and expansion discussion
Welcome in for another edition of the Morning Espresso from the SDH Network, brought to you by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta's premier undergraduate learning experience and soccer powerhouse.
The U.S. (and Canada in some of these) now has more professional teams in its top three divisions than England has in its top four divisions. The 2nd Division USL Championship and 3rd Division USL League One and MLS Next Pro kick off their 2025 seasons this weekend. Including MLS, there's 97 professional teams playing this season (we'll leave NISA out of this for now because no one seems to know what 2025 looks like for them).
The NWSL Challenge Cup is tonight as well as the curtain raiser for their season. The trophy will be decided between last year's double winners Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit. Their regular season starts next Friday.
Lionel Messi missed his second straight game, but Inter Miami won 2-0 over Cavalier FC of Jamaica last night in Ft. Lauderdale. The National Stadium in Kingston will be packed full next week, will Messi make the trip?
Neymar will be back with the Brazilian national team for important World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina later this month. It's his first call up in 17 months as he's playing his way back into form at Santos.
Keep an eye on the Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid triangle of chaos. Will they push Carlo out the door if he wins La Liga or Champions League this season? Raul is already hitting the escape hatch. He's been at the second team in Madrid since 2019, but now he's linked with Schalke, where he finished his playing career.
Big games this weekend in the Premier League as the only remaining storyline in the table is the race for Champions League spots. 6 points separate 3rd through 10th and there could be three Champions League spots on offer for that group of teams.
FIFA is going to consider a proposal for a one-off (yeah right) expansion of the World Cup to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2030. The president of the Uruguayan federation proposed expanded the tournament to 64 teams. Logistically, it makes sense for a format but it would be a massive challenge to execute. Luckily this tournament is spread out on either side of the Atlantic Ocean and might get more games in South America if the tournament expands, but is any of it feasible?
Check out the video below for more nuggets of news you should know about today. Thanks for being a subscriber and have a great weekend!
Published on 3 months, 4 weeks ago