SEATTLE — Major League Soccer is closing out its 24th season this weekend with a rubber match: For the third time in four years, the Seattle Sounders and Toronto F.C. will play for the league championship in M.L.S. Cup. While the matchup, as well as the stage, is familiar for both the teams and the […] More
KATOWICE, Poland — Buried on page 49 of a dry procedural document published by the World Anti-Doping Agency last year is a paragraph that threatens to be a major headache for the organizers of next summer’s European soccer championship. The monthlong tournament, Europe’s quadrennial continental championship, is set to be a celebration of soccer on […] More
The judge overseeing the United States women’s national soccer team’s gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer granted the players class status on Friday, an important victory for the women that appeared to support the claim that they are subjected to unequal working conditions and unequal pay when they played games for their country. The players […] More
Want more soccer in your inbox? Sign up to receive Rory Smith’s weekly newsletter every Friday. For months, if not longer, Granit Xhaka will have heard the grumbles whenever he misplaces a pass. He cannot have failed to hear the groans when he shoots from range. He will have noticed the howls of rage when […] More
ROCHDALE, England — Alfie McLellan was grumbling as he walked out of the low-slung, lopsided stadium that his team, Rochdale, calls home. It was not so much that Rochdale had lost that bothered McLellan. Rochdale fans like him know, from long experience, not to expect to win, especially not when playing a team like Ipswich […] More
Australian soccer’s governing body has announced what it calls a landmark agreement with the players union to close the pay gap between the men’s and women’s national teams. The men’s team, the Caltex Socceroos, and the women’s team, the Westfield Matildas, will receive equal shares of total player revenue as part of a four-year deal […] More
