These flags add colour to any games or tournaments organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and a look below the surface can reveal plenty about the history of African nations and their fight for independence.

The social and political aspect of football has been especially prominent at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, thanks mostly to DR Congo supporter Michel Kuka Mboladinga, who raised awareness of one of Africa’s greatest revolutionary leaders.

In this spirit, and on the back of an ad hoc “AFCON flag of the day” social media series, here’s a lighthearted ranking with serious backstories that begin to reveal important moments in the history of the African continent.

5 - Sudan

Sudan is in the midst of the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis, affecting more than 25 million people.

I wrote about this in more detail here in a Morning Star newspaper column.

As a result, Sudan has been playing its recent AFCON and World Cup qualifying home games in Libya.

A couple of the nation’s biggest club sides, Al Merrikh and Al Hilal, played their domestic league football in Mauritania last season, leading to the unusual occurrence of the Al Hilal club from the Sudanese city of Omdurman topping another country’s domestic league in 2025.

As a guest team, they were not awarded the title, meaning second-placed Mauritanian club, FC Nouadhibou, claimed the league trophy for the eighth consecutive season, but it was still a notable achievement for the team from Omdurman.

For the 2025/26 season, Al Hilal and Al Merrikh will compete in the Rwandan Premier League. Al Hilal currently sit atop the league table, with the potential to make more history in 2026.

The Sudan men’s national team won AFCON on home soil in 1970, just months before the flag was changed from the old blue, yellow, and green version, shown below.

Since May 1970, Sudan’s flag has used the pan-Arab colours of red, white, and black based on the flag of Egypt, with additional green triangle to complete the colours representing Arab liberation.

4 - DR Congo

Throughout each of their games at AFCON 2025, DR Congo supporter Michel Kuka Mboladinga replicated the stance of Patrice Lumumba, a Congolese revolutionary who was a key figure in African and Congolese independence.

Lumumba was assassinated in 1961 following a joint plot between political opponents, Belgium, the US, with support, or at least not opposition, from the UK.

As Mboladinga went viral, it increased awareness of Lumumba and what he stood for, ensuring this AFCON delivered an important history lesson and further exposed the history of US interference in foreign countries, which continues to this day.

3 - Uganda

Uganda failed to win a game at this AFCON, but can take some solace from the fact that they have one of the best flags in the world.

The bird featured in the centre is the Grey Crowned Crane, the national bird of Uganda, depicted stepping forward to represent progress.

The men’s and women’s national teams are named after it via their respective nicknames, the Cranes and the Crested Cranes.

2 - Angola

The first of two Soviet-looking flags at the top of this ranking, with the hammer and sickle replaced by a cog and machete.

The constitution of the Republic of Angola states that the bright red represents the blood shed by Angolans during the period of colonial oppression, the national liberation struggle, and the defence of the country. Black represents the African continent.

The cog wheel symbolizes the workers and industrial production, while a machete symbolizes peasants, agricultural production, and the armed struggle.

The star is to symbolize international solidarity and progress.

A striking, no-nonsense design with plenty of meaning and symbolism, putting it in the elite tier of world flags.

1 - Mozambique

There is plenty going on in the flag of Mozambique.

It contains both sets of pan-African colours — the green-yellow-red based on the Ethiopian flag (as Ethiopia was considered the African country most resistant to colonization) and the red-black-green of the Pan-African (capitalized) movement centred around black liberation.

Mozambique has adopted this combination of colours as part of its own story, and in its constitution states the following meaning:

The significance of these colours shall be as follows:

• a) red – the centuries of resistance to colonialism, the armed national liberation struggle and defence of sovereignty;

• b) green – the riches of the soil;

• c) black – the African continent;

• d) gold – the riches of the subsoil;

• e) white – the justice of the struggle of the Mozambican people, and peace.

The star shall symbolise the spirit of international solidarity of the Mozambican people.

The book, the hoe and the gun shall symbolise study, production and defence.

A CIA description of the flag says the star stands for “Marxism and internationalism,” likely due to its similarity to the Soviet flag, with the hoe end gun bearing similarities to the hammer and sickle ☭

Honourable mentions for some other AFCON flags of the day throughout the tournament.

Burkina Faso

Tanzania

Zambia

Equatorial Guinea

Botswana

While Olympic men’s football might not be as high profile or as lucrative as the sport’s other international tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup, the European Championship and Copa America, there is still a place for it at the Games.

There is no harm in football taking a back seat once in a while, blending in with other sports as part of a wider event rather than smothering them as it can do at most other points in the sporting calendar.

At the same time, not having men’s football at the Games would leave a hole.

Once the laws of association football were established around the world in the late 1800s, and nations began to field teams to represent them, the popularity of international football steadily grew. The Olympic Games were one of the first manifestations of this as an organised global international tournament.

As it was held as an unofficial Olympic sport or as exhibition games between club sides at the Olympics in 1896, 1900, and 1904, the first Olympic men’s football tournament with representative national teams was the 1908 London Olympics. The 1900 and 1904 editions are recognised by the International Olympic Committee, but participating nations were represented by club sides on both occasions.

Regardless of which of these is officially considered the first, the Olympic football tournament is older than the FIFA World Cup (first held in 1930), and older than the famously old Copa America (1916). It is even older than the U.S. Open Cup (1913/14).

The World Cup itself was introduced partly as a result of the popularity of football at the Olympic Games and has now grown into FIFA’s lucrative footballing behemoth.

Football matches at the Olympics still sell out and make money for the organisers, but the more understated, less commercial, relatively unfamiliar nature of these games contributes to the overall variety of sports at the Olympics without overwhelming the event.

A big-money football league season or international tournament can flood the sports media. Even the most uneventful matches can get pages of coverage.

In terms of football’s place within the media landscape, perhaps there are lessons to be learned from the way the Olympics are covered, with the increased variety of sports being embraced by readers and enjoyed by writers.

This variety is also evident within the football tournament itself. The restriction on squads to players under 231, with exceptions for up to three overage players, can produce an intriguing dynamic.

Those young players can use the tournament to increase their profile, while the handful of older players can strive towards a unique, once-in-a-lifetime achievement.

Olympic football is also held at venues across the host country, not just in the city bearing the name of that particular summer Olympics, which helps spread the atmosphere of this sporting festival around the country.

If that host country is an established football nation, it is also a chance to reinforce that identity. If it sees itself as an up-and-coming football power, it is a chance to show as much.

Brazil, for example, didn’t win an Olympic football tournament until 2016, when it hosted the Games in Rio de Janeiro. This was a big deal for Brazil, as despite having won more World Cups than any other nation, and regularly picking up Copa America titles, it craved the Olympic gold missing from its collection.

Losing out to Mexico in the final of the 2012 London Olympics only furthered that desire.

Brazil eventually winning gold in 2016 went some way to making up for its failure to win a World Cup on home soil in 2014, and for many of those players, winning Olympic gold will be the pinnacle of their careers.

The Rio Olympics will go down as one of the highlights of the career of one of Brazil’s best players in recent times, Neymar, who, in the final against Germany, scored during regular time and went on to score the winning penalty in the subsequent shootout.

Brazil went on to win again in Tokyo in 2020, but the lack of dominance of the usual names in this tournament is another of the things that makes it a worthwhile exercise.

There are regular complaints that the more established international tournaments, whether club or national teams, can be predictable due to the uneven distribution of global wealth.

The Olympic football tournament can sometimes go against this. There have been 19 different gold medalists in Olympic men’s football while there have only been eight different World Cup winners.

Hungary’s Golden Team of the 1950s didn’t manage to win the World Cup, but it did win Olympic gold in Helsinki in 1952.

One of the great goalscorers of his time, Sándor Kocsis, finished the tournament with six goals, one behind top scorer Branko Zebec of Yugoslavia, while Ferenc Puskás scored in the final against Yugoslavia. 

Other names synonymous with Hungary’s Golden Team of that era—József Bozsik, Nándor Hidegkuti, Gyula Grosics, and Zoltán Czibor—each picked up gold medals.

No African team has ever won the World Cup, but two have won Olympic gold. The Nigerian gold medalists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics featured Jay-Jay Okocha, Celestine Babayaro, Daniel Amokachi, and Nwankwo Kanu, who scored a Golden Goal to defeat Brazil in the semifinal.

Four years later in Sydney, Cameroon replicated the success of their neighbours, defeating a Spain team that featured Xavi and Carles Puyol thanks to a goal from Samuel Eto’o and a successful penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw.

The heavy workload on players in modern football can lead to relative unfamiliarity in some of the squads, which again is refreshing in a sport where there are fewer and fewer undiscovered players.

Many of the reasons given for removing men’s football from the Olympics such as the lack of big names, the subsequent lower profile of the matches, and it not being the Main Character of the Games, might actually be the best arguments for it to remain.

Low attendance at soccer matches can happen anywhere. It can happen in the U.S. Open Cup and it can happen in the Leagues Cup. It can happen in MLS and it can happen in Europe and South America. It can even happen in the soccer capital, St. Louis.

There are many reasons for this, but discussion on attendance can often focus too much on totals, income and optics, often forgetting the various difficulties fans encounter when attending games throughout the season.

These difficulties include ticket pricing, travel issues, the day and time of the fixture, and fitting it in around work commitments among numerous other variables.

Oversaturation—too much soccer—can also play a part, diluting the occasion, as can games with no real jeopardy for the loser or sense of achievement for the winner.

Open Or Closed

The most recent high-profile discourse around attendance at U.S. soccer matches, and specifically Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup games, started when MLS commissioner Don Garber, speaking at the MLS All-Star event in Columbus last month, made an unnecessary dig at the attendance at a recent U.S. Open Cup match.

“There were 1,400 people in the stands in Atlanta for the game that they played the other night [a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against Indy Eleven],” he said when asked about MLS’s decision to withdraw most of its teams from the U.S. Open Cup this year.

“That's a big building. Opening up that big building—that we have to pay for—for 1,400 people doesn't make sense.

“I love the legacy of it, our founder's name is on the trophy, but the tournament needs to get better."

The Atlanta United versus Indy Eleven game was actually played in Kennesaw, GA, not at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as Garber presumed; and had an attendance of 2,417, not 1,400 as Garber stated.

It takes some dedication for a group of fans to go to that game on a Wednesday night in Kennesaw, just as it takes dedication for fans to attend certain Leagues Cup games, especially for those uninspiring MLS versus MLS matchups.

Rather than fans being praised for making the trip out to Kennesaw, perhaps encouraging more to do so in the future, it was used by MLS to criticize the U.S. Open Cup as the league attempts to justify its withdrawal of most of its teams from this year’s edition.

It was then made to look like even more of a careless, needless comment as the MLS-organised Leagues Cup—the addition of which to the schedule was one of the reasons for not entering the U.S. Open Cup—experienced sparse crowds for some games.

A game can have a low attendance and still be good for the sport. Even a few hundred fans turning up for a U.S. Open Cup game, witnessing U.S. soccer heritage in a 110-year-old competition, and maybe witnessing a game between teams from different divisions, is good for the game. It is not a waste of time or something to be sneered at and is arguably more beneficial for the game as a whole than bigger crowds in other tournaments.

Of course, the U.S. Open Cup would like higher attendance, wider acknowledgement, and more attention on its games, but its openness, its uniqueness and history, not just in American soccer but in American sport as a whole, is important in itself.

The Leagues Cup, on the other hand, is a new tournament about which it is easy to be cynical.

Particularly in its newly expanded version, it can be seen as a cash grab, looking to use Liga MX teams and the arrival of Lionel Messi to ringfence certain elements of the soccer landscape for the sole benefit of MLS and its marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing (SUM).

Even if some early games are included as part of season ticket packages, it is also more money out of the pockets of fans, especially as the ticket price isn’t the only matchday cost. Supporters themselves should not be criticised for any low Leagues Cup attendances.

Leagues Cup Low

The idea of the Leagues Cup in isolation from the rest of the U.S. soccer ecosystem, is not a bad one, and can produce some highly-anticipated MLS versus Liga MX matchups.

The 2024 edition has already witnessed such occasions, including the game between San Jose Earthquakes and Chivas which saw 50,675 spectators turn up at Levi’s Stadium for a group stage game.

Of course, the Leagues Cup is not played in isolation, and its presence affects the rest of the sport. It has most obviously trodden on the U.S. Open Cup, but it also dilutes the other continental club competition, the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The Leagues Cup can be seen as a tournament prioritising money for MLS and SUM over the growth of the game across the country.

Its effect on the Open Cup this season backs this up. It might still contribute to growth in some way, but the U.S. Open Cup is more important for the bigger picture and the depth of the game in the United States, even if only a few hundred turn up for some games.

It was unnecessary for MLS to take shots at the U.S. Open Cup, so it is no surprise that there has been such a strong response in the opposite direction, pointing out poor crowds at Leagues Cup games.

Fan boycotts of Leagues Cup games will also have played a part, and concerns such as these should be listened to.

Another Needless Battle

Rather than MLS’s attendance-related jibes, this issue is something for everyone involved in the organisation of U.S. soccer to work together on, not cherry-pick certain games and situations to score points.

Aside from the cheap dig at Open Cup attendance, there was at least some optimism in Garber’s speech—signs that MLS is looking to work towards returning to the Open Cup next season.

But, in truth, it should not be MLS’s decision to make. Participation in the U.S. Open Cup is a requirement of all professional leagues and MLS should not be allowed to hold the Open Cup to ransom in this manner.

Hopefully the fan boycotts, regardless of scale, have an impact, and their point is made and listened to. Such fan movements will be important going forward.

The focus needs to be on making American soccer as a whole a more attractive proposition, and not just MLS/SUM creating tournaments and situations for its own ends.

• Offering existing fans an enjoyable, affordable, matchday experience and meaningful competition, while also appealing to more casual or general sports fans.

• Working for the benefit of the game from top to bottom. Getting soccer fans in America (of which there are millions) interested in becoming fans of American soccer—fans of soccer in their local communities.

A game that people want to get involved in, whether in their tens, hundreds or thousands.

This feature and the accompanying interview were originally published in the September 2020 issue of World Soccer magazine, republished here with permission.

Subscribe to World Soccer magazine here.

Photos by Daniel Mick.

Minneapolis City Soccer Club are all about action, whether on the pitch in the shape of their successful National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) team or off it through their work in local youth soccer and the local community, they are a club whose valuable actions speak as loudly as their important words.

This is a rarity in North American soccer, where franchises are often built around the marketing of a brand and the hope that supporters will buy into it. Minneapolis City turned this on its head, going to the supporters and the community first and building a club from there.

This ethos has helped them through the recent turbulent times in the city of Minneapolis, where they have still been able to play their part despite the cancellation of the 2020 NPSL season.

“Our member-driven ownership model has attracted the kind of people who are into the community, the action, and the local efforts that are our DNA,” co-founder Dan Hoedeman tells World Soccer.

“It's the community, and that includes players, staff, and supporters, who are donating money, time, and effort to the club. 

“It's the community that made the club financially viable in 2020 despite us losing our season.

“And it's the community that keeps us going right now with our efforts to help South Minneapolis. We're not shut down, we're busier than ever!”

It’s for this reason the club found itself uniquely placed when the city of Minneapolis entered a moment of turmoil following the murder of George Floyd and the issues already arising on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Thanks to a community effort, this uncertainty turned into a solidarity that reverberated around the world. It’s a local unity that stems from the club’s natural ties with those south Minneapolis neighbourhoods.

The club shop, housed in a modest, quaint-looking building in the city’s Standish area, was used as a base for clean-up efforts and food drives.

“When COVID-19 hit, our fans lined up behind the club and kept it fiscally sound,” says Hoedeman.

“And now, with what has happened in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, we find ourselves helping raise money for impacted businesses, doing food drives and pop-up pantries for neighbours who don't have access to food, and cleaning up the city.

“We're just a soccer club so we understand that our role in making the world a better place is limited, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything we can do.”

As is the case in many American cities, the history of association football in Minneapolis exists in relatively unexplored corners of the metropolitan sporting landscape, but it is there, and it has been for some time.

Since the Shaw Cup — a regional tournament centred around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul — was first contested in 1888, football has taken hold in these communities, even if it hasn’t attracted a national profile in the way some baseball, American football, ice hockey and basketball teams in the area might have.

Soccer’s obvious potential has motivated groups of like-minded individuals to push the sport forward, and this has produced several teams throughout the years.

The Vikings of the NFL and Major League Baseball side the Twins both boast a higher national profile than the region’s soccer clubs, but the average attendance at Saint Paul-based 2017 Major League Soccer expansion franchise, Minnesota United, is now above that of the Minnesota Wild ice hockey team and the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA side, thanks to their slightly larger capacity home.

When football has managed to organise itself in the city, it has been well supported. The now-defunct Minnesota Kicks boasted average attendances of over 30,000 during the 1977 and 1978 NASL seasons, while Minnesota United’s NASL predecessor won two trophies and averaged crowds of over 8,000 in the three years prior to joining MLS, where they now regularly attract capacity crowds close to 20,000 per game.

Organisation has always been a stumbling block for football in the US, which means Minneapolis City’s decision to build from the ground up, using the strength of the local community and in turn, making it stronger again, makes lots of sense.

The club brands themselves as ‘un-corporate soccer’. Indeed, it’s less a brand and more a natural growth from football roots that have existed in the city since the 19th century.

This emphasis on community facilitated the club’s involvement in the city’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and has meant they are often among the first to react to a crisis. They have been able to take such an active role because the club are the community — and that isn’t just a marketing slogan.

These principles also extend to local players and youth football. As a nonprofit organisation, Minneapolis City are in a position to provide help to those in the area who might otherwise struggle to get into football due to the costs involved.

“We were founded by a group of people that expressly wanted to create a community soccer club,” Hoedeman adds. “One that was run by regular people, that helped elevate local players, and worked to recruit players from beyond the typical pay-to-play development academies and suburban mega clubs. 

“We've done free clinics, we’ve worked with Minneapolis Parks to do free play time in underserved neighbourhoods and worked with organisations like [youth mentoring organisation] Big Brothers Big Sisters and others.

“We are an all-volunteer club, so everyone involved is doing this by choice and they are emphatically putting their money — and time, and sweat, and effort — where their mouth is.

“It's incredible. And it's more important than ever, because together we can make this moment one that makes our city a better, fairer place.”

At street level, the city of Minneapolis is undergoing a rebuilding process, quite literally in many areas, and its spirit and unity is growing as a result.

On a sporting level, away from often artificial franchise football, something more organic is building from the grassroots. Minneapolis City are involved in both efforts. They are built to emerge on the other side of a crisis and to help others do the same.

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Q and A with Dan Hoedeman

How important has the club’s ethos been in light of recent events in the city?

Nobody, least of all us, expected anything that 2020 has brought. Despite everything that has happened, we find ourselves in a place to help. 

It starts simply. We don't treat fans like Brand Ambassadors or revenue streams to be maximised. When we take action, we take it as a club: players, staff, fans, all together. So when Covid-19 hit, our fans lined up to help.

How has the club’s work laid a foundation for the most vulnerable in these communities prior to recent events?

On the one hand, we're just a soccer club. On the other hand, there is power in bringing people together across generations, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes in a positive environment where we are working toward a common goal. 

The second-order effects of this are powerful to see. For example, I've seen the network of our more privileged players and staff extend to and help move forward players from immigrant backgrounds who don't have that network. 

You don't necessarily plan for that, but it's important. For example. I've seen our ability to signal boost organisations and people in need and see our fans rush to help.

Our part was small, the fans did the hard work, but we helped to raise awareness, and raise money, and that makes a difference.

We want to do more, and I know that we will. Right now, it's a lot of small steps. But we are moving in the right direction.

Our fans share that desire to make a difference. The outpouring of support, from donations (of food and money for our food donation drive), from time (we had over 100 volunteers sign up for Saturday's pop-up pantry in one day and we had to move people to future events because we had so many), from vocal support in spreading the word, it's been overwhelming. It shows what a group of regular people can achieve if they work together.

How have ‘lower league’ clubs such as yourselves been affected by the coronavirus crisis?

What a challenging time for so many. Given just how challenging it has been, with people who have gotten the virus, people who have lost friends and family, and people out of work, it is a hard question for us to answer because it's so serious for so many.

Lower-league clubs were hit hard. For us, our season was cancelled. Our U.S. Open Cup first-round match was postponed a week before we were to leave, so we paid all of the expenses like indoor training facilities, hotels, kit, etc, and then didn't play the game.

We were lucky though. We offered refunds to our supporters for their season tickets (what we call a Membership). We meant the refund. This is a financially crushing time for many people. Less than 2% of our Members took the refund (and those that did, gosh we hope it helps them get through this time). The rest turned it into a donation (we're a 501c3 nonprofit). 

Many of our players donated money as well. People came together. And, we had, by dumb luck, done a kit launch before COVID that was really successful. The people carried the club through, and we'll be back stronger in 2021.

Not all clubs are that lucky. Some have a higher cost structure, especially higher up the pyramid, others don't have the supporters we do, and still others have owners whose other businesses, which make the soccer club possible, are badly impacted. It's a tough time in American soccer which is incredible to say because such is the business that it's never really a good time. Clubs lose a lot of money every year even when they're playing, when there is no pandemic.

How does the restrictive structure of the US league system, with no promotion or relegation, affect the club’s ambition?

We believe that promotion and relegation would make a massive difference in US soccer, but while that remains a pipe dream what drives us forward are the things we haven't done at this level. For example, we may have won the conference, but we haven't won the post-season tournament. We have a crazy history with the U.S. Open Cup and are keen to make our mark on that stage as well.

That said, there does come a point when you get a little wistful about what could be especially since there is no real pyramid here so the leagues are all fractured and there a number of clubs we want to play regularly, to test ourselves against, and who we know what to test themselves against us, but we play in different leagues. It's a ridiculous situation. It holds us all back.

Could you describe the context of the club’s place in the NPSL?

The NPSL has a great structure given the vast distances of our continent-sized country. The league is broken into geographically close conferences of teams. It's a lot like college football where you play within your regionally-based conference, the Big 10 or Pac-12 or SEC, and then have a national tournament.

We play in the North Conference which is made up of teams from Minnesota (on its own the size of England), North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Wisconsin. The top two finishers in conference play move on to the regional playoffs. 

The Midwest region has clubs from Indiana, eastern Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York. The regional winners, there are four regions, have a knockout tournament to determine the national champion.

We've been among the more popular clubs in the NPSL in terms of fan following online and off and have done well on the field, too. We've won the North Conference the past two seasons and spent both of those seasons near the league-wide lead in points per game, goals scored, and wins. 

There are and have been fantastic clubs in the league. Especially the past two seasons where we have seen professional outfits like New York Cosmos, Miami FC, Detroit City FC, and Chattanooga FC in the league. 

It's especially heartening to see how we have done given our people-powered club and only Minnesota-based player approach. We went toe-to-toe with the big guns and showed we belong.

In 2024, Minneapolis City SC plays in USL League Two and is one of several clubs paving the way for this approach to successful community and supporter-led grassroots soccer in the US.

What if there was a version of the English FA Cup, the Spanish Copa del Rey, or the German DFB Pokal but for the United Sta… there is!

It’s called the US Open Cup and it reaches its conclusion this week with a final in Fort Lauderdale between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Houston Dynamo.

Florida Soccer Soldiers, Deportivo Lake Mary, New York Pancyprian-Freedoms, Lansdowne Yonkers, D'Feeters Kicks, LA Monsters, Chicago House, BattleBorn FC, Elk Grove Blues, Tobacco Road FC, Vistula Garfield, Galveston Pelicans, Steel Pulse, Peak Eleven, Team Tevez, Aegean Hawks, Clearwater Chargers, Outbreak FC, Brazos Valley Cavalry, Capo FC, Des Moines Menace, Park City Red Wolves, Ventura County Fusion, Crossfire Redmond, Ocean City Nor'easters, FC Motown, Project 51O.

Lionel Messi.

All-time great soccer names and the name of an all-time great, now in soccer.

Click the hashtag #soccernames on Twitter for more unique team names that reflect the true, proud character and identity of American soccer.

All of these names have already graced the US Open Cup this season, whether in the early rounds of qualifying, the early rounds of the Cup proper or, in Messi’s case, the semifinal and now possibly the final with Inter Miami.

The doubt around Messi’s presence in the final is due to an injury he has been carrying and whether he will be fit enough to feature.

The way this injury is being managed suggests a calf or thigh issue not serious enough to stop him from playing altogether, but one that needs some kind of rest and recovery if he is to play at all, even in a short burst to the level of intensity required.

He was taken off before halftime in his last Major League Soccer (MLS) outing, against Toronto FC and didn’t feature in Inter Miami’s most recent MLS game against Orlando.

For all the hype around Messi’s move to MLS, he has barely featured in the league itself, making most of his notable appearances in the Leagues Cup as well as the semifinal of the US Open Cup against FC Cincinnati.

Since Inter Miami lifted the Leagues Cup title, the first in the tournament’s expanded format, head coach Tata Martino’s priority has turned to the US Open Cup.

Available to make his MLS debut in New Jersey against the New York Red Bulls, a few days after that semifinal which Inter Miami won on penalties after extra time, Messi only appeared from the bench.

He still scored a memorable goal, ably assisted by the Miami-born Argentine-American 18-year-old, Benjamin Cremaschi. It was fairytale stuff for both.

Martino has said they will decide Messi’s involvement in the US Open Cup final as close as they can to kick-off.

He said that if this was a regular season game in MLS, Messi wouldn’t be playing, but the importance of the final means he might.

This also suggests his appearances for the rest of the MLS season will be few and far between if he appears at all.

The Inter Miami head coach is keeping his cards close to his chest to give his side the best chance of winning.

“I [would] have to acknowledge something that would modify the approach of our opponent,” Martino told Inter Miami reporter Franco Panizo, subsequently reported by the Athletic.

“Why give that information out if I can keep it to myself? I know that his presence is of interest to people in terms of whether to buy a ticket or not, but what we want is to try and win the game.

“You win the game by being better than your opponent, but it’s small details that can make things work better for us.”

Houston Dynamo, Inter Miami’s opponents, might be somewhat overlooked amid Messi Miami mania.

Houston has only lost once in its last eight games across the US Open Cup and MLS, winning five and drawing two before losing to Sporting KC at the weekend, perhaps with their minds already on the cup final.

It is not a given that Inter Miami will win, with or without Messi. After all, it needed extra time and a penalty shootout in Cincinnati to get here in the first place.

@jdnalton#usopencup 2023 flashback: when #fccincinnati fans marched to the match past the iconic Cincinnati Music Hall ahead of their semifinal against Inter Miami. #usopencup2023 #soccerfans #soccer #soccertiktok

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The story of this final and the headlines around it might, understandably, be Messi-centric, but, in turn, this will help raise awareness and intrigue of a tournament that still goes under the radar somewhat.

This despite it being the only competition open to professional, semi-professional, and many amateur teams in the US regardless of the league in which they play.

The US Open Cup is also, technically, the only national soccer championship in the US, in that teams from all levels can enter and it is limited to US teams.

Messi has the chance to add the most historic cup in United States soccer to his list of honours, something not even Pelé was able to do during his days with the New York Cosmos as NASL teams refused to take part.

If Messi wins the US Open Cup, this year, next year, or in what could be his final season at Inter Miami in 2025, it will be the cup that solidifies his status as the greatest of all time.

The microanalysis of Lionel Messi’s goals against MLS teams in the Leagues Cup and now in MLS itself eventually leads to scrutiny of the defending.

Messi provides brilliant moments, guaranteed. From wonderful free-kicks to pinpoint assists to unbelievable combination play.

All of it carried out with a backdrop of sprawling, helpless goalkeepers and statuesque, mesmerised defenders.

After the giddiness of what Messi just did has died down, analysis of these goalkeepers and defenders begins to fill the replies, the comments and the reactions.

Is Messi exposing MLS?

1. Defences being made to look silly by Messi is not unique to MLS. Messi has made most defences in any league or competition in which he's played look some kind of bad.
   

2. It is true MLS defending can be bad and is occasionally comical. This can even add to the entertainment. It is also true that some of the defending on Messi’s goals has been bad.
   

3. Lots of players around the ball carrier, as often happens when defenders finally catch up with Messi in possession, as seen against Nashville and New York Red Bulls isn't an example of good defending.

In the passage of play shown in the above image at the end of which, Messi scored, Walker Zimmerman was praised for managing to get a foot on the ball at one point, but it was a half-hearted, half-completed tackle.

Zimmerman was perhaps worried about giving away a free kick in such a dangerous area. This is another thing to add to the endless list of concerns when defending against Messi.

Defensively, MLS can be a league of ball-watching. Defences often lack organisation, awareness, and concentration.

As much as they boast attacking talent, the best teams in MLS—those that do well in the Supporters’ Shield and conference standings—are often built on defensive organisation and have a clear off-ball identity that many other teams don’t.

If you can organise a defence, make players aware of their roles and help them keep concentration for 90+ minutes rather than panicking and scattering when something goes wrong, you are well on the way to success in MLS.

FC Cincinnati has shown that this year, Jim Curtin’s Philadelphia Union has shown it in recent years, and even the successful Los Angeles FC, more eyecatching in attack, had a defensive platform from which those stars could strut their stuff.

In summary, MLS defending can, in general, be pretty bad. Playmakers and mercurial attacking talents have thrived in the league in part thanks to this.

The league remains a haven for the No.10 and the attackers who like a team to be built around them.

So it’s no surprise that when the best-ever example of this type of footballer turned up in the league, he made defences look bad and is scoring and assisting goals at will.

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Contrary to numerous reports of Lionel Messi dominating MLS, Messi is yet to actually play an MLS game.

It’s true he has been the star performer in games mostly against MLS teams in the past few weeks, but surely to dominate a league you have to play in it first.

The competition Messi has been playing in during the early stage of his jaunt in American soccer, is the Leagues Cup.

And the Leagues Cup has been good. 

Perhaps it was always going to be given the amount of time and money invested in it, but if MLS wanted to see some kind of result from making a big thing of this new, expanded mid-season tournament with Liga MX, then it has at least seen one in the form of some interesting games.

But didn’t we already know that competitive continental club soccer is good? We didn’t need the Leagues Cup to prove this.

The Concacaf Champions League in its various guises—soon to be the Concacaf Champions Cup (again)—has existed for some time and regularly produces the kind of intrigue seen in the Leagues Cup.

Even more so, as it includes clubs from other Concacaf nations, rather be limited to teams from Canada, the United States, and Mexico, as the Leagues Cup is.

What has made the Leagues Cup good is something that already exists—an interest piqued when clubs from different countries play each other in competitive matches.

On the other hand, matches between clubs from the same league haven’t had the same allure.

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some good intra-league games, but the draw of international club competitions generally happens when teams from different countries get the rare chance to test themselves against each other.

The rarity of certain games and situations is an underrated aspect of soccer. Many organisers believe the best clubs should play each other more regularly, but what often makes these kinds of games more special is their freshness and unfamiliarity.

Some MLS teams remaining in the tournament including Messi’s Inter Miami (as they are now known) could potentially win the tournament having only played one Mexican team.

MLS vs MLS games will naturally throw up a couple of rivalry matches, in the same way the US Open Cup does, given the way the groups were arranged locally.

There has already been a Hudson River derby between the two New York sides in the last 32.

The pair have never met in the MLS playoffs, but even the draw of knockout soccer in the Leagues Cup could not capture the imagination of fans in the New York area.

The two teams, albeit ones whose 2023 seasons have been far from inspiring, drew a crowd of just 11,004 in New Jersey.

It can be difficult to get the balance right with rivalry matches. Games need to be played to create the rivalry in the first place, especially in MLS where the teams are relatively new, but play too many games and the rivalry becomes diluted.

With the combination of MLS, the Leagues Cup, and the US Open Cup, that could well happen.

If the Concacaf Champions Cup provides the continental interest, and the US Open Cup provides the regional rivalry matches in knockout soccer, what is the Leagues Cup for?

Maybe it is an indication that Concacaf tournaments have the scope, and the spare time in the calendar, to be expanded and be more inclusive to Central American and Caribbean teams.

Maybe it shows there is room for an equivalent to the Europa League or Copa Sudamericana. A secondary tournament in Concacaf below the Champions Cup.

Or maybe the main motivation behind the Leagues Cup is not interesting, intriguing international club competition, but money. To be earned and kept by MLS and Liga MX only, with the rest of Concacaf excluded so it falls behind.

The Leagues Cup has welcomed Messi to American soccer and it has provided some interesting MLS vs Liga MX games.

It has offered some indication that MLS has improved as a league.

Even though games being played only in MLS stadiums and not in Mexican ones might paint a false picture, there is obviously some decent depth to MLS in 2023 and strong franchises that can hold their own against Mexican sides.

The Leagues Cup has been good, but the good things about it are not new concepts, and hint that a second Concacaf-wide tournament could be better still.

While watching Lionel Messi make his Inter Miami debut in the recently concocted Leagues Cup tournament against Mexican side Cruz Azul, we didn’t learn much we didn’t already know.

A free kick won and then dispatched into the top corner to win the game in the 94th minute was momentous and magical.

A landmark moment for American soccer. Perfectly scripted.

But in truth, this kind of moment is just standard Messi. Miami and Major League Soccer is getting as much of a guaranteed storyline, guaranteed entertainment, and guaranteed quality as you can find in world soccer.

If American soccer is looking for its own documentary with the potential to have the same impact as Welcome to Wrexham, this might have, perhaps inadvertently, been its pilot episode.

Messi already has a deal with Apple TV for a separate documentary, but as he takes to the field each week for Inter Miami, and as the relationships around the club, from players and staff to media and fans, revolve around him, chapters are written, episodes are aired, and a series is produced.

Perhaps inadvertently? Perhaps perfectly planned.

American soccer is not able to create the same storylines as Wrexham in terms of progress from the ‘lower’ leagues to the top divisions as there is currently no promotion and relegation.

Instead, Messi arrives from the top of the game landing into MLS from above. A catalyst dropped into the American soccer experiment.

Fizzing around.

Changing its constitution.

Within the isolated, single-entity MLS, though, this would indeed be an example of a team going from the bottom to the top—should Messi be able to turn Inter Miami around.

On the day Messi was officially unveiled by Inter Miami, the club was at the bottom of the overall MLS standings when both conferences are combined.

They would not have won the game against Cruz Azul were it not for his wonderful free-kick in added time.

“Tonight is about the people,” co-owner David Beckham told Katie Witham on the pitch after the game.

“About this [gestures to the still bustling stadium]. This is what we always saw as our vision,  me and [fellow co-owners, brothers] Jorge and Jose [Mas], and the club. This is what we saw.

“This is such a special night for us, for our families, for everyone that’s in this stadium, for you guys [media]. 

“It is such a moment for this country, it’s such a moment for this league and a very proud moment for us.”

The camera regularly returned to Messi throughout the first half. He probably had more screen time than some of the players on the field. 

That opening 45 minutes was less about what is happening in the game and more about guessing what Messi might be thinking about it. Guessing when he will arrive in it.

Witham, the sideline reporter for Apple TV’s broadcast commented during the first half that Messi was watching every moment, immersed in the game and reacting accordingly. 

Man Watches Soccer.

Greatest Player Ever Watches Inter Miami Game

then

Greatest Player Ever Plays for Inter Miami…

…and scores a free kick to win the game in the 94th minute!

Standard Messi.

If we learned anything from this game, it was perhaps mere confirmation that, after a relatively brief time away from the gaze of soccer fans around the globe, Messi has still got it.

And it is what Miami and MLS hoped for.

We also began to learn about the effect this move could have on American soccer. It has raised the mood and raised the level.

How deep it goes, and if it goes beyond Miami and MLS, might only be determined long after we’ve watched the final episode.

QUESTION
What do you take out of this game personally as a coach, honing your craft as a young coach, what do you take out of it?

WAYNE ROONEY
Absolutely nothing.

[Laughter]

Make no mistake, Wayne Rooney takes American soccer seriously.

Ever since he signed for DC United from Everton as a Designated Player in 2018 right through to his current role as the club’s head coach, Rooney has treated Major League Soccer with respect.

As he turns up to media events, matchdays, and carries out his day-to-day coaching—jovially but also seriously (but not in a Frank Lampard way), sometimes open, humorous, sometimes defensive—it can be easy to forget that this Scouser proudly wearing a DC United baseball cap is one of England and Manchester United’s greatest-ever players.

Some star names arriving in MLS from Europe have not had the same impact or presence as Rooney.

Surprised by the amount of travel, the competitive and battling nature of the league, and maybe the artificial pitches, a number of players have arrived as stars and left as damp squibs.

That’s not to say that, amid all this respect, Rooney has not criticised certain elements of the league.

Anyone invested in MLS and American soccer should highlight the league’s flaws and suggest where it can improve.

This is something Rooney has not been afraid to do. This interview with The Athletic’s Pablo Maurer where he spoke about the new playoff format and promotion and relegation being one example.

So when Rooney comes out and says the MLS All-Star game, in which his team of MLS players were defeated 5-0 by Arsenal, means nothing to him as a coach, it’s not just a joke for the benefit of the gathered media, he means it.

He also voiced some concerns around the game including the standard of refereeing, poor preparation, and the fact members of his staff were kicked out of their usual seats by members of Apple, whose Apple TV has broadcast to MLS and the All-Star game.

"On Tuesday, as I suggested, I didn't want them training at the National Mall but that's where we trained and we can't do anything,” added Rooney.

"We were limited to do head tennis so literally had no time whatsoever to do any tactics whatsoever, so you put the players out there and you hope they can figure things out, and against a team like Arsenal that's very difficult to do.”

What does the MLS All-Star game mean to anyone?

It’s a fun event, a chance for fans to see something different and a rare chance for a usually scattered, dispersed media to congregate and discuss the state of soccer.

This being MLS, marketing is at the forefront of everything it does, and the All-Star game is another chance to do some of that (though having it at a time, 1:30am, when Arsenal fans in the UK will unlikely be watching is questionable).

It’s a chance to see some of the quirks of American soccer that give it its character:

Goalkeeper wars.

The Skills Challenge (capitalised of course).

A defender from Media, Pennsylvania who used to play for Philadelphia Union and Colorado Rapids winning a crossbar challenge for Arsenal.

In a soccer sense, it is difficult to learn anything from this game.

Some might use a 5-0 defeat for the MLS team at the hands of a side barely in its pre-season preparations to say the league hasn’t progressed, but Arsenal would have more togetherness than this ragtag group of MLS players assembled within weeks.

Rooney’s frankness was welcome and refreshing, as has been his presence in American soccer generally.

ends

Bric-A-Brac

My latest article for the Morning Star is on the importance of blanket coverage of the Women’s World Cup, and how it very nearly wasn’t shown on TV at all.

I wrote about what Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami means for MLS and, more importantly, American soccer as a whole. MLS ≠ American soccer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65877494

Fugazi is/was are/were a band from Washington, D.C., where the 2023 MLS All-Star game was held, and don’t have anything in common with MLS. This is one of their instrumental songs.

The attention afforded to an association football club from North Wales, playing in the fifth-tier of the English leagues, has caused a stir in American soccer. 

No, this is not a fictional sentence, and neither is this next one. The actor Will Ferrell attended a National League game at Wrexham AFC, the club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, when the team faced Wealdstone FC last Saturday. 

Surreal — not least for longtime Wrexham fans — and fascinating for many sports (not just soccer) fans in the United States and Canada who have adopted this club as one of their own.

This marriage of celebrity and soccer, propelled by a fly-on-the-wall TV series called Welcome to Wrexham, of which Reynolds and McElhenney are among the executive producers, has been part of the reason for Wrexham’s newfound popularity, but that alone would not be enough to sustain interest.

Ferrell himself might have realised this on the back of a far less popular documentary, We Are LAFC, on the Los Angeles club he part-owns in Major League Soccer.

There are many other contributing factors that have led to such intrigue and interest in Wrexham, and if American soccer can bring them to the fore in the sport in the United States, it might be good for the game there. More importantly, it will be good for the communities that participate in it, whether as supporters, players, staff, or volunteers, and will help those soccer communities grow.

Welcome to Wrexham has resulted in fans travelling from North America to watch the team at the Racecourse Ground and visit the Welsh town, including the main filming locations such as The Turf pub/hotel. To many viewers, the locals themselves have become celebrities.

"We saw the documentary and it spoke to us: the townspeople, the heart of this town,” fans from Los Angeles told BBC 5 Live ahead of Wrexham’s FA Cup tie against Sheffield United at the Racecourse Ground in January.

“Being in LA we've met and known some celebrities, but this is much stronger than that.

“We're invested in success but also people. We feel like you get to the heart of the people.”

In the pockets of North America and its sports fandom where there has been furore around Wrexham, it has been met with enthusiasm by many, but among some soccer fans there’s a hint of an emotion landing somewhere between jealousy and confusion.

Some have wondered why fans of Welcome to Wrexham, and now of Wrexham AFC, don’t show the same enthusiasm for their local teams back home.

Even if some of this response from American soccer fans has seemed negative, defensive, and envious, it is in many ways understandable. There is something to learn from it, from the Wrexham story, and even from the way it has been presented.

It has also led to some interesting, important, questions being asked about soccer in the United States, and introspective assessments of the game there.

A common discussion point when comparing Wrexham with American soccer is that of the story. Is it that soccer in the United States doesn’t have stories, or is it that they are not told?

To begin to answer this question we need to enter the minefield of a topic that is the structure of American soccer and, in particular, the de facto top division in the United States.

There are some good stories to be told in that division — namely Major League Soccer — but a lack of relegation from the league, and no new teams being promoted to it, plus it being a single entity1 organisation means stories can be limited in scope or not so freely told. 

Telling the best and most intriguing stories in MLS in recent times would contain elements that might not necessarily reflect well on the league, so they might have to open with a cautionary message:

One of the most recent such stories could be Inter Miami’s first couple of seasons in the league, during which they were far from the expected powerhouse under their own celebrity owner, David Beckham.

Did someone mention celebrity owners (again)? Reynolds and McElhenney are often cited as the reason Wrexham might be more appealing to American sports fans, but MLS clubs have celebrity owners too, including Beckham at Miami, Ferrell and Magic Johnson at Los Angeles FC, and Matthew McConaughey at Austin FC.

The documentary and the celebrity are certainly part of what has drawn soccer fans to Wrexham, but what has made them stick with the club is the community in the North Wales town, the possibilities afforded by promotion to a higher level (and the possible heartbreak of relegation), participation in the historic FA Cup which involves all teams throughout the league pyramid, the club’s history itself, and all the people involved in that history — the ups and the downs.

Here’s where fans of American soccer clubs might be justified in feeling a little annoyed that others have attached themselves to Wrexham rather than their local clubs.

There are community clubs in the United States, there is a historic national cup competition, the US Open Cup, that has been running since 1913, and soccer has been played in the country for as long as it has anywhere else in the world since the laws were exported from Britain ages ago.

The history is there. The community is there. The stories are there, even if these might mostly be evident in ‘lower divisions’ or in the Open Cup.

The stories of these ‘lower league’ clubs are rarely told, but the attention on Wrexham might indicate there is an audience for ‘minor leagues’ when it comes to soccer.

Editors are understandably wary about covering them, though, as there’s a worry, and in some cases previous evidence, that such stories can be met with the publishing equivalent of tumbleweed.

But a one-off article on this area of soccer is not enough to create interest and arouse curiosity, and it is not fair to judge potential interest based on an isolated piece. It needs to be a sustained narrative, one chapter setting up the next, one episode leading to another.

MLS itself has discovered this over the years and has become increasingly good at creating its own content around its clubs.

But this can be very insular — perhaps understandably given its single-entity nature. MLS may see the development of other leagues and competitions, especially the US Open Cup and the increasingly appealing and community-oriented USL, as a threat.

An example of the attitude of some mainstream media and MLS itself is sometimes accused of having towards ‘lower league’ or non-MLS soccer was on display in the buildup to the final of the US Open Cup in 2022.

Orlando City, a team who had played in USL prior to becoming an MLS expansion team in 2015, faced USL Championship team Sacramento Republic who had knocked out MLS clubs San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, and Sporting Kansas City on their way to the final.

In one MLS promotional tweet, the graphic did not mention Sacramento, and the club’s account wasn’t even tagged.

In other places, Orlando’s victory was declared their first cup win, despite the fact that during their time in USL, they had topped the regular season standings in three of their four seasons and won two USL playoff championships. 

To this day it is often incorrectly referred to as Orlando’s first trophy.

None of this is to say MLS clubs don’t do good work in their communities or have dedicated fanbases whose passion for their club runs as deep as that of any soccer supporters anywhere else in the world. 

Some fans of MLS teams are among those miffed at the attention Wrexham is getting. McElhenney’s native Philadelphia, for example, has one of the best community-oriented MLS clubs in the shape of Philadelphia Union. A successful one at that, with a reputation for bringing through young talent (Brenden Aaronson, Auston Trusty, and Mark McKenzie to name a few) and for being active, aware, and responsible in their community in southeast Pennsylvania.

And none of this is to disparage MLS which itself is a fascinating league for many reasons, good and bad — as is the case with almost any league around the world. But it might be beneficial to MLS to tell its own stories, warts and all, and maybe embrace the rest of American soccer rather than block it out.

If it can’t, or won’t, then an independently made look at the evolution of MLS itself could make for an interesting story. 

It could all be more wholesome, interesting and beneficial if the focus was on soccer in the United States and not just one league.

For that to happen you would need independent media covering soccer as a whole and not exclusively MLS. A lot of the (often really good) content you get on soccer is produced by the league and clubs themselves, but more independent coverage would make the stories richer.

Who is available to tell that story, and whether they are afforded the space (whether online or in a newspaper) and time to do so is another story of its own.

It is worth mentioning that many soccer writers had to work hard even to get major league soccer in their outlets. We have those writers, and others at local outlets, to thank that soccer gets its stories told at all and that we are in a position to push for more variety and more of them to be heard.

The popularity of Wrexham also introduces the idea that maybe the quality of play is less important than we thought. What might be more attractive to fans, especially at local level when teams are looking to the communities beside them to get involved and to attend games, is to be part of something that has the potential to grow. Not for it to hit a brick wall when it reaches a certain level.

New teams are added to MLS via expansion, but there is no way for a ‘lower league’ team to rise through the divisions organically, as is possible for Wrexham. This forms a big part of their story.

There is hope for all involved that Wrexham can reach the top. Even if it might take many years with many ups and downs along the way, even if reaching the very top (the Premier League) might never happen, that hope will always be there.

In the American league system, there is no such hope, although the hope that this could change may itself provide motivation.

Local clubs with good stories and an identifiable local culture will naturally attract interest from elsewhere, both nationally and internationally. Fans who support their local team in the United States can help to add local characteristics to said club.

The hope in US soccer lies in tournaments such as the Open Cup, in the exciting prospect of burgeoning lower leagues, and in the potential for a pyramid built on state leagues (the country’s regionalised political geography almost implores it and is in many ways already naturally set up for it).

Perhaps most of all this hope lies in the push for all teams to have a chance to progress, rather than stagnate, via the concept of promotion to the next league.

It won’t all be smooth sailing. It certainly hasn’t been for Wrexham throughout their history, and there will still be bumps in the road even with their new ownership, but there is something to be part of and something to hope for. 

American soccer doesn’t have to copy Wrexham, copy Welsh or English football, or copy European or South American football. American soccer is actually better for its quirks, its goofy team names, its football markings on pitches, and even for its American sports traits such as playoffs and conferences. But from Wrexham’s stories, it can perhaps learn what it will take to write its own, more proudly and unreservedly.

ends

Related Recommendations

TheCup.us. An independently run outlet exhaustively covering the US Open Cup competition — from qualifiers to final, from regulations to revelations.

Protagonist Soccer. A media outlet covering lower-tier soccer in the United States.

Feuerstein's Fire American Soccer Show. A radio show that regularly covers the lower leagues in US soccer and the US Open Cup. By Daniel Feuerstein.

Alive and Kicking: The Incredible But True Story of the Rochester Lancers. A book by Michael Lewis.

Extratime Radio. An MLS podcast covering everything about the league, not always uncritically, and will mention soccer outside of the league it covers.

There will be more related links in future editions of this newsletter, which might also contain random music recommendations at the end of posts.

Detailing the turbulent, inconsistent history of global intercontinental association football tournaments at club level might have American soccer nodding empathetically, gesturing knowingly — a sense of if you think this is bad… look at what the organised professional game in the United States has been through.

It is, therefore, typical, almost fitting, that the last time an American team was eligible to play in intercontinental competition, in 2001, the Club World Championship was cancelled following the collapse of the FIFA-linked International Sport and Leisure marketing company due to, erm, let’s say ‘money issues’.

LA Galaxy had won the 2000 Concacaf Champions' Cup, a competition shorter in format than the current Concacaf Champions League but, nevertheless, the tournament that determined the champions of Concacaf at that time. 

Despite that different format, it is not an achievement to be diminished. The Galaxy earned its spot in the 2001 Club World Championship where it was due to face Ghaniain side Hearts of Oak, Júbilo Iwata of Japan, and Spanish giants Real Madrid. Forces beyond their control would end the possibility of a dream fixture against Real in competitive football.

The creation of Major League Soccer on the back of the 1994 World Cup in the United States, and the league’s first season in 1996, looked to install a potentially more stable professional division than the those that had preceded it.

That MLS remains to this day, still expanding with the introduction of a team from St. Louis in 2023, suggests it has been successful in achieving that stability, and for the first time since the Galaxy in 2000, the league has produced a winning side at continental level.

In 2022, Seattle Sounders became the first American team to win North America’s premier international club tournament in its current format — the Concacaf Champions League. They defeated the Mexican side UNAM (better known as Pumas) across the two-legged final, drawing 2-2 in Mexico City before achieving a joyous 3-0 win in front of 68,741 spectators at Lumen Field in Seattle.

22 years ago, the Galaxy’s dream of facing Real Madrid was scuppered due to factors beyond their control, but the Sounders have in their own hands an opportunity to face the record 14-time European Champions. 

To do so, they will need to get through their quarter-final match against Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly. It won’t be an easy game. Al Ahly breezed past Auckland City in the tournament’s opening game to set up the tie between them and the Sounders. A meeting with Real is far from guaranteed for Seattle, but that they are here in the first place is an achievement in itself.

The last time an American team played in any kind of official intercontinental competition was DC United in the 1998 Copa Interamericana. 

DC United was also invited to play in Conmebol’s Copa Sudamericana on a couple of occasions (thanks to Roberto Rojas for the reminder of this), holding their own but being knocked out by Chilean side Universidad Católica in 2005 and by Chivas Guadalajara of Mexico in 2007. But, despite the presence of Mexican and American sides, and as the name suggests, that was very much a South American competition rather than one set up specifically for intercontinental fixtures.

Back to the 1998 Copa Interamericana — that tournament was organised jointly between Concacaf and the South American confederation, Conmebol, and pitted the winners of the respective confederations' continental competitions against each other.

1998 Concacaf Champions Cup winner, DC United, defeated Vasco Da Gama of Brazil in a two-legged tie played in Washington DC and Fort Lauderdale. It was to be the final edition of that particular tournament, but it is set to be revived in a fashion in the coming years. 

The two confederations are working together once again and have plans for a final-four format club tournament in 2024 between the two best teams from each region.

The 2024 Copa America will also be played in the United States, featuring six Concacaf international teams as well as the ten from South America.

Until then, the Sounders’ appearance in the Club World Cup this February will be a significant moment in terms of an American club testing itself on the international stage in a competitive game, or, Seattle hopes, games.

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