Hottest game of the World Cup was played in Philadelphia yesterday, with fans in attendance doing what they could to keep cool and with France’s players forced to do the same as they dealt with the extreme conditions plus lots of antics from Paraguay. @matthewmangam.bsky.social with more

You usually don’t want to return to East Rutherford, NJ for a 3rd visit inside a month, but you’re not Kylian Mbappé, who sets records with each World Cup goal (he knows those records by heart, too), and who says all his focus is on returning to the swamp on July 19th

What England players were saying in New Jersey after they got a group-clinching win over Panama and saw Harry Kane become the country’s all-time leading World Cup scorer @matthewmangam.bsky.social has all the postgame reactions ⤵️

“I'm very proud, because my family is here and all the Ecuadorian people needed this. They deserved it more than anyone else, so I'm very happy to bring this joy to the Ecuadorian people." Reactions from Ecuador’s Nilson Angulo after La Tri’s win over Germany in NJ, via @matthewmangam.bsky.social

Mbappé vs Haaland took a back seat to The Ousmane Dembélé Show, with France rolling over a rotated Norway to top Group I. Back to East Rutherford, NJ next for Les Bleus as they show no signs of slowing down as they seek a 3rd straight final @matthewmangam.bsky.social reports from Foxborough, MA

They accidentally blew up the Toyota Stadium pressbox. If that's not a metaphor for MLS's attitude towards media coverage... www.nytimes.com/athletic/739...

After a 2nd straight brace to open the World Cup, Erling Haaland tried to stay humble about his success & his nation’s chances. But Norway look less like underdogs with every goal he scores. @battista.bsky.social with more on Haaland, Norway’s big night in NJ. www.nysoccerjournal.com/erling-haala...

Wild, rainy night in East Rutherford as Erling Haaland’s brace helped him keep pace in the Golden Boot race, and Norway held on for a 3-2 win despite Ismaïla Sarr scoring two for a Senegal side that kept coming back. @matthewmangam.bsky.social with more from a soggy NJ

NYNJ Stadium in New Jersey filling in for Norway 🇳🇴 vs Senegal 🇸🇳 despite the weather. Teams on the field warming up. Both @matthewmangam.bsky.social and @battista.bsky.social are on site for World Cup coverage. #FIFAWorldCup #NORSEN

Enjoyed @battista.bsky.social’s homage to another awesome Boston World Cup crowd— and a big win for Morocco. Good young journalist worth a follow www.nysoccerjournal.com/scotland-vs-...

Straightforward afternoon for Matt Freese in the US goal, rougher one in the midfield for Australia and Aiden O'Neill, who lamented, "There wasn't much time on the ball, especially in the first half." @matthewmangam.bsky.social covers all the NYCFC angles of the USMNT beating Australia

Joe Scally World Cup Debut Siren Still slightly amazing to see how NYCFC-flavored this literal World Cup match ended up being. Also worth looking back on @matthewmangam.bsky.social’s convo with Scally about his 2nd Cup call-up, from back on roster reveal day

Postmatch in New Jersey, Didier Deschamps praised Kylian Mbappé’s “decisive talent”, William Saliba said he’s “incredible and I'm sure he's not going to stop there,” while Mbappé himself credited Michael Olise and said he’s focused on more history-making to come

After a Player of the Match performance to help Ivory Coast beat Ecuador in Philadelphia, Yan Diomande spoke to reporters including @matthewmangam.bsky.social about his individual form, overcoming Piero Hincapié, Ecuador, and the heat, a rumored big-money transfer to Liverpool, & more ⬇️

"Very expensive, especially for Brazilians, but it was okay,” said a fan from São Paulo after a $98 NJ Transit trip to the Meadowlands. Buses were cheaper, but snarled by long lines and traffic on the return leg. World Cup travel stories from Day 1 in NJ, via @matthewmangam.bsky.social

Nice reporting by @matthewmangam.bsky.social about transportation for Saturday's Brazil vs Morocco World Cup match at NYNJ Stadium. Verdict; okay coming in, rough coming out. NYNJ host chair Tammy Murphy: "Use public transit." Read on @nysoccerjournal.com: www.nysoccerjournal.com/world-cup-tr...

What it was like at the grand opening of Queens' free World Cup fan zone at the national tennis center in Flushing, and what the city's World Cup Czar told us about the benefits of making the tournament more accessible and affordable for New Yorkers

We’ve been rolling out individual previews daily for all the World Cup squads playing locally over in New Jersey Today it’s Brazil, who brought in a trophy-rich coach to try to get the 5-time winners back to the top, though they enter the tourney as a slight dark horse @matthewmangam.bsky.social ✍️

11th June - Mexico and South Africa will repeat the opening fixture of the 2010 World Cup – exactly 16 years since their 1-1 draw in Johannesburg; it’s the first time an opening fixture has ever been repeated from the 19 previous single-match World Cup openers. Tshabalala.

Morocco fans turned out in numbers at Sports Illustrated Stadium and created an electric atmosphere for what was an entertaining draw with another popular World Cup dark horse pick, Erling Haaland's Norway Our @matthewmangam.bsky.social with more from NJ and a final friendly for each team ⬇️

We’re going team-by-team with previews of each squad coming to MetLife Stadium during the World Cup Today it’s @matthewmangam.bsky.social on 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England as they hope turning to Thomas Tuchel and banking on a World Cup rebound from Harry Kane gets them over a 60-year hump

"It’s every kid's dream, but I think for me it was different; it was more of an ambition and less of a dream.” What Matt Freese said about making the World Cup squad, from finding out in a Nashville cafe, to wanting to write his name in USMNT history next to Tim Howard @matthewmangam.bsky.social

"I always go back to the feeling from Copa América, hearing your national anthem in your home country, it's special, you don't lose that feeling. Now, having a World Cup, it's 10 times more important and the biggest part of your career, so it's an honor.” Joe Scally to @matthewmangam.bsky.social

At Tuesday's #USMNT roster reveal, I spoke to former #NYCFC homegrown Joe Scally about heading to his second World Cup, his time at Gladbach, and his experience for club and country despite being just 23 years old. More below for @nysoccerjournal.com: www.nysoccerjournal.com/joe-scally-u...

Amid the pomp and circumstance at Pier 17, the USMNT players to make the World Cup cut spoke confidently about their teammates and the team's chances "We have a team that is unified and understanding of the objective," Mark McKenzie told @matthewmangam.bsky.social. Reactions from Roster Reveal Day

"For an away game against the number one, with the possibilities we had, we should have done better and at least gotten a draw here. But, being a little too naive in our case, cost us," said Pascal Jansen after NYCFC lost in Nashville. More of his postmatch comments, via @matthewmangam.bsky.social

Nashville is top of the league thanks to a deeper-than-ever roster, home-field dominance, and a clear vision of how to play set by BJ Callaghan @matthewmangam.bsky.social got more intel on Nashville from @benwright.bsky.social ahead of NYCFC’s visit to GEODIS Park ⤵️

Building something new – a World Cup Scorigami bot! This will start posting games in real-time during the tournament this summer and provide some pretty cool historical context for each result. Check it out: @worldcupscorigami.bsky.social

NYCFC put none of their five shots on target and looked shorthanded and lacking creativity, with 7 saves made by Matt Freese not enough to prevent another Open Cup run from ending before the semifinals. @matthewmangam.bsky.social has more on the loss in Columbus ⬇️

NYCFC overcame a serious-looking Maxi Moralez injury and a halftime deficit to salvage a draw and extend to three matches unbeaten, with Andrés Perea's header seeing New York City once again victimize the Red Bulls on a set piece @matthewmangam.bsky.social on the 1-1 Hudson River Derby

Maxi Moralez has 5g/7a against the Red Bulls. With a goal tonight, he would become the 2nd all-time leading scorer in the Hudson River Derby. With an assist, he'd become the all-time leading assister. Bradley Wright-Phillips leads the HRD with 12 goals, while Sacha Kljestan has 7 assists all-time.

“Four Major North American Men’s Professional Sports Leagues” is such a fake, dumb qualifier to add when trying to justify writing off the actual recent New York sports champions for your “all the NY teams are ringless for __ years” graphic

The Hudson River Derby returns tomorrow, so @matthewmangam.bsky.social enlisted the help of @markfishkin.bsky.social to get you ready for the 2nd NYCFC-Red Bull New York match in a little over two weeks' time More on an improving Red Bull defense, and why their wingers might make the difference

New York City FC made its 1 and only shot on target count as Nico Fernández Mercau got another goal (his 9th) and the defense kept another clean sheet (the 3rd) as a winning streak was born in Charlotte @matthewmangam.bsky.social with more on the win ⤵️

Another NYCFC matchday is fast approaching, so time to study up before the midweek trip to North Carolina @matthewmangam.bsky.social caught up with @dannybrams.bsky.social to get all the intel on Charlotte FC, winless in 4 and looking likely to soon end their Wilfried Zaha Era

Pascal Jansen on Hannes Wolf’s hat trick/positional fluidity: “Players will end up in positions and areas where we think they can be dangerous or helpful make other players dangerous. Hannes has his part, one of those is: find moments in the central part of the pitch…” @matthewmangam.bsky.social

The Crew come to the Bronx with a new coach, without their star striker, and with a questionable back line that’s been surrendering goals aplenty @massive-report.com’s Ty Fisher fills us in on Columbus before they play NYCFC, via @matthewmangam.bsky.social

#USOC2026 Round of 16: Maxi Moralez of New York City FC has been voted TheCup's Player of the Round. His three assists (seventh player since 1995 to have 3 in a game) gave #NYCFC a first-ever knockout game win vs Red Bull New York. Article by @matthewmangam.bsky.social: thecup.us/2026/05/09/2...

Our @matthewmangam.bsky.social spoke to FIFA's senior pitch manager at MetLife Stadium and learned lots about the natural grass surface just installed for the World Cup Why they chose this North Carolina-raised grass, why FIFA thinks it will hold up better than last summer's Club World Cup field

The pitch is all set at New York/New Jersey Stadium for the World Cup. As expected, no sponsors are seen anywhere around the stadium and covered with FIFA World Cup signage. @nysoccerjournal.com

Which MLS-based Matt will start in goal for the USMNT at the World Cup? NYCFC’s Freese got the bulk of the recent MNT minutes but his 2026 is off to a mixed start while New England’s Turner is in form Our resident Matt @matthewmangam.bsky.social on the GK battle

DC look better than they did while placing last in MLS in ‘25 but they’re still adjusting to René Weiler, still trying to get new club-record transfer DP Louis Munteanu going @matthewmangam.bsky.social gets the DC United scouting report from @blazindw.bsky.social of @districtpressdc.bsky.social

Brand-new podcast offering from us: The Blueprint, hosted by @thepigeonsnycfc.bsky.social and @treyfillmore.bsky.social, which picks a single topic and dives deep on that topic The inaugural episode: an attempt to define the tactics and principles of Pascal Jansen Ball

New York City FC head to the US Open Cup quarterfinals for the third time as a hat trick of corner-kick assists from Maxi Moralez helped NYCFC to their first-ever knockout win over the archrival Red Bulls @matthewmangam.bsky.social w/ more on what was also a 3rd straight NYCFC derby win in Harrison

Malachi Jones speaking after his first start for NYCFC since June 2024, still so positive even after the multiple setbacks and the long injury layoff 🫡 (h/t @matthewmangam.bsky.social for the video)

My first game credentialed for @nysoccerjournal.com and what an occasion: It’s the 33rd-ever Hudson River Derby, but tonight, it’s the US Open Cup Round of 16 edition. #NYCFC is 0-5 and scoreless against Red Bull in elimination games, but have won the last two games here in MLS.

Nico Cavallo starts at left back in place of O’Toole, backline of Gustavo-Martins, midfield of O’Neill and Trewin. On the left wing, Malachi Jones gets the start while Talles Magno is on the bench. Nico, Maxi, and Ojeda round out the attack.

Montréal made Prince Owusu's 18th-minute goal stand up as the NYCFC attack mustered only 2 shots on target, slumping to a 6th straight winless result against MLS opposition @matthewmangam.bsky.social with more on MTL 1-0 NYCFC www.nysoccerjournal.com/cf-montreal-...

NYCFC right back at it tomorrow afternoon in Canada so our @matthewmangam.bsky.social spoke to @eliasgrigoriadis.bsky.social of @tbirmontreal.bsky.social to get you ready for Matchday 10 in Montréal Notes on the MTL coaching carousel, Prince Owusu’s help in attack, + more

Soccer gods heard I launched a new site so they hit me with the 95th minute rewrite for the first gamer I’ve done for @nysoccerjournal.com www.nysoccerjournal.com/nycfc-vs-fc-...