This year’s Copa América will be closely watched, but the ensuing Olympic Games in Paris will have just as much to say about the broader state of the U.S. men’s player pool. Unlike the women’s side of the Olympic tournament, the men’s competition relies on players under the age of 23, though every team is allowed to bring up to three over-age players in the 18-man squad.  

If the team that U.S. Olympic coach Marko Mitrović selects comes close to matching the program-best 4th place finish in 2000, it would be a potential indicator that the U.S. can now consistently produce top-end talent. If the U.S. is embarrassed in Group A, though, some will fear that 2026 will be the program’s high point for quite some time.

After the draw in March, Mitrović touted a “big pool of players that we are following” for potential inclusion. He stressed that he wants to bring “the best 18 players” he can, and didn’t show his hand yet about areas where he feels he can sacrifice depth given the squad limitations of an Olympic tournament.

GO DEEPER

USMNT to play France in Olympic tourney opener

With that in mind, here’s a crib sheet of Olympic-eligible players to track in the coming months. This list focuses on MLS players, and with good reason: A full half of the most recent…

American soccer has dealt with two high-profile instances of extreme weather disrupting professional games in the last week. In both cases, despite conditions making it impossible to play at anything close to normal, the games went on.

The most recent of the two happened on Wednesday, when steady and heavy rains flooded the field at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Caif. before the U.S. women’s national team’s Gold Cup semifinal match against Canada. Conditions meant the ball could not travel on the ground farther than a couple of feet in most parts of the field, which played a direct role in the United States’ opening goal.

JAEDYN SHAW RIDING THE STORMMMM pic.twitter.com/0gq2tkR2sa

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) March 7, 2024

“It was honestly insane,” Shaw said. “We had such a good warmup … the ball was moving really fast, and we were excited to just play and have a really intense game, and then we came back out and we were like, ‘What’s happening?’”

Asked if the game should have been played, USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore said, “Probably not.”

The previous Saturday, an MLS match between Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles FC was similarly affected, but by a different form of precipitation. That game, which was held at America First…

Major League Soccer will kick off this season with stand-in referees when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosts Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.

The MLS Players Association (MLSPA), the labor union that represents MLS players, said the lockout of the league’s match officials was a “backward step,” adding in a statement on Tuesday that “the use of replacement referees will not only negatively impact the quality and results of our matches, it may also jeopardize the health and safety of players.”

The move comes after PSRA, the union that represents professional referees across MLS, the second- and third-tier United Soccer Leagues and the National Women’s Soccer League, and PRO, the MLS-funded body that manages professional officiating in the United States and Canada, failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in January.

The Athletic explains what’s going on…

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So, who is going to referee the opening MLS games?

On February 17, The Athletic reported PRO had commitments from 66 replacement officials. Of those, 26 can be assigned as a referee or fourth official, and 29 can be assistant referees.

Cristian Campo Hernandez will be the center referee for Inter Miami vs. Real Salt Lake. The Spaniard officiated matches in the second-division USL Championship last year…

Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC have added Grasshopper Club Zurich to their growing network of clubs, buying a 90 per cent stake in the Swiss outfit from Hong Kong-based Champion Union.

The Chinese company, which is owned by Jenny Wang, the wife of Fosun International boss Guo Guangchang, has been trying to sell the team, who are better known outside Switzerland as Grasshoppers, for over a year.

The deal brings an end to the club’s partnership with Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are owned Fosun, a sprawling Chinese conglomerate.

Injury cut short the loan spell of Wolves’ Nigel Lonwijk in Zurich late last year and teammate Theo Corbeanu is likely to return, too. Former player and Wolves loan manager Matt Jackson appears to be out of a job, too, as he has been replaced as president at Grasshoppers by LAFC chief operating and chief financial officer Stacy Johns.

For LAFC, this latest move means they now own Switzerland’s oldest and most successful team, have a stake in Austrian fourth-tier side FC Wacker Innsbruck and have a joint venture with Bayern Munich.

The latter, called Red & Gold Football, describes itself as an “integrated, unique global platform” for the “promotion of young talents and their responsible accompaniment into professional…

Negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement between the Professional Referees Organization (PRO) and the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) have not resulted in a new deal and, barring changes over the next 10 days, a work stoppage feels “imminent,” said once source briefed on the negotiations. Another source characterizes the negotiations between the two sides as being “a very discouraging process so far.”

If it drags on, a work stoppage could leave MLS needing to find replacement officials at the start of its season and preseason. The current CBA between the PSRA and PRO, which has been in place since early 2019, expires on Jan. 15. The MLS season begins on Feb. 21 when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosts Real Salt Lake.

The PSRA is the union that represents professional referees across Major League Soccer, the second and third-tier United Soccer Leagues and the National Women’s Soccer League. PRO, founded in 2012 by MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation, oversees the professional officiating landscape in the United States, including assigning games, assessing and educating officials, and identifying new talent. An associated organization, PRO2, oversees officiating in the NWSL, USL, and MLS Next Pro. The PSRA and PRO2 ratified a CBA of their…

LAFC has completed the signing of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from Tottenham Hotspur.

The move sees the 37-year-old World Cup winner depart Spurs after 11 years.

The Athletic reported on Friday that LAFC was finalizing a deal for Lloris, and it has now been confirmed he has signed a contract until 2024, with options to extend until 2025 and 2026.

LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said: “Hugo is arguably the most successful goalkeeper of his generation and a proven winner. We are incredibly excited that Hugo has chosen LAFC for the next phase of his illustrious career.

“He brings unprecedented leadership experience at the highest levels of football, which we know will greatly benefit our club in our pursuit of more trophies. I would like to thank Tottenham for their collaboration, and I join all of Los Angeles in extending a warm welcome to Hugo, his wife Maine, and their three children to LAFC.”

Lloris made 444 appearances for Tottenham in all competitions, including 361 in the Premier League since arriving from Lyon in 2012. Confirming his departure, the club described him as “one of our greatest servants”.

Lloris will take to the pitch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at half-time during Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Bournemouth to enable…