Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. We’re almost completely into the World Cup break as the Orlando Pride still have one more match this Friday. I think that the break will help both Orlando City and the Pride, plus we get a lot of hopefully exciting international matches. For now, let’s get to the links.

Orlando City (and Related) Call-Ups

With the World Cup break upon us, we now know officially which players will represent their countries at the competition. Orlando City’s David Brekalo will represent Slovenia at the World Cup this summer. Obviously, we offer a big congratulations to him on this honor.

Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau made the Canadian National Team roster. In addition to Crepeau, former Lions Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea will represent Canada. Former Lion Alex Freeman made the USMNT roster — more on the rest of the roster below — despite not getting the playing time with Villarreal that he would have gotten with Orlando City.

Orlando Pride Power Up

Thanks to Nicole Payne’s well-placed shot, the Orlando Pride are up two spots to No. 8 in All for XI’s NWSL power rankings. It was Payne’s first professional goal and it came at a perfect time for the Pride. It was a great comeback for the Nigerian after being out injured since the 2024 season while with the Portland Thorns. It was nice to see someone other than Barbra Banda score a goal, but perhaps next time we can have both score.

USMNT Roster Revealed…Officially

We’ve known for a few days thanks to a leak, but the USMNT roster for the World Cup is now official. As mentioned above, Freeman is on the squad. There are still some interesting choices made by Mauricio Pochettino, like leaving off midfielder Tanner Tessmann due to dealing with an injury and replacing him with defender Joe Scally. That didn’t stop Pochettino from calling up Chris Richards, who was also recently injured. There are still many familiar names like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Gio Reyna. We’ll see how well this group does starting Sunday in a friendly against Senegal.

USMNT News Part Deux

What’s that? You want more USMNT roster news? Fine. Here is a breakdown of the players who play abroad, and one for the players who play in MLS. There has been controversy surrounding how Pochettino communicated with the players and also with the media. Evidently Pochettino didn’t individually call the players. Honestly, I understand his reasoning.

Free Kicks

• I put this down here because you probably don’t want to see where Orlando City falls in the latest MLS power rankings. Spoiler alert: It’s not great, Bob!
• Alexia Putellas is leaving Barcelona after 14 seasons. She has had a storied career so far, though it is not necessarily over, as a move to either the Women’s Super League or the NWSL is on the table.

• Puma has released the official match ball for the 2026-2027 English Premier League campaign.
• Carolina Core FC is reorganizing the staff, and former Lion Donovan Ricketts is out as head coach.

• It wasn’t good for Orlando City, but FC Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano made the list of best saves in Week 15 in MLS.

That will do it for today. Check back as we get you ready for the Pride’s match Friday and the World Cup beyond. Vamos Orlando!

It was another mixed bag for Orlando’s soccer teams over the weekend, as two out of the three sides came away with victories, only for Orlando City to lose in resounding fashion. Fortunately, we can put what’s been a torturous MLS season so far behind us for the time being, as the league is now on break for roughly two months. The big thing currently on the horizon is today’s World Cup roster reveal for the United States Men’s National Team, when we’ll see if the leak reported over the weekend was accurate or not. Then, it’ll be games on Friday and Sunday for the Orlando Pride and Orlando City B, respectively, with a USMNT friendly against Senegal thrown in on Sunday for good measure. Clearly there’s a lot to talk about today, so let’s attack those links.

Martin Ojeda Up for Weekly Honors

Martin Ojeda has been nominated for MLS Goal of the Matchday. Orlando City’s no. 10 has his second goal of Saturday’s match up for consideration, and it was a doozy. The Lions had a free kick on the edge of the box just a couple minutes into the second half, and Tincho stepped up and smashed a shot over the wall and into the top corner of Roman Celentano’s net. The strike leveled the game at 2-2, and although OCSC went on to concede a whopping four second-half goals to slump to a 6-2 defeat, we still have to celebrate the few bright spots to be found. Make sure you go vote for Martin’s strike.

Lessons from Matchday 15

Matchday 15 is now in the books for Major League Soccer, and the league now goes on sabbatical until the World Cup concludes. As for what we learned from the weekend’s action, for starters, it was the last time we’ll see Wilfried Zaha in a Charlotte FC uniform. The forward’s loan expires on June 30, and while his time in MLS certainly can’t be called a failure, it’s also understandable that neither side wanted to extend his stay, as things never seemed to fully click between the two parties. Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, Jorge Ruvalcaba is starting to find a groove for the New York Red Bulls, and he’s helped the team to sit fifth in the East heading into the break. Finally, both Nashville SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps flashed some impressive depth as they picked up shorthanded wins over tough opposition.

Phil Neville Out in Portland

The Portland Timbers announced Monday afternoon that they have parted ways with head coach Phil Neville. Portland sits 13th in the Western Conference heading into the World Cup break, and Saturday’s 3-1 home loss to the San Jose Earthquakes was seemingly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Neville was in charge of Portland for two full seasons, and while the Timbers made the playoffs in each of them, they failed to advance out of the first round on both occasions. Portland is now on a three-game losing streak and will immediately begin its search for a new head coach, with no interim having been named. As for Neville, it brings an end to his second stint with an MLS team after he coached Inter Miami for two-and-a-half seasons.

Iran Moves Tournament Base to Mexico

Iran has officially moved its World Cup base of operations to Mexico. The Iranian federation announced news of the move on Saturday, with FIFA confirming the switch on Monday when it also confirmed the base camp locations for each of the tournament’s 48 teams. Iran will be based in Tijuana after previously choosing to stay in Tucson, AZ before the United States and Israel launched the Operation Epic Fury attacks. Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that she has “no issue” hosting the team and was told by a FIFA representative that the U.S. was reluctant for the Iranian team to spend time outside of games on American soil.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City dropped one spot to no. 28 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• The Orlando Pride rose two spots to no. 11 in the same outlet’s NWSL power rankings.
• Spain’s squad for the World Cup does not feature any current Real Madrid players.
• Colombia has released its squad for this summer’s tournament.
• Former Lion Facundo Torres has not made the cut for Uruguay’s squad.

That’s all I’ve got for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

Happy Memorial Day, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy at work over the holiday weekend, covering high school lacrosse playoff games. The Lions, Pride, and OCB were all in action over the weekend, and the World Cup is less than three weeks away. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get into the links.

Lions Suffer Heavy Defeat at FC Cincinnati

Orlando City fell 6-2 to FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium Saturday in another embarrassing road display. Martin Ojeda scored the opener for the Lions in the first half before Cincinnati scored twice to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. Ojeda equalized for Orlando early in the second half. However, it was all Cincinnati from that point as Evander scored his second goal of the match and added three assists as Orlando suffered a heavy defeat on the road for the fourth time this season. The loss snapped the Lions’ three-match unbeaten streak. Orlando City will be off until late July due to the MLS World Cup break. The Lions’ next match will be on the road against the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park on July 22.

Payne’s Goal Lifts Pride over San Diego Wave

The Orlando Pride defeated the San Diego Wave 1-0 at Snapdragon Stadium Sunday and snapped their two-match losing streak. Nicole Payne scored the lone goal in the match for Orlando, which moved above the Seattle Reign on goal difference to eighth in the NWSL table with 14 points. The Pride will return home Friday to take on Bay FC at Inter&Co Stadium.

OCB Beats Inter Miami II

Orlando City B defeated Inter Miami II 4-1 at Osceola County Stadium on Sunday. The Young Lions got off to a flying start in the first half as Ignacio Gomez scored the opening goal. Bernardo Rhein added another, and OCB got an own goal by Miami defender Daniel Sumalla to take a 3-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Zakaria Taifi scored for OCB and Miami pulled one back, but the Young Lions had the match wrapped up by then. OCB will take on Chattanooga FC Sunday at Osceola County Stadium.

USMNT World Cup Roster Leaked

According to Jeff Rueter and Pablo Maurer at The Guardian, the full 26-man U.S. Men’s National Team roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was leaked over the weekend, just days before the official announcement. Former Lion Alex Freeman, Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, and Tim Weah were notable mentions, while other players reportedly making the cut include Alejandro Zendejas, Gio Reyna, Sebastian Berhalter, Brenden Aaronson, Mark Mackenzie, and goalkeeper Matt Turner. Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, and Aidan Morris were left out of the squad. The U.S. Soccer Federation will officially announce the USMNT roster Tuesday, while the final deadline to submit the roster to FIFA for the World Cup is June 1.

Free Kicks

• Wilfried Zaha will reportedly depart from Charlotte FC this summer when his loan deal expires.

• Josef Martinez will reportedly become a free agent after reaching an agreement to part ways with Liga MX side Tijuana.

• Club America Femenil defeated the Washington Spirit 5-3 over the weekend to win the Concacaf W Champions Cup.
• FC Barcelona dominated OL Lyonnes 4-0 Saturday to win the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the fourth time.
• Harry Kane scored a hat trick for Bayern Munich in a 3-0 win against VfB Stuttgart over the weekend to win the DFB-Pokal Cup.
• Oli McBurnie scored the late winner as Hull City defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 in the EFL playoff final Saturday and earned promotion to the Premier League.
• Tottenham Hotspur avoided relegation from the Premier League with a 1-0 win against Everton Sunday on the final day of the season. West Ham United became the final team to be relegated from the Premier League despite beating Leeds United 3-0 Sunday.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.