FIFA CWC opening weekend, USMNT rebounds and Azteca's World Cup makeover
Kick off your Monday with all the action from this past weekend
The FIFA Club World Cup and the Gold Cup headlined the action this past weekend.
Let’s start with the expanded Club World Cup, FIFA’s latest attempt to grow the game while also stuffing their coffers.
Whatever the motivation, it did produce some exciting games at a time of year where often little is happening.
At the Gold Cup, the U.S. won their Group D opener and quelled — for now, anyway — how poorly the team has played this month just a year before they co-host the World Cup.
Here’s a look at the weekend’s top storylines:
Club World Cup: PSG and Bayern win big
In a clash of European titans, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha helped European champions PSG dispatched 10-man Atletico Madrid 4-0 on Sunday before a crowd of 80,619 fans at the Rose Bowl.
Also on Sunday, Bayern Munich romped to a 10-0 victory over Auckland City in its Club World Cup opener at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium as Jamal Musiala netted a hat trick in a 17-minute span.
While PSG and Bayern asserted their dominance, Group A remains wide open after both games — Saturday’s tournament opener between Inter Miami and Al Ahly of Egypt and Palmeiras versus Porto — ended scoreless.
The Club World Cup, expanded to 32 teams from across the globe, will take place over the next four weeks. The final will be held on July 13 at MetLife Stadium just outside New York.
Click here for all the latest scores and group standings from the Club World Cup.
Gold Cup: U.S. win snaps four-game losing streak
Malik Tillman scored twice as the United States built a three-goal lead in the opening 45 minutes by routing Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 on Sunday in its Gold Cup opener.
Tillman scored in the 16th and 41st minutes for his first two international goals, both following giveaways by Alvin Jones, and Patrick Agyemang scored his fourth international goal in the 44th.
Brenden Aaronson added his ninth goal in the 82nd and Haji Wright his fifth just a minute later as the Americans ended a four-game losing skid, the team’s longest since 2007.
The morale-boosting win came after days of controversy over Christian Pulisic’s desire to sit out the tournament and manager Mauricio Pochettino not including the star in a pair of pre-tournament friendlies the striker had offered to play in.
The Americans have won their group in 16 of 17 Gold Cups. They next travel to Texas to play invited guest Saudi Arabia on Thursday in Austin, then close group play on June 22 against Haiti at Arlington.
2026 World Cup: Azteca Stadium to feature hybrid field and modern amenities
A hybrid field, updated dressing rooms, elevators and hospitality zones are among the new features of the Azteca Stadium in time for next summer’s World Cup.
Ollamani, the sports entertainment company that owns the stadium, confirmed this week that the famed Mexico City stadium will reopen on March 26, just 75 days before the start of the World Cup.
“The centerpiece of the stadium’s renovation is the people who visit it. Our main objective is to substantially improve their experience in every way,” stadium director Felix Aguirre said.
The venue has been closed ahead of next year’s 48-team competition co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The stadium will host five games at the 2026 World Cup, including the tournament opener. It also hosted the opening matches at the 1970 and 1986 World Cups and the final in both those editions.
In other news: San Jose’s PayPal Park will host the NWSL championship game on Nov. 22. The California venue is home to Bay FC as well as the Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes. … Liverpool has agreed to pay a transfer fee of $157 million for attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. The deal for the 22-year-old German international, once finalized, would make it a British record. … Former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso was named Italy coach on Sunday, tasked with reviving the country’s already-flagging World Cup qualifying hopes. Gattuso replaces Luciano Spalletti, who was fired after Italy lost its opening qualifier 3-0 at Norway to spark fears that the four-time champion will fail to qualify for a third straight World Cup.