Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It’s Leagues Cup match day, and I’m sure you’re as excited as I am, right? Right?!? Despite it being a money grab of a tournament in which the Lions are unlikely to advance, it is at least an opportunity to watch the team we support, and as such, I will be watching. Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Hosts San Luis to Close First Leagues Cup Phase

Orlando City faces Atlético de San Luis tonight at Inter.co Stadium in the team’s third Leagues Cup match. If the Lions are to advance, the team will need to win the match and get some help from other teams in the tournament if they are to advance. As I said on The Mane Land PawedCast, I hope Orlando City smartly focuses on the upcoming regular-season match against FC Cincinnati. Sadly, I believe that won’t be the case, so you can expect the team to play a mixture of starters and subs.

Pride Proceed to Portland’s Providence Park

The Orlando Pride travel across the country to take on the Portland Thorns Saturday evening. The Pride are coming off a 3-1 loss to Racing Louisville, and let’s just say that the metrics were not good. As if bad form and traveling across the nation were not enough, the Thorns will be holding a celebration for former Portland and USWNT defender Meghan Klingenberg prior to the match. I don’t think the Thorns needed any extra motivation, but there it is.

Orlando City B Defeated…Again

Orlando City B continued its slide down the MLS NEXT Pro table after losing 3-0 to New York City FC II. With so many Young Lions covering for injuries with the first team, OCB Head Coach Eddie Wilding made five changes to the starting lineup. There were also four academy players who made their professional debuts. NYCFC II scored two goals in the the first 13 minutes and added a third in the second half. OCB will face Chicago Fire FC II on the road Saturday.

NWSL Accolades

If you didn’t watch other NWSL matches after being demoralized by how the Pride played Friday, I won’t blame you. That being said, there were matches played and things happened in those matches. I believe that Kerry Abello should have been up for Goal of the Week, but alas she wasn’t and instead the honor went to Ashley Sanchez from the North Carolina Courage. Don’t get me wrong it was a good goal, but Abello’s shot was better.

Anna Moorhouse was never in the discussion for Save of the Week. Instead it was won by Portland’s Mackenzie Arnold.

Arnold also won Assist of the Week on Pietra Tordin’s second goal.

Finally, Tordin won Player of the Week for her hat trick against Boston Legacy FC. She gets to face the Pride’s defense and Moorhouse on Saturday night.

Free Kicks

• Olivia Moultrie is out for the season due to an ACL injury. This is not just a blow to the Portland Thorns but to the USWNT as well.
• St. Louis City transferred Marcel Hartel to 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96. The midfielder’s departure opens a Designated Player spot for St. Louis.
• CF Montreal signed Alexis Sanchez as a Designated Player through the 2027 MLS sprint season.

• Not everyone thinks that Gianni Infantino is horribly corrupt and should resign. Any guesses as to who I’m referring to?

That will do it for today. You can follow The Mane Land on Bluesky for match updates and we will also have a recap of the match. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant weekend for Orlando’s soccer teams, but fortunately, opportunities to change the vibes are right around the corner. Orlando City B plays NYCFC II in a few hours, Orlando City plays San Luis tomorrow and FC Cincinnati on Saturday, and the Orlando Pride are in action against the Portland Thorns on Saturday night as well. We’ve got lots to talk over this morning, so let’s get into it.

Leagues Cup Preview

Leagues Cup will begin its final round of group stage games later today, and there are several storylines to keep an eye on. Most prominent among them is the match between Austin FC and Club America, as each team currently sits first in its respective table. Myrto Uzuni’s hat trick helped Austin bury Puebla in its second match, and the Verde and Black are now in great position to advance. Before we get to that match on Thursday though, FC Cincinnati plays Atlas this evening to kick off the last round of games. Cincy sits fourth in the MLS table and therefore has plenty to play for, while Atlas has no points and has already been eliminated from contention. With Cincy visiting the City Beautiful on Saturday, Orlando fans should be hoping for FCC’s key players to rack up a lot of minutes tonight.

Americans in Midweek Action

Plenty of Americans will be taking part in matches during the working week, so make sure you’ve got everything noted down on your calendar. Tanner Tessmann and Lyon kick things off later today as they try to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit against Sparta Prague in UEFA Champions Leauge qualifying. Things continue with Brenden Aaronson and Leeds playing Manchester United in a friendly on Wednesday, while Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen have a friendly of their own against Nottingham Forest. Things wrap up with some American-on-American violence on Friday, as Johnny Cardoso and Atletico Madrid play Marseille in a friendly, while Folarin Balogun and Monaco face Haji Wright and Coventry in a tune-up game.

Confederations Write Letter Criticizing Gianni Infantino

Concacaf, UEFA, and AFC have written a joint open letter soccer as a whole, in which they accuse FIFA president Gianni Infantino of betraying the trust of the confederations and engaging in deceptive practices. They condemned the plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, and called both FIFA’s integrity and Infantino’s running of the organization into question. U.S. Soccer put out its own statement on Sunday in support of Concacaf’s stance. The letter also urged FIFA to conduct an independent review of the proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup, while calling for accountability and openness among Infantino and the rest of FIFA’s leadership.

Transfer Rumor Roundup

There are plenty of transfer rumors to catch up on this morning, so let’s get straight into it. We start in England, where Crystal Palace is reportedly finalizing the signing of Zavier Gozo from Real Salt Lake. In Spain, Atletico Madrid has reportedly submitted an offer in the area of €35 million to Lille for winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Meanwhile, Endrick will supposedly be staying at Real Madrid this season following discussions between himself, the club, and Head Coach Jose Mourinho. Barcelona ha reportedly rejected a €50 million offer for Ferran Torres from Paris Saint-Germain, as the Catalonian club wants the fee to be structured differently than PSG’s initial proposal. Finally, in a rather unexpected bit of news, Tom Bogert reports that CF Montreal is signing Alexis Sanchez as a Designated Player.

Free Kicks

• The Orlando Pride slid three spots to no.15 in ESPN.com’s NWSL power rankings.
• Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and league games have been postponed in Colombia after the country was struck by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Monday.
• The would-be World Cup referee that was barred from entering the United States has spoken about the experience ahead of preparing to officiate the UEFA Super Cup.
• A group including Jeff Bezos is reportedly in talks to buy a 30% stake in Liverpool.

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

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been keeping myself busy at work and getting ready to cover high school sports again soon. Let’s wish a belated happy birthday to former Lion Alex Freeman, who turned 22 on Sunday, and a happy birthday to former Orlando City head coach Oscar Pareja, who turns 58 today. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Lions Fall to Club Leon in Leagues Cup

Orlando City fell 2-1 to Club Leon at home in the second matchday of the 2026 Leagues Cup on Saturday. Marco Pasalic scored for the Lions in the first half as Orlando took a 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Club Leon overturned the one-goal deficit, responding with goals from Juan Guevara and Daniel Arcila to take a 2-1 lead as the Liga MX side edged the Lions for the win. Orlando City will be back at home on Wednesday to face Atletico de San Luis to close out the first phase of Leagues Cup.

Pride Winless Skid Continues with Loss to Racing Louisville

The Orlando Pride fell 3-1 to Racing Louisville FC at home on Friday as the club continues to slide down the NWSL table and has lost back-to-back league matches. Louisville struck first to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Emma Sears scored twice to give Louisville a 3-0 lead. In stoppage time, Kerry Abello scored for the Pride to avoid the shutout, but Louisville secured its third win in its last four games. Meanwhile, Orlando has lost four out of its last five matches. The Pride will be on the road for their next match on Saturday, taking on the Portland Thorns.

Americans Abroad

Orlando City midfielder Colin Guske started and played a full 90 minutes for the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team against Mexico in the Concacaf U-20 Championships. The U.S. fell 2-0 to Mexico in the final on Sunday. Max Arfsten and Sebastian Berhalter made their debuts for Middlesbrough in Round 1 of the Carabao Cup against Wrexham on Friday. Berhalter notched an assist as Middlesbrough defeated Wrexham 1-0 to advance to the second round. Ricardo Pepi started and played 80 minutes for PSV Eindhoven in a 2-2 draw against Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie on Saturday. Austin Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers were both in action for Celtic in a 5-1 victory against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

Latest MLS Transfer Roundup

The LA Galaxy have been busy making moves of late, signing former FC Barcelona and Como midfielder Sergi Roberto to a contract through June 2028 with an option for the 2028-2029 season. The Galaxy added winger Chucky Lozano from San Diego FC on loan through the end of the season and reached an agreement to transfer midfielder Edwin Cerrillo to Liga MX side Club America. Atlanta United has acquired midfielder Mauricio Amaro from Uruguayan top flight club Defensor Sporting. Amaro will be under contract through the 2028-2029 season with an option for 2029-2030. San Diego FC announced on Saturday that the club has transferred defender Andres Reyes to Atletico Nacional in Colombia.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City forward Yutaro Tsukada, who is on loan at Rhode Island FC, scored his first goal in the USL Championship over the weekend.

• Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga scored for Malawi, which defeated Ghana 2-1 on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.

• Nigeria fell 1-0 to Cameroon in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, resulting in Cameroon qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Nigeria will face South Africa on Thursday in a play-in match to qualify for the FIFA inter-confederation playoffs.

• Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho revealed in a documentary that he had signed a contract to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013, but later backed out of the deal and decided to return to Chelsea after his first stint at Real Madrid.

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