How’s it going, Mane Landers? I’m getting pretty excited for soccer to return to the City Beautiful, and it won’t be much longer until we can see our favorite players in purple once more. Until then, enjoy today’s links from around the soccer world!

Orlando City B Announces 2026 Schedule

We now know the schedules for all three of the club’s soccer teams, as Orlando City B unveiled its MLS NEXT Pro schedule for 2026. The Young Lions will open the season on a Monday when they host Huntsville City FC on March 2. They’ll follow that match with another home game on March 8 against Chicago Fire FC II. OCB’s schedule will include 28 games yet again, with the league staying in action while the World Cup is going on. Decision Day will take place on Sept. 20 against Atlanta United 2, with all Eastern Conference teams playing at 2 p.m. Hopefully the Young Lions can return to the playoffs after missing out last year.

MLS Unveils General Allocation Money Totals

MLS released information on how much 2026 General Allocation Money (GAM) each club has heading into the upcoming season. As of Jan. 20, Orlando City’s total comes to $3,518,514, which is a bit low compared to other clubs. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that roster moves are still being made that could easily change these totals, such as former Lion Facundo Torres’ reported move to Austin FC that will give Orlando some money due to the sell-on percentage. Clubs who choose the MLS U22 Initiative roster construction path will also receive another $2 million in GAM once the roster compliance deadline passes.

Minnesota United has the most 2026 GAM in the league and is the only club with over $7 million of it. The award for the lowest amount goes to Austin, which has roughly $2.5 million and is the only club under the $3 million mark according to the league.

Adrian Heath Was Held at Knifepoint in Morocco in 2024

You will need to get past the paywall for the full details, but former Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath spoke to The Athletic about being kidnapped and held at knifepoint in Morocco in 2024. Heath flew to the country for a management opportunity in Saudi Arabia that turned out to be a sham, with men holding him captive in exchange for money. Heath thankfully made it back to the United States thanks to help from his wife Jane, his son and former Lion Harrison Heath, and Harrison’s wife and soccer analyst Kaylyn Kyle (formerly with the Orlando Pride). It’s a harrowing story that’s worth checking out, and hopefully Heath coming forward about this helps keep other coaches safe.

UEFA Champions League Roundup

The penultimate round of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase is complete and the tournament’s bigger teams cruised for the most part. English clubs Liverpool, Chelsea, and Newcastle all had shutout wins, Harry Kane scored a brace in Bayern Munich’s 2-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, and Barcelona rallied to beat Slavia Praha 4-2. The match of the day though was in Azerbaijan, as Qarabag scored a late equalizer and then a winner in stoppage time to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2. While Frankfurt has been in dire straits this tournament and is eliminated, it’s still an impressive result from Qarabag.

The last round of matches in the league phase is next week and there’s plenty to play for for most teams as they jockey for position to qualify for either the knockout phase or the round of 16.

Free Kicks

• The cinematography on these videos of the Orlando Pride training this preseason is pretty top notch if I do say so myself.

• The LA Galaxy are reportedly aiming to acquire St. Louis City forward Joao Klauss in exchange for around $2 million. Klauss scored 10 goals last season and would reportedly fill the Designated Player slot opened up in LA by Riqui Puig’s injury.

• The Josh Sargent transfer saga has reportedly escalated as he pushes for a move from Norwich City to Toronto FC.

• Barcelona midfielder Pedri sustained a hamstring injury and had to be substituted out in the second half of his team’s Champions League win.
• Manchester City’s captains will refund the tickets of nearly 400 fans who paid to watch the team lose 3-1 to Bodo/Glimt in Norway.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week.

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! I hope you’ve been staying warm, though I assume it’s been a bit cooler up here in Tallahassee than it has been for those of you who reside in or near Orlando. Personally, I love this weather. I get that I live in Florida, but I should be able to wear jackets and sweaters during January and February at the very least. I appreciate you reading my short weather rant. Now, let’s get to the links.

The Orlando Pride Are Back

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is indeed the case, then I wonder how many words a video is worth? Since we don’t have any articles detailing the return of the Orlando Pride to training on Tuesday, the club’s social media pictures and videos will have to suffice to let us know how it went.

Torres Returns to MLS

Facundo Torres’ time with Palmeiras is over. The former Lion is reportedly headed back to MLS to sign with Austin FC. Assuming that Tom Bogert’s information is correct, Orlando City will pocket an almost $1.5 million sell-on fee for Torres. That money plus the $14 million the Lions got in the transfer to Palmeiras is a good chunk of change for the left-footed attacker. If anyone knows his strengths and weaknesses, it will be Orlando City.

MLS Transfer News

The rest of MLS is not sitting around waiting for the season to begin. There have been more signings from across the league. The Houston Dynamo acquired forward Nick Markanich on loan from Spanish side CD Castellón. The LA Galaxy signed Johnny Nelson to a new contract through the 2027-2028 season.

Atlanta United transferred midfielder Edwin Mosquera to Colombian side Independiente Santa Fe. Meanwhile, the New England Revolution signed Griffin Yow from Belgian Pro League side KVC Westerlo through the 2027-2028 MLS season.

U.S. National Team News

Every day we get a little closer to the 2026 World Cup, although we’re still a way off from Mauricio Pochettino naming his World Cup roster. That being said, there are still some obvious front runners for those spots, including Orlando City’s Alex Freeman. Once the MLS season starts, the selection process will really begin, as all the potential players will be playing for their respective clubs in the hopes of playing for their country. Ricardo Pepi might be with a different club despite a recent broken arm. The PSV striker has interest from English Premier League sides like Fulham. Also, check out this goal from Haji Wright.

On the women’s side, Emma Hayes is doing some evaluations of her own. The USWNT coach is using the January camp to look at how deep the player pool for the U.S. really is. The first chance for players to shine comes Saturday against Paraguay. The second match will be Tuesday against Chile.

Free Kicks

• We now know the where the Concacaf W Champions Cup semifinals and final will be played. You’ll need your passport if you want to attend.

• Your might have seen the Orlando Pride’s schedule drop video last Friday. I felt it was a bit Full House (the television show) in presentation. Here is a compilation of the other club’s schedule announcement efforts.

• It seems that Haley Carter is busy spending Michelle Kang’s money up in the nation’s capital. The Washington Spirit have signed Claudia Martinez from Club Olimpia.

• The Canadian Premier League will institute Arsene Wenger’s “daylight” offside rule this season. This is a trial of the new rule to see how it plays out in actual matches and not just in theory. If it works it could pave the way for broader adoption.
• You probably saw the video of Moroccan ball boys trying to take a towel away from Senegal’s backup goalkeeper. This is worse and indicative of how out of control the match really was.

• Anyone that fights against the obvious graft and corruption surrounding FIFA is all right in my book. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is looking into ways for his residents to have watch parties since most average citizens have been priced out of World Cup tickets.

That will do it for today. We very much appreciate you reading our content so please feel free to provide feedback in the comments of any of our articles. Vamos Orlando!

Good morning, everyone. If you were lucky enough to have Monday off from work, I hope you’re feeling rested and ready to tackle the week. If you weren’t so fortunate, take solace in the fact that you’re one day closer to the weekend. We’ve got plenty to discuss this morning, but before we get into the links, we want to welcome Josh Simon as a subscriber member of The Mane Land . If you’d like to subscribe and receive extra perks, please consider signing up at our Buy Me a Coffee site (or just check it out and swee what’s on offer) at buymeacoffee.com/themaneland. OK, now let’s get into the links!

Orlando Pride Add a Forward

The Orlando Pride kicked off the week by announcing the signing of Jamaican international forward Solai Washington on Monday afternoon. The 20-year-old FSU product joins on a deal that runs through the 2027 season and contains a mutual option for the 2028 campaign. At the international level, Washington has played five times for Jamaica, including three appearances at the 2023 Women’s World Cup when she was only 17. While she has yet to make her professional debut, she’s a young player with plenty of upside, and the Pride have been sorely in need of depth when it comes to the team’s group of attackers. She’s got some excellent players to learn from, and a contract that runs through next season means she should have a couple of years to do so. Welcome to Orlando!

MLS Transfer Roundup

With the beginning of the new Major League Soccer season drawing nearer by the day, the transfer business in and around the league is showing no signs of slowing down. We begin with Inter Miami, which has fully signed Tadeo Allende from Celta Vigo after he spent 2025 on loan with the Herons. Allende is now under contract through June of 2030. Next, there’s the Houston Dynamo, who Tom Bogert says are finalizing the signing of Mateusz Bogusz from Cruz Azul that has been rumored for awhile now.

Mr. Scoops also says that LAFC is putting the final touches on a deal to acquire midfielder Amin Boudri as an MLS U22 Initiative signing.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a whole slew of Americans who will be playing games during the working week, and the Champions League is a recurring theme. Things get going later today when Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen take on Real Madrid, while Folarin Balogun’s Monaco side hits the road to face Real Madrid. Wednesday has Yunus Musah and Atalanta squaring off against Athletic Bilbao, while Tim Weah and Marseille host Liverpool. Attention shifts to the Europa League on Thursday when Auston Trusty and Celtic visit Bologna, while Tanner Tessman and Lyon face Young Boys. Things wrap up on Friday when Damion Downs and Hamburg play James Sands and St. Pauli in the Bundesliga, while West Brom and former Lion Daryl Dike have a road game against Patrick Agyemang and Derby County in the Championship.

AFCON Final Fallout

Saying that the AFCON final was a chaotic affair is an understatement, and now that the dust is settling after the end of the tournament, some of the fallout from the match is beginning to be felt. FIFA President Gianni Infantino criticized the scenes at the final as “unacceptable” and stated his belief that the Confederation of African Football will take disciplinary measures. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation stated that it will file complaints with both FIFA and CAF regarding the bulk of Senegal’s team withdrawing to the locker room after Morocco was given a late penalty kick. Senegal coach Pape Thiaw could be in line to receive match bans for his role in leading Senegal’s players off the field, although its unknown whether any ban would only be for CAF competitions or would come into play at this summer’s World Cup.

Free Kicks

• Former Lion Cesar Araujo looks to be close to joining a new team.

• Senegal’s backup goalkeeper didn’t play in the AFCON final but was still extremely active during the game.

• Charalampos Kostoulas scored a ridiculous goal to help Brighton and Hove Albion rescue a late point against Bournemouth.

• Manchester City has signed Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.
• Antonio Conte suggested that “arrogance” from previous coaches hindered Rasmus Hojlund’s development.

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