Lion Links: 5/27/26

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!