Royal Roundup: FIFA continues to press for bi-annual World Cup

It’s rare enough that FIFA publishes results of a poll, but releasing one that conflicts with many public comments from players, fans, and confederations to show fan support for a bi-annual World Cup makes the results seem suspect. The poll, held via the YouGov site had over 15,000 people over the age of 18 respond from 23 countries. A follow-up survey will poll over 100,000 people in at least 100 nations.

[FIFA][SI][TheScore][USSP]

REAL SALT LAKE / UTAH

• [90Min] Pablo Mastroeni praises players after win vs Seattle.
• [MLS][LWOS][SAH] Recap: RSL 1, Seattle Sounders 0.
• [YT] Highlights RSL vs SEA.
• [RSL] Late goal vs New Mexico United hands Real Monarchs another road loss.

MLS / USL / NWSL

• [WTR] Toronto FC is on pace to have the worst record of it’s history.
• [SBI] Club America knocks Philadelphia Union out of Champions League.
• [SSD] CF Montreal closes the supporter section in Stade Saputo stadium after repeated incidents of violence.
• [USSP] Colorado Rapids and Nashville SC are this year’s dark horses gunning for MLS Cup.
• [USL] Championship expansion team Monterey Bay FC breaks ground on their new stadium.
• [NWSL] A total of 42 NWSL players have been called up for international duty in the upcoming break.
• [MLS][FRS] FC Dallas has fired their coach Luchi Gonzalez amid rough year. Saturday’s 3-2 loss to rival Houston Dynamo was the last straw.

USA

• [CBS] USWNT blow out Paraguay 9-0 in friendly. Carli Lloyd scores 5 goals and moves into 3rd on Women’s all time list.
• [SSF] The first round of World Cup qualifying gives the USMNT a reality check.
• [CBS] [SportBible] USWNT players remain optimistic about US Soccer’s equal pay proposal.
• [SI] Panama remains on England’s “red list” of countries which will prevent some USMNT players from the 2nd round of World Cup qualifying.
• [SBI] USMNT slip out of top 10 in the latest FIFA rankings after problematic World Cup qualifying.
• [USSOC] USWNT play their 2nd friendly game vs Paraguay on Tuesday. It will be televised on FS1 and in Spanish on TUDN.

INTERNATIONAL

• [SI] Soccer legend Pelé underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his colon last week. Daughter says he’s recovering well.
• [SI] Concacaf is combining U-20 World Cup and Olympic qualifying into one tournament for 2024.
• [CBS][SI] Rival supporter’s groups halftime brawl on pitch in France delays game 30 minutes.
• [Fansided] Has the time arrived to add a stop-clock to Soccer to combat time-wasting, and what other methods are being considered.
• [SI][FFT][Guardian] English soccer legend Jimmy Greaves has died at the age of 81. He held the European goal scoring record for 46 years.

Photo by The FA/The FA via Getty Images