“No Messi, No Party" — every Houston Dynamo fan right now, probably.
Fans who bought tickets for Houston Dynamo’s hosting of Inter Miami — eager to see the appearance of Lionel Messi — were hit with devastating news on Saturday night after reports indicated that the Argentine was to miss the clash at Shell Energy Stadium this weekend.
The United States men’s national team faces a severe injury bug among the team’s strikers with the Concacaf Nations League semifinal and potential final just three weeks away. The USMNT striker injuries give head coach Mauricio Pochettino a daunting conundrum.
Here’s a list of U.S. strikers out with injury heading into March.
USMNT striker injuries
When Bielsa speaks, we listen.
Christian Olivera, a former LAFC player and current member of the Uruguay national team, recently revealed that Marcelo Bielsa, one of soccer’s most renowned tactical minds, advised him to leave Major League Soccer in order to better his career.
Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho was handed a four-match ban and fined by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on Thursday following his comments about Turkish referees after a match at Galatasaray.
The TFF fined the 62-year-old Portuguese $44,000 after he criticized the match officials in a press conference following the 0-0 Super Lig draw on Monday.
José Mourinho ban for comments on referees
Major League Soccer put its foot down and showed that no one is above the rules as Lionel Messi and superstar teammate Luis Suárez were both hit with fines after week 1 of the new season.
Suárez and Messi fined by MLS
The attacking pair were fined an undisclosed amount for violating the league’s “hands to the face/head/neck of an opponent” rule.
A spectacular Lionel Messi goal vs Sporting KC opened the scoring of Inter Miami’s 3-1 victory in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup on Tuesday. Miami won 4-1 on aggregate.
Messi got the home crowd at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on their feet in the 19th minute with a golazo from the top of the box. Luis Suarez found his former Barcelona teammate with a cross and Messi finished beautifully on the half volley.
Lionel Messi goal vs Sporting KC
Cristiano Ronaldo goal 925 of his career saw the Al Nassr striker score from close range in his side’s 2-0 victory vs. Al Wehda on Tuesday.
In the 48th minute CR7 scored the game’s opening goal with a flicked header to the far post after a sublime delivery into the penalty area.
Cristiano Ronaldo goal 925
MLS is back... to taking on criticism.
The 2025 MLS season kicked off with plenty of drama, most notably highlighted by San Diego FC’s stunning debut win against the 2024 MLS Champions. The new expansion club managed to pull off one of the most shocking opening weekend results in recent memory, defeating defending champions LA Galaxy at their home turf. There’s a new team in town, California.
Anders Dreyer scored a brace and CJ dos Santos recorded three saves for his first career clean sheet as visiting San Diego FC stunned defending MLS champ LA Galaxy 2-0 on Sunday in the season-opening match for both teams in Carson, California.
It began as a celebration for both teams — the inaugural match in club history for expansion San Diego as well as the unveiling of the Galaxy's championship banner for their league-record sixth title earned in 2024.
But this match finished as one for San Diego (1-0-0, 3 points) to remember and the Galaxy to lament.
Telasco Segovia scored in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time in his MLS debut and Lionel Messi had two assists as 10-man Inter Miami salvaged a 2-2 draw against visiting New York City FC in both teams' MLS opener.
Messi assists vs NYCFC
Tomas Aviles opened the scoring for the defending Supporters' Shield champions in the fifth minute but was then sent off 18 minutes later for denying Alonso Martinez an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.