USWNT Faces Spain Rematch as Hayes Pushes for Faster Start; St. Louis City Eyes MLS Record

USWNT seeks faster start against Spain in rematch at Subaru Park

Spain beat the United States 2-0 on Saturday in Washington even though the Americans outshot them 13-6, setting up a rematch at Subaru Park on Oct. 13. Spain, the reigning world champions, scored both goals in the first 14 minutes and held on despite the U.S. generating far more scoring chances over the rest of the match.

Coach Emma Hayes has been blunt that the two-game series is about process rather than her win-loss record, saying she would simply schedule weaker opponents if she wanted to protect it. Her message to the team heading into the rematch is to start faster and address the little details earlier instead of playing from behind.

Spain arrive without Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, who remains sidelined. The match is the Americans' last tune-up before the Concacaf W Championship quarterfinals on Nov. 27 against El Salvador, with the winner securing a berth in the 2027 World Cup. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Eastern at Subaru Park, airing on TNT and HBO Max.

Saint Louis City one win from the outright MLS unbeaten record

Saint Louis City routed the LA Galaxy 6-2 on Sunday, with Carlo Holse scoring a hat trick inside the first 21 minutes and Rafael Navarro adding two goals and two assists. The result stretched Saint Louis' unbeaten run across all competitions to 20 games, tying the all-time MLS record set by the New York Red Bulls in 2016.

St. Louis can take that record outright in their home match against Vancouver, a result that would also lift them past the Whitecaps atop the Western Conference. Vancouver has lost only three road games all season, making the task anything but simple.

A week later, on Oct. 21, Saint Louis plays Columbus Crew in Ohio in the club's first-ever U.S. Open Cup final.

Cavan Sullivan ties teenage goal-contributions record

Philadelphia Union beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 on goals from Bruno Damiani and Milan Iloski, with 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan picking up the assist. The helper gave Sullivan 20 goal contributions on the season, tying Diego Fagúndez's 2013 mark for the most by a teenager in a single MLS regular season and extended Philadelphia's club-record unbeaten run to 13 matches.

Sullivan's fall has been a string of records. During the recent international window he earned his first U.S. men's national team call-up, started against Peru and scored against Mexico to become the youngest goalscorer in USMNT history.

Philadelphia travels to Chicago Fire at Soldier Field next, with Chicago entering on a three-game winning streak after rallying from a goal and a man down to beat New York City FC 2-1.

Messi and Suárez lead Miami rout; Nashville chases scoring record

Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez each scored twice as Inter Miami beat D.C. United 4-0 at Nu Stadium, with Suárez also adding an assist.

Nashville beat Austin 4-1 behind an opening goal from Reed Baker-Whiting, pushing Nashville to 63 points through 28 matches as it chases the MLS single-season points record of 74.

Gotham FC loses two key players for playoff push

Defending NWSL champion and current Shield leader Gotham FC lost two important players for the rest of the season. Rookie forward Jordynn Dudley fractured her foot in training and was placed on the season-ending injury list, while defender Bruninha tore her ACL playing for Brazil against Argentina on Saturday.

The injuries come on top of a season-ending knee injury to Emily Sonnett, and ESPN reports that Jaedyn Shaw left U23 camp last week as a precaution due to an unspecified issue. Gotham president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West said in a statement, "We're disappointed for Jordynn after the outstanding rookie season she has had."

Despite the setbacks, Gotham still leads the NWSL table by four points with three games remaining as it chases the club's first Shield.

NWSL: four clubs officially eliminated from playoff contention

Bay FC, Boston Legacy, Chicago Stars and Racing Louisville are all out of playoff contention in the NWSL.

Zavier Gozo named among Messi's future stars

Zavier Gozo made Lionel Messi's list of 10 future stars to watch worldwide, the only American selected. Crystal Palace paid $15 million for him this summer after he put up six goals and four assists in just 16 MLS games for Real Salt Lake.

Gozo also made his USMNT debut off the bench in the 4-1 win over Peru during the same window that produced Sullivan's milestones.

Messi's contract skews MLS pay data

Lionel Messi earns $28.3 million in guaranteed compensation, 4.5% of the entire league's guaranteed pay. He and the nine next-highest earners take in 15.2% of all guaranteed compensation despite making up just 1.1% of the league's players.

Inter Miami's payroll sits at $54.6 million with Messi on the books versus $26.2 million without him. LAFC tops the league's non-Messi payroll table at $32.6 million, including $11.1 million going to Son Heung-min.

U.S. Soccer launches referee program; USL Goal of the Week voting open

U.S. Soccer rolled out a new referee development program called R90+, starting with 60 officials across 13 state associations in the South Region at no cost to participants over 24 months. The program expands to the Northeast in January, the West in April, and the Midwest and Plains in June, with about 200 officials expected to take part by the end.

Separately, voting is open for the USL Championship's Goal of the Week, with nominees including Jansen Wilson's strike for Louisville at Charleston, Darren Smith's goal for a man-down Detroit City, and goals from Phoenix's Ihsan Sacko and Las Vegas's Patrick Leal. Voting runs through Wednesday at midnight Eastern.