Category: Sports

The NFL is moving forward with plans to begin hiring and training replacement officials in the next several weeks because negotiations with the referees’ union have been unsuccessful, two people with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press.

Both people spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the conversations are private.

The league and the NFL Referees Association have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement since the summer of 2024. The current CBA expires on May 31.

The NFL has increased its offer to a 6.45% annual growth rate in compensation over a six-year labor deal, but the NFLRA wants 10% plus $2.5 million for marketing fees, the people said.

The league wants compensation tied to performance so that only high-performing game officials during the regular season share in the year-end bonus pool.

The league is also seeking greater flexibility to ensure the best officials are on the field during the postseason. The current CBA includes seniority as a factor in making postseason assignments.

Shortening the “dark period” is also a priority for the NFL. Currently, the league has no communication with game officials during the roughly three-month stretch between the Super Bowl and May 15. The goal is to increase access to game officials for rules discussions, video review, mechanics and appropriate football operations and committee meetings in order to improve the game and officials’ performance.

The NFL is offering to hire some full-time officials, but one of the people said the union is resisting and is asking for “full-time pay and part-time hours.”

“Apparently ‘League sources’ are continuing to put out false and misleading information instead of wanting to meet at the negotiating table,” NFLRA executive director Scott Green said in a statement. “The bottom line is our officials work for the wealthiest sports league in America, with profits that far exceed any of the others. That’s normally a point of pride for the NFL. However, our officials are substantially under-compensated when compared to baseball and basketball umpires and referees. Our officials also aren’t provided the health care benefits that those at 345 Park Avenue have.

“As far as performance pay, we had ‘high performing officials’ who worked this year’s championship games and the Super Bowl who were paid less for those games than what they were paid for a regular-season game. That certainly isn’t rewarding performance, as the NFL claims is their goal.”

In preparation for potential use of replacement officials, the NFL competition committee has proposed a contingency that would allow the replay center in New York to advise the on-field officials on any missed roughing the passer or intentional grounding penalty, as well as any act that would have led to an ejection had a penalty been called. NFL owners will vote on the proposal this week at the annual meeting.

The NFL used replacement officials for the first three weeks of the 2012 season and resulted in several mistakes and wrong calls, including the disputed TD catch known as the “Fail Mary.”

Reporting by The Associated Press. 

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in Major League Baseball:

Blue Jays pick up where they left off

The Blue Jays lost the World Series last fall, but that Toronto got there at all was a massive success — hey, only one team wins the World Series but just one loses it, too, and that was the Blue Jays’ first chance at either result since 1993. They kicked off the 2026 season looking like it won’t be anywhere near that long of a wait for a repeat trip, starting out 3-0 with a sweep of the Athletics — Toronto joins the Dodgers, Yankees, Brewers and Marlins as teams to wrap the first weekend of the season undefeated.

Toronto did get there the hard way, but also the exciting one: the first two wins were both walk-off dubs, making the Blue Jays the first team to pull that off since 2014. On Friday, A’s catcher Shea Langeliers hit a home run in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 2-2, but Toronto responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single off the bat of shortstop Andres Gimenez.

On Saturday, it was a much steeper climb for Toronto: following a Langeliers’ grand slam, the A’s were up 6-2 in the seventh. First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in pinch-hitter Jesus Sanchez, who had reached on a hit by pitch, then Sanchez drove in catcher Alejandro Kirk the next inning to cut the lead to two. Gimenez would single to center to make it 6-5, then Kirk would homer to tie things up in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extras. The Athletics would finally get on the board again courtesy an RBI single by designated hitter Brent Rooker, but that lead was short-lived: pinch-hitter Addison Barger hit a sac fly to force the game to the 11th, where second baseman Ernie Clement would deliver the second walk-off hit for the Jays in as many days.

Sunday went much more easily for Toronto. It opened with DH George Springer hitting the 64th leadoff homer of his career — second only behind Rickey Henderson’s 81…

…then Jesus Sanchez hit a two-run shot in the third. That would prove to be the game winner, with Blue Jays’ pitching, led by starter Eric Lauer (5.1 innings, 9 Ks, 2 ER) limiting the A’s to just two runs. But another notable blast came later, when Japanese free-agent signing Kazuma Okamoto hit his first MLB dinger.

The Blue Jays would win, 5-2, ending a very exciting weekend for them and a nightmare first three games for the A’s.

A walk-off grand slam!

Just saying “a walk-off grand slam!” might get you in the door, but there was more to the Braves’ Saturday win over the Royals than that. Atlanta entered the bottom of the ninth against Kansas City down 2-0, and had to face 6-foot-6, 277-pound closer Carlos Estevez. Luckily for them, the right-hander’s velocity is down and his mechanics seem a bit all over the place, and the Braves were able to capitalize on this.

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Left fielder Mike Yastrzemski singled to drive in catcher Drake Baldwin, cutting Kansas City’s lead in half and pushing Jorge Mateo to third. Yaz was lifted for pinch-runner Eli White, and then second baseman Ozzie Albies walked to load the bases. Center fielder Michael Harris would keep things going with an RBI single, leaving the bases loaded for DH Dominic Smith. Smith worked the count to 3-2 — the fourth pitch was overturned and adjusted to be the second strike — and then Estevez left a 92.3 mph four-seamer up in the zone, where Smith turned on it and drilled it 386 feet for a game-winning grand slam.

Royals’ catcher Salvador Perez didn’t even wait for it to land before getting up and walking away from the plate — he knew, as well as anyone else who saw the shot, that it was ballgame.

Yelich’s first-ever PH home run wins it

Christian Yelich is in the 14th season of his career, and yet, the Brewers’ designated hitter-outfielder has never hit a pinch-hit home run. Or, at least, Yelich had not hit a pinch-hit homer: Sunday marked his first, and it ended up being the game-winner for Milwaukee against  the White Sox:

Granted, Yelich has been a pinch-hitter on just 38 occasions in his career — this is a guy who tends to play. He had just seven hits total in this scenario before this, though, and none of them home runs. Problem solved, for both Yelich and the Brewers.

Fitting that a notable home run would end up being the dedicating factor, since this contest opened up with one: White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery bashed a grand slam in the first inning to put Chicago up 4-0, and the White Sox would score three more runs over the next two innings to build a 7-2 lead. 

The Brewers would score seven unanswered runs after that, however, and come away with a 9-7 W and the sweep.

Caissie’s first homer for the Marlins is a big one 

The Marlins are 3-0 for the first time since 2009, and can thank Owen Caissie for at least part of that. The rookie outfielder was the big return for dealing right-hander Edward Cabrera to the Cubs this offseason, and he came to the plate with Miami down 3-2 to the Rockies in the bottom of the ninth. Colorado had scored all three runs in the first inning, and had been held in check since then, but Miami had been similarly held scoreless since the second inning. Until Caissie unloaded on a changeup from righty Victor Vodnik, anyway.

That’s not the first dinger of Caissie’s MLB career — he picked that up in his cup of coffee last summer — but it was his first with the Marlins, and he could not have picked a better time for it.

Murakami showed off his power

There are questions about just how good first baseman Munetaka Murakami is going to be in MLB after coming over from Japan and Nippon Professional Baseball this offseason — he would have signed for more than he did if those questions didn’t exist — but he’s at least started his career stateside on a high note. Murakami went deep three times in the season’s opening series.

Whether he will keep up with the higher average velocity of MLB is the most significant question to ponder — one a single weekend isn’t going to answer, especially not one where he homered off of a 90.5 mph cutter, a 91.8 mph four-seamer and a 93.2 mph cutter — but hey. Three dingers in three games isn’t nothing.

Chase DeLauter is on fire

As impressive as Murakami’s opening shots were, Guardians’ outfielder Chase DeLauter went beyond them. Thanks to four long balls in three games, he became just the second player in MLB history to manage as much in his first three career games, joining Trevor Story, who accomplished the feat in 2016 per MLB. 

You might remember DeLauter from last year, sure, but that was in the postseason: he didn’t actually play an MLB regular-season game in 2025! It’s obviously early yet, but DeLauter, the 16th-overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft and a top-50 prospect, is exactly the kind of breakout Cleveland needs to once again compete in the AL Central. It won’t continue to be quite this easy for him, but he also doesn’t have to average better than a homer per game to be productive, yeah?

What a day for Hancock

Things went well for DeLauter, yes, but for the Guardians as a whole? Less so, as they split a four-game series with the Mariners. That’s not a terrible result — Seattle was in the ALCS just last season and all — but an 8-0 loss on Sunday to close out that series is an unsatisfying end to what could have been an even better start, especially with DeLauter going yard again and again in the other games.

The problem for Cleveland on Sunday was Mariners’ right-hander Emerson Hancock. While he has never been a particularly productive pitcher — Hancock produced a 4.90 ERA last year in a career-best 90 innings, and entered 2026 with a 4.81 ERA while allowing 1.5 homers per nine — on Sunday he looked unstoppable. Hancock threw six no-hit innings while striking out nine batters and walking just one. 

Right-handed reliever Cooper Criswell would then finish off the combined shutout with three sterling innings of relief work in which he struck out five batters and allowed a pair of baserunners. On top of this, the Mariners’ bats were the opposite of Cleveland’s: Seattle won, 8-0, with trade acquisition and third baseman Brendan Donovan hitting a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth off of starter Slade Cecconi, and left fielder Randy Arozarena driving in a pair with a double and then later a single. 

Next up for the Mariners is the Yankees, while the Guardians don’t see things get any easier, either — Cleveland travels to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers. 

5-hit game for Yandy Diaz

Yandy Diaz is off to a hot start for the Rays, as he already has nine hits on the season just three games in — the third baseman is batting .563/.588/.625 in his first 17 plate appearances, which is a small-sample, sure, but also fun to look at.

On Sunday against the Cardinals, Tampa Bay’s slugger collected five hits in an 11-7 victory. Diaz singled on the first pitch off of St. Louis starter Dustin May, then singled in a run in the second, scoring Carson Williams. He would hit a double to left — his first double of the season — in the fourth to pick up his second RBI of the day, then actually recorded an out the next time up on a grounder to first. The Rays’ offense was humming, though, and Diaz would get multiple trips back to the plate: in the next, in the eighth, he notched his third single and third RBI of the day — as well as his second run scored — then made it four singles and four RBIs in the top of the ninth, pushing the Rays’ lead to 11-7.

Tampa Bay needed all of that, too, as they lost the first two games of the series to the Cardinals and were in danger of kicking off the season 0-3. Diaz isn’t about to hit over .500 for the season  or anything, but performances like this one do make you wonder if he’s about to have a season in line with his American League batting title-winning 2023, in which he hit .330. Ah, the dreams of spring baseball.

Sometimes it’s okay to admit defeat

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman is a lot of things, most of them impressive. He is also 36 years old with ankles that likely feel a lot older at this point, so getting in a rundown might be a pointless endeavor. Freeman decided to admit as much on Saturday against the Diamondbacks, and there is no shame in that. There was, however, a hug in it, provided by Arizona shortstop Ketel Marte.

Baseball is back, baby, and it’s good again.

Barber Motorsports Park (Leeds, Ala.) — If stats don’t lie, Alex Palou won the INDYCAR race Sunday by 13.2775 seconds over Christian Lundgaard.

In this case, Palou says stats lie. He didn’t deliver the butt-whipping that leading 79 of 90 laps and that margin of victory would indicate. Lundgaard had a slow final pit stop and with no cautions, couldn’t make up the time.

[BARBER HIGHLIGHTS: Alex Palou Coasts to Repeat in Alabama]

“If you look at the result and you don’t follow the race, the timing, maybe then you look like you were so much faster than everybody else,” the driver of the Chip Ganassi No. 10 car said in his postrace news conference. “That was not the truth.

“We had an amazing car. We had an amazing race. But it was not easy. It was tough.”

Here are my takeaways:

1. Palou Still Has It

Even though he’s not the season-long points leader — Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the No. 27 car for Andretti Global, has a two-point lead on Palou — the three-time defending series champion Palou is showing similar strength to last year. 

Maybe he’s not that dominant, but he still has shown that when other drivers or teams make mistakes, he will make them pay.

Lundgaard might have caught him and made a race of it, but Palou, even though he had to use one more set of the primary tires (the harder of the two compounds, which means they are slower but last longer) than originally planned, never had a hiccup on the 2.3-mile course.

“Alex is the same Alex as last year,” Lundgaard said in his postrace news conference. “I just do think there are cars and drivers that are showing up more this year than last year.”

2. Lundgaard Frustration Justified

Christian Lundgaard, driver of No. 7 for Arrow McLaren, lost about 10 seconds on a pit stop when the team had trouble tightening the right rear wheel. He had pitted five laps later than Palou and felt with the fresher tires and the potential to actually come out of the pits ahead of Palou, he would have had a chance to win the race.

Instead, for the second consecutive year, Lundgaard finished second to Palou at Barber.

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“With the pace and how the race panned out today, we had the car to win the race, Lundgaard said. “We had the pace, we had the track position at the time.

“I’m not really sure what happened in the pit stop. … It’s unfortunate.”

3. Kirkwood Still Tops

Kyle Kirkwood finished fifth, good enough to retain the points lead. And considering he probably had at-best a fifth-place car, that’s what champions do.

And why did he finish fifth? His team executed flawlessly, and that meant a nice rebound from a subpar weekend on pit road in the previous race.

“We had a really clean day on pit lane,” Kirkwood told me and other reporters after that race. “That’s what we had in [the first two races at] St. Pete and Phoenix. So back to normal.”

4. Malukas Making It Happen

David Malukas, driver of the No. 12 car, didn’t feel his team chose the right tire strategy as far as when to have the harder primary tires and the softer alternate tires, but he still finished fourth. And for the second consecutive race, he was the top-finishing Penske driver.

There’s something to be said for that as the replacement for Will Power is proving he is deserving of the ride as he has two top-five finishes in the first four races.

“A good points day, we learned a lot, and we keep going from here.,” Malukas told me and other reporters after the race. 

4 ½. What’s Next

There are two weekends off before INDYCAR returns to the track on the streets of Long Beach.

The Long Beach race is traditionally one of the marquee events of the year and is the last street course until Detroit, which comes the weekend after the Indy 500.

Kirkwood won that race a year ago and will be the favorite following his win on the most recent street course at Arlington.

“We’re going to a really good track next in Long Beach,” Kirkwood said. “A couple weeks off to get our head in the game there, go into it leading the points, and hopefully do what we did last year.”

Kevin Harvick’s race to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte is officially on.

Harvick was one of the 15 people named as nominees for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2027 on Sunday. He learned the news during FOX Sports’ pre-race broadcast ahead of the Cook Out 400. NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton remarked that Harvick’s inclusion on the ballot “wasn’t a surprise to anybody.”

“That’s a lot of fun,” Harvick said when he learned of the news. “These guys always set me up for stuff like that, but it means a lot. You know I love this sport and everything that I got to go through was up and down. But it’s what I love, and to be a part of that is something special.”

Harvick had one of the most accomplished careers in the history of motorsports prior to retiring at the end of the 2023 NASCAR season. He won the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014 and the regular-season title in 2020. He also won two titles that are now known as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. On top of that, Harvick had 60 NASCAR Cup wins. His most famous of those victories was his win at the 2007 Daytona 500. 

FOX Sports’ Chris Myers asked Harvick to reflect on his career upon hearing the news that he was nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“Well, I think the biggest thing for me is that I got to do what I love to do,” Harvick said. “I grew up as a kid that just wanted to go to the racetrack and be a part of all the things that I like to do. To do it for a living and grow up and be a part of that sport, learn so much about life and all the people — the people are what make it so special. You get to be around a group of people that you love to be around. In the end, we’re just a bunch of racers who love what we do.”

Harvick was one of the 10 people included on the ballot as Modern Era nominees. Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Randy Dorton, Ray Elder, Ernie Elliott, Randy LaJoie and Jack Sprague were the other nine people included on the ballot as Modern Era nominees. Two people from that group will be picked for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2027. 

Ray Fox, Harry Hyde, Banjo Matthews, Herb Nab and Larry Phillips were the five people who were named nominees as part of the Pioneer Ballot. 

The inductees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2027 will be announced on May 19.

All-America forward Sarah Strong and her UConn teammates got quite a compliment from coach Geno Auriemma, who donned a cowboy hat and did a little dance on the court after the undefeated Huskies made their 25th Final Four in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The 12-time championship coach, who has more wins than any men’s or women’s NCAA coach, said he has never been more proud of a group that he has taken to the final weekend of March Madness.

[Live Updates: NCAA Men’s, Women’s Basketball Tournament: Who’ll Advance to Final Four?]

“This group, they don’t have that kind of swagger, trash-talking kind of mentality,” Auriemma said after his 1,288th victory. “It’s not the kind of team that I’ve had in the past that has gone this far undefeated. It’s not. They don’t have that kind of mentality off the court, on the court. They’re just a bunch of really nice kids that play hard for each other.”

And they are headed to Phoenix after Strong scored 21 points, Blanca Quinonez added 20 points off the bench and the defending national champion Huskies beat Notre Dame on Sunday, 70-52.

While this is a younger group for Auriemma after Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 WNBA Draft pick, and Kaitlyn Chen were seniors on last year’s championship team, UConn (38-0) has won 54 games in a row and clinched the first spot for this year’s Final Four.

“Seeing him excited and kind of goofy is really good for us,” Strong said. “He’s usually all serious or like anxious, grumpy. Just seeing him let loose and be his true self was really good.”

“He doesn’t say anything [that] he doesn’t mean,” said All-America guard Azzi Fudd, the fifth-year senior on this squad who had 13 points, four assists and three steals. “He doesn’t give out compliments too often, depending on who you are, so to hear him say that it does mean a lot — and we feel the same way. We love this team so much.”

Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (25-11), plus three more steals to increase her NCAA single-season record to 202 and single NCAA tourney mark to 29. But she also had five turnovers, the first time in her 10 NCAA tourney games with more turnovers than steals.

The ninth NCAA tourney meeting between the Huskies and the Irish was their first with a spot in the Final Four on the line. They had both made it that far the first eight times they met in March Madness, the last in 2019, when Notre Dame won a semifinal game over UConn and then lost to Baylor in the title game.

This meeting in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final was the first time Notre Dame had made it past the Sweet 16 since then.

While the game was closer than January 19 when UConn won by 38 points in the most-lopsided game in the 57-game series (UConn leads 41-16), the Irish couldn’t overcome the rolling Huskies.

“They’re very, very physical,” Irish coach Niele Ivey said. “They try to take away every option that you have. They’re very disciplined. They play well together, and they just play hard.”

During a nearly five-minute stretch in the third quarter when UConn went scoreless while missing 11 consecutive shots, the Irish got no closer than eight points. Hidalgo had a jumper and two free throws for their only points, but also was responsible for three of their four turnovers in that span.

That included Fudd’s steal from Hidalgo and Jana El Alfy’s layup that ended the scoring drought and put the Huskies up 40-30 with 3:51 left in the third quarter.

UConn took its first double-digit lead with six points in a 59-second span in the second quarter. Hidalgo furiously responded when she thought she was fouled on a 3-point attempt that was instead a blocked shot by Strong.

That led to a driving layup by Quiñonez, who followed by rebounding a miss by Hidalgo and assisting on a breaking layup by Allie Ziebell. Quiñonez, the Big East freshman and sixth player of the year, then had a steal that led to a pullup jumper by Fudd for a 30-20 lead with 2:56 left in the first half.

“As always, I just try to bring something to the court, impact the game, as coach says,” Quiñonez said. “I think everyone was locked in, and I think everybody was ready to play that game.”

Up next, UConn will play its national semifinal game Friday against South Carolina or TCU, who play in the Sacramento Regional 4 final on Monday night. The Huskies beat the Gamecocks 82-59 in last year’s national championship game.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Baseball is back, and it looks very different in a few key ways.

The way the game is being umpired has drastically changed, while other young stars made a big impact in their debut weekends. Elsewhere, though, a lot has remained the same (the Dodgers are still very good).

Here are our takeaways:

1. ABS Takes Over MLB

Deesha Thosar: Through the first slate of games, we’ve seen the debut of the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) challenge system bring improved accuracy to MLB.

CB Bucknor is a 27-year veteran umpire, but his strike zone was exposed half a dozen times in the Reds’ win over the Red Sox on Saturday. Bucknor had eight calls challenged and a whopping six overturned. No ABS challenge was more electric than Cincinnati slugger Eugenio Suarez’s with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Bucknor called a strike three to end the inning, Suarez challenged, the replay showed the pitch was below the zone, the call was overturned, and the at-bat was kept alive. The home crowd in Cincinnati roared in approval. Fans are loving the robot umps.

According to Baseball Savant’s new ABS Dashboard, so far, catchers have had a larger success rate (61%) than hitters (46%) in getting calls overturned. Overall, 54% of challenged calls have been overturned. Already, we’ve seen that some have a better understanding of the strike zone than others. Royals catcher Salvador Perez, a 15-year veteran, went 3-for-3 in helmet taps in the Braves’ 6-0 win on Friday. The Marlins, meanwhile, went 0-for-3.

Questions persist about when to challenge balls and strikes, particularly if it’s a wasted bullet in non-leverage situations. In the fifth inning of Sunday’s Pirates-Mets game, Pittsburgh’s leadoff hitter, Oneil Cruz, challenged a 1-1 called strike from starter Nolan McLean that was upheld after replay review. With only two challenges permitted per team per game, ABS strategies may need to evolve throughout the season to limit more consequential missed calls late in games.

2. Contenders: Expected vs. Surprises

Thosar: It was bad news for opposing teams that vainly hoped the Dodgers would stumble out of the gate in their quest for the three-peat. Catcher Will Smith, celebrating his 31st birthday, crushed a go-ahead two-run home run on Saturday and lifted the Dodgers to an opening-week three-game sweep over the Diamondbacks.

The previous night, outfielder Kyle Tucker delivered a go-ahead single in the eighth inning for the Dodgers. Los Angeles trailed Arizona multiple times throughout the series, but the pitching staff kept games close enough to let the offense claw back and win every time.

The Yankees, too, performed like everyone expected in a three-game sweep over the Giants. After going 0-for-5 on Opening Day, Aaron Judge bounced back and hit a home run in each of the next two games. New York’s rotation was dominant, with Max Fried and Cam Schlittler combining to throw 11 2/3 scoreless innings to begin the season.

Elsewhere in the American League East, the Blue Jays also swept the Athletics to open the season 3-0. Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto swatted his first major-league home run on Sunday, putting a bow on a successful MLB debut weekend in Toronto.

Alas, not all the heavyweights in the league saw their plans come to fruition. This wasn’t the start to the season the Mariners envisioned after closer Andres Munoz served up a 10th-inning two-run home run to the Guardians’ red-hot rookie, outfielder Chase DeLauter, on Saturday. It wasn’t all on Muñoz, though. Seattle’s offense went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base in that 6-5 loss to Cleveland.

The Phillies, too, have struggled to begin the year. They lost their season-opening series against the Texas Rangers, with a pair of ugly defeats on Saturday and Sunday that elicited boos from the Philly home crowd.

The Phillies’ offense was disappointing, and the defense was sloppy. They were no-hit through 4 2/3 innings in Saturday’s 10-inning loss, only to be no-hit again through five innings in Sunday’s loss. Texas gave the Phillies a handful of chances via free passes to bring runs home, but the offense fell flat. The Phillies are 1-2 to begin the season in a tough NL East, where the Mets and Braves both won their respective matchups.

3. The top prospects went off in their debuts

Rowan Kavner: From 25-year-old Bobby Witt Jr. to 24-year-old Elly De La Cruz to 23-year-old Paul Skenes to 22-year-olds Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, the game is already loaded with young talent.

But there’s plenty of room for more. 

Before this weekend, Boston shortstop Trevor Story was the only player in MLB history to hit four home runs in his first three career regular-season games. Now, add DeLauter to the list.

DeLauter, Cardinals outfielder JJ Wetherholt, Mets outfielder Carson Benge and former NPB star slugger turned White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami all homered in their MLB regular-season debuts this week, and the standout performances from some of the game’s most promising players did not stop there.

Tigers top prospect Kevin McGonigle ripped the first-ever big-league pitch he saw for a two-run double as part of a four-hit day in his MLB debut, joining Billy Bean as the only two players in Detroit history to collect four hits in their first-ever game.

The next night, McGonigle broke a tie game in the eighth inning with a two-run knock to help lift Detroit to a win. Then, on Saturday, Wetherholt walked the Cardinals off with a win while DeLauter launched his fourth home run of the year on an opposite-field shot to stun the Mariners in extras. On Sunday, Murakami added his third home run in his third career game.

Across the league, MLB rookies entered Sunday with a combined OPS over 1.000. Surely, ebbs and flows will come, but it was an auspicious start for some of the game’s top young talents and for teams like the Tigers and Guardians who were counting on a prospect to spark their offense this season.

4. 50th anniversary, 50 strikeouts and a strikingly strong start for Dylan Cease

Kavner: A lot is riding on Dylan Cease being the pitcher the Blue Jays envisioned when they lavished him with their largest free-agent deal in team history, especially with Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios and 2025 breakout star Trey Yesavage beginning the year on the injured list.

Only time will tell the worthiness of the $210 million contract bestowed upon Cease, whose results have fluctuated mightily the last few years (2.20 ERA in 2022, 4.58 ERA in 2023, 3.47 ERA in 2024, 4.55 ERA in 2025), but he passed his first test with flying colors. Cease looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball in his Blue Jays debut on Saturday, striking out 12 batters — the most ever by a pitcher in a Blue Jays debut — while allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings.

And that was just one example of a promising weekend across the board for Toronto’s shorthanded rotation.

Cease’s performance came a day after right-hander Kevin Gausman struck out 11 Athletics in the Blue Jays’ opener on Friday, making Gausman and Cease the first set of teammates in MLB’s modern era to each record at least 11 strikeouts in a team’s first two games of a season. It didn’t stop there, either, as lefty Eric Lauer followed on Sunday with nine strikeouts as the Blue Jays swept the A’s in Toronto.

By weekend’s end, Toronto’s pitching staff had celebrated the Blue Jays’ 50th anniversary season by striking out 50 batters, setting an MLB record for the first three games of a season.

As the final seconds melted away in Sunday evening’s Elite Eight showdown between No. 2 UConn and top-seeded Duke, it began to feel like the frantic comeback orchestrated by the Huskies, who trailed the Blue Devils by 19 in the waning moments of the first half, would fall mercilessly short.

But then, as if pulled from a fairytale ending nobody saw coming, an attempted jump pass by Duke guard Cayden Boozer was tipped near midcourt and recouped by counterpart Braylon Mullins from the Huskies. Mullins dished to forward Alex Karaban along the right wing with the clock evaporating. Karaban flipped it back to Mullins, the true freshman sharpshooter who’d missed seemingly everything he launched for the first 39 minutes against Duke. Now, Mullins had no choice. He hoisted from several feet beyond the logo.

With the ball still in flight, Mullins began backpedaling as his desperation heave arced beautifully, poetically, parabolically toward the hoop. And when it swished softly through the net with 0.4 seconds remaining — thrusting the Huskies in front for an improbable 73-72 win that ranks among the greatest comebacks and moments in program history — Mullins was already beyond midcourt, closer to the despair and desolation being exhaled by Duke than the riot that exploded along the UConn bench.

Just like that, the Huskies were heading to the Final Four for the third time in four years. Just like that, UConn had authored an all-time NCAA Tournament moment.

Here are my takeaways from the Elite Eight:

1. Pursuit of history continues for UConn under Dan Hurley

[MEN’S BRACKET: NCAA Tournament Bracket, Leaders & Stats]

After UConn won back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024, which moved the Huskies into a tie with North Carolina for the third-most titles in college basketball history (six), the long and arduous quest for a three-peat fizzled almost from the start.

By late November of last season, Hurley’s team had already lost three consecutive games at the Maui Invitational, where his sideline antics became a national storyline. By late February, the Huskies were 10-6 in Big East play, trailing St. John’s and Creighton in the conference’s pecking order. By mid-March, they’d flamed out of the Big East Tournament with a loss to the Bluejays in the semifinals. And by the Round of 32, only a few days after the Big Dance began, UConn fell to No. 1 seed Florida, who went on to win the whole thing.

Facing an offseason heavy with introspection, Hurley responded the only way he knew how: rebuilding and retooling the Huskies into a better version than what they put on the floor last season. He added a high-level transfer guard in Silas Demary Jr. from Georgia. He signed two instant-impact freshmen in Mullins and Eric Reibe, both of whom were McDonald’s All-Americans. He dared veterans like Karaban, guard Solo Ball and center Tarris Reed Jr. to become the dominant forces their predecessors had been when UConn cruised to consecutive titles. He plucked a well-respected assistant coach from Villanova in Mike Nardi.

At first, the pieces all seemed to fit together beautifully. The Huskies opened by winning 22 of their first 23 games despite injuries to Reed and Mullins. The first and only team to beat UConn before February arrived was Arizona, which will join the Huskies in Indianapolis. 

But Hurley’s team suffered four defeats in the span of five weeks to choke away both the Big East regular season title and any chance of winning the Big East Tournament, both of which were claimed by St. John’s. When the Huskies were revealed as a 2-seed on Selection Sunday, it was easy to doubt their chances of making another lengthy run. Nothing about the preceding few weeks suggested more March magic would happen — until, of course, it did.

UConn began by beating No. 15 Furman and No. 7 UCLA to reach the second weekend. Then, Hurley’s team fended off No. 3 Michigan State in a Sweet 16 brawl between two of the toughest programs in the country. Simply reaching the Elite Eight felt like an accomplishment for a team that never quite regained its early-season form. The 19-point deficit in the first half against Duke on Sunday seemed to finally mark the beginning of an unsightly end, especially when considering that 1-seeds entered the day 134-0 in games they lead by 15 or more points at halftime.

“I just thought to start the game we were a little bit on our heels,” Hurley said at the postgame news conference. “I thought we were too defensive defensively. We didn’t get after them and try to pressure them or make them uncomfortable. I just think that we probably gave a little bit too much respect to their individual players.”

History, however, didn’t account for an onslaught of 3-pointers in crunch time after the Huskies missed 18 of their first 19 from beyond the arc. Nor did it consider what might happen if Duke turned the ball six times in the final 9:58. And history certainly didn’t remember that UConn has been the sport’s most successful program over the last quarter-century, winning all six of its national titles since 1999 — one more than the Blue Devils possess in their entire trophy case. 

All of which set the stage for Mullins to do what Mullins eventually did on Sunday night. And now UConn is still alive to chase its third championship in the last four years. 

“That game was a reflection on the season,” Hurley said. “It’s been a season where we’ve dealt with injuries to key players at critical points of the year that we’ve had to overcome, and we’ve had to show a lot of fortitude and resilience and just kind of claw our way through the season. The game was a microcosm of that: We fought, we clawed, put ourselves in position to take advantage of a mistake that they made. 

“And one of the most brilliant shooters you’ll ever see shoot a basketball made an incredible, legendary March shot.”

2. Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg reaches new level in postseason 

Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg was already entrenched as one of the best players in the country long before this year’s NCAA Tournament began. The high-profile transfer from UAB entered Sunday’s game averaging 14.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for a team that won the Big Ten regular season title by four games. He was named Player of the Year in the conference and also earned consensus first-team All-America honors. He is a surefire first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. 

So for Lendeborg to play well during the Wolverines’ dominant run to the Final Four, a journey that was crystalized with a 33-point blowout of No. 6 Tennessee on Sunday, should hardly be considered a surprise. And yet, the heights he’s reached amid these last four games soar above and beyond what he’s previously shown on the offensive end of the floor: 

It marks just the second time all season that Lendeborg has posted at least four consecutive games with an offensive rating of 136 or higher, according to KenPom. Prior to his current tournament run, the only other time he accomplished that feat was during a six-game stretch in Michigan’s non-conference schedule from Nov. 4 to Dec. 6.

“This was obviously one of the goals because of the talent we had in our locker room,” Michigan head coach Dusty May said in his postgame news conference. “There’s a slippery slope of being happy and content that we’re there, but also knowing you still have work to do for us to accomplish what could be. Our ultimate goal is to be playing [next] Monday.”

To put this remarkable stretch in context, consider where Lendeborg’s offensive efficiency ranks on the national level. His individual rating of 154.5 since March 17 — the day that this year’s First Four began — is third in the country among players who logged at least 75 minutes since then, according to Torvik. Lendeborg trails Purdue guard C.J. Cox (155.5) and Nebraska guard Pryce Sandfort (155) in that category. There are only two other players whose offensive ratings even exceed 140 during the same time period. 

What was already a tremendous season for Lendeborg is entering a new stratosphere. 

3. Arizona will have one huge statistical advantage in the Final Four  

There was something uniquely apropos about Arizona taking its first lead against No. 2 Purdue on Saturday night from the free-throw line, where guard Jaden Bradley made a pair with 14:34 remaining in the game, officially erasing his team’s seven-point halftime deficit. The Wildcats, who pulled away to win by 15, would never trail again. 

All season, head coach Tommy Lloyd’s team has thrived by attacking the rim in an era defined largely by 3-point shooting. Arizona scores more than 56% of its points from inside the arc, according to KenPom, which ranks 14th nationally and first by a landslide among teams in the Final Four.

For Lloyd’s group, the natural byproduct of applying so much interior pressure is drawing fouls in large quantities, which translates to more free throws. Arizona shot 22 free throws against the Boilermakers, 39 against No. 4 Arkansas, 39 against No. 8 Utah State and 33 against No. 16 LIU. The end result? Ninety-nine points from the free-throw line across four games, compared to only 43 makes for the Wildcats’ opponents. 

“When you offensive rebound, you get fouled,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said in his postgame news conference. “When you’ve got quick guards that can beat you, you get fouled. Go look at their free throws. This is the fewest amount of free-throws they’ve shot in a game in the NCAA Tournament so far. They’ve just lived in the paint. That was our concern.”

It will be the concern of every team remaining in this year’s tournament, given how large the disparity is between Arizona and the rest of the field. Entering the Final Four, the Wildcats rank seventh nationally in free-throw rate, according to KenPom, which measures how often a team generates free throws. None of the other national semifinalists come close: Michigan is 100th, Illinois is 237th, UConn is 306th.

If Arizona succeeds in winning its first national championship since 1997, an uncanny ability to generate free throws will be among the biggest reasons why.  

4. Illinois and Arizona showcase college basketball’s international expansion 

In early February, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer granted me an interview for a series about what is, at least in terms of efficiency, the greatest offensive season in college basketball history. Teams across the country were scoring the ball easier, more frequently and in more ways than ever before, and I wanted to understand some of the rationale behind the ongoing explosion. One of the reasons Scheyer pointed out was improved roster building in an age when players are flooding the sport from every corner of the globe. 

“I think you have the ability to build around your best players in a different way,” Scheyer told me. “The pool is bigger. Instead of just being able to take high school players, you can take basically anybody in college, European, now the G-League potentially. It’s a hell of an opportunity as a coach. And obviously everybody has their own way of doing it.”

Fast-forward to late March and the first two teams to qualify for this year’s Final Four — Illinois and Arizona — certainly have their own way of doing it. Both Lloyd and Illinois head coach Brad Underwood have stuffed their rosters with elite international talent that is ready and willing to trade lower-level professional experiences overseas for the chance to play collegiately in the United States. 

Consider the Illini, whose second-, third-, fifth- and sixth-leading scorers — Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic and Zvonimir Ivisic — all hail from Europe. The connection between Illinois and international prospects has grown so strong that memes portraying Underwood in traditional Eastern European garb are commonly shared on social media, including by the coach himself: 

Consider the Wildcats, whose fourth- and fifth-leading scorers — Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas — plus their most dynamic scorer off the bench — Anthony Dell’Orso — all came from outside the United States. Lloyd, now in his fifth season, learned the ins and outs of international recruiting during his two-decade stint as an assistant coach at Gonzaga.

“I think college basketball, in the last two years, is at the highest level of performance that I’ve witnessed in my 50 years,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino said before his team’s loss to No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16. “That’s because the foreign influence, they no longer want to go to the EuroLeague or the EuroCup. They want to go to the [United] States because they make more money. We can even rival the EuroLeague as far as pay is concerned. The way the game is being played on the court is the best I’ve ever witnessed.”

4½. What’s next? 

Here are a few storylines to watch as we move to the Final Four: 

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 1 Arizona — With all due respect to fans of UConn and Illinois, this semifinal matchup between 1-seeds can, and probably will, be viewed as a de facto national title game. No two teams were more dominant through the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament. No two teams emerged from more dominant conferences to win their respective regular season titles. And no two teams are better positioned to battle in the low post than the Wildcats and Wolverines, who have the most fearsome front-court rotations in the country. This game should be an absolute classic. 

No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 2 UConn — Thanks to the historic shot from Mullins, whose place in UConn history is now unquestionably secure, the Huskies will travel to the Final Four knowing they’ve already beaten their forthcoming opponent. UConn and Illinois met in a non-conference matchup at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28, long before either team reached its peak postseason form. Hurley’s team prevailed rather comfortably, 74-61. Reed and Illinois star Keaton Wagler combined to score just five points in that game, which offers a window into how much has changed since then. The rematch in Indianapolis will come with many, many new layers.

The final six teams of the 48-team World Cup – the largest ever in history — will be decided this week. Expect powerhouse teams and big-time stars when the tournament kicks off this summer.

The United States has a favorable Group D alongside Paraguay, Australia, and either Türkiye or Kosovo (who’ll face each other on Tuesday).

But there are plenty of other big-time clashes. Let’s take a look at nine other group stage matches that we’re excited to watch:

Mexico vs. South Africa — June 11, Mexico City (3 p.m. ET)

We have to start here because it’s the opening match of the 2026 World Cup. It’s also a rematch of the 2010 opener, and who doesn’t love a World Cup rematch? Every nation desperately wants to win that first game, no matter who the opponent is. Estadio Azteca will be electric and probably unlike any environment we’ve ever seen at that historic stadium. There will undoubtedly be a lot of pressure on El Tri, especially, as a co-host to win that first game and make a statement. After winning the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup in 2025, Mexico is hoping for some more glory this summer. Expect Javier Aguirre to have his A team on the pitch.

Brazil vs. Morocco — June 13, New York/New Jersey (3 p.m. ET)

With the tournament field expanded to 48 teams, the top sides are more spread out, so there really is not a “Group of Death” scenario out there. However, putting Brazil and Morocco in a group together comes close. The Seleção may not be the team they were back in the days of Ronaldo, but they’re still Brazil, and they’re always going to have a chance to win the World Cup. Morocco, meanwhile, put the soccer world on notice in Qatar when it became the first African nation ever to reach the World Cup semifinal. 

Germany vs. Curaçao — June 14, Houston (1 p.m. ET)

This one is fun because it’s a World Cup titan (four titles) vs. the smallest nation (estimated population of 153,000) to ever qualify for a World Cup. It’s strange to say this, but Germany has something to prove at this tournament after failing to advance out of its group in Qatar. In 2022, it was drawn into a challenging group that included Japan and Spain, but it was still shocking to see the Germans eliminated so early. This time around, the Germans will also have to deal with the Ivory Coast and a very underrated Ecuador. It’s important in these situations not to overlook your opponent.

France vs. Senegal — June 16, New York/New Jersey (3 p.m. ET)

Another rematch! We love to see it. France opened the 2002 World Cup against Senegal and was famously upset, 1-0. Fans will remember that the late legend Papa Bouba Diop scoring the winning goal to stun the then-reigning world champion Les Bleus. Could we see déjà vu this summer? France is a favorite to win it all and Didier Deschamps’ side is especially motivated after losing to Argentina in an epic 2022 final that was decided by a penalty shootout. While France is favored, Senegal is no slouch and advanced out of the group stage at the last World Cup.

England vs. Croatia — June 17, Dallas (4 p.m. ET)

This is a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semifinal when Croatia beat England 2-1 to advance to the final (where it ultimately lost to France). The Three Lions haven’t won a World Cup since 1966 and so desperately want to bring it home. They’re a favorite, to be sure, and manager Thomas Tuchel has one of the most talented squads in the world. But England also has one of the tougher groups where they not only have to face Croatia and Luka Modric, but play potential trap games against sneaky opponents Panama and Ghana.

Argentina vs. Austria — June 22, Dallas (1 p.m. ET)

We can’t have a list without including the defending World Cup champs. Argentina certainly got a favorable draw and should have no problem advancing. However, where have we heard that one before? Despite going on to win the 2022 World Cup, La Albiceleste lost to Saudi Arabia in group play. Austria doesn’t have nearly the same amount of talent, but they’re a strong tactical side with quality players who play in top European leagues that could make things interesting in an otherwise softer Group J.

Norway vs. France — June 26, Boston (3 p.m. ET)

Kylian Mbappé vs. Erling Haaland in the opening round. Need we say more? Amazingly, Mbappé just needs five more goals to take over as the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. He has 12 already from his two prior appearances and could surpass Germany legend Miroslav Klose’s 16-goal feat. Haaland, who has already surpassed 100 Premier League career goals with his club Manchester City, will be making his World Cup debut in 2026. Expect him to continue his prowess next summer. 

Spain vs. Uruguay — June 26, Guadalajara (8 p.m. ET)

This one will be a fun battle to conclude Group H play. Spain is the No. 1 team in the world and everyone will be glued to watching 18-year-old phenom Lamine Yamal in his first World Cup. The interesting thing about La Roja, though, is that despite winning the European Championship in 2008, 2012 and 2024, they haven’t been as dominant in World Cups. It seems like that kind of luck could change in 2026 – Spain is unbeaten in its last 31 consecutive competitive matches and has an overwhelming amount of talent. Uruguay, who won the very first World Cup in 1930, is always a tough side. And you know star Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde will want to make a statement against the country in which he plays professionally.

Colombia vs. Portugal — June 27, Miami (7:30 p.m. ET)

We all (foolishly) thought that the 2022 World Cup would be the last for both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And we were wrong. While Messi finally won a World Cup, the trophy still eludes Ronaldo in a career where he’s won basically everything else. As is always the case, attention will follow Ronaldo for as long as Portugal is in the World Cup. And this juicy group stage matchup vs. a hard-nosed Colombian team will be one of the more intriguing early fixtures. Expect both sides to advance from Group K, but this will be must-watch TV.

The 2026 UFL season opened Friday with new teams, new coaches, new players, new uniforms and new rules.

[2026 UFL: Everything To Know About the 2026 UFL Season]

Kicking things off on FOX UFL Friday, the beloved Birmingham Stallions escaped a close one against the Louisville Kings — one of the league’s three brand-new franchises. 

Up first on Saturday, it was a battle between two familiar faces, as the St. Louis Battlehawks took down the defending champion DC Defenders. Later that afternoon, the Dallas Renegades, who relocated from Arlington this season, crushed the Houston Gamblers, who reverted to their original name from the legacy USFL this season.

Closing things out Sunday, two new teams will go head-to-head, as the Columbus Aviators face the Orlando Storm.

Here are the results from Week 1:

Key players: Stallions QB Matt Corral (21-for-30 for 208 yards, one touchdown), WR Jaydon Mickens (9-for-9 for 108 yards); Kings QB Jason Bean (14-for-27 for 226 yards, one touchdown).

Game recap: The Kings immediately turned the ball over on their first drive of the game, which led to a quick touchdown by the Stallions to make it 6-0. The Kings fired back with a touchdown drive of their own to regain the lead 7-6 late in the first quarter. Birmingham added a field goal midway through the second quarter to lead 9-7 at halftime. 

The Stallions had the ball for nearly eight minutes to open the second half and ended up turning things over on downs late in the frame. That allowed Louisville to kick a field goal and take a narrow 10-9 lead into the fourth quarter. After the Stallions turned the ball over on downs yet again to open the final frame, the Kings went up 13-9 with another field goal. Just when it looked like things were over for the Stallions, they scored a touchdown with two minutes remaining to take a 15-13 lead. Louisville turned the ball over on an interception on its next drive, sealing the win for Birmingham.

Up next: In Week 2, the Stallions face the Gamblers and the Kings take on the Storm.

Key players: Battlehawks QB Brandon Silvers (16-for-28 for 198 yards, one touchdown), OLB Pita Taumoepenu (6.0 tackles, 2.5 sacks); Defenders QB Jordan Ta’amu (9-for-16 for 123 yards), WR Seth Williams (3-for-4 for 51 yards).

Game recap: The first points of the game were historic for the league, as Defenders kicker Matt McCrane connected on a 60-yard field goal — marking the first four-point field goal in UFL history. The Battlehawks responded with a field goal of their own from 58 yards to make it a one-point game early, 4-3. The Defenders fired back with a 10-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that ended with a goal-line rush to make it 10-3. 

The second quarter was chaotic — a flurry of punts, interceptions and missed field goals — before the Battlehawks connected on a short field goal just before halftime to close the gap slightly, 10-6. The Defenders never found a rhythm in the second half. They finished the game with three more punts, an interception and a missed field goal, while the Battlehawks added a score late in the third and a field goal early in the fourth to seal a 16-10 win at home.

Up next: In Week 2, the Battlehawks face the Renegades and the Defenders take on the Aviators.

Key players: Renegades QB Austin Reed (26-for-40 for 376 yards, three touchdowns), WR Tyler Vaughns (7-for-9 for 144 yards, one touchdown, WR Greg Ward (3-for-3 for 93 yards, one touchdown); Gamblers QB Hunter Dekkers (19-for-29 for 227 yards), WR Jontre Kirklin (4-for-4 for 60 yards).

Game recap: The Renegades’ first drive ended with a missed field goal, but they turned things around quickly. Dallas picked off Gamblers QB Nolan Henderson at Houston’s 30-yard line, returning it for the first pick-six of the season. The Renegades turned the ball over on downs near midfield late in the frame, allowing the Gamblers to get a quick field goal to pull within three, 6-3, heading into the second quarter. The Gamblers’ second quarter was riddled with mistakes, while the Renegades came up with back-to-back scores and a field goal to make it a 23-3 game at halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Renegades picked up right where they left off. They scored on the first play from scrimmage of the second half; Reed found WR Greg Ward for a monster 66-yard touchdown to open the frame. (In a surprising move, Dallas revealed this week that Reed secured the starting job for Week 1, relegating longtime starter Luis Perez — who led the UFL in passing yards the past two seasons — to the bench.) With that, it was a 30-3 game, but that was short-lived. The Gamblers answered by running the ensuing kickoff back 93 yards for a touchdown. Dallas added two more field goals, and Houston scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter before things ended.

Up next: In Week 2, the Gamblers host the Stallions and the Renegades host the Battlehawks.

Key players: Storm QB Jack Plummer (17-for-22 for 245 yards, one touchdown), WR Elijhah Badger (4-for-4 for 132 yards), K Michael Lantz (1-for-1 from 55 yards); Aviators QB Jalan McClendon (21-for-32 for 212 yards), RB Zaquandre White (48 yards, one touchdown).

Game recap: The Aviators fumbled the opening kickoff, leading to a quick scoring opportunity for the Storm. With that, it was a 6-0 game after just over a minute into things. Columbus added two first-quarter field goals to tie the game headed into the second quarter. After a field goal from the Storm, the home team took a 9-6 lead into halftime.

Orlando came out swinging in the second half, starting with back-to-back third-quarter touchdowns to make it a 23-6 game. The Aviators added a field goal early in the fourth quarter, followed by a touchdown midway through the frame to keep things competitive, 23-16. However, it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback, and things ended there.

Up next: In Week 2, the Aviators host the Defenders and the Storm host the Kings.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) — Walking the streets of Georgia’s stately capital on Saturday, shortly before the United States men’s national team’s World Cup warm-up against Belgium, the excitement among the home team’s fans was palpable.

Under a cloudless sky, supporters of all ages wore those swanky new USA jerseys and ear-to-ear smiles. Inside “The Benz,” a packed house of nearly 67,000 danced in the stands and mugged for the Jumbotron just before kickoff.

Some 85 minutes later, though, the mood among the faithful that had packed the home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS side Atlanta United had shifted completely. Down four goals to FIFA’s ninth-ranked team, entire sections of seats emptied as thousands of those same fans headed to the exits in droves before Patrick Agyemang pulled back a late consolation tally for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.

After the final whistle in the 5-2 drubbing mercifully sounded, the dejected American players struggled to explain what had just happened. But they also vowed to try and make it right, right back here on Tuesday, when a stout Portugal side comes to town for the second of the Stars-and-Stripes’ two games this month.

– 4 Takeaways after USA’s Loss to Belgium
– Color Clash? How USA-Belgium jersey combo irked players

They’d better. After all, the United States’ co-hosting duties (alongside Canada and Mexico) for this edition of the 48-team World Cup – the largest ever in history — is now just over two months away.

“We have another opportunity against a strong team on Tuesday,” U.S. headliner Christian Pulisic told FOX Sports and other outlets following Saturday’s debacle. “We want to get a good result and feel good going into the World Cup.”

“We’ll go back over video, and we’ll see what we lacked, or where we could have done better, and then prepare,” said star midfielder Weston McKennie, scorer of the Americans’ first goal.

“We have an important game against Portugal,” added winger-turned-fullback Tim Weah. “We just have to get back into training and work on some stuff. We have to bounce back.”

It doesn’t matter that all involved agreed that the result was closer than that scoreline would indicate. The hosts took the lead against Belgium and nearly went into the locker room at halftime up by one, only to concede a preventable equalizer mere seconds before the break.

The visitors then bagged two more before the contest reached the 60-minute mark, including a penalty that Pochettino insisted shouldn’t have been awarded. At that point, though, the outcome was probably inevitable.

Against the Portuguese, the U.S. must keep the score close.

It’s a realistic aim. Roberto Martinez’s side, which defeated Spain to win the UEFA Nations League title last summer, were held without a goal in Mexico City later on Saturday at the re-opening of the mythical Estadio Azteca.  Ultimately, Portugal settled for a scoreless tie with fellow World Cup co-hosts El Tri despite possessing the ball for a whopping 67 percent of the match.

Portugal, even without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, figures to be a lot better in Atlanta. The U.S. will have their hands full with the likes of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and PSG’s Nuno Mendes. To have any chance of avoiding another embarrassment, they’ll need to play a much more complete match.

“I want to watch [the Belgium loss] back and see how we can position ourselves a bit better when we are attacking as a group, to sustain attacks a little bit longer, and not have problems in transition,” said Pulisic, who hasn’t scored for the national team since 2024 or for his club, AC Milan, since November. 

On Saturday, Pulisic squandered a golden opportunity just before Belgium took a lead they’d never relinquish, one of several key moments that could’ve gone differently. 

More than anything, though, the USA can’t afford to let their resistance drop midway through a second consecutive outing. Against FIFA’s No. 6-ranked side, any let-off in effort promises to be once again punished with ruthless efficiency. Just as it will be if and when Pulisic & Co. come up against any other heavyweight foe during the main event’s knockout rounds this summer.

“One of the things that we can work on,” McKennie said, “is being able to stay consistent in how we start the game to how we finish it with the same intensity.”

For a game that won’t count in the standings, the pressure not to lay another egg in front of a huge, pro-American audience is obvious.

“We all have to look into the mirror,” goalkeeper Matt Turner said after Saturday’s loss. For him and the rest of his teammates, Tuesday’s match can’t come soon enough.

“We know we can do better,” McKennie reiterated. “We know what went wrong, but we also know and believe fully that we can play with teams of this caliber.”

They’ll soon get another chance to prove it and, in the process, give the diehards in the stands some renewed optimism rather than another dose of dejection. 

“We want to get a good result on Tuesday,” Pulisic said. “And that’s what we’re going to do.”