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≡ A U.S. FOOTBALL SUNDAY ≡
Lots of football action in the U.S. on Sunday, with the FIFA Club World Cup playoffs continuing and matches featuring both the U.S. men – in the CONCACAF Gold Cup playoffs – and the U.S. women in a friendly.
As far as the FIFA Club World Cup, the 48 matches of the group stage closed with FIFA reporting 1,667,819 fans attending, with an average of 34,746.
That was cited as about 57% of the combined capacities of the 12 sites hosting matches. In terms of crowd sizes by match:
● 10,000 or less: 4 matches
● 10,001-20,000: 11 matches
● 20,001-30,000: 5 matches
● 30,001-40,000: 10 matches
● 40,001-50,000: 4 matches
● 50,001 or more: 14 matches
Real Madrid was the star of the group stage, drawing 62,415 (in Miami), 70,248 (Charlotte) and 64,811 (Philadelphia) for its three matches. Paris St. Germain drew 80,619 (Pasadena), 53,699 (Pasadena) and 50,628 (Seattle) for its three games.
Observed: Is this good or bad? It’s both.
The tournament has hardly been a wild success and it is being closely followed by some and barely at all by most. The popular European clubs have done reasonably well and a lot of the lesser-known clubs have had modest crowds.
From the standpoint of Major League Soccer in the U.S., only Inter Miami made it out of the group stage and it was sent home, 4-0, by Paris St. Germain on Sunday. Los Angeles FC and Seattle were eliminated in the group stage and neither won a game.
The true, short-term benefit of this tournament from FIFA’s standpoint is that it provided real-world feedback for the federation on organizing a tournament in the U.S. Remember, there are no more host-country organizing committees for the FIFA World Cup, or for this Club World Cup. FIFA, operating out of its Coral Gables, Florida offices, is the organizer: it takes in all of the revenue and puts on the event, with local assistance from in-city “host committees” which provide governmental, security, transport and volunteer assistance in return for what it hopes will be a tourism bonanza.
No such bonanza will be coming from this Club World Cup, although some sites will have seen added traffic; Miami (Hard Rock Stadium) and Pasadena (Rose Bowl) had the best attendance in the group stage. But the FIFA World Cup in 2026 will be much bigger and have much more interest, and valuable lessons are being learned.
One of them is about the impact of heat in outdoor stadiums in the U.S. summer; that will be an issue next year.
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The U.S. men faced Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a back-and-forth game decided by penalties.
The Americans controlled possession from the start, but then defender Max Arfsten was called for a penalty with a hard tackle in the 10th, and defender Francisco Calvo slammed a left-footed shot past U.S. keeper Matt Freese in the 12th for a 1-0 lead.
The U.S. continued on offense, and in the 33rd, forward Malik Tillman had his legs cut out from underneath him near the Costa Rican endline by defender Juan Pablo Vargas, resulting in a penalty. But Tillman hit the left post in the 37th, with lots of pushing and shoving on the field afterward.
Then in the 43rd, a cross from Arfsten sent a cross to forward Diego Luna in the box and he knocked it down and ripped a right-footed laser that deflected off a defender and past Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas for the 1-1 tie. The U.S. had 71% possession and was up, 9-3, on shots.
Right off the start of the second half, the U.S. was on the attack again and Tillman sent a lead pass from the top of the box to a wide-open Arfsten on the left side and he finished with a rocket to the far side of the Costa Rican net for a 2-1 lead in the 47th.
But while the U.S. continued in possession, Costa Rica looked for opportunities and in the 71st, defender Carlos Mora split two defenders on the right side, but his shot was saved by Freese. But on the rebound, Mora crossed to a charging striker Alonzo Martinez, who finished easily for the 2-2 tie.
Martinez then hit the post in the 86th, as Costa Rica found more and more offense in the final 20 minutes, but regulation finished 2-2, with the U.S. with 64% possession and 18 shots to seven.
On to penalties, and it was 3-3 after four rounds, then Freese saved Calvo’s fifth-round try. Sub defender John Tolkin took the U.S. try, but Navas slapped it away with his right hand. Sub midfielder Andy Rojas’ try in round six was saved by Freese (his third of the shoot-out), then sub midfielder Damion Downs buried his try and a 4-3 shoot-out win.
As far as the Gold Cup overall is concerned, attendance at the 14 venues (13 in the U.S.) for the 24 group-stage game was 459,603 for an average of 19,150 per game. Only 10 of the 24 group-stage matches drew 20,000 or more, mostly in large, NFL venues, many of which will host World Cup matches in 2026. Five matches had less than 10,000 in attendance.
The semifinals will be on 2 July, with Mexico and Honduras in Santa Clara, and Guatemala and the U.S. in St. Louis. The final will be on 6 July in Houston.
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The U.S. women’s national team faced Ireland once again in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday, in hot (85 F) temperatures, but once again won by 4-0.
The U.S. started a completely different 11 from the first match, with only one player coming into the match with more than 10 caps. And it took only until the 11th minute for the U.S. to score, with striker Lynn Biyeldolo scoring from the center of the box on a right-footed volley off a perfect cross from forward Emma Sears.
The U.S. controlled the match, but could not get a second goal until the 42nd, when forward Sears sent a right-footed rocket toward the Irish goal that was punched away by Irish keeper Courtney Brosnan. But the ball fell right to defender Izzy Rodriguez, who ripped a left-footed shot into the net for a 2-0 lead. It was Rodriguez’s first goal, in her first national team appearance. The half ended with 73% possession for the U.S. and a 9-3 shots edge.
It was 3-0 in the 66th, as Sears made a great stop on a ball going out of bounds at the Irish endline, passing to midfielder Olivia Moultrie on the right side and her cross was perfectly finished with the right foot by Yazmeen Ryan. It was Ryan’s first international goal in her first cap.
Sub striker Alyssa Thompson scored the fourth goal in the 86th, taking a lead pass from sub midfielder Claire Hutton and slamming the ball past Brosnan for the 4-0 final. The U.S. finished with 73% possession and a 25-3 advantage on shots.
The U.S. women will be in action again on Wednesday in another friendly, this time against Canada in Washington, D.C.
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