Happy Juneteenth! Today we celebrate the end of slavery in America, and I think gathering with friends and community to cheer on the U.S. Men’s National Team — and its incredible Black players — is a great way to do so. Times are hard for a lot of us, but I believe sports are one of the few things that can still bring us together.

Why Brazil vs Haiti is the perfect World Cup match to mark Juneteenth (The Athletic $)
Tamerra Griffin on another of today’s matches and how it can celebrate Black history and culture.

DC Power announce 2026 Fall schedule (DC Power FC)
You may recall that the Gainbridge Super League announced they will be switching to the traditional American schedule (while MLS switches to the European one… interesting). They will be playing a half-season at the end of this year before beginning that one. For DC Power, the first of 14 matches begins on August 15 at home.

Washington Spirit Announces Special Ticket Offers for Second Half of Season (Washington Spirit)
Among the usual theme nights, the Spirit announced merch collabs with both the Nationals and Mystics. Both sound cool (and the Nats sweatshirt mock-up has some promise), but I’d really like to see photos of the actual product before making any purchases.

Loudoun United FC Brings Local Style to Life With the Homegrown Collection (Loudoun United FC)
Loudoun United also came out with a new merch line last week, and they’re doing giveaways every day this week. Register for the last one here. I think the Pegasus on the back of the sweatshirt looks cool.

David hat trick helps Canada rout Qatar for 1st-ever World Cup win (ESPN)
How incredible for Canada to go from scoring their first World Cup goal one week to setting the record for most goals for a Concacaf country in a men’s World Cup the next! But how tragic that it was linked to a horrific injury for Ismaël Koné. We’re wishing him a good recovery.

Ranking the top 50 players at the 2026 World Cup: Who were the winners and losers from week one? (The Athletic $)
The Athletic declares the best players from the first set of World Cup matches. I’ll give them Messi at number one for the hat trick. For the United States, both Folarin Balogun and Christian Pulisic make the list, in the mid-range.

2026 World Cup: Previewing USA vs. Australia – pop quiz, hot shot (SSFC)
USA vs. Australia is today! In just a few hours! Get excited!!

World Cup: USMNT rides wave of belief into Australia clash — but a big question remains (Yahoo Sports)
Whether Christian Pulisic will be available to play in that game is still unknown. Poch said yesterday evening that he was doing better and would likely play against Turkiye if not Australia.

Mexico vs. South Korea score: El Tri clinch first place in Group A after capitalizing on goalkeeper blunder (CBS Sports)
South Korea had their chances, but Mexico won out and are the first team to qualify to advance to the knock-out stages (though we don’t know where they’ll be positioned in the final group standings yet). Hooray for our fellow host countries!

For some Friday fun, here’s your soundtrack for today’s Scotland-Morocco game in Boston:

Finally, here’s your schedule of events for the weekend, or, well, today’s World Cup matches plus Loudoun’s tomorrow.