USA Soccercast

#108 - The interim replaces the interim

The USA Soccercast is back with Episode 108 to recap a busy day in U.S. Soccer! The USMNT have a new interim head coach, they’re bringing 2 teams in for October friendlies, and the Men’s U-20s are doing well at the U-20 World Cup...all of this on a full episode!

USMNT interim head coach Anthony Hudson has left his post for a new club job, and BJ Callaghan will replace him for the Nations League Finals and the Gold Cup. We discuss the abrupt coaching change as the USMNT prepare to defend their titles in both competitions beginning in just over 2 weeks.

The USMNT also have scheduled domestic friendlies against Germany and Ghana for the October international window. We discuss some history between the United States and those two teams as some quality opponents come to our shores to boast the fall schedule.

After the break, the Men’s U-20s are at the U-20 World Cup and are through to the quarterfinals for the 4th straight time. We discuss their tournament thus far as well as who could be ahead of them in the quarterfinals and beyond.

Finally, the USA Soccercast has some new affiliate links that can help you get the latest gear while also supporting the show! Our newest partners, BreakingT and Homage, join Fanatics and the MLS Store to help bring you all the soccer gear. You can even use those links for gear that isn’t soccer-related and it will still help support the show, so check them out! The USWNT jerseys will be re-released on June 5th along with the USMNT 2023 jerseys, and a bunch of new apparel will hit the streets alongside it. You can have it all through these links and, depending on the sales, you can save some money in the process!

Don’t forget to follow the USA Soccercast! You can find us on Podbean and Linktree, including all of our affiliate links. And, for any topic suggestions, please send questions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com or tag us on Twitter!

#107 - Folarin Balogun commits to the USA, USL Super League takes flight

The USA Soccercast returns with Episode 107 to celebrate the commitment of a Balogun! Folarin Balogun completed his one-time switch to represent the USMNT, and we have to start by celebrating the addition.

Balogun could be in the squad as early as next month for the Concacaf Nations League Finals as well as the Gold Cup, and he brings with him a wave of electricity both on his place and the excitement among fans.

U.S. Soccer hired a new vice president of sporting last week, a brand new position. And Oguchi Onyewu was brought in to be the first one, serving directly under new sporting director Matt Crocker. We discuss how that’s a great move for Gooch and for U.S. Soccer to have him onboard. He’ll have his hands in many things, including the search for the next USMNT head coach.

After the break, the USL Super League announced its initial teams for the league, which will debut in August 2024. However, having a fall to spring schedule in line with most European leagues and having no salary cap or draft isn’t the biggest concern for the league. The league applied for D1 sanctioning with U.S. Soccer, indicating it wants to directly compete with the NWSL. We’ll discuss some examples on on how that’s making many fans skeptical about the success of the new league.

Don’t forget to follow the USA Soccercast! You can find us on Podbean and Linktree, including all of our affiliate links with Fanatics and the MLS Store. And, for any topic suggestions, please send questions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com or tag us on Twitter!

#106 - A Women’s World Cup bid and a new sporting director

The USA Soccercast returns with Episode 106! The U.S. Soccer Federation recently linked with the Mexico federation to launch a joint bid for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. They also finally made their hire of Matt Crocker as the federation’s new sporting director.

The 2027 Women’s World Cup bid came during the USMNT-Mexico match, but it could mean the two nations would host the Women’s World Cup the year after co-hosting the Men’s World Cup with Canada. Is it a good idea for U.S. Soccer to do it? And should they be considered the favorite alongside the other bids? We quickly discuss the loaded calendar for major sports tourneys in the United States and where the 2027 tournament would fit in. With the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA, it’s possible that the USWNT would be able to attempt the World Cup/Olympic double all on home soil.

After the break, we discuss U.S. Soccer’s hire of Matt Crocker as the new sporting director. He comes with a lot of experience from Southampton FC and the English FA, but one of his immediate focuses will be to hire a new USMNT head coach. With the USMNT having a big summer ahead of them, will the hire come before June? Or will we continue to see Anthony Hudson lead the squad to the Nations League Finals and the Gold Cup?

Don’t forget to follow the USA Soccercast! You can find us on Podbean and Linktree, including all of our affiliate links with Fanatics and the MLS Store. And, for any topic suggestions, please send questions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com.

#105 - Gold Cup Draws and Continental Clásicos

The USA Soccercast is back with Episode 105! On this episode, the Gold Cup draw occurred last Friday, and today we learned the venues for the USMNT as they seek to defend their title. The road to the Gold Cup final at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California for the United States: Chicago, St. Louis, Charlotte, Cincinnati, San Diego or Las Vegas, and then LA.

We go through the Gold Cup draw group by group, showing who the USMNT was drawn with and how the other groups shape up. We also now know who the United States could potentially face in the quarterfinals should they advance out of the group as expected. We look at the other groups and how difficult it could be for a couple of the seeded teams to advance in the tournament.

After the break, USA-Mexico is tomorrow night, and we get ready for that match. We take a look at the roster and give a quick preview of who to watch for when the two teams take the field tomorrow night. It should be a fun one in Phoenix.

Don’t forget to follow the USA Soccercast! You can find us on Podbean and Linktree, including all of our affiliate links with Fanatics and the MLS Store. And, we want to do a mailbag episode next week, so please send questions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com.

#104 - USWNT prepares to face the Irish

The United States Women’s National Team enter their final friendlies before the Women’s World Cup roster is announced, and we discuss the current roster and upcoming matches on Episode 104 of the USA Soccercast.

The USWNT have a 26-player roster in camp, including a few surprise returners like Julie Ertz and Casey Krueger. However, with this being the final international window before the World Cup roster is named, it leaves us with questions about who has the inside track to making the roster and who appears to be on the outside looking in at this point. They face Ireland, who is ranked 22nd in the FIFA world rankings and will also be at the Women’s World Cup this summer. Which players should we look out for? What does Julie Ertz’s return mean for the shape of this team? We touch on a bit of all of that on this episode.

Check us out at our has a Podbean landing page to subscribe on just about any podcatching service out there. Also, hit up our Linktree page that has access to our affiliate links, including Fanatics and the MLS Store. Finally, give us a follow on Twitter, and send any topic suggestions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com!

#103 - Messi to MLS? It ain’t happening

The USA Soccercast is back with Episode 103, and we’re discussing a topic that has been on the minds of many over the past few weeks and months: will Lionel Messi actually come to Major League Soccer?

I’m here to throw cold water on the idea that Messi will end up at Inter Miami, and there are several reasons why, but many of them center around money. Vast amounts of money, enough to make Scrooge McDuck say “that’s a lot of money!” MLS has been doing its best to keep the name of the league attached to Messi as he sorts out his future plans, but in the end, the type of money being offered to Messi by Saudi club Al Hilal might be too much to turn down. We discuss the several scenarios and end with the conclusion that the arguable GOAT coming to America just doesn’t feel like it’s truly in the cards.

The USA Soccercast has a new landing page through the new hosting site, Podbean! Check us out there as we continue to develop it out. There, you’ll be able to listen to any of our episodes and subscribe on just about any podcatching service out there. Also, we have a Linktree page that has access to our affiliate links, including Fanatics and the MLS Store. So, if you’re getting one of the new USWNT jerseys, or anything else on the site, it helps benefits this site and the show. We also have another affiliate partnership coming very soon, so stay tuned! Finally, give us a follow on Twitter, and send any topic suggestions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com.

#102 - Reviewing the new USWNT jerseys

The new USWNT jerseys are here! U.S. Soccer, in coordination with Nike’s release of all of its 2023 Women’s World Cup jerseys, released the new 2023 home and away jerseys late last night, and we’re here to discuss them on Episode 102.

The USWNT will debut the home jersey this weekend against Ireland, while the USMNT will also use the away jersey starting in June. We discuss the look of the new kits, including the different socks that the USMNT will wear, and we get into a quick but recurring discussion on our lack of a jersey identity. Most people want our jerseys to have an identity that tells the world the United States is here, but while these jerseys are better than the 2022 versions, they don’t approach that identity that we continue to seek.

We are proud to announce that we begun have a new affiliate program with Fanatics and MLSStore.com! You can use those affiliate links to purchase the new USWNT kits (there’s a one week initial window to order, so hurry over!) or if you want your MLS team’s latest gear. And, all purchases using that link also benefit this show, so head on over to get yourself kitted up!

Don’t forget, the USA Soccercast has a new home! Feel free to follow us on Twitter or send an email with topic suggestions to USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com.

#101 - Welcome to the USA Soccercast!

As many of you know, back in late January, the Stars & Stripes FC Podcast was among many entities that were a part of the layoffs by SB Nation and Vox Media. We address the future of the show on Episode 101, which serves as both an introduction and a re-introduction.

The date of the podcast’s separation from the SB Nation Podcast Network had originally been the end of February, but that date was pushed back to today. And today’s as good a time as any to announce that we’re changing the name of the show: the USA Soccercast!

The USA Soccercast will continue to bring you analysis on the USMNT, USWNT, and the players that comprise those teams. However, with the move to the new name, the analysis will extend to Major League Soccer, the NWSL, USL Championship and League One, and anything else that could impact soccer in America. From the Women’s World Cup to Leagues Cup, we’ll discuss it all, and hopefully have some special guests along the way.

We also have a new Twitter account, so give @USASoccercast a follow, and of course, please subscribe if you aren’t already! If you have topic suggestions, please drop me a line at USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com. We’ll also have a new logo that’s currently under construction but coming soon.

Welcome to the new show, same as the old show but with a new name and home. Thanks for the support!

#100 - Breaking down the Concacaf Nations League changes

The Concacaf Nations League is undergoing some format changes starting in September, and on a milestone 100th episode of the SSFC Podcast, we dive into what those changes are and what it means for the USMNT. The format changes to the Nations League sees League A expand to 16 teams starting in September. They are also adding a quarterfinal leg that is a two-legged, home-and-away format. However, this format change sees the top 4 teams in Concacaf, including the USMNT, skipping the group stage and entering at the quarterfinal stage. This means they’ll only need to play 2 games potentially to qualify for the Nations League Finals as well as the 2024 Copa América. After the break, we discuss the fact that while it’s better for the USMNT from a preparation standpoint for the 2026 World Cup, it really stinks that we don’t get to participate in the group stage anymore of truly the greatest tournament on the planet. Traveling to islands to play is something that most big teams in the rest of the world don’t get to do, and it’s fun too. The level playing field that was supposed to define the Concacaf Nations League appears to be gone, at least for the next two editions of the tournament. We end with some thanks to everyone who’s ever listened to the show, all our guests, and some people who provided some extra help or encouragement along the way. It’s been a thrill to bring 100 episodes of this show to the masses, and it’s truly an honor to know that so many of you willingly listened and have enjoyed it along the way. The show goes on...here’s to the next 100! Hit the comments to discuss the episode and continue the Nations League talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#99 - USWNT make SheBelieves statement

The United States Women’s National Team made a statement over the February international window with three wins to capture their 6th SheBelieves Cup title. We discuss the ramifications on Episode 99 of the SSFC Podcast. The USWNT may have shown the world that despite some of their struggles and all of the injuries, they’re still the favorites to win this summer’s Women’s World Cup when they put it all together. Mallory Swanson is carrying the scoring load so far in 2023, but the team also answered each of the tests that Canada, Japan, and Brazil presented them. However, with the announcement that the USWNT will play Ireland in two home matches in April, it represents the last official window for players to show that they should be one of the 23 that make the trip to New Zealand and Australia this summer. With the NWSL starting at the end of March, the race is on to put enough out there that these players get one of those camp calls and show Vlatko that they can contribute to a potential 3-peat. We also discuss some of the questions surrounding the midfield and the forwards and what can be done to keep the creative players on the field. Hit the comments to discuss the USWNT and what you think they need in advance of the World Cup this summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices