The Footie Report: What’s Happening in the Soccer World, From a Spirit/Mystics Collab to Ted Lasso

Lasso the league Everyone watches women’s sports, and the folks behind Ted Lasso are well aware of that. Despite talk about how the U.S. doesn’t really care about soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League has been growing steadily since it launched in 2013. It added two new expansion teams this year (Denver Summit and Boston Legacy) and will add two more in 2028 (Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio).Season 4 of Ted Lasso premiered earlier this week and the episode, shot in Kansas City, features an actual KC Current vs. Gotham FC game filmed at CPKC Stadium, the first stadium in the country built specifically for a women’s team. The outing inspires the show’s UK front office to make women’s futbol a thing back home and, as you may have guessed, Jason Sudeikis’ Ted is chosen to coach the new AFC Richmond women’s team. Kansas City Current co-owner Angie Long told ESPN, “Everything that we’ve built, even a show like Ted Lasso is seeing it … What it means for sport, for women’s soccer is huge.” Sudeikis, the show’s co-creator, is both a “superfan,” as dubbed by ESPN, of Kansas City and women’s sports.Earlier this week when the show celebrated its premiere in Los Angeles and New York City, players from Angel City FC, Gotham FC, and Boston Legacy walked the red carpet, met the stars, and celebrated the league’s big moment. The night before, some cast members showed up at an Angel City FC game. The NWSL is still in a growth phase, and players have to fight for better salaries, and front offices still need to get butts in seats, but it’s a great bump to see the league on the Apple TV show. New Ted Lasso episodes are available to stream every Wednesday. Spirit in the sky July was a big month for the Washington Spirit: Head coach Adrián González was named NWSL Coach of the Month after leading the team to five wins. Forward Trinity Rodman was named the Player of the Month for her stellar performance: She scored five goals, including three match winners, and added a match-winning assist as she helped lead the Spirit to a 5-1-0 record in July and put the team in first place in the standings for the first time since 2023. She also became the youngest player in league history to start 100 career regular season matches. Since the international break, Rodman has tallied eight goals and five assists over a 12-match span. Goalkeeper Sandy MacIver and defender Tara Rudd were named to NWSL’s Best XI of the Month along with Rodman. As of Friday morning, the Spirit had dropped to second place in the NWSL standings under Gotham FC after a loss at last weekend’s soggy home game against San Diego Wave. The team sits at No. 4 in the ESPN Power Rankings, but the Spirit have been one of the most consistent teams this year, despite multiple players out on maternity leave and the departure of Croix Bethune. The Spirit is also missing all its African players who are off at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations: Six Spirit players are there with their teams: Nigeria, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso. The quarterfinals take place this weekend. The semifinals are on Aug. 12, third place match is Aug. 15, and the final is Aug. 16. The Spirit play the North Carolina Courage, featuring former Spirit star Ashley Sanchez, who is No. 2 with 10 goals in the Golden Boot race (while Rodman is at No. 4 with 8 goals), at Audi Field on Aug. 8 at 6:30 p.m. The match theme will be Spirit Worldwide: Culture Night. Also grab tickets now for Pride Night on Aug. 23 and Hello Kitty Day on Aug. 30. Time of the season (changes) Speaking of the NWSL, the schedule will start earlier in 2027 and have a seven-week summer break next season due to the Women’s World Cup in Brazil (June 24 to July 25). The annual Challenge Cup takes place on Feb. 7, several days before the season begins on Feb. 11. Each team will play 30 games. The regular season concludes on Oct. 31/Decision Day, with playoffs in the first two weekends of November and the championship on Nov. 20, 2027. The season’s start date will be heavily connected to the Super Bowl around the same time. NWSL’s board of governors planned to vote on changing to a fall-to-spring schedule beginning in 2027 like Major League Soccer, but the players’ association voiced its opposition, citing weather and facility concerns. So the league has shelved the idea for now and will stick with its usual schedule through 2030. As for the rest of this season, the league has parted ways with streaming platform Victory+, and will now air games on their own platform, NWSL+, instead. NWSL fans aren’t thrilled with having the games on so many different (and expensive) platforms including CBS, ABC/ESPN, Prime Video, Ion, Victory+, and NWSL+, but the last one is at least free. Capital Queens The Washington Spirit and D.C.’s WNBA team the Washington Mystics have joined forces to launch Capital Queens, a weeklong crossover. The collaboration will bring together players, fans, local businesses, and the community. According to the Spirit’s press team, from Sept. 20 to 26, fans can “experience community-driven experiences, original content, and exclusive merchandise.” The Spirit and Mystics have also partnered with D.C. sports lifestyle brand Round21 and local artist Clarke Imani to create special-edition apparel. “Our two championship organizations have always shared a special bond with the DMV community, and this collaboration is our way of giving that community a week to come together and celebrate what makes it so great,” says Washington Spirit CEO Kim Stone. Both teams will host a Capital Queens Watch Party on Sept. 20 at Hook Hall as the Mystics take on the Fever in Indiana and the Spirit take on the Stars in Chicago. Fans will be able to watch both matchups, using split-screen viewing from the venue, while enjoying DJs, food and drink specials, and giveaways. The two teams also collabed on a ticket partnership, which features a ticket to the Sept. 24 match between the Mystics and Chicago Sky at Capital One Arena, and the Spirit’s Sept. 26 match against Angel City FC at Audi. Fans who purchase the special ticket offer will receive an exclusive Spirit x Mystics hat, with a design that contains brand identities, uniform designs, and D.C. symbols from both teams. World Cup Update FIFA boss Gianni Infantino angered many after announcing he’d sell private stakes in FIFA and the World Cup. In addition to attempting to create a $20 billion company with private investors including the Kushners, Infantino overturned a World Cup red card at convicted felon and President Donald Trump’s request and allowed Trump to crash the medal celebration. But the European soccer federation UEFA stopped his attempt to privatize. “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” UEFA said last month in response to the plan. Now Infantino is reportedly begging the Trump administration to help him keep his job.Update: This post has been updated with Sandy MacIver and Tara Rudd’s achievements.