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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

MLS has a dozen cities interested in expansion teams. They won’t do promotion and relegation.

But you should still demand it, because why not?

Daniel Smith/Getty Images

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MLS has an interesting problem that its owners probably didn’t think they’d have this quickly: There are more qualified expansion cities than expansion spots to give out. Twice as many, at least. The league only has 20 teams now, but it has four new ones in the works, and four more will be added shortly from the dozen or so that want in.

Over at Sports Illustrated, Brian Straus has a piece breaking down who’s in the running. Sacramento and St. Louis look like near-locks, but it’s anyone’s guess who gets the next couple of slots after that. Inevitably, more than one city with a successful lower-division team, the means to build a stadium and tens of millions of dollars is going to miss out.

So what’s the solution? Well, it won’t be promotion and relegation, even if should be. Get ready for a 36-team MLS!

Goal of the day

This 30-yard bicycle kick from the Spanish third division.

In the news

Juventus won the Scudetto thanks to a Napoli loss, so here’s Leo Bonucci dumping champagne on fans.

The PFA Awards were on Sunday night, and Riyad Mahrez is the player of the year. (PFA)

Wolfsburg finally figured out how to fire Nicklas Bendtner. (Wolfsburg)

The jury has reached a verdict in the Hillsbrough inquest. It will be read on Tuesday. (BBC)

Juan Mata is messing with his own money by saying he makes too much. (Guardian)

Vincent Kompany says he’s 100 percent fit to face Real Madrid. (ESPN FC)

Here’s Neymar partying with Niall from One Direction. (AS)

You should be reading

Steve Ringwood on Jack Mansell’s time at Galatasaray. (In Bed With Maradona)

James Yorke on teams phoning it in and other EPL stories. (Stats Bomb)

Constantin Eckner on Ousmane Dembélé, the next big thing. (Spielverlagerung)

What happened this weekend

You can find highlights of all this weekend’s MLS games here. (MLS)

NWSL highlights are here. (NWSL on YouTube)

Leicester won big to keep their gap at the top and ensure Arsenal can’t win the Premier League. (Fosse Posse)

There was no movement in La Liga. Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid won, but so did Barcelona. (Barca Blaugranes)

Juventus beat Fiorentina, then won the Scudetto when other results went their way on Monday. (Black and White and Read All Over)

What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)

EPL: Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Bromwich Albion (2:45 p.m.) -- Nothing but a win will do for Spurs.

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