"This Week in Sporting,” is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City.
1. Sporting Kansas City resumes MLS regular season
Following a week off, Sporting Kansas City resumed their MLS campaign at home against the New England Revolution on Sunday. After conceding and going down a man, Johnny Russell blasted a set-piece into the back of the net to draw the contest level. New England would find a winner late in the match as a 10-man Sporting KC side fought valiantly.
Sporting is back on the road this weekend, with a matchup against Nashville SC in their brand-new stadium, GEODIS Park. Sporting and Nashville faced once this season at Children’s Mercy Park on April 9. After opening the season with eight consecutive road matches, Nashville opened GEODIS Park with a 1-1 draw against Philadelphia Union. They are undefeated at home so far this season with a record of 2-0-2.
2. World Cup announcement on Thursday
After five long years, the wait will finally be over on Thursday. FIFA will be announcing the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Kansas City has put its heart and soul into this bid, proving time and time again that this city is the Soccer Capital of America. With high praise from multiple United States National Team players, state of the heart training facilities and a ravenous soccer community Kansas City has made its presence known worldwide.
Thursday, June 16th KC Live! in the Kansas City Power & Light District will host a watch party from 3:30-5:30 p.m. CT as FIFA announces the host cities in a live TV event beginning at 4 p.m. CT.
3. Soccer for All: Pride
Sunday, Sporting KC held its Soccer for All: Pride match against New England. Both teams donner their adidas Love Unites Training Tops, Sporting KC wore specialty Progressive Flag colored numbers on their kits, TITO’s Handmade Vodka presented a check at halftime and a portion of all sales on Pride Capsule Collection items was donated to the Kansas City Pride Community Alliance. Saturday before the match, Sporting KC and its associates led the 2022 Kansas City Pride parade, marching alongside other professional sports teams from the Kansas City area.
4. Sporting KC on the international scene
Two Sporting KC wingers joined their national teams for four UEFA Nations League matches. Daniel Salloi joined Hungary as they beat England, lost to Italy and drew with Germany. Hungary has one more match during this window, facing England on the road on Tuesday at 1:45 p.m. CT. Marinos Tzionis earned four caps for Cyprus as they began their Nations League campaign. He picked up an assist against Northern Ireland on Sunday as Cyprus earned their first result of the competition. Sporting KC Academy forward Alex Umana will link up with the El Salvador U20s for the Concacaf U20 Championship from June 18 to July 3.
5. Sporting KC II road warriors
Saturday, Sporting KC II handed Houston Dynamo 2 their first home defeat of the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro campaign. With a penalty kick goal in the 13th minute, Rauf Salifu scored his second goal of the season in as many matches. First-team loanee John Pulskamp made six clutch saves to keep SKC II on top as they picked up their third consecutive road win. The boys will return to Rock Chalk Park on Friday, June 17 for a rivalry match with St Louis City. The MLS NEXT Pro Game of the Week can be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com in an enhanced format for free and tickets are available at SeatGeek.com for the penultimate SKC II match in Lawrence.
6. Sporting KC Academy Success
This past weekend, Patterson Cup returned to Kansas City after a two-year hiatus. One of the premier soccer tournaments in the nation named after Sporting KC co-owner Neal Patterson and his wife Jeanne hosted 44 teams, from 18 different MLS Academies across three age groups. The Sporting KC U12s and U14s placed third and fourth respectively in their age group.
The Sporting KC U19s also punched their ticket to the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs last week. Thanks to an impressive league record of 4-1-1, the U19s will partake in the tournament at Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco Texas from June 25 to July 3. They will join the Sporting KC U15s who earned their spot after an undefeated run at MLS NEXT Fest. Fans can follow along with the Sporting KC Academy on Twitter at @SKCAcademy.
