The Philadelphia Union advanced to the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals and Zack Steffen's Middlesbrough won in the Championship.
Philadelphia advances in the CCL, Championship win for Middlesbrough
Wednesday’s soccer news starts in the Concacaf Champions League, where Philadelphia advanced 4-0 on the night and by the same score on aggregate over Alianza. Playing a man up from the 40th minute, the Union’s Damion Lowe scored a minute into stoppage time at Subaru Park. Daniel Gazdag converted a 62nd minute penalty and Andres Perea added goals in the 81st and 84th minutes. Philadelphia goalkeeper Joe Bendik made one save to keep the clean sheet.
Austin exited the Champions League to Violette, winning 2-0 at Q2 Stadium but losing the series 3-2 on aggregate. Sebastian Driussi scored in the 51st and 63rd minutes with Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver not facing a shot on goal.
It’s certainly disappointing to lose out,” Austin coach Josh Wolff said. “It’s a day where we certainly could’ve scored multiple goals, but it’s two legs. We didn’t do ourselves any favors in the first-leg. No goals away was damaging, to give up the goals certainly in the way that we did. But there were many opportunities tonight as well to put more on the board. Of course it feels like an opportunity lost that we’re not advancing, but we’ve got to learn from it.”
Moving to the Championship, Zack Steffen’s Middlesbrough drew 1-1 at home with Stoke City. Chuba Akpom put Boro up in the 23rd with Stoke equalizing in the 45th minute. Steffen made five saves.
Matthew Olosunde wasn’t in the squad for Preston North End’s 2-1 win at Rotherham United. Thomas Cannon scored for PNE in the 23rd and Rotherham equalized in the 35th. Preston’s Ched Evans scored two minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Also in the soccer news, FIFA announced the men’s international calendar from 2025-30 and the structure for the 2026 World Cup. The new international calendar has a two-game window in March, another two-game window in June, a four-game window in late September ending in early October, and a two-game window in November. The 2026 World Cup scheduled to start on June 16, will keep four-team groups with eight 3rd-place teams now advancing to the knockout stage.
FIFA promoted a truly global approach to the discussions on the International Match Calendar, which considered the perspectives of all key stakeholders,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in the press statement announcing the decisions. Our fundamental objective is to have clarity on this topic, and to have meaningful football matches while protecting the well-being of the players and recognizing that many regions need more competitive football.”
With FIFA also confirming the new expanded 32-team Club World Cup for 2025, Concacaf announced that the Champions League winners from 2021-2024 will take the region’s four spots in that tournament. That means Monterrey and Seattle have already qualified.
