Here is everything you need to know about MLS and North American soccer this morning:
It's Official! North American World Cup bid for 2026
Monday's big news came from the realm of international soccer, with US Soccer president Sunil Gulati joining federation chiefs Victor Montagliani (Canada) and Decio de Maria (Mexico) to announce that they will partner up for a World Cup bid to co-host the 2026 tournament. READ MORE | WATCH VIDEO
After each of the three nations weighed their chances to go it solo, they decided it would be best to work as a team for a bid shared by neighbors. READ MORE
Week 6 Team of the Week
Weekend victors Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC each placed two players on our MLS Team of the Week. The only player to repeat from last week's XI was New England defender Antonio Mlinar Delamea. READ MORE
Injury news: Crew SC's Higuain, Sounders' Torres
Columbus are expecting to return playmaker Federico Higuain to action when they host Trillium Cup rivals Toronto FC on Saturday. The veteran missed out on their weekend loss at Chicago due to an ankle ailment. READ MORE
Over in Seattle, the Sounders are waiting to learn the status of defender Roman Torres, who left Saturday's draw at San Jose early with a hamstring injury. READ MORE
Pass the Mike
Former MLS MVP Mike Magee recently made the rounds at MLS headquarters: After co-hosting MLS Matchday Live on Sunday, he guest starred on the latest edition of This Week In MLS. WATCH VIDEO
To boot, Magee dropped by ExtraTime Radio to chat up the fellas, who also kicked around the North American joint World Cup. LISTEN HERE
Propping up the table in Philly
Philadelphia have had a tortoise-like start out of the blocks this season, earning just two points from five games to sit bottom. Union boss Jim Curtin is accepting responsibility for the team's faulty start, but says he believes in the squad's ability to turn things around. READ MORE
Running the numbers on Reddit
The MLS Reddit group features plenty of fine contributors, and one of them has put together a "Play your kids" table that ranks all league clubs by how much playing time they've given to Homegrown players so far this season. It will come as no surprise that FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls lead the way. READ MORE
Another industrious user did the math to work out that MLS clubs enjoy the sixth best home-field advantage among world leagues. READ MORE
Exports: Mix bags a winner
As was the case with NYCFC, it didn't take long for Mix Diskerud to open his IFK Goteborg account. Playing in just his second Allsvenskan match, the midfielder fired the second-half decider (past former D.C. United netminder Josh Wicks) in a 2-0 road win over IK Sirius. WATCH GOAL
Meanwhile, the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel has run a feature interview with Eintracht Frankfurt's Timothy Chandler. In addition to discussing his pride at playing for the US national team, the handyman shows off his football skills and talks about his time working as a BMW salesman. WATCH VIDEO
MLSsoccer.com Musts
