MLS suspends Luis Suárez for Inter Miami playoff decider after off-ball kick

  • Suárez banned for off-ball kick in Game 2

  • Inter Miami star to miss playoff decider

  • Forward has history of violent conduct

Major League Soccer suspended Inter Miami star forward Luis Suárez for Saturday’s key playoff match against Nashville SC.

Suárez received the one-match suspension from the MLS Disciplinary Committee for an off-ball incident in Game 2 of the first-round series. Suárez kicked at Nashville defender Andy Najar in the 71st minute of the match, which Nashville won 2-1. Game 3 of the best-of-three series is Saturday.

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MLS salaries: Son Heung-min deal pays $11m, second only to Lionel Messi

  • South Korean forward joined Los Angeles FC this summer

  • Thomas Müller earns $1.4m annually in Vancouver

Los Angeles FC forward Son Heung-min tops Major League Soccer’s summer signings with an annual salary of $10.4m and total compensation of $11.2m, becoming the second-highest-paid player behind Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.

Son joined LAFC in August after more than a decade at Tottenham and scored nine goals in 10 regular season MLS matches.

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Lionel Messi says MLS must loosen spending rules in order to thrive

  • Inter Miami star delivered remarks in an NBC interview

  • Messi reiterated his desire to play in the 2026 World Cup

Lionel Messi said that MLS must loosen its spending restrictions in order to become a top league in the world of soccer and said that he is hopeful that he will be physically able to contribute to Argentina at next summer’s World Cup.

In a rare interview with an American outlet, Messi sat down with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the interview, Messi was asked if he felt that soccer could become as popular in the US as American sports like football, baseball, and basketball. Messi said he thinks the sport could get there, but that teams need to have more freedom first.

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MLS playoffs: FC Cincinnati takes Game 1 of ‘Hell is Real’, Minnesota tops Seattle on PKs

  • Cincinnati and Minnesota go up 1-0 in best-of-three series

  • Columbus and Seattle to host Game 2s

Kévin Denkey’s goal in the 78th minute was enough for hosts FC Cincinnati to claim a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew in the opener of their Eastern Conference opening-round series on Monday.

Match 2 is Sunday in Columbus. A deciding match, if needed, will be on 8 November in Cincinnati.

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Borgen Family Joins Austin FC Investors at $912 Million Valuation

The Borgen family, investors in the NWSL’s Denver Summit expansion team, are part of the group that recently invested in Austin FC at an enterprise value of $912 million. FirstTracks Sports Ventures, which is managed by Jon-Erik Borgen, closed its investment earlier this month. The group is part of the series of transactions mostly announced …

Lionel Messi Signs New Deal with Inter Miami! Is He Now MLS’s Villain? + MLS Playoffs Preview with Kevin Egan

Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros bring on MLS 360 host Kevin Egan to discuss Lionel Messi’s new deal with Inter Miami and what it means for the future of Major League Soccer. They also preview the MLS Playoffs and share their predictions. Later, the guys react to another Champions League matchday and a hilarious moment from NBC’s Premier League coverage.

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami Sign 3-Year Contract Extension

Lionel Messi has signed a contract extension with Inter Miami, the MLS club announced Thursday. It is a three-year agreement through the 2028 season. No financial details were released. Messi, who turned 38 in June, originally joined Inter Miami in 2023 under a two-and-a-half-year contract worth $150 million, or $60 million per year, including a …

Lionel Messi signs Inter Miami contract extension to 2028

  • Messi won MLS MVP in 2024, is favored to repeat

  • Deal will keep him in Miami for new stadium opening

Lionel Messi has signed a multi-year contract extension with Inter Miami, sealing a deal that will keep him in South Florida until the end of the 2028 season and is expected to be the last contract of his professional career.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in Miami’s announcement on Thursday, but Messi has been MLS’s highest-paid player by a distance since joining Inter Miami in the summer of 2023. His first deal paid him over $20m per year in guaranteed compensation – more the total payroll of about two-thirds of the 30-team league in 2025. His deal also includes equity in the club upon his retirement as a player.

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Felipe Mora double leads Timbers over RSL and into MLS Playoffs’ next round

  • Justen Glad scores for RSL after two from Mora

  • Kamal Miller header seals result for Phil Neville’s side

Felipe Mora’s first-half brace halted an extended dry spell and helped lift the Portland Timbers to a 3-1 victory over visiting Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference wild-card game on Wednesday night.

Kamal Miller’s late header gave eighth-seeded Portland some insurance as the Timbers sealed a first-round series meeting with Western Conference No 1 San Diego FC. The best-of-three set will begin Sunday in Southern California.

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Chicago Fire brush aside Orlando City to win first MLS playoff game since 2009

  • Hugo Cuypers scores twice to win Wild Card match

  • Chicago advances to face Philadelphia in Round 1

Hugo Cuypers recorded a second-half brace and the Chicago Fire picked up their first playoff win in 16 years with a dominating 3-1 triumph over Orlando City in an Eastern Conference wild-card match on Wednesday night in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Brian Gutiérrez also scored for the eighth-seeded Fire, who ended the longest playoff-victory drought in MLS history. It also was Chicago’s first postseason match since 2017.

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