Believe it or not, we’re about a little more than a month away from the start of the 2026 World Cup, which is being played on American soil for the first time in more than three decades.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be counting down 26 players to watch here in the newsletter. Only one entry per country — that’s the only rule. Then at the end, we’ll share the whole list with you.
Today, we start the countdown with … Weston McKennie, the U.S. men’s national team midfielder, who could be a household name by the end of the summer.
We’ll have lots more coverage of the World Cup in the coming months, both here and on the NBC News website.
Weston McKennie
Since finishing third at the first World Cup in 1930, the U.S. men have never finished better than eighth. Entering this summer’s tournament, they’re still out to prove that they can beat the world’s established soccer powers on the sport’s biggest stage. If it comes to fruition, you can thank a connection to the 2006 U.S. men’s national team.
A few months before the 2006 World Cup kicked off in Germany, the U.S. men visited the host country to hold a meet-and-greet at Ramstein Air Base. Among those who showed up was a 7-year-old named Weston McKennie, whose father, John, was a member of the U.S. Army stationed in the nearby small town of Otterbach.
Holding a yellow ball, McKennie posed for a photo between U.S. players Landon Donovan and Carlos Bocanegra — an encounter he later credited with helping him realize being a professional soccer player was possible.
Now 27, McKennie is a U.S. midfielder who is plenty familiar with the high stakes of international soccer. At 17, he made his debut in the German Bundesliga for Schalke. By 21, he’d joined Juventus in Italy’s Serie A, the first American ever to play for the storied club. At 23, he joined the English Premier League with Leeds, before returning to Italy and Juventus, where he has spent the last four seasons. He’s also no stranger to the Champions League, scoring 11 goals.
McKennie will be coming off his best season as a pro, and the U.S. must hope his role as a connector between defense and offense will carry over from Serie A. In its last World Cup appearance in 2022, the U.S. mustered just three goals in four matches.
NBA Playoffs
The San Antonio Spurs humbled the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of their conference semifinal matchup last night, winning 133-95 to even the series at 1-1.
San Antonio cruised to a victory, leading Minnesota by as many as 47 points in what was essentially a rout from start to finish. The Spurs so thoroughly dominated that much of the fourth quarter turned into garbage time.
“I told the guys after the first game it’s the natural tendency for the team that steals the first game, the away team, to get blown out in Game 2,” Wolves star Anthony Edwards said after. “We can’t come out cool and we came out cool and what happened — we got blown out.”
It was a bounce-back game for Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds while holding Minnesota to an 85.2 offensive rating when he was on the floor.
In the East, the Knicks took a 2-0 lead over the 76ers after a back-and-forth game that featured 25 lead changes. Philadelphia played without injured center Joel Embiid and couldn’t close down the stretch after a valiant effort.
Three players scored at least 20 points for New York: Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson. Anunoby, however, limped off the court in the fourth after appearing to hurt his leg, leaving his status for Game 3 in question.
What We’re Reading
For one game in 1977, Ted Turner installed himself as manager of the Atlanta Braves, the MLB team he owned. Our NBC News team tracked down players from the game after Turner died yesterday at 87 years old.
American sprinter Allyson Felix is attempting to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, when she’ll be 42 years old. Along the way, Felix wants to challenge what aging in sports is supposed to look like.
Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich on aggregate yesterday to advance to the Champions League final, where it will face Arsenal.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League announced it would add an expansion team in Detroit.
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said he would like to know Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future before the NBA draft, which will start June 23.
Golden Tempo won’t be racing in the Preakness, meaning no Triple Crown winner this year.
What We’re Watching
Tonight in the NBA playoffs, we’re watching to see if Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and the Cleveland Cavaliers can put up a fight against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. The Cavs have been a top-four seed in the East in each of the past four postseasons, including this one, but have not advanced past the second round. Is this the year they break through?
All times are Eastern:
- 7 p.m.: No. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers, on Amazon Prime
- 9:30 p.m.: No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers, on Amazon Prime
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.
