The Little League Softball World Series kicked off last Tuesday, marking the second year in a row that the event has graced the fields of Greenville, N.C.

For the first time, the competition featured 12 teams in a brand-new expanded bracket. A total of eight U.S. teams and four international teams fought for the title.

Four teams will battle it out Sunday for a place in the Little League Softball World Series final, with Southwest (Midway Little League), Southeast (Chesterfield Little League), Mid-Atlantic (Delmar Little League) and Asia-Pacific (Negros Occidental Little League) competing in the semifinals.

LLSWS teams

Central: Daniel Boone Little League (Columbia, Mo.)

For the second straight year, Daniel Boone represents the Central Region. The team placed third last year and looks this year to become the first team from Missouri to win the tournament.

Mid-Atlantic: Delmar (Md.) Little League

A newcomer, Delmar recorded 48 runs across four games in the the first-ever Mid-Atlantic Region tournament. The defending state champion is the only team from Maryland to make it to the LLSWS.

Northwest: Issaquah (Wash.) Little League

Issaquah features a one-two punch in star pitchers Shaelyn Erickson and London White. The team went undefeated in its regional tournament to reach the LLSWS for the seventh time.

Southwest: Midway Little League (Hewitt, Texas)

A three-time LLSWS champion from Texas, Midway nearly missed the tournament after losing to Louisiana early in the Southwest Region tournament. The team rebounded in the championship game and aims to win the World Series once again.

North Carolina (Host): Pitt County Girls Softball Little League

Pitt County beat two-time LLWS champions Rowan to claim the first spot in Greenville in early July.

New England: Milford (Conn.) Little League

Another team with a dominant pitching duo, Milford went 4-0 in the first-ever New England Regional softball tournament. With 18 strikeouts over four victories, the team allowed just three earned runs.

Southeast: Chesterfield (Va.) Little League

This year’s appearance from Chesterfield marks the seventh time a team from Virginia will make the tournament. It’s the second-straight trip to the LLSWS for Chesterfield, which went 3-0 in the regional tournament, including a 4-3 against Rowan (N.C.) in the championship game.

West: La Verne (Calif.) Little League

The 22nd team from California to make the tournament, La Verne scored 30 runs in the West Region tournament and allowed just one. Pitcher Katie Coldiron has been outstanding in the circle, recording 44 strikeouts since the start of district tournament play.

Asia-Pacific: Negros Occidental Little League (Philippines)

The Asia-Pacific champion is trying to become the first team from its region to win the LLSWS.

Latin America: Guayama (Puerto Rico) Softball Little League

Guayama makes its first-ever appearance at the LLSWS and is the first Puerto Rican team to represent the Latin American Region since 2017.

Canada: St. Albert Softball Little League

The Canadian team did not drop a game in its regional championship run and has won 38 total gamest this season compared to just six losses. St. Albert logged two double-digit run games in the regional tournament.

Europe and Africa: Emilia Romagna Little League (Italy)

Emilia Romagna becomes the first Italian team in the tournament since 2019. The group is looking to be the first international team to win the tournament since 2001.

Full Schedule

Tuesday, Aug. 9

• Mid-Atlantic 3, Central 1
• Southwest 13, Northwest 4
• West 9, North Carolina 2
• Asia-Pacific 1, Canada 0

Wednesday, Aug. 10

• Southwest 2, Latin America 0
• Mid-Atlantic 2, New England 1
• Asia Pacific 4, Europe-Africa 1
• Southeast 6, West 1

Thursday, Aug. 11

• Central 12, Europe-Africa 0 (Europe-Africa eliminated)
• West 7, Northwest 1 (Northwest eliminated)
• North Carolina 8, Latin America  (Latin America eliminated)
• New England 4, Canada 0 (Canada eliminated)

Friday, Aug. 12

• North Carolina 6, West 1 (West eliminated)
• New England 8, Central Region 2 (Central Region eliminated)
• Mid-Atlantic 2, Asia-Pacific 0
• Southwest 1, Southeast 0

Saturday, Aug. 13

• Asia-Pacific 1, New England 0 (New England eliminated)
• Southeast 2, North Carolina 1  (North Carolina eliminated)

Sunday, Aug. 14

• Semifinal: Southwest vs. Southeast @ 1 p.m. on ESPN
• Semifinal: Mid-Atlantic vs. Asia-Pacific @ 4 p.m. on ESPN

Monday, Aug. 15

• Third-place game: Game 19 loser vs. Game 20 loser @ 4 p.m. on ESPN
• Final: Game 19 winner vs. Game 20 winner @ 7 p.m. on ESPN

All times listed in ET.

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

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Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.