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‘There are no barriers’: Angel City, Mexico team up for historic game

María Sánchez stars as a forward for the Mexican national team and the Houston Dash of the NWSL. (Manuel Guadarrama/Getty Images)

This Labor Day, Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and the Mexican women’s national team (MWNT) will make history when they face off in the first annual Angelina Cup at Banc of California Stadium. The Sept. 5 event is believed to be the first-ever promoted match hosted by a women’s professional soccer team in its home stadium against a national team.

While women’s national teams have previously played friendlies in the U.S. against pro or semi-pro clubs, these matches are usually scrimmages and often occur behind closed doors. By contrast, this match is open to the public and will be broadcast on the TelevisaUnivision family of networks throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

ACFC president Julie Uhrman described the Angelina Cup as an innovative way to spread awareness for women’s soccer and its players and drive not only pay equity but also viewership, sponsorship and coverage equity. The plan is to use this event, which will evolve each year, as a springboard for the continued growth of women’s soccer worldwide.

“We view ourselves as a global brand,” Uhrman told Just Women’s Sports. “We view Angel City as part of the global world of soccer. We want to play with and against the best athletes in the world, and we want to bring these individual communities together to celebrate women, these athletes and this sport.”

When Soccer United Marketing first reached out with the partnership idea, it was a “yes from the word ‘go,’” Uhrman said. ACFC’s leadership team recognized this kind of event had never been done before and envisioned its massive potential to amplify women’s soccer.

“It’s that opportunity when you don’t let the distinction of a national team and professional team prevent two incredible communities and brands from coming together to create what is going to be an incredible match on the pitch,” Uhrman said.

Federación Mexicana de Futból (FMF) sporting director Gerardo Torrado told JWS that, similarly, his organization “didn’t think twice” when presented with the opportunity for partnership.

“We’ve seen it with the men’s team, how Mexican people around the world receive their national team,” Torrado said. “It’s a great opportunity to continue developing the women’s team — not just the players, but also the awareness, fan base and excitement around them.”

The partnership is a natural fit with Los Angeles’ rich Mexican culture and large Mexican population given the city’s geographic proximity to its southern neighbor. The Los Angeles and Mexican communities share a passion for soccer and field talented and exciting women’s teams.

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The official logo of the Angelina Cup. (Courtesy of Angel City FC)

The event also presents enticing opportunities for the development of the MWNT, which ranked 26th in June’s FIFA World Rankings.

The match will give potential new fans in the U.S. a chance to see the MWNT play and club owners, scouting directors and coaches in the U.S. the ability to scout top Mexican talent. Conversely, it creates an opportunity for players in the U.S. to experience Mexican soccer and perhaps begin to explore the idea of playing in Mexico’s professional league, Liga MX Femenil.

Six years after the league kicked off in December 2016, Torrada described the current state of the women’s game in Mexico as “growing strong.” He said that the impressive performance of C.F. Pachuca, América and Chivas Guadalajara in the most recent tournament bodes well for a league that has traditionally been dominated by northern powerhouses Monterrey and Tigres.

Mia Fishel, the No. 5 draft pick of the Orlando Pride in December’s NWSL Draft, sent shockwaves through the league when she opted to sign with Tigres in January instead of joining the Pride. Likewise, the NWSL has welcomed high-profile players from Liga MX Femenil. Notably, star Mexican forward María Sánchez signed a two-year deal with the Houston Dash this past offseason after leading Tigres to the league final with five goals in three playoff games.

“This will show young girls in Mexico what level they can reach in the future and that they can work hard to make their dreams come true,” Torrado said. “They are going to have chances to play in important environments, and having young girls know that, will help us a lot.”

Torrado added that there are Mexican girls in the U.S. who wish to play for Mexico, and the event will give them a chance to be close to the MWNT.

Beyond Mexico and the U.S., the Angelina Cup, which features its own logo, cup and branding, will celebrate the interconnectedness of the women’s international soccer community.

“There are no barriers,” Uhrman said. “We are going to highlight the absolute best athletes.”

Community is everything for ACFC. At its founding, Uhrman said the first questions the club’s owners and leaders asked were: “Who is our community, and what can we do with and for our community that elevates the sport of women’s soccer and creates connections and an opportunity for them to come together?” The annual event is the latest example of ACFC deploying the power of collective action to make an impact on its local community and the global women’s soccer community. In May, ACFC struck up a historic partnership with Tigres Femenil that will see the clubs play each other in home-and-home friendlies over the next two years.

ACFC plans to engage the local community in activations leading up to the Angelina Cup, just as it did with its Pride initiatives last month and beyond. The idea is for supporters to have fun while doing good, a model that has proven extremely successful for ACFC during its inaugural NWSL season.

Torrado expects this first-of-its-kind event will open doors for other women’s national teams “to play really competitive matches against important professional teams.”

Uhrman, too, sees the Cup as just the beginning for transnational and cross-cultural collaboration in women’s soccer.

“(ACFC and the MWNT) do have the benefit of geography,” she said, “but I could argue that there are teams in Europe and Latin America and in other places where there is commonality, and sport brings people together.”

Joshua Fischman is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering Angel City FC and the Los Angeles Sparks. He has covered basketball for Vantage Sports and Hoops Rumors and served as co-host of “On the NBA Beat” podcast. Joshua received his master’s in Sports Media from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @JJTheJuggernaut.

US Tennis Stars Advance as Wimbledon Field Narrows

Italy's Jasmine Paolini celebrates her first-round win over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini fell in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. (Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

US tennis star Emma Navarro eyes a return during a 2025 Wimbledon match.
US star Emma Navarro will face 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková in Wimbledon's Round of 32. (Rob Newell/CameraSport via Getty Images)

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

Finland Opens Women’s Euro 2025 with Upset Upset Win Over Iceland

Finland's Katariina Kosola and Emma Koivisto celebrate a goal during their opening 2025 Euro match.
Finland earned a surprise 1-0 win over Iceland in their 2025 Euro opener on Wednesday. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

Spain jersey hang in lockers ahead of the team's 2025 Euro opening match against Portugal.
Reigning World Cup champions Spain will open their 2025 Euro account against Portugal. (Aitor Alcalde - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

USWNT Caps Summer Friendlies with 3-0 Canada Shutout

Yazmeen Ryan, Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Mandy McGlynn, and Izzy Rodriguez and the rest of the USWNT huddle after their July 2025 friendly win over Canada.
The USWNT finished the summer international window with 11 goals, conceding none, across three matches. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

Seattle Storm Looks to Climb the WNBA Standings in Weekend Gauntlet

Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike high-fives teammates as she's introduced before a 2025 WNBA game.
The No. 5 Seattle Storm will face No. 4 Atlanta and No. 3 New York this weekend. (Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

  • No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.
  • No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.

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