USWNT legend Carli Lloyd is pushing back on the FIFA World Cup's new mandatory mid-half hydration breaks. The rule drew attention during the opening game between Mexico and South Africa as broadcasters used each three-minute pause to air full-screen ads.

Cooling breaks aren't new to FIFA tournaments, after first being introduced during the 2014 Men's World Cup in Brazil. Officials also used them at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 Women's World Cup in Austrailia and New Zealand, but only when temperatures exceeded FIFA's threshold of 32°C (about 90°F).

Those pauses were shorter and allowed at the discretion of the match referee. However, the 2026 version mandates three minutes per game for hydration breaks, regardless of conditions.

Fans worry the breaks clash with the sport's tradition of continuous play.

Soccer runs on a 90-minute clock with no built-in stoppages, making the forced timeouts feel out of place for football fans. And, because the clock keeps running during these mandatory hydration breaks, fans can expect the added minutes to pile up during stoppage time.

Carli Lloyd, Alexi Lalas Express Anger Over World Cup Ad Breaks

During the first World Cup match on Thursday, Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas called the interruption "the end of the first quarter" on social media. Lloyd responded to his post, simply stating "I hate it."

As the World Cup schedule picks up, fans worry these pauses are here to stay. Fox escalated the tension by letting one commercial break run over, causing viewers to miss the Mexico vs South Africa match's reestart.

For now, soccer purists and pundits like Lloyd and Lalas agree the added commercialization threatens the flow of the game.

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 made a splash across the pond, drawing an average of 458,000 US viewers per match across FOX platforms to mark a 97% viewership increase over the 2022 edition — making this year's tournament the most-watched English-language Women's Euro on record.

Building off the 2025 competition's previously reported record-breaking numbers, Sunday's grand finale between defending champs England and 2023 World Cup winners Spain averaged 1.35 million US viewers — a 53% increase in viewership over the last Women's Euro championship match.

Even more, the broadcast ultimately peaked at 1.92 million fans tuning in, making it the most-watched English-language Women's Euro Final on record.

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The historic viewership is a major win for broadcaster FOX, who secured the women's tournament's first-ever US media deal back in May.

Initially committing to live coverage of 20 of the tournament's matches, record returns motivated the broadcast giant to quickly pivot and air all 31 matches live as part of its FOX Sports Summer of Soccer campaign.

"More and more people are tuning in to watch soccer in the US," FOX Sports commentator and UWSNT vet Carli Lloyd told The Athletic. "There's just been an incredible amount of soccer on display, which has been fantastic for the sport."

The US Women have done it again, with the 7v7 squad claiming The Soccer Tournament's (TST) $1 million prize for a second straight year on Monday.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist and 2015 World Cup champ Heather O'Reilly notched the game-winning assist in the annual tournament's championship match, with University of North Carolina (UNC) rising junior Evelyn Shores slotting the ball home to secure the 3-0 win over Bumpy Pitch FC.

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This year's title-winning team featured several retired USWNT legends, including O'Reilly, Ali Krieger, Allie Long, and Carli Lloyd. Joining the former national team stars were ex-NWSL standouts like Mana Shim, plus six NCAA up-and-comers out of reigning national champion UNC.

"They've been great this entire week, just getting us in the team, making us feel comfortable," Shores said of her more experienced teammates. "It was such a team effort. This has been so fun all around — I'm just so glad I could help us win it."

The US Women also scored multiple individual tournament awards, with Bella Devey snagging MVP honors ahead of her freshman season with UNC this fall.

Meanwhile, NWSL alum Lindsey Harris's brick-wall goalkeeping earned her the competition's Golden Glove.

Devey, Lloyd, and Shim were all named to the 2025 TST Best Seven lineup, which also honored US Women head coach Kendall Fletcher.

TST presents the opportunity for soccer's past, present, and future to convene on the pitch — and compete for one of the biggest purses in the women's game.

The Soccer Tournament (TST) presented by RBC Wealth Management revealed its 2025 women's bracket on Tuesday, with 16 7v7 teams gearing up to compete for the $1 million winner-take-all grand prize this June.

The US Women's Team is back to defend their 2024 title, fueled by World Cup-winning USWNT vets Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, and Ali Krieger, plus retired Scotland national and Bay FC defender Jen Beattie.

Additional teams participating in the competition include 7v7 offshoots of NWSL clubs Angel City, KC Current, and 2024 runners-up NC Courage, as well as former USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo's Solo FC.

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Returning to Cary, North Carolina, for its third year, TST doubled the size of its women's bracket after a successful eight-team debut in 2024.

"Our inaugural women's championship game viewership performed exceptionally well, as we grew our audience 452% from the beginning of the game until the moment the game-winning goal was scored," TST founder and CEO Jon Mugar told The Athletic.

"TST soccer is electrifying," Mugar added. "Our goal is to become the preeminent soccer festival in the world. Judging by the number of returning fans and teams, we are well on our way."

How to attend, watch the 2025 TST 7v7 contest

TST's 7v7 women's competition kicks off on June 5th and runs through the $1 million championship game on June 9th.

Tickets to attend are currently available online.

All matches will air live on either YouTube or ESPN platforms.

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.

The Soccer Tournament is adding a women’s field after debuting this summer, and Heather O’Reilly has even bigger plans for the players she wants to recruit to her team competing in the event.

The 7-on-7, winner-take-all event debuted in June with a grand prize of $1 million. Former U.S. women’s national team star O’Reilly entered an all-women team in the tournament, which was otherwise made up of all men.

Now, the event is introducing a women’s field thanks to the help of O’Reilly’s squad, which included former national team players, was coached by Mia Hamm and drew widespread support. The 2024 women’s tournament will award a separate $1 million prize to the winner in an effort to ensure equal pay.

“We were blown away last year [summer 2023] by the reception that Heather O’Reilly’s U.S. Women team got down in North Carolina,” Jon Mugar, the founder and CEO of The Tournaments, told ESPN. “There were a lot of people there cheering them on specifically and getting to know Heather throughout the process. We quickly got to talking about, ‘Hey, what would this look like if we were to break out a women’s bracket with a separate and equal million-dollar prize?'”

Even if the tournament hadn’t added a women’s bracket, O’Reilly and her team would have returned to competition. But now, more women will have the chance to play as part of an eight-team field, smaller than the men’s 48-team field.

“I’m thrilled to take part again in it this year, and I think it’s a huge statement that TST and the organizers have committed to equal prize money,” O’Reilly told ESPN. “The statement that it makes and the feeling around equality, I think is super special.”

O’Reilly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion with the USWNT, says she’s going to be calling up some old U.S. teammates who recently retired. The tournament will return to Cary, N.C. and take place June 5-10.

“I’m a competitor and I like our chances,” O’Reilly said. “I’m definitely going to be calling a lot of the household names that everybody can imagine that just retired, like Ali Krieger, Julie Ertz, Carli Lloyd. I can promise that we’ll get some big names there. We’re four hours away from a million-dollar prize.”

Carli Lloyd has been famously critical of the U.S. women’s national team, and on the latest episode of Kickin’ It, Midge Purce responded.

While Purce has seen some clips, she admittedly did not see the clips of Lloyd talking about the team when she was on the show. When on the CBS Sports show, Lloyd echoed what she had said in Australia – that the team lacked focus, and instead was worried about their own individual branding.

She even went as far as saying that there is “so much fundamentally wrong” with the USWNT program, and that there aren’t any players on the team that possess a “champion mentality.”

When asked about Lloyd’s comments, Purce said that she “disagrees.”

“I don’t think she’s wrong, I just disagree,” she said. “I think that two things can exist at once. I think you can have a lot of joy and have the time of your life at the World Cup, this position that you worked so hard to be in and also turn it on on the field at the same time. I think that it’s really easy to point fingers and say, ‘oh this person’s behavior is a reflection of the lack of success they’re having.’ Whereas they’ve been successful and have done the same thing.”

Purce also points to what she calls a “generational shift” between players. One example she points out is the existence of TikTok – which wasn’t around when Lloyd was playing.

“She’s older,” Purce said when asked if Lloyd was “old.”

“She’s a U.S. OG for sure,” Purce continued. “She’s a veteran, she’s a legend. There is no controversy on whether or not that woman is a legend. And she’s a U.S. legend and there was no TikTok when she was playing and that is not controversial either.

“I would say that generationally the focus of media and how that interplays with the soccer world and the industry has changed. But I don’t think that it’s fair to say that’s the reason they didn’t perform when there are so many other issues. I think it’s comorbidity rather than just to blame the player.”

When asked whether or not Lloyd’s criticisms over the team’s culture ring true, and that the team isn’t as competitive as it used to be, Purce noted that it wasn’t her experience with the team.

“But again she’s been there for however long and that’s her experience,” she said. “So I don’t think my experience negates hers. But I felt like in my time with the national team I didn’t feel that anyone wanted to win any less.”

Emma Hayes officially has been named the next head coach of the U.S. women’s national team, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday.

The 47-year-old from England is stepping down as Chelsea head coach at the end of the Women’s Super League season in May 2024. That announcement from the English club on Nov. 4 coincided with a flurry of reports connecting Hayes to the USWNT opening.

Hayes replaces Vlatko Andonovksi, who stepped down as USWNT manager in August in the aftermath of a disappointing World Cup run. Twila Kilgore served as interim head coach for the September and October training camps, and she will continue in that role before joining Hayes’ staff as an assistant coach.

Hayes joined Chelsea in 2012. In her 11 seasons at the helm, not including the 2023-24 season, she has won six league titles, five FA Cups, two FA League Cups and one Community Shield. While the club made a bid to keep Hayes, their offer could not match that of the USWNT, where her base salary reportedly will match that of men’s coach Gregg Berhalter, who earns $1.6 million per year.

“This is a huge honor to be given the opportunity to coach the most incredible team in world football history,” Hayes said in a news release. “The feelings and connection I have for this team and for this country run deep. I’ve dreamed about coaching the USA for a long time so to get this opportunity is a dream come true.”

Through six matches this season, Chelsea sit atop the WSL table with 16 points. And her current roster includes two up-and-coming USWNT stars in Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel.

Before joining Chelsea, Hayes worked in the United States as part of the Women’s Professional Soccer league, a precursor to the NWSL. Hayes served as the head coach for the Chicago Red Stars from 2008 through 2010 and then as the technical director for the Western New York Flash in 2011.

Hayes’ impending hire was met with cheers from across the women’s soccer world. England head coach Sarina Wiegman called it “good for the women’s game,” while USWNT star-turned-analyst Carli Lloyd is “excited” by the move. USWNT midfielder Kristie Mewis said Hayes is “exactly what we need,” while forward Tobin Heath referred to the choice as a “no-brainer.”

The praise comes even after Hayes called out issues within the U.S. program after the USWNT’s exit from the 2023 World Cup. She pointed to problems with the development system, which have helped leave the team “massively short of creative talent.”

“The realities are, it is going to be very, very difficult for the US to climb back to the top,” Hayes wrote for The Telegraph. “I’m not saying they won’t, with hard work and the right conversations around their model. They will have to respond to this World Cup.”

Abby Wambach doesn’t want to hear any questions about the mentality of hte U.S. women’s national team.

Speaking on the latest episode of the “Snacks” podcast, the USWNT great offered a counterpoint to vocal critics of the current squad.

“Even though this last World Cup didn’t turn out like we wanted it to, I still think that we’re talking about a couple of penalty kicks missed and then the U.S. team shows up differently in latter-round games,” Wambach said.

The USWNT exited the tournament after a penalty shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16. And while Wambach didn’t put too much stock in the defeat, she does think it is important for the team to remember and recognize its history.

“I know that the Players Association does a good job of it, but I do think that there is so much value in remembering where the team came from in order for them to chart their new path,” she said. “I think that is the most important element that so many of my teams that I played on, we didn’t really get right all the time, that we were just like, ‘We’re doing it our way.’ And it’s like, you do need to bring in all the elements to what creates such a special environment.”

Still, she doesn’t want to hear of anyone questioning the team’s mentality, she told “Snacks” co-hosts and USWNT players Lynn Williams and Sam Mewis. Former USWNT star forward Carli Lloyd infamously questioned the team’s mentality before, during and after the 2023 World Cup.

Lloyd even went so far as to say that nobody on the current squad has a winning mentality, with the possible exception of Lindsey Horan. Lloyd and Wambach won the 2015 World Cup together with the USWNT, and Lloyd also played on the 2019 World Cup team.

“The champion mentality that we’ve had throughout the years, since the inception of this team, that dog mentality, you’ve got none of that,” Lloyd told CBS Sports in October. “The character, the respect — technically, tactically, you could be great and have a coach that comes in, but if you don’t have all those other things, there’s no winning.”

To Wambach, perspective is key.

“So, we can talk about all of the things and the coaches and the players and the … don’t get me started on the mentality piece because I will blow up on somebody,” Wambach said. “But what I do know is we’re talking about a penalty kick and that, I mean, we didn’t win every world championship we ever played in. Like, that is true.”

While Emma Hayes’ hiring as the new head coach of the U.S. women’s national team has yet to be made official, veteran forward-turned-pundit Carli Lloyd is excited by the prospect.

Lloyd, who has been an outspoken critic of the team as well as former manager Vlatko Andonovski since her retirement in 2021, gave her take on U.S. Soccer’s choice for Andonovski’s replacement. Lloyd played under Hayes in 2009, when both were with the Chicago Red Stars – Lloyd as the star player, Hayes as the head coach.

“While it’s not official… I’m excited. I like Emma a lot and she has proven herself at Chelsea,” Lloyd wrote on social media. “She seems to be able to manage many different personalities at Chelsea which would help her with the USWNT. They need someone that has a strong personality and can make tough decisions.”

Of course, Hayes isn’t quite the Deion Sanders-style personality for which Lloyd lobbied in a CBS Sports interview. (Whether or not she wanted every part of Sanders’ coaching philosophy, which includes marketing and self-promotion tendencies much reviled by Lloyd, is unclear.) But still, Hayes is a great get for the USWNT.

The U.S. Soccer Federation’s board of directors approved the hiring Saturday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, with a formal announcement to follow. Hayes’ contract is set to be a record for women’s soccer, with the possibility of Hayes receiving equal pay to U.S. men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter at least on the table. 

Hayes will leave her current position as head coach of Chelsea upon the conclusion of the Women’s Super League season in May 2024. She is expected to juggle both jobs in the interim.