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Tuesday’s Champions League round of 16 second legs arrive with a split personality. A few ties still feel very much alive, especially Arsenal’s 1-1 deadlock with Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates, while others are tilted hard toward the teams who did their damage in the first leg. Real Madrid take a 3-0 lead to Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain head to Stamford Bridge up 5-2 on Chelsea, and Bodø/Glimt carry one of the most surprising advantages in the bracket after a 3-0 first-leg win over Sporting CP. It creates a fascinating night where some clubs are chasing control, some are chasing chaos, and some are trying to prove the first leg was not a fluke.

Arsenal look like the strongest English side heading into the week, and the numbers back that up. The first leg ended 1-1, but Arsenal had the better underlying profile with more possession, a stronger expected-goals edge, and far more touches in the box. That fits the broader picture of an Arsenal side that has been one of the tournament’s best defensive teams, giving up very little, dominating aerially, and steadily squeezing opponents with its control game. Leverkusen can still threaten, especially through Alejandro Grimaldo and their transition moments down the left, but this shapes up as a match where Arsenal’s structure, pressure, and set-piece strength should give them the upper hand.

Elsewhere, it could be a brutal round for the Premier League. Manchester City have the biggest mountain to climb after the 3-0 loss in Madrid, even if their season numbers still show the kind of territorial dominance and chance creation that make you think they can at least make Real Madrid uncomfortable. The problem is that Real remain devastating in the spaces City can leave behind, with Vinícius Júnior driving transition attacks and Federico Valverde arriving in excellent form. Chelsea’s situation is similar in one sense and different in another. The aggregate deficit to PSG is severe at 5-2, but the match itself could still be open because Chelsea usually want the ball and PSG are so dangerous when games stretch. That is what makes this tie feel less like a rescue mission and more like a test of nerve: Chelsea need goals, while PSG have too much pace and quality in wide areas to simply sit back.

The wild card in the round is Bodø/Glimt, who are no longer just a nice underdog story. They battered Sporting 3-0 in the first leg, created the better chances by a wide margin, and arrive in Lisbon on an eight-match winning streak playing the kind of fearless, vertical football that has already knocked out bigger names. Sporting being at home makes them dangerous, and their attacking profile still suggests they can create a real response, especially with Luis Javier Suárez in form and a tendency to score late. But Bodø/Glimt have earned the right to be taken seriously now, not as a novelty, but as a team fully capable of turning this Champions League run into something historic.

That is what makes these second legs so compelling. Some ties are balanced on the tactical details, like Arsenal and Leverkusen. Some will demand miracles, like City and Chelsea trying to overturn major deficits against elite opposition. And some, like Sporting against Bodø/Glimt, force everyone to decide whether they are watching an upset in progress or the arrival of a genuine European problem. By the end of Tuesday night, the quarterfinal picture should be a lot clearer, and England may be left confronting just how rough this round has been.

Iran’s World Cup status has taken another dramatic turn, with the country now saying it is negotiating with FIFA to move its group-stage matches from the United States to Mexico. According to comments attributed to federation president Mehdi Taj and posted by Iran’s embassy in Mexico, the issue is security: Iran is scheduled to play New Zealand and Belgium in the Los Angeles area and Egypt in Seattle, but Taj said the team will not travel to the U.S. after President Donald Trump said he could not guarantee its safety.

That puts FIFA in an extraordinarily difficult position less than three months before kickoff. Moving one team’s matches across host countries at this stage would be a major logistical rewrite involving venues, travel, operations, and ticketing, and AP noted it would be unprecedented this close to the tournament. Just as important, FIFA had not publicly confirmed any such negotiations as of Tuesday morning, which means this is still a live and unsettled situation rather than a decision that has already been made.

The political backdrop is what makes this more than a scheduling story. Trump said on March 12 that Iran was welcome at the tournament, but that he did not believe it was “appropriate” for the team to be there for its “life and safety,” a message that cut against earlier public assurances that Iran would be allowed to compete. Iran’s officials have sent mixed signals since then, but the current posture appears to be this: they still want to play in the World Cup, just not on U.S. soil.

For the tournament, this is the kind of issue FIFA has desperately wanted to avoid. New Zealand has already said it is continuing to prepare to face Iran in Los Angeles until told otherwise, while the Asian Football Confederation said it has not received notice of an Iranian withdrawal. That leaves 2026 with a very uncomfortable question hanging over it: whether a co-hosted World Cup can keep its sporting structure intact when geopolitics starts pushing directly on the match calendar.

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The 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup gets underway this week with a 31-match first round spread across three days, and the format is pure Open Cup from the jump: professionals against amateurs, local pride on the line, and a real chance for chaos. That is what makes this tournament special every year. Before the bigger names arrive later, the opening round belongs to clubs trying to prove themselves, communities trying to make noise, and lower-division favorites trying to avoid becoming part of somebody else’s cup story.

What stands out most in this year’s first round is how regional the tension feels. There are true local and quasi-local rivalry angles all over the bracket, from Pittsburgh Riverhounds against Steel City FC in an all-Pittsburgh matchup, to Louisville City facing nearby Southern Indiana FC, to Little Rock Rangers hosting FC Tulsa, and Asheville City getting another shot at Greenville Triumph after last year’s penalty-kick heartbreak. These are not just random pairings. They are the kinds of matchups that make the tournament feel rooted in place, where familiarity, travel, crowd energy, and local bragging rights can matter as much as league status.

There is also a strong underdog-vs-established-power dynamic running through the round. Defending USL League Two champions Vermont Green hosting Portland Hearts of Pine is one of the marquee games, while FC Motown against defending USL Cup winners Hartford Athletic and BOHFS St. Louis against Union Omaha both land on major CBS platforms. Indy Eleven against Des Moines Menace has that same Open Cup appeal too, with a professional side facing a club that has built a long reputation for making life miserable for bigger opponents. Those are the matchups that give the first round its identity: not just games, but tests of whether pedigree holds up once the whistle blows.

That is the beauty of this week. The first round is where the Open Cup feels closest to its roots, with historic amateur clubs, ambitious new projects, second-division contenders, and lower-league fan bases all sharing the same stage. Some of these results will go exactly to script. A few almost certainly will not. And that is why the first round remains one of the best stretches on the American soccer calendar.

Catarina Macario returns home with a landmark deal
Catarina Macario is headed back to San Diego, and it is a massive move for both the player and the Wave. After an elite peak at Lyon and an injury-hit stretch at Chelsea, Macario now gets a chance to reset in the city where her American soccer journey began, with a reported contract that underlines just how highly the NWSL values her ceiling.

Noahkai Banks delays his national team decision
FC Augsburg defender Noahkai Banks will not join the U.S. men’s national team this window and remains undecided between the United States and Germany. With the World Cup now close and Banks also managing a foot injury, this feels like a reminder that the U.S. cannot assume dual-national decisions will always break its way, especially with a young player trying to make a career-defining choice carefully.

MLS stretches its season deeper into December
MLS Cup 2026 is set for Friday, December 18, making it the latest final and longest full season in league history. The tradeoff is that the playoffs will run for a full uninterrupted month, giving the postseason a cleaner runway even if the overall calendar pushes further into winter than ever before.

Ernst Tanner suspension keeps Philadelphia under a cloud
MLS has suspended Union sporting director Ernst Tanner without pay through June 1 after an outside investigation substantiated violations of league policies and leadership standards. It adds another layer of instability to a Philadelphia club that has fallen hard since winning the 2025 Supporters’ Shield, with results and off-field scrutiny now running together.

LAFC face a real test in Costa Rica
LAFC go to Alajuelense tied 1-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup, but the away-goals edge belongs to the Costa Rican side after a disciplined first leg in Los Angeles. Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min still give LAFC the firepower to turn the tie, but Alajuelense have shown they can frustrate elite attacks and will believe they can push another MLS side out of the competition.

SDH AM starts at 9:05 a.m. on YouTube and Twitch with Jon Nelson hosting another busy Tuesday morning lineup. He’ll be joined by Karn Saxena to discuss FanPath and how it could help organize travel plans ahead of the World Cup, Noah Toumert, Foundation Director for Forest City Cleveland, as the club builds toward its MLS NEXT Pro launch in 2027, and Kaylor Hodges from The USL Show.

Also around the network, make sure to catch this week’s Long View on Atlanta United’s win over Philadelphia along with last night’s Atlanta Soccer Tonight episode. It is a good time to tap back in if you want more on Atlanta’s progress and the bigger conversations around the club.

If you missed it last week, go back to read about and listen to Skate Noftsinger’s interview with Jon from SDH AM about how Atlanta United is handling the World Cup year off the field.

Neymar’s World Cup path is getting tighter
Neymar was left out of Brazil’s March friendlies against France on March 26 in Boston and Croatia on March 31 in Orlando, which are the final matches before Carlo Ancelotti names his World Cup squad on May 18. Ancelotti said Neymar is not yet at 100 percent physically, while Neymar admitted he was upset but said the dream of making the tournament is still alive.

Bouaddi keeps Morocco and France waiting
Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, one of the most highly rated young midfielders in Europe, said he still has not decided whether to represent France or Morocco at senior level. Morocco are pushing hard ahead of March friendlies against Ecuador and Paraguay, and with the World Cup approaching, his choice is becoming one of the more intriguing dual-national stories to watch.

Julián Quiñones keeps sending a World Cup reminder to Mexico
Reporting in Marca says Quiñones’ latest message to Mexcio manager Javier Aguirre is straightforward: he wants to be in the World Cup with Mexico. Quiñones is still applying pressure through his form and public comments, keeping himself firmly in the selection conversation.

Argentina says goodbye to a broadcasting original
El Gráfico paid tribute to Marcelo Araujo after his death at 78, describing him as the voice who turned soccer commentary in Argentina into something theatrical, personal, and unforgettable. The piece walks through how his catchphrases, timing, and larger-than-life delivery helped define an era of broadcasts and left a permanent mark on the language of the game.

Europe takes center stage today with Champions League second legs that could expose just how rough this round has been for the Premier League, while Iran’s push to move its World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico adds a major geopolitical wrinkle to the road to 2026. Back on this side of the Atlantic, the U.S. Open Cup opens with exactly the kind of regional tension and upset potential that makes it one of the best weeks on the American soccer calendar, and the domestic game keeps moving with big names, big decisions, and big stakes everywhere from San Diego to Costa Rica.

Coverage coming later today from Marietta and Atlanta United training on the Network, see y’all then.

Jason