Browsing: Finals

The finals of the Last Time Is Now Tournament took place on the December 5, 2025 episode of WWE SmackDown at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. LA Knight and Gunther met in the closing match of a bracket, and everyone was watching that match go down.

John Cenaâ€s final opponent for Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event on December 13, 2025 has been decided. Now, it looks like all WWE needs to do is hype the match over the next week. Only time will tell how it all turns out, but the IC Title isnâ€t in the picture after Cena dropped the title back to Dominik Mysterio at Survivor Series: WarGames.

This match went down as the main event of the show, and it had a lot of hype behind it. Fans were rallying online for LA Knight to get the win, but GUNTHER was also a very stiff competitor. GUNTHER was entering this match with an impressive statistic, as he had never lost a non-title singles match in his WWE career.

Mark Nash really gave this match a big fight feel thanks to his ring introductions. After they traded some stiff shots, the match went to a commercial break. When we got back to the match, LA Knight was able to hit an AA and a burning hammer, a move that is usually banned, for a long two count before they cut to another commercial break.

GUNTHER took some more offense from LA Knight, including a suplex off a reversal. Fans were all behind Knight, but then GUNTHER nailed a T-Rex dropkick, but LA Knight countered a powerbomb into a DDT. Then, Knight climbed the top rope and hit an elbow drop for a near fall.

Near the end, GUNTHER hit two splashes on LA Knight for a near fall. GUNTHER powerbombed Knight after that, but the Mega Star kicked out of that as well. LA Knight hit a BFT out of nowhere, but GUNTHER got his foot on the bottom rope. Finally, GUNTHER got his sleeper hold in, and he wore Knight down with elbow strikes until he got Knight down with the hold still on. Knight tried to fight out of it, and he got GUNTHER on his shoulders, but then the Ring General pummeled him down with more elbows and then he got a crossface on. Finally, LA Knight tapped out, giving the win to GUNTHER.

In the semifinal round, LA Knight defeated Jey Uso, and Gunther beat Solo Sikoa. Those results set up the final match between Knight and Gunther. This was quite a match to close out SmackDown, and it will set up an amazing final match for John Cena in Washington, DC.

Whatâ€s your take on John Cenaâ€s final opponent? Who do you think will win at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

December 5, 2025 10:04 pm

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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

SHOW SUMMARY:In this episode of PWTorch Dailycast series “Acknowledging WWE,” Javier Machado and Mike Meyers acknowledge:

• Survivor Series: WarGames review
• The issue with scheduled gimmick matches
• Men’s WarGames match; who was the masked man?
• Should Breakker win the title soon?
• What’s going on with Jey?
• The glory of Roguelikes and the pain of Soulslikes
• Women’s WarGames match; is the match better without the cages?
• Bayley and Lyra join the women’s tag team hunt
• Dominick defeats Cena with an unnecessary Liv Morgan swerve
• Faked “real” injuries in wrestling matches
• When the reasons behind a rule are forgotten, logic issues arise
• Vaquer defeats Nikki Bella
• Finals of the Last Time Is Now Tournament set
• Is Gunther primed for a babyface run?
• …and more

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Whenever the modern era of American soccer began (the 1994 World Cup? Or the 1990 appearance by the US men? Or the 1991 World Cup win by the US women?), Alan Rothenberg was a key player.

Rothenberg came up as a lawyer under Jack Kent Cooke, owner of Washingtonâ€s NFL team, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, the LA Kings of the NHL, and – crucially, the Los Angeles Wolves of the North American Soccer League (NASL), a team that started life fielding mostly players from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

From there, Rothenberg was named commissioner of soccer at the 1984 LA Olympics, then headed up the US committee that ran the 1994 World Cup, while also serving as US Soccer president from 1990 through 1998. His work with Fifa to host the World Cup in 1994 is directly responsible for the creation of Major League Soccer (MLS), whose championship trophy bore his name from the leagueâ€s founding in 1996 until 2007.

Next year, Rothenberg will release a new book. The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped the Future of US Soccer is a chronicle of his time in positions of power as soccer grew in popularity in the United States. He spoke with the Guardian about his history in the game, the influence of big business on sports, why Americans have gravitated to soccer, and how Fifaâ€s efforts at political influence have changed over time.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

––

What are you anticipating for this World Cup draw?

Itâ€s gonna be interesting. Let me put it that way. I take credit for a lot of things that we did in ‘94 that had never been done before, and one of those was turning the draw into a big event that wasnâ€t just deciding which groups would exist. We had a lot going on, we were in Las Vegas. DC is different. And I think we all know why it ended up in DC. And I also think it means thereâ€ll be a teeny bit of a political overload on it. [In 1994] we we had a video message from President Clinton, but it was just a small portion of the event. Obviously both President Trump and Gianni Infantino made this a very personal project of theirs, and so theyâ€re going to be probably more prominent than what weâ€re accustomed to seeing. But itâ€s going to be great at the end of the day.

I noted this passage from your book: “I was a sports lawyer before there were sports lawyers. In those days … the business side of sports was run by ex-jocks. They played, they coached, and then they became general managers. They knew the sport. But as the dollar signs started to pick up and contracts grew more complicated, it changed dramatically.†Is there any part of you that wonders if itâ€s swung too far the other way? Do you wonder if business interests have an outsized influence on the way sports are run these days?

[The business of sports] is where it is because of a free market economy, and a free market for the fanbases. If fans were really upset and stopped going to games, stopped watching it on television, it would change. But itâ€s going the other way.

Itâ€s the case for some teams, though. I was just looking at crowd shots at a New Orleans Pelicans game where it looks like thereâ€s like 400 people. How do you square the national interest in sports that you point out with images like that in local markets where teamsare clearly not connecting with their fans, for one reason or another?

I think local [interest] still dominates. As things get toward final competition, playoffs, championships, it becomes more national. We just had a great World Series. But on a day-to-day basis, the local Dodgers TV package is way more fruitful to them than their participation in the national package. They have 162 games, so itâ€s a lot of product, a lot of inventory, but thatâ€s true in most [leagues]. You mentioned the Pelicans – their fans canâ€t stand the fact that the team is really pathetic, so theyâ€re not going [to the games]. On the other hand, I will bet you anything when it gets to the NBA Finals, and itâ€s Oklahoma City, who people wouldnâ€t even know about otherwise, those people in New Orleans who are basketball fans will be watching it.

Do you think that soccer is different from that sort of dynamic youâ€re describing? I think a lot of people are attracted to global club soccer because very often those teams were community assets first, and then they became businesses later. And that creates this dynamic among the fans where theyâ€re dedicated no matter what. What do you think that says about what fans want out of soccer in the United States?

I think thereâ€s probably more of an emotional connection between soccer fans and their team than in most other sports. I mean, I donâ€t know how any other sport, and frankly, in any other country, would have had the experience that went on with the Premier League when the Super League was proposed. It was basically a fan revolt that got everybody to, at least temporarily, back off.

Lamar Hunt said that you have to build up local teams and have local fans, and thatâ€s going to be the backbone of the growth of the sport. I think thatâ€s true. I mean, I look at the phenomenon LAFC have created out of nothing. They set that group out in the south end of the stadium, itâ€s as if they transported them from Brazil or from England. You donâ€t really see that in other sports.

‘LAFC fans look like they were transported from Brazil or England. You donâ€t really see that in other sports.†Photograph: Marcio José Sánchez/AP

How would you describe the American soccer audience to someone from another country, where soccer is the No 1 sport and always has been?

I think that thereâ€s a huge appreciation for the sport and a huge knowledge base for the sport, and thatâ€s good news, and itâ€s also challenging news. The good news is thereâ€s a really huge number of true soccer fans in this country, and thatâ€s the core, the fanbase for MLS, for NWSL and all the USL teams. The challenging part is the fans are so sophisticated that they follow teams in Europe. I mean, itâ€s great for the sport, but the challenge is that weâ€re trying to grow the support for the American teams, and I think thatâ€s where 2026 is going to help a lot. I just think that thereâ€s going to be an exponential growth of soccer fans, which is going to mean more television, more revenue, which means MLS can be more competitive in the international market. That plus their change to the international calendar, I think youâ€re going to see more top players still in their prime coming into MLS, which in turn, I think will again create greater audiences.

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There are a lot of logistical questions surrounding the 2026 World Cup, particularly around transportation – getting people into and out of the cities but also to and from the stadiums, often inplaces without robust public transit. These were issues in 1994. How did you get over them?

Soccer fans, I think, are really unique. They find their way. People have talked about some of the immigration issues making people reluctant to come. I think those soccer fans will find their way over here no matter what. And similarly, frankly, to the extent there isnâ€t or wasnâ€t public transportation, it was readily available. I think each city is going to do a good job of putting out pamphlets and brochures and things so that visitors know their way. These cities really rely on the fact that people are going to go to restaurants, bars and museums, and so itâ€s going to be a big economic boost to the cities, and theyâ€re going to do everything they can to inform fans what the options are. We really did not experience any kind of significant issue.

Do you feel that dynamic also applies to ticket prices? People are spending thousands on tickets to these games, and others canâ€t go because of how dynamic pricing has impacted the cost. Fifa has a responsibility to create revenue for their member associations, but do they also have a responsibility to allow fans to affordably access this tournament thatâ€s meant to be so transformative?

I equate it to a Taylor Swift tour. Somehow people are able to pay the price and find their way, in some cases, to remote venues. So where thereâ€s a will, thereâ€s a way, and especially in soccer fans, thereâ€s a will.

[Dynamic pricing] is the reality of today. With Taylor Swift, youâ€ve got young people somehow coming up with several thousand to go to a concert. And if they didnâ€t have dynamic pricing, it would still be the same, because everybody would go to the after-market, and theyâ€re going to end up paying what the market price is. Itâ€s todayâ€s world. And yes, it does mean that a lot of middle-class, working people and their families are priced out. I donâ€t mean to sound unsympathetic, but itâ€s the free market at work.

The World Cup opening ceremony in 1994. “Political leaders were supportive, but didnâ€t try to insert themselves,†says Rothenberg. Photograph: Chris Wilkins/AFP/Getty Images

The good news, at least, is Fifa has been insistent on making sure that every host city has a major fan festival. In some ways, thatâ€s as good or a better experience. Itâ€s a festival, and youâ€re there with thousands of people, jam packed. So you donâ€t see the game live, but you got it on a massive screen, so you probably actually see the game better than if you were at the stadium.

You mentioned before that the 1994 opening ceremony was not overly political, but Fifa has clearly been way more willing to engage politically around World Cups than they have been in the past. Do you agree with that approach?

I donâ€t think itâ€s necessary. Infantino, for each of the World Cups since heâ€s been president, has sort of made himself a part of the government in power. It doesnâ€t hurt, because you want good cooperation, but I donâ€t think itâ€s necessary. I mean, we had first George HW Bush and then Bill Clinton in 1994 and they were fine. They were supportive. They were, you know, we went to them when we needed something, and it was, frankly, pretty infrequent, and they gave moral support. We didnâ€t try to get them to be engaged in the operation, and they didnâ€t try to insert themselves. I think you just have a different dynamic, both in Infantino and in President Trump. Itâ€s unusual. Itâ€s good and itâ€s bad. Itâ€s good in the sense that itâ€s often great to have your head of state taking a personal interest in the event. Heâ€s going to be darn sure that it works. Does it put a political overhang on the tournament, which probably upsets a lot of fans? Yeah.

But again, as a practical matter, youâ€ve got to do things locally. Here we got the LA Olympics coming, and the head of that is Casey Wasserman, part of a longstanding, influential Democratic family. He went back to meet with Trump to get government support for the Olympics. A lot of people here were saying “Well, what a hypocrite.†Come on. Heâ€s got a job to do. His job is to have a successful Olympics, and itâ€d be awfully nice to make sure you got a great relationship with your government. I love your media, but the media likes good stories, and so theyâ€ll grab anything they can.

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Content warning:This story contains depictions of alleged sexual assault.

A sexual assault lawsuit filed against MMA fighter Conor McGregor stemming from an alleged incident at the 2023 NBA Finals was dismissed in Florida on Wednesday, according to The Athletic.

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The plaintiff, who filed the lawsuit against McGregor, filed to have the lawsuit dismissed. That was granted Wednesday, as a judge in Florida dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, cannot refile the case.

The lawsuit stemmed from an alleged incident at the 2023 NBA Finals, where the plaintiff claimed she was sexually assaulted by McGregor during Game 4 of the Finals between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets.

The woman claimed she was “violently” assaulted by McGregor in a men’s bathroom after the game. The woman accused McGregor of forcibly kissing her and making her perform oral sex against her will. McGregor was also accused of trying to sodomize the woman.

Days after those allegations became public, video emerged appearing to show McGregor leading his accuser into the bathroom at the Heat’s stadium.

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McGregor and his reps called the accusations “false” at the time.

McGregor was in attendance at Game 4 of the NBA Finals, which were held at Kaseya Center in Miami. During the game, McGregor was involved in a promotional stunt in which he punched the Heat’s mascot. The stunt took a turn after the person in the mascot costume was taken to the emergency room after taking two punches to the head.

The plaintiff filed a police report after the alleged incident. After an investigation, McGregor did not face criminal charges.

McGregor, 37, has faced multiple sexual-assault allegations over his career. Last year, McGregor lost a sexual assault civil case in Ireland, and had to pay $259,149.36 to a woman after a jury determined McGregor was liable for sexually assaulting the woman in a Dublin hotel in 2018.

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The inaugural AEW Womenâ€s World Tag Team Championships will be on the line in two weeks.

During Wednesdayâ€s episode of AEW Dynamite, it was confirmed that the titles would be on the line at a special “Winter is Coming†episode of Dynamite. The inaugural title match will see the Babes of Wrath take on the Timeless Love Bombs.

The match comes after both teams advanced all the way through the title tournament. Now, theyâ€ll both look to etch their name as the first Womenâ€s Tag Team Champions. Samoa Joe is also scheduled to defend the World Championship against Eddie Kingston.

AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming is set to take place on December 10, 2025, with a special Collision episode also set to air on December 13. The show is taking place at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia.

The fully announced show for Dynamite is as follows:

• AEW World Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
• AEW Womenâ€s World Tag Team Championship: Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale) vs. Timeless Love Bombs (Mina Shirakawa and “Timeless†Toni Storm)
• Hangman Page and TBA vs. Powerhouse Hobbs and Katsuyori Shibata

ALSO READ: AEW Dynamite Results: Review, Grades, Card For December 3

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The finals of John Cena‘s The Last Time is Now Tournament have been set, and we now know who will fight to be Cenaâ€s last opponent.

During Mondayâ€s episode of WWE RAW, the semifinals for the tournament took place. In one match, LA Knight took on Jey Uso. The match came to an end with Knight kicking out of a trio of Usoâ€s signature moves. As Uso went for another pin, Knight shocked Uso by quickly rolling the pair, and pinning him down for the win.

Following the match, an irate Jey Uso snapped, and began trashing the tables at ringside following the loss. Later on in the night, Gunther went up against Solo Sikoa. In a perhaps unsurprising finish, it was Gunther who punched his ticket into the finals. He won after chaos erupted toward the end of the match. Late in the match, Talla Tonga interfered, trying to hold Gunther for Solo to attack him.

HERE WE GO! ?

JOHN CENA’S FINAL OPPONENT WILL EITHER BE LA KNIGHT or GUNTHER!

KNIGHT & GUNTHER go one-on-one THIS FRIDAY on SmackDown. Winne faces John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th! pic.twitter.com/wrSVBFj53M

— WWE (@WWE) December 2, 2025

The referee stopped it, though, and with the ref turned around, Gunther kicked Solo in the groin, then hit a powerbomb for the win. After the match, Knight came down to the ring and had a staredown with his future opponent.

Both Knight and Gunther will now face off on Fridayâ€s episode of WWE SmackDown. The winner will become Cenaâ€s last opponent for his match at WWE Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event.

READ MORE: WWE Raw Results: Review, Grades, Card For Dec 1

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The December 1 episode of WWE RAW was a special night with a lot of fallout after Survivor Series: WarGames. The Last Time Is Not tournament kept going, and now we know who will be in the finals.

The Last Time Is Now tournament is a 16-person single-elimination event to decide John Cenaâ€s final opponent. Superstars from RAW, SmackDown, and NXT took part, along with outside entrants like Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler. The tournament began on November 10, 2025, and moved through the rounds until the semifinals, which took place tonight.

Jey Uso and LA Knight had their semifinals match as the first contest on RAW this week. After a hard-fought match, LA Knight pulled off a quick pinfall after a roll-up. This was quite a shock, but The Mega Star is moving on to the finals. Jey Uso didnâ€t take it too well, either.

The second match of the semifinals went down during the second hour of the show. GUNTHER and Solo Sikoa tore each other apart in this match. This match saw Solo Sikoa nearly win the match, but GUNTHER was able to pull off a near fall. At times, this contest could have gone either direction, especially when Talla Tonga came down to interfere. In the end, GUNTHER nailed a powerbomb to win the match.

Now, the finals are set, and it will be GUNTHER versus LA Knight. Naturally, John Cena will be paying close attention to that match.

John Cenaâ€s final match was scheduled for December 13 at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event in Washington, D.C. The finals in the Last Time Is Now tournament will go down during the December 5 episode of WWE SmackDown. Only time will tell how John Cenaâ€s last match will turn out, but it will certainly be a historic night.

Whatâ€s your take on the Last Time Is Now tournament? Do you think that this is turning out the right way? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

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WWE

LA Knight and Gunther confirmed their places in the final of the Last Time is Now Tournament during “WWE Raw.”Â

Knight defeated Jey Uso in the first semi-final bout of the night, stealing the victory from beneath his opponent when all was said and done. Uso kicked out of a Burning Hammer before Knight kicked out a spear, leaving both men laying in the middle of the ring.

Uso went to the top for a splash but Knight ascended the ropes for a superplex, going for the cover but only getting a two-count. Once more, Uso went for the splash, connecting with it and going for the cover only to get rolled up by Knight for the surprise victory. Uso remained in the ring as Knight exited up the ramp, losing his cool at ringside as he threw the PRIME drinks cart and steel steps around.Â

Gunther beat Solo Sikoa in the second of the semi-finals, having to overcome an opponent flanked by Talla Tonga at ringside.Â

Tonga tried to get involved at Sikoa’s own undoing at the end of the closing stretch of the bout, with each man having kicked out of one another’s respective best shots, the referee caught them in the act and started to reprimand Tonga. But with that distraction, Gunther had the opportunity to hit a low blow of his own before hitting his signature powerbomb, winning the match via pinfall and cementing his place in the final.Â

It will be now be contested between Knight and Gunther in the final to determine who goes on to challenge John Cena in his last match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

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• Lizzy Becherano

• Jon Arnold

Nov 28, 2025, 11:21 AM ET

Now that the Philadelphia Union, FC Cincinnati, LAFC and Minnesota United FC are splitting time between the couch and the golf course, MLS is down to its final four.

Inter Miami CF are peaking at the right time, New York City FC caused another upset, the Vancouver Whitecaps won a star-studded shootout, while San Diego FC’s magical inaugural season continued. That sets up this year’s conference finals: Miami vs. NYCFC, and San Diego vs. Vancouver.

So how will Saturday’s matchups go down? ESPN asked Lizzy Becherano and Jon Arnold to assess the postseason forms of our final four, and asked them — along with the rest of our U.S. soccer staff — to predict who will move on to MLS Cup.

Eastern Conference

3. Inter Miami vs. 5. New York City FC
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET

Star attraction: One hates to sound repetitive, but Lionel Messi will continue to be the star attraction for as long as he’s in MLS. He continues to prove his worth with every passing game, scoring one goal and three assists against FC Cincinnati to stand as the most important player for Miami on the pitch. He’s contributed to 76% of Inter Miami’s goals in the past seven games. In other words, Messi has either scored or assisted on 19 of the team’s past 25 goals.

Messi alone can work through any defender, but more recently he has proven his ability to make those around him better in the final third. The 38-year-old recently set up Mateo Silvetti and Tadeo Allende on multiple occasions, using his capacity of reading the field to coax the best out of his teammates.

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X-factor: Internal sirens went off when Luis Suárez received a one-game suspension for the decisive final game of the Round 1 series against Nashville SC. Head coach Javier Mascherano opted to include Silvetti in the lineup to cover, trusting the 19-year-old Argentina youth international who only boasted five appearances since arriving in August.

That gamble paid off against Nashville, and again against Cincinnati.

Silvetti recorded a goal and an assist to stand as an integral part of the team’s attacking efforts, utilizing his speed and precision to propel Inter Miami to victory. Even more impressive, Silvetti found a way to quickly establish a connection with Messi on the field to ensure both players shine in the final third. If Silvetti can respond to Messi’s long passes into the area and vision of the game, there’s no stopping Inter.

Tactical wrinkle: The result will depend on how Mascherano lines up Inter Miami. It’s difficult to believe that the coach will make changes to a team he said performed “almost perfectly” in the games against Cincinnati and Nashville, but the situation may change if Suárez is in the picture.

Mascherano insisted that he chose to not include the Uruguayan veteran in his last XI because Cincinnati’s characteristics felt like a job more suited to Silvetti and Allende, but will NYCFC be a different story? Although Inter Miami look unstoppable at the moment with Messi performing his magic, Silvetti and Allende finding the back of the net with precision and ease, Suárez offers a different set of qualities that Mascherano may want to use. New York City must plan and prepare for two vastly different scenarios. — Becherano

Predictions

It’s difficult to imagine NYCFC disrupting the rhythm that Inter Miami have built up in the past two games. With Messi playing at this level, and those around him reaching maximum potential at this stage of the season, Miami is poised to win the Eastern Conference at Chase Stadium. — Becherano

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FC Cincinnati vs. Inter Miami CF – Game Highlights

FC Cincinnati vs. Inter Miami CF – Game Highlights

Messi stole the show in Cincinnati, and from here on out, the Herons will be doing it in front of their home crowd. But it wasn’t just Messi that caught my eye in the conference semifinal. Silvetti validated Mascherano’s decision to put him in the XI, and Sergio Busquets turned back the clock to fluster Evander. He can do the same against a depleted NYCFC attack. — Arnold

The 2025 MLS Cup now looks to be Miami’s to lose. The Herons just have too much firepower for an NYCFC side that, while it managed to survive against Philadelphia, is just missing too many weapons to prevail against Miami. NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese will have to stand on his head for the Pigeons to have any hope. — Jeff Carlisle

There’s even more of a reason that NYCFC can’t win this one, right? For a limited roster that narrowly held onto a strained 1-0 victory over Philly in the last round, and needed Freese to make some huge saves in net, their odds are stacked even higher against Messi and friends. Lightning can’t strike the same spot twice, but we’ll see. — Cesar Hernandez

Freese will have his hands full with Messi & Co., and barring an absolute Hall of Fame-worthy performance, the Pigeons will be lucky to keep this scoreline respectable. After what we saw from the Herons against Cincinnati, it feels like nothing can stop Inter Miami from reaching this year’s final. — Megan Swanick

I’m not sure we’ve ever seen an MLS team hit a level as high as the one Inter Miami have hit in this year’s postseason. The secret sauce? Whether fueled by last season’s playoff embarrassment or by Mascherano’s coaching, Miami has finally put together a string of excellent defensive performances to pair with a best-in-class attack. Messi and friends will take care of business against New York City. — Joseph Lowery

Western Conference

1. San Diego FC vs. 2. Vancouver Whitecaps
Saturday, 9 p.m. ET

Star attraction: Leave it to a Bavarian to operate with quiet efficiency. While Thomas Müller‘s summer arrival made headlines, he has perhaps received less attention than Son Heung-Min, the LAFC star the Caps dispatched in a thrilling Western Conference semifinal last weekend. Part of that is the counting stats. Müller’s numbers aren’t bad, with nine goals and four assists between MLS play and Canadian Championship. Other big names have racked up larger numbers, especially in the playoffs, where Müller has just a goal so far this campaign, but the influence he has had has been on full display.

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No player won more duels than Müller’s 14 in that throwdown with LAFC, he created a chance, forced Hugo Lloris into a save and also contributed by getting back on the defensive end. He can still contribute with goals or assists, but he’ll certainly have an impact on Saturday’s semifinal.

X-factor: San Diego fans were thrilled to welcome Hirving Lozano onto the field in the second half of the conference semifinal, a 1-0 win over Minnesota United. The Mexico winger played just one match in the November international window, having come out of El Tri‘s draw with Uruguay because of a hamstring issue. So, any minutes the team got from Lozano would be good minutes, but it has become increasingly common to see Lozano come off the bench.

Part of that is down to what Amahl Pellegrino has done in his stead, but it also came after Lozano was left off the squad for disciplinary reasons earlier this fall. That is in the past, but as the margins get tighter and tighter, these are the games in which San Diego may need to rely on its $10 million man and get attacking contributions that go beyond simply being happy he’s with the squad and fit for a few minutes.

With his speed, ability on the ball and the strong chemistry he forged with Anders Dreyer throughout the season, Lozano can be a player who changes the game — whether he does it from the opening whistle or is a super-sub the Whitecaps are terrified to see.

Tactical wrinkle:The Vancouver Whitecaps made it to the Concacaf Champions Cup final with a next-man-up mentality, and they’ll have to do the same to reach MLS Cup. Triston Blackmon saw a red card against LAFC, and manager Jesper Sørensen said Tuesday the club won’t bother appealing either yellow card the center back was issued. It’s a blow to lose him, but since he just returned from injury, the Caps have experience playing without him.

But the LAFC game also was costly for one of the players used to overcome his absence, with Belal Halbouni suffering a knee injury and having to abandon the field. That means Sørensen will likely need to move Mathías Laborda from left back to the middle to pair with Ralph Priso — himself a converted midfielder. That means a big responsibility for Joedrick Pupe or Tate Johnson at left back against Lozano, Dryer and/or Pellegrino. — Arnold

Thomas Müller and Sebastian Berhalter have been sensational for Vancouver down the stretch and into the postseason. Christopher Morris-Imagn Images

Predictions

Both clubs are having magical seasons, but one has to end. The multi-pronged San Diego attack, freed from the frustration of playing Minnesota United and against a Whitecaps team without Blackmon, will convert more of their opportunities and put the expansion team into the final. — Arnold

San Diego has certainly impressed throughout the regular season and playoffs, but experience may prove to be the decisive factor for the Western Conference final. It’ll be a tight match, but ultimately Vancouver’s players will better know how to maneuver the pressure and stakes of the final. — Becherano

There’s so much to like about the collective of both teams. In the playoffs for San Diego and Vancouver, we’ve also seen plenty of examples of the non-star players willing to step up just as much, if not more so, than the marquee names. The difference here will be minimal, but I’m going with the in-form Sebastian Berhalter as the game changer that will uplift the Whitecaps. — Hernandez

Blackmon’s suspension looms large over this matchup. If the Whitecaps defender was eligible, Vancouver would have a decent chance of coming out on top. But with Dreyer in top form, a home crowd behind them and Vancouver dinged up in other ways, San Diego will reach an MLS Cup final in its inaugural season. — Carlisle

Asking for a better, tighter matchup in the Western Conference final would be downright greedy. These are two excellent teams, with San Diego only getting my nod due to homefield advantage and the fact that the Caps will, once again, be playing without Blackmon after his sending off in the last round. The hosts will enjoy space to attack into and find themselves in MLS Cup. — Lowery

After battling past LAFC in the most entertaining test of the postseason, it feels like Vancouver is ready to cash in on being one of the most entertaining, dominant teams all year. Dreyer won’t be easy to stop, and San Diego can be compelling, but Vancouver has a certain aura about it now. — Swanick

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Both Italy and Spain reached the final despite missing key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh meeting of 2025 between the world’s dominant men’s players.

But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti also absent, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the spotlight with three wins from three singles matches apiece this week.

The crowd chanted Cobolli’s name as he kept his composure to serve out his comeback victory to love, having forced the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense deciding set.

That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had achieved a “dream” in delivering Italy to Sunday’s showpiece on home soil.

In contrast to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli tore off his shirt in celebration on “one of the best days” of his life, the world number 22 paid the price for a slow start as he conceded a one-sided opening set.

But Cobolli launched a necessary, immediate response after falling a break down at the start of the second.

Cobolli’s fortunes appeared to change after a nine-minute stop in play when a member of the crowd became unwell. When play resumed, and with Munar down break point, the Italian floated over a volley that caught a fortunate net cord and put the set back on level terms.

Although frustratingly denied four set points on his opponent’s serve, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win tie-break to force the decider – where he once again delivered.

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