Ryan O'Hanlon

In 2022, it was Messi winning. In 2018, it was Mbappe arriving. In 2014, it was Germany 7, Brazil 1. What will be the defining memory from the 2026 World Cup? I tried to figure it out: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

This supercomputer predicted both finalists and the winner.

Did not expect to write another version of this, four years later, but I'm even more convinced now: Lionel Messi is the greatest male athlete of all time. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Beginning to think it might've been a bad idea to try to close out a game by giving the best soccer player of all time as many touches in the attacking-third as possible.

Person who only watched the World Cup: France are the best soccer team of all time. Person who didn't watch the World Cup: Spain haven't lost a game since March 2024, and they beat France the last two times they've played. The key to understanding soccer is to not watch soccer.

I wrote about the One Weird Trick That Will Save the USMNT. And no, it has nothing to do with "pay to play": www.espn.com/soccer/story...

They need to make youth soccer cheaper in Morocco.

I wrote about the big lesson from the 2026 World Cup: No manager is ever going to save the USMNT. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Every pass, touch, and free kick from Quintero is perfect, and I'm pretty sure he runs a 5.5 40. I love him.

My biggest issue with soccer has always been that there were too many incredible goals scored 40 seconds after a marginal foul happened on the other side of the field. So glad they fixed this.

The USMNT against Belgium:

We've reached the "my aunt, who doesn't watch soccer and couldn't name either the player or the coach, just texted me to say that Poch needs to bench Balogun for the Belgium game" part of the news cycle.

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I liked it better when the most uniformed soccer opinions I heard every four years were things like "they need to stop the clock" and "Dustin Pedroia would win the Ballon d'Or".

Saying "so what, they got the call right?" in response to VAR or ball-in-chip outrage completely misunderstands why most people watch sports or why sports even exist in the first place.

My favorite moment from this game was when Tuchel seemed to be screaming at Djed Spence, a defensive left back who Tuchel selected and was now playing right back because of Tuchel's other squad selections, for not attempting to play a more aggressive forward pass.

Malik Tillman has achieved something that no other American soccer player ever has: He is cool.

[winger dribbles past 14 players who are all somehow holding swords, plays a perfect through ball] [midfielder runs through lava as multiple tigers (?) claw at his body, chips a perfect pass] [Erling Haaland mishits the ball and it trickles into an empty net] "You just can't stop Erling Haaland".

brb tendering my resignation at the use of "we" in this headline

Looks terrible when it doesn't go in, but shooting your penalty high is good: www.sloansportsconference.com/research-pap...

This Koopmeiners-at-CB thing is amazing. Lost Diop on the tying goal, got cooked by Rahimi on what should've been the go-ahead goal ... because he's a midfielder? Who isn't even particularly good at defending at the position he actually plays?

That was less "Japan stopped trying to win" and more "Japan's three best players are injured and they were playing against Brazil".

Can’t think of anything that sums up American soccer better than “people being mad that the national team is so good now that they can rest their starters for a World Cup game”.

www.espn.com/sports/socce...

Fox compared him to Jalen Brunson, but Mitchell Robinson is the correct Knicks comp for Lionel Messi.

A reminder, for the sick: If you want to read everything I write, I put it all together in a newsletter at the end of the week (and occasionally also write about the New York Knicks, the only double winners in the history of the NBA): nograssintheclouds.substack.com/p/what-i-wro...

High-event games are actually good when you're the better team.

Read @espnbillc.bsky.social: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

If they introduce a batting order, then this France lineup might actually work.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2026 NEW YORK KNICKS ON THEIR HISTORIC DOUBLE

Mauricio Pochettino has the USMNT playing like a great club team from 2019: -physical, high press -roaming free 8s -couldn't care less about set pieces

My USMNT starting XI if our best athletes played soccer: GK: RFK LB: David Wells CB: Terry Crews CB: that jacked NFL ref RB: Tom Cruise DM: Mark Wahlberg (in the Gambler) CM: Joey Chestnut CM: that comedian who got jacked LW: Keegan Bradley RW: Andrew Huberman CF: Party Boy from Jackass

FT: Mexico 2 (they scored two goals), South Africa 0 (they scored zero goals).

Happy @futi.live launch week everybody! Here's how we built the most advanced player ratings you'll find in any public soccer app (and how you can get them for the World Cup)

I was on Science Friday (on Wednesday) to talk about two things you'll be hearing a lot about this summer: artificial intelligence and the World Cup. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/wor...

They're changing the name from ESPN dot com to Ryan Ranks and Predicts Things dot com.

I used a supercomputer to predict all 103 games of the 2026 World Cup. The supercomputer is my brain. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

You've failed my Turning Test when your game tells me that my midfield of Lionel Messi, Johan Cruyff, and Xherdan Shaqiri would lose in the quarterfinals.

If you adjust for height, the Knicks won by 30.

There's a 42% discount on the hardcover edition of NET GAINS: INSIDE THE BEAUTIFUL GAME'S ANALYTICS REVOLUTION at Amazon. I wrote the book almost four years ago, but pretty much everything inside of it remains true. Still: no one knows really what they're doing. www.amazon.com/Net-Gains-Be...

Later today, the United States men's national team plays the first of its two final tune-up games ahead of the World Cup. My new book, THE LONG GAME, tells the story of this weird program and its bizarre history, and how this unprecedently talented and pedigreed team came together. Buy it here!

Really fun stuff in here. It also highlights why the US's group is way tougher than it seems: no great teams but no bad teams, either.

I wrote about the team that won the Premier League: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Arsenal deserved *at least* one title from this run. Once we saw Hincapie's butt, you knew it was over.

Based on some betting odds, the implied probabilities for the Champions League final are: -PSG: 57% -Arsenal: 43% There's a favorite, but not a big one. That's the closest the odds have been since Madrid–Liverpool in 2018.

It's a shame to see a cagey, low-energy, low-event game in the Champions League semifinals. Have to wonder if the lack of competitiveness in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga is preventing PSG and Bayern from peaking at the right time.