After a prolonged procession and giving out of totally made up prizes to suck up to the President, FIFA managed to place all 42 qualified teams into their groups for next year's World Cup. They also determined where the remaining countries still trying to qualify will end up should they get in. The schedule came out shortly thereafter, finally letting people know who they can see next summer if they're prepared to sell vital organs to buy tickets.

We're joined by Valair Shabilla from SixOneFive Soccer to talk about the draw itself, how the groups are looking and discussed if the group of death is dead, how happy should the US be with their group, does 48 teams take away from the group stage drama and more.

You can checkout Valair's work at SixOneFive Soccer for their continuing coverage of the World Cup and on BlueSky.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with MLS, as well as all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MLS will be shifting to a fall-spring calendar in line with most of the world's soccer seasons starting in 2027. To make this happen, they will play a mini season in the spring of 2027, implement a winter break and stop playing regular season games in May and June. What's more, they're also bringing in a new league format, a single table of sorts with five divisions of six teams. There's also a change in access to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV to discuss.

It's a massive series of changes to soccer in North America, will it work? Why is it being done? Who wins and who loses? All that and more is discussed in this week's show.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with MLS, as well as all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join host Sam Lattof from the Blazing Musket as he dives into the intricate world of USL and USLPA negotiations with special guests Matt Entriken from Raising Anchor and Oliver Scholes beat writer for Hartford Athletic. In this episode, they explore the history and future of the CBA and the challenges players face.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

Our guests join from:

Raising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FC

And contributing writers for The Blazing Musket

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The World Cup draw is on the horizon next month and this just completed round of qualifiers has the field nearly entirely settled. Who's joining the US, Canada and Mexico? Our in-house international competition reporter, Jake Catanese, is in this week to get us caught up with the entire field. Who's on their way, who's slipped up, who are the shock entrants, will Italy ever qualify again? Jake's here to cover it all.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with the US prep for 2026 and Jakes's coverage, as well as all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back for the November Roundtable! The USL playoffs for both the Championship and League One are rolling on with heavy involvement from New England's USL contingent.

There's all that and then off the field, North Carolina FC has stopped operating as a USL Championship team for now, with a plan to come back. Texoma FC has self regulated to USL League 2 and Tony Scholes is coming to help the USL get ready for Pro/Rel from the English Premier League.

It's a lot discuss and we tackled all of it!

Our guests join from:

United in Green podcast covering the Vermont Green

From the Forest to the Tide podcast covering Portland Hearts of Pine

Raising Anchor a podcast covering Rhode Island FC

And contributing writers for The Blazing Musket

You can find all these podcasts on The Blazing Musket as part of our podcast network along with Revolution Recap

We hope you like this episode and be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review if you do wherever you get your podcasts from!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The MLS playoffs are in full swing and providing some great games and drama, while those eliminated going into the dark winter of the off season. It's an interesting time for MLS, as it almost always seems like it is. The playoff format is loved by some, hated by other, the Apple TV deal continues to divide opinion, teams are spending more than ever before but is it enough?

There's always so many talking points around MLS and we have Ben Wright with us this week from SixOneFive Soccer and Backheeled.com to share his thoughts and find out how you can share yours!

You can find Ben's on SixOneFiveSoccer.com, Backheeled.com and on BlueSky.

And don't forget to take the MLS End of Season Fan Survey!!

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New England Revolution's second team just completed a successful 2025 season, rebounding from a disappointing 2024 season. That was the ultimately failed goal of the first team in 2025, what led Revs II to a playoff appearance? Josh covers Revs II in more depth than anyone else on earth and he's here to give us the lowdown on the team's success, key players, who could help the first team in 2026 and beyond and how they might position themselves for future success.

If you're a Revs fan, checking in on the second team as the long off season begins is a great way to tide you over until the first team gets its new coach.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with Revs II and Josh's coverage as well as all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After just one phase of four rounds of ticket sales for the World Cup has been completed, affordability has gone out the window for most soccer fans. Getting tickets is just the start, securing travel, hotels and parking present tall hurdles all on their own. And there's many questions over just how welcoming the US will be to the rest of the world, will US fans themselves even be willing and able to travel to games?

It's a wild experiment in late stage capitalism's propensity to suck the money and fun out of everything.

Luckily, Danny Navarro, better known as TravelFutbolFan, is here with his experience, insight, humor and wise words on how to enjoy soccer in North America next summer.

You can follow Danny on BlueSky or check out the website here.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's hard to believe how far Hartford Athletic have come since July, when we last devoted an entire episode to the club. Since then they've invested in their squad, got healthy and got on with winning a Cup, locking in a playoff spot and going 13 straight unbeaten on the road. It's an incredible turnaround for a Club normally associated with being USL bottom dwellers.

Chris Behlke, President of The Bonanza, a Hartford supporters group, and Oliver Scholes, who covers Hartford for The Blazing Musket, joined this week to revel in all the good fortune of the last three months. Get caught up on everything Hartford Athletic, just in time for their upcoming playoff appearance.

Check out The Bonanza at their tailgate at any Hartford Athletic home game or their website, right here.

And be sure to keep with Hartford thanks to Oliver's coverage on The Blazing Musket.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are millions of youth soccer families across the US but only a handful have had the experience of not one but two members of the family becoming professional players. The Buck family is one of those families, with Noel Buck out in San Jose after breaking through with the Revolution, while his brother, Joe, is gearing up for the playoffs with Revs II.

What was this journey like, when did Stephen begin to think his boys could make it and how did a family tragedy bring the whole Buck family closer to together? Stephen joined us to talk about it all.

If you're enjoying the show be sure to like, subscribe and leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts from!

To keep up with all the soccer in New England, head over to The Blazing Musket!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.