This week’s football headlines from North and South America are headlined by Inter Miami scoring 7 goals in an MLS match after announcing the appointment of a new manager, while Uruguay’s clásico, and league action in Brazil and Argentina continued on the weekend.
Inter Miami with a Seven Goal Explosion against CF Montreal
A difficult month for Inter Miami came to an end with a change in fortunes at home against CF Montreal. Lionel Messi made a statement, scoring 4 goals and celebrating with his teammates in a 7-1 rout of the team from Quebec.
While Messi showcased his signature style, Casemiro scored his first goal in an Inter Miami kit, both the veteran Luis Suarez, and teenager Alexander Shaw, a dual national for Colombia and the United States, got on the scoreboard as well in one of Inter Miami’s most dominant wins in team history. The result leaves Inter Miami still second in the MLS Eastern Conference while Montreal remain four points out from a playoff position.
The win came simultaneously with Inter Miami announcing a change in manager. Guillermo Hoyos is out as the main man in charge of the team, but is likely to slide down to a bench role. Another Argentine, Cristian Alberto “Kily” Gonzalez is joining as manager. Kily Gonzalez ties to Messi and Inter Miami are somewhat defined, the former Argentine international briefly played with Messi at the end of his career.
As manager, he had brief stints in the Liga Argentina with Rosario Central, Union, and Platense. His record is far from remarkable, as he compiled just a 32.5% winning percentage as a manager, but clearly Inter Miami is a side run by Argentines, including Messi, who are going to ignore the outside noise and continue to compete to win championships the way they know how.
Inter Miami is about two weeks away from hosting Cruz Azul in the Campeones Cup final, which presents another opportunity to secure a trophy.
San Diego FC Emerge As Winners Against ‘Chucky’ Lozano and LA Galaxy
Even though Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano found the scoreboard for La Galaxy, it was San Diego FC that came away with bragging rights in a Southern California clasico, they were 3-1 winners at home and have moved into a crucial 8th place spot in the MLS Western Conference, while the Galaxy continue to languish at 13th in the standings, but just a win off of a playoff position. The pressure remains high on both teams the rest of the season given how tight the MLS Western Conference standings are.
Nacional Wins Uruguayan Clasico Over Penarol
Costa Rican international Francisco Calvo was the lone goal scorer as Nacional won away against Penarol in the Uruguayan Clasico, far and away the most important game played in the South American country. In the annual table, Penarol remains top, with 47 points through 25 games, Nacional has compiled 41 points in 26 games. Of the three clasico’s played in 2026, the results have been evenly split, a win for Nacional, a win for Penarol, and a draw.
On the day, Penarol honored the late Musician Ruben Rada, a famous singer who was a massive supporter of the club, once again showing how football is more than a game. In an interview about a decade ago, Rada spoke about how he became a Penarol supporter, but could not attend as many games as he once did due to both his travel commitments and safety concerns in the stadium. Rada also stated “I traveled all over the world. I returned to Uruguay because I missed my friends and Peñarol. When I entered the stadium on the first day, the only thing I wanted was to see Peñarol come out of the locker room. It was something exciting for me.”
Eduardo Coudet Leaves River Plate after Sudamericana Failure
The seven months of Eduardo “Chacho” Coudet’s leadership of River Plate are widely considered to be a failure, as the manager stepped down after the elimination by Colombia’s Santa Fe in the Copa Sudamericana round of 16. Leonardo Ponzio has stepped into the interim role, as supporters have turned against club management and its hierarchy after a poor start in the Liga Argentina, and a Cup elimination in the second tier South American competition.
River Plate did win 3-2 against Banfield on the weekend, and a squad with players like Thiago Almada and Angel Correa should be good enough to be competitive in the domestic league the rest of the season, but for now, River must lift itself out of a pit of despair no longer assume that a club’s crest guarantees victories.
Leagues Cup Semifinals an all-Liga MX Affair This Week
September 2nd will see an all Liga-MX semifinal series in the 2026 Leagues Cup. In Houston, Toluca will be favorites over Club Leon. Toluca are currently 2nd on the Liga MX table, while Leon are 7th, though they have shown serious signs of improvement in recent weeks. A win for Leon would push them into the CONCACAF Champions Cup for 2027, if they lose, the spot would go to Tijuana Xolos. For the moment, Toluca has laid a marker as one of Mexico’s strongest clubs.
Monterrey, currently 9th on the Liga MX table, will be underdogs in Southern California against Club America, the undefeated and league leaders in Liga MX (5-1-0). Manager Guillermo Almada has managed to quickly revitalize America’s pride but they will be tested against a Rayados side that remains one of the top spending in Liga MX, having added the MLS all-stars Diego Rossi and Hugo Cuypers to the side for this season.
CONCACAF Central American Cup Quarterfinals Feature C.D. Olimpia and Deportivo Saprissa
The quarterfinals are set for the CONCACAF Central American Cup. Group stage play yielded the following matchups for the quarterfinals.
Marathon (Honduras) vs Alajuelense (Costa Rica)
Motagua (Honduras) vs Alianza (El Salvador)
Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica) vs Cartagines (Costa Rica)
Firpo (El Salvador) vs Club Olimpia (Honduras)
It’s perhaps not a surprise that the region’s two strongest national teams, Costa Rica and Honduras have qualified the most teams for the late stages of this competition. Mexican Ronaldo Cisneros (Alajuelense, the 3-time Champions) and Honduran Jorge Benguche (Olimpia) are among the top scorers in the competition thus far.
This tournament will determine the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup berth for this region, and the quarterfinals are played over two legs in September.
Neymar Pays off Santos Transfer Ban, while Hulk Scores Free Kicks at 40 for Fluminense
Neymar Jr. took personal responsibility in paying off the debt owed by his club, Santos, to remove their FIFA Transfer Ban. Beyond being a gesture of his continued commitment to the club, the move will allow Santos to make signings to try to once again avoid relegation from the Brazilian first division. Emerson Palmeiri (Marseille) and Arthur Melo (Juventus) are among the names being floated as possible signings by Santos, with Melo’s move practically confirmed.
After defeating Corinthians 1-0 on the weekend, Santos are now four points clear of the relegation zone in the Brasileiro. Neymar’s debt payment wasn’t the only headline he generated this week, his gift of a jersey to a young Corinthians fan resulted in the child being harassed by Corinthians supporters at the stadium.
As reported by One Football and GE Globo, Neymar said “He was a boy who supports Corinthians, a child. Regardless of the team he supports, rival or not, when he likes an athlete, he can admire me at different moments — that’s part of it. The banner said: ‘I’m a huge Corinthians fan, but I’m your fan.’ I promised, and I ended up giving it to him. It’s respect not only for the young fan, but for Corinthians supporters as well,”
Neymar isn’t the only former Brazilian international on showcase in the Brasileiro lately, Hulk, age 40, is still scoring for fun with Fluminense. The Brazilian legend has scored in three consecutive domestic league matches as Fluminense are up to 4th place in the standings and inside the Libertadores positions for 2027. This weekend’s goal was a brilliant free kick, as he’s demonstrating the phrase “class is permanent” week after week.
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images DOUGLAS CUELLAR/FOTOGRID/PI Copyright: xDouglasxCuellarx
