The Soccer Tournament enters Day Four with the men's field reduced to 16 teams and the women's divisions ready to wrap up their group-stage games.
Here's what to look for as the men get ready to play the Round of 16 in the morning, and the Quarterfinals in the afternoon.
1. Nani FC's path to the Semifinals
Going into this tournament, we were skeptical of Nani FC. Hudson River Blue put them in the Sparklypony category, and considered them a team that was all style and no substance. Boy, were we wrong. They beat Sneaky Fox with a thrilling TST goal late last night, and you have to like their chances when they play MLS NEXT Pro offshoot The Town FC this morning at 11:30 am ET.
Should they advance to the Quarterfinals, they'll play the winner of Sire 7 vs North Carolina FC tonight — we could see Nani FC advancing to play another day.
2. Women's field up in the air
After two rounds of group-stage games, only one women's team punched their ticket to the next round: Congratulations, Streetball FC Canada. That puts pressure on Angel City 7s and US Women, both of whom are in Group A with Streetball.
That leaves Group B wide open. All teams have one win and one loss, and close goal differentials. Group B will play their final group-stage games today at 5 pm ET and 5:30 pm ET.
3. Pinnie perfect
We love it when a game goes deep into Target Score Time, and a side reduced to three players decides to take off the goalkeeper for an outfield player with a pinnie so that they can use their hands when in the penalty area: Bring the youth league chaos!
The advantage? It gives you an extra attacker, and turns every play into a 3-v-2. The threat? Lose possession of the ball and the other side has a clear run to goal.
Last night, Newtown Pride's pinnie sub won the game:
The defending champs get it done!@NewtownPrideFC outlast @hashtagutd 3-0 and move into the round of 16! pic.twitter.com/jhn1X2A8l3
— TST (@TST7v7) June 8, 2024
4. Concafa Soccer Club look good
So far, we mostly avoided talking about Concafa Soccer Club, the team put together by Pat McAfee, the longtime NFL punter turned sports talk show star. "You have to think of Concafa SC as part of the 'Pat McAfee Show Extended Universe,' with people who appear on McAfee’s show involved as “content creators' and the team’s name a referential call-back to that show," we wrote in our guide to the 48 teams.
They're the side that TST promotes the most heavily, which feels a little mercenary as they're the side with the biggest media footprint. But they're winning games, and winning pretty. Today Concafa play Tenfifteen FC at 11 am ET, and you have to think they'll advance to the Quarterfinals.
And if they win that game, more beer showers baby!
"That's how these boys operate"
— TST (@TST7v7) June 8, 2024
Coach @PatMcAfeeShow approves of his guys chugging beers after the BIG WIN! pic.twitter.com/FJv28ZqvkZ
5. Contenders still contending
Let's take a look at how we handicapped the field, and what teams remain. Seems we did good.
Just sayin’.
Contenders
La Bombonera
Como-Cagliari
Newtown Pride
North Carolina FC
Wrexham Red Dragons
The Harder They Come, the Harder They Fall
None
Sparkleponies
Concafa Soccer Club
Nani FC
Pasha Luxury FC
Saturdays Football
Dark Horses
Freedom United
Hoosier Army
Raleigh Rebels
Reggae Rovers
The Town
Sire 7
Along for the Ride
Tenfifteen