MLS Debuts: Griezmann Scores, Lewandowski Waits
Lionel Messi is catching his breath. Major League Soccer is not.
As the Argentina captain steps away after that bruising World Cup final defeat to Spain, the league he briefly turned into a traveling circus has rolled straight into its next act. Two new headliners have walked onto the stage: Antoine Griezmann and Robert Lewandowski.
On opposite coasts, their first impressions could not have felt more different.
Griezmann hits the ground running
In Orlando, Griezmann needed just one half of football to announce himself.
Three minutes after the restart of his MLS debut, the 2018 World Cup winner found his first goal in purple, capping a performance that powered Orlando City to a ruthless 4-0 dismantling of the San Jose Earthquakes. It was the kind of debut that changes the temperature of a club overnight: sharp, decisive, unapologetically ambitious.
Orlando didn’t just beat San Jose. They routed them. Griezmann’s strike set the tone for a second half that turned into a procession, a reminder that even in a league increasingly accustomed to big names, some stars still carry a different weight.
The timing could not be better. Next up for Orlando City: Nashville SC, the current leaders in the Supporters’ Shield race. A statement game, with a statement signing already on the scoresheet.
Lewandowski still waiting
In Chicago, the script was harsher.
Lewandowski’s first MLS appearance came on Wednesday, July 22, in a 3-2 defeat to an Inter Miami side missing Messi. The Polish striker played 63 minutes for the Chicago Fire and failed to find the net. No disaster, but no dream either.
Chicago scored twice and still walked away empty-handed. For a forward who has built a career on bending games to his will, that will sting.
There is no time to dwell. On Saturday, July 25, Lewandowski gets his second shot at a first MLS goal, this time under the lights at Yankee Stadium against New York City FC. A tight pitch, a hostile crowd, and a club that badly needs its new No. 9 to look like the player who terrorized defenses across Europe.
The league has seen this movie before. Stars arrive, need a few games, and then the floodgates open. Chicago will hope the wait doesn’t last long.
Messi rests, the league rolls on
Messi’s absence after Argentina’s World Cup final loss to Spain might have created a vacuum. Instead, MLS has leaned straight into the chaos of its summer restart.
Inter Miami, even without their talisman, edged past Lewandowski’s Fire. Around them, a packed Saturday slate on July 25 underlines just how quickly the league has snapped back into rhythm:
- Red Bull New York vs. Charlotte FC, 6:30 p.m. ET
- Columbus Crew vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:15 p.m. ET
- D.C. United vs. Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
- CF Montréal vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET
- New England Revolution vs. Atlanta United, 7:30 p.m. ET
- New York City FC vs. Chicago Fire, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Orlando City SC vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Houston Dynamo vs. Austin FC, 8:30 p.m. ET
- Minnesota United vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 8:30 p.m. ET
- St. Louis City SC vs. Colorado Rapids, 8:30 p.m. ET
- San Diego FC vs. FC Dallas, 9:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
- Los Angeles FC vs. Sporting Kansas City, 10:30 p.m. ET
- Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake, 10:30 p.m. ET
- San Jose Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m. ET
Griezmann against the Shield leaders. Lewandowski in the Bronx. Messi’s Miami back on the road in Montréal. Everywhere you look, there is a storyline.
Hell is Real, again
The marquee fixture, though, sits in Ohio.
Columbus Crew vs. FC Cincinnati. “Hell is Real” returns on Saturday night at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, and the two clubs arrive in very different moods.
Cincinnati are surging. They just came through a wild 4-3 victory over Western Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, a result that underlined their attacking punch and kept them firmly in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Columbus are reeling. The 2026 season has turned ugly: only four wins in 16 league matches, a campaign defined more by frustration than by the fluid, attacking identity that once made the Crew one of MLS’s most watchable sides.
The fallout has already claimed a manager. Henrik Rydström was dismissed on May 17 after just 14 games in charge, leaving Laurent Courtois to pick up the pieces as interim head coach. The World Cup break offered a chance to reset, to breathe, to rebuild.
Instead, the first game back brought more pain: a 2-1 defeat to New York City FC on July 22.
So the stakes for Saturday are obvious. Cincinnati are chasing position and momentum. Columbus are fighting for something more fragile: belief. A derby can revive a season or bury it.
The title picture
While the league’s new faces and old rivalries dominate the weekend, the bookmakers have already drawn their own conclusions about the bigger picture.
According to the latest BetMGM odds, Inter Miami sit as clear favorites to win the 2026 MLS championship at +333. Behind Messi’s club, Los Angeles FC and Vancouver Whitecaps are both listed at +750, with Nashville SC close at +800 and FC Cincinnati lurking at +1200.
The numbers tell their own story. Miami remain the team to beat. LAFC and Vancouver carry the aura of contenders. Nashville’s consistency has earned respect. Cincinnati, for all their promise, are still seen as outsiders.
But odds don’t score goals. Debuts do. Derbies do. Nights like the ones waiting on July 25 do.
Messi rests. Griezmann is already on the scoreboard. Lewandowski is still searching. The race for 2026 is only just beginning, and the league’s newest stars are already being asked the oldest question in football: can you deliver when it matters?
