By José Nuñez
When Antoine Griezmann scores, Orlando City win.
At least that's been the case during the Frenchman's first two months as a Lion, this time scoring his first MLS brace to fuel Orlando City's 2-1 comeback victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at Inter.co Stadium.
With the three points, Griezmann successfully led the Lions into an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spot for the first time this season.
After falling behind in the first half to a tidy finish by Dominik Marczuk, Orlando found an equalizer in the 53rd minute. Cleaning up a saved attempt from recent returnee Daryl Dike, Griezmann capitalized at the back post for a tap-in.

#city

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Antoine Griezmann scored two second-half goals Saturday night to help Orlando City beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 to extend their winless streak to seven games.
Maxime Crépeau had three saves for Orlando City (7-11-3), which snapped a three-game winless skid.
Griezmann back-heeled a shot that was deflected and then tapped in the loose ball to give Orlando City a 2-1 lead in the 81st. The 35-year-old, who signed with the club in July, had his first career multi-goal game in MLS and his five goal contributions (three goals, two ****** ists) in six games.
Dominik Marczuk scored his first goal this season to give Real Salt Lake (8-8-4) a 1-0 lead in the 36th. Sam Junqua played an arcing first-touch cross from 35 yards out on the left side to the back post and Marczuk gently rolled in the volley.
Griezmann made it 1-1 in the 53rd minute. On the counter-attack, Daryl Dike's shot from the top of the 6-yard box was knocked away by goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar but Griezmann tapped the putback into a wide-open net.

#griezmann #marczuk

European experience might not be everything in MLS, but it goes far when it comes to player ratings for EA Sports FC 27.
Lionel Messi is the top-rated MLS player with an 89 overall, the game-makers revealed on their official channels, but he's closely followed by a pair of players who arrived in MLS this summer - both of whom, like Messi, played for FC Barcelona in their standout careers.
Robert Lewandowski, the Polish forward who joined the Chicago Fire this summer, and Orlando City signing Antoine Griezmann, who joined from Atlético Madrid on a free transfer, both are rated 84 overall.
The respect for new arrivals with experience in Europe doesn't end there. Next on the list is Casemiro, the Brazilian midfielder who became Messi's Inter Miami teammate this summer after four seasons with Manchester United and a decade with Real Madrid before that.
Casemiro is an 83 overall, as is Rodrigo De Paul, another member of Inter Miami who joined the club after Messi moved across the Atlantic to suit up for the Herons.

#casemiro #experience

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - AUGUST 09: Atletico Madrid players pose during the preseason friendly match between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid at Seoul World Cup Stadium on August 09, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Atletico Madrid enter 2026/27 without their all-time top scorer Antoine Griezmann, replacing him not with one successor but with a reshaped attack built around a group of returning World Cup winner and three new signings.
After a preseason campaign which saw Atleti crash to consecutive defeats to Manchester United and Manchester City sandwiched in between wins over Getafe and Marseille.
Los Colchoneros now look to build on last season's fourth-placed finish, a joint-worst performance since Diego Simeone's debut season in 2011/12. 2025/26 compensated with thrilling cup runs to the final of the Copa del Rey and semifinal of the UEFA Champions League, but ultimately left the squad empty-handed for a fifth consecutive season.
Simeone remains the most tenured manager in Europe's top five leagues, and the calculus around him has not changed: Atletico finished fourth in La Liga last season, secured Champions League qualification, but fell in the semi-finals to ***** nal after a topsy-turvy continental campaign.

#season

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has revealed his club's decision on the future of Julian Alvarez, who has been continually linked with FC Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has revealed his club's decision on the future and potential sale of Julian Alvarez, who has been continually linked with FC Barcelona.
"The situation is very clear, the entity made a decision that (Atleti CEO) Miguel Angel (Gil Marin) explained very well," Simeone said, while appearing before the media in Seoul on Saturday and also ruling out a sale as Gil Marin had earlier.
"We are very happy with Julian, from a sporting point of view we will help him to continue growing, to continue improving and to give us again what he has given us in these two years, which was a lot.
"We have already seen what happened with Griezmann, I don't see any other way than to work from the sporting side as we have to and try to help as we have done these two years," Simeone added, in a nod to the Frenchman's 2019, €120 million high-profile move to the Spotify Camp Nou.

#madrid

As Lionel Messi takes a post-World Cup break after Argentina's loss in the final to Spain, big-name newcomers Antoine Griezmann and Robert Lewandowski are thrust into the spotlight as Major League Soccer has returned to action following an extensive summertime hiatus.
On Wednesday, July 22, after Lewandowski went scoreless in 63 minutes played in his debut for the Chicago Fire in a 3-2 loss to the Messi-less Inter Miami, Griezmann's MLS debut could not have gone much better. Griezmann — a World Cup winner with France in 2018 — scored his first MLS goal three minutes into the second half of Orlando City's 4-0 rout of the San Jose Earthquakes.
On Saturday, July 25, Lewandowski will look to score his first MLS goal when the Chicago Fire hit the road again to take on New York City FC at Yankee Stadium, while Griezmann and Orlando City take on the leaders in the Supporters' Shield race, Nashville SC.

#lewandowski #messi #orlando #loss

Tottenham to target Bournemouth's Kroupi, Atletico Madrid a possible home for Salah, Wan-Bissaka a potential White replacement for ****** nal.
Tottenham will test Bournemouth's resolve with an £85m bid for French forward Eli Junior Kroupi, despite the Cherries insistence that the 20-year-old is not for sale. (Talksport)
Atletico Madrid will look to replace Antoine Griezmann with former Liverpool star Mohammed Salah, 33, who is currently at the World Cup with Egypt. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Arsenal have added West Ham and DR Congo right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 28, to their list of potential replacements for Ben White, should the England international leave this summer. (Teamtalk)
Liverpool have joined Chelsea and Manchester United in the race for West Ham's Dutch attacker Crysencio Summerville, 24. (Caught Offside)

Tottenham to target Bournemouth's Kroupi, Atletico Madrid a possible home for Salah, Wan-Bissaka a potential White replacement for ***** nal.
Tottenham will test Bournemouth's resolve with an £85m bid for French forward Eli Junior Kroupi, despite the Cherries insistence that the 20-year-old is not for sale. (Talksport)
Atletico Madrid will look to replace Antoine Griezmann with former Liverpool star Mohammed Salah, 33, who is currently at the World Cup with Egypt. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Arsenal have added West Ham and DR Congo right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 28, to their list of potential replacements for Ben White, should the England international leave this summer. (Teamtalk)
Liverpool have joined Chelsea and Manchester United in the race for West Ham's Dutch attacker Crysencio Summerville, 24. (Caught Offside)

With both France and the United States Men’s National Team through to the World Cup Round of 16, Get French Football News spoke to former Premier League stalwart and USMNT goalkeeper Brad Friedel about the US squad’s France-based players, the prospects of France and the US, and how he thinks Antoine Griezmann will fare in the MLS.
The US have had a really impressive start to the tournament – and Folarin Balogun has been one of the stand-outs with three goals and an **** ist in three appearances (plus an unfortunate red card). He had a great Ligue 1 season with AS Monaco – to what extent do you credit his time in France for his current US form?
I think the confidence he brings from Monaco is excellent and this has been shown by his performances in the World Cup so far. As a player, to bring confidence into the World Cup is important and with the pressure of the home nation to perform, he has been excellent. So yes, his confidence coming into the tournament from his form from Monaco was really important.
Olympique de Marseille’s Timothy Weah has only one substitute appearance and one start in the dead rubber against Turkey. Do you think he’s suffering from playing in a struggling club team this season?
This can be the case as I think he is quality. With Balogun coming into the tournament with huge confidence and showing this with his goals and performances, Weah is a top player and needs game time. With the team playing so well in the opening games, Weah has had to wait for game time, so let’s see how this develops in the next game.

Bombshell!
Free in two days and at the end of his contract with FC Barcelona, Robert Lewandowski is set to leave Europe!
Fabrizio Romano announced this Sunday evening that the Polish striker will join MLS, and more specifically the Chicago Fire franchise!
An agreement has been reached; he will sign his contract in the coming weeks, and everything is finalized.
After Antoine Griezmann joined Orlando, the American league is thus welcoming another European football star this summer.