Kansas and Arizona State will face off Saturday at London’s Wembley Stadium for the first college football game in the U.K. The inaugural Union Jack Classic will also give Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff a chance to figure out its format for international games. 

—David Rumsey

First Up

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ONE BIG FIG

USMNT Gets a Reboot

12

That’s the number of players without a cap in the U.S. men’s national team’s 28-player roster for four upcoming friendlies—manager Mauricio Pochettino’s first games in charge since the U.S. fell to Belgium in the FIFA men’s World Cup round of 16. Among those named to the squad were 16-year-old Philadelphia Union standout Cavan Sullivan, Crystal Palace forward Zavier Gozo, and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mathis Albert. Notable absences included AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic, Juventus’s Weston McKennie, and AS Monaco’s Folarin Balogun. 

U.S. Soccer announced in August that it had re-signed Pochettino through the 2030 World Cup. Although it did not disclose a salary, the Argentine earned $6 million annually under his previous contract. Unlike the last men’s World Cup, in which the U.S. qualified automatically as a host, the team must earn qualification during the upcoming cycle. However, that has become easier since FIFA expanded the field from 32 teams to 48.  Regarding his roster decisions, Pochettino pointed out that the situation is different now than when he was brought on in 2024, midway through the cycle: “The World Cup is in four years. We need to work with different objectives and goals.”

DAILY SPORTS TRIVIA

Can you rank the top five MLB players by most career walk-off hits?

LOUD AND CLEAR

Apolitical Statement

“I’m not in politics. I can’t say who’s right and who’s wrong.”

—Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, addressing questions on Thursday about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after he appeared in a campaign commercial for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party. The NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer sparked criticism this week for participating in the video, released days before Russia’s legislative elections. In the ad, Ovechkin stands alongside other prominent Russians as foreign minister Sergey Lavrov speaks into the camera in support of the war. Ovechkin contended that he supports Russia but is not pro-war: “I’m Russian and I support my country… I hope everybody understands everybody wants peace, and I hope everything is going to be OK. All right, let’s do hockey questions.”

The Capitals issued a statement earlier this week sidestepping the controversy, saying, “Alex Ovechkin is a Russian citizen who lives in Moscow with his family during the offseason and will live there following his retirement.”

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Editors’ Picks

Question of the Day

Do you think college football teams should play international games?