NY-NJ (but really New Jersey) Awarded World Cup Final 🏆; The Nott-book 📓; Booth Bowl I 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Rio. Berlin. Paris. Rome. Madrid.

East Rutherford.

Incredible days in the Garden State, as the Swamps of Jersey have officially joined the ranks of the global elite. The final match of the 2026 World Cup is coming to New Jersey. Football is coming home, Tone.

Announced on Sunday during an absurd FIFA broadcast that saw Gianni Infantino wearing an outfit that looked like it was assembled from the “pass” pile of Pep’s closet, New York-New Jersey (but really New Jersey) was awarded the most prestigious singular event, not just in football, but in all of sports. 

After the news broke, USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, who hails from Englewood, N.J., was asked what having the final in his home state meant to him.

"If there wasn't motivation already to try to get to the final, there's a little bit of extra motivation now to be playing, potentially 15 minutes away from where I grew up, in a World Cup final,” said a fantasizing Berhalter. “It would really be a dream come true.”

It was also revealed on Sunday that the United States would play its group matches out West, twice in Los Angeles and once in Seattle. Much love to Cities Angel and Emerald, two tradition-rich footballing hotbeds that will be hosting our boys in arguably the biggest matches in our nation’s history.

The Nott-book:

Two gents likely to factor into our men’s team’s fortunes in 2026 had quite the eventful week in the East Midlands of England.

Gio Reyna 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (21; Bedford, NY) — lover of Drake, KDB and The Notebook — made his debut for the Tricky Trees on Sunday at Bournemouth after joining Nottingham Forest on loan at the end of the January window. While his 12-minute substitute appearance in the 1-1 draw was mostly uneventful, it did mark a fresh start for the skill-kissed attacker, who’s still trying to get back to peak form after the trauma of the World Cup.

A person whom Gio didn’t consult with before making the move to England, however, was one of his teammates on that same 2022 World Cup squad: Matt Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (29; Park Ridge, NJ). Speaking to Sam Borden on the Futbol Americas podcast, the U.S. goalkeeper admitted that Reyna effectively ghosted him ahead of the transfer.

"I heard some rumblings about it," said Turner. "A friend of mine had messaged me asking if it was true. I hadn't heard anything about it, so I messaged Gio. True to Gio's nature, he didn't respond, so I thought to myself, 'Oh, he didn't answer me, so there must be something to that.'"

Turner also discussed his current situation at Forest, and how he’s dealt with some tough breaks lately, including being benched for Matz Sels, the Belgian goalkeeper signed during the January window.

“I'm no stranger to being in these types of scenarios,” said Turner. “I've been overlooked and doubted many times in my life and my career, and I wouldn't have gotten to this point if I wasn't confident in myself.”

An authentic gent, as well as an emotionally-articulate human being, Turner deserves huge credit for talking honestly in this moment, when 99 percent of footballers would hide in the shadows. He is unafraid to own it in good times and in challenge. 

🚨 BREAKING: Matt Turner shootout hero for Forest in FA Cup win

Additional English League Dispatches … Haji Wright 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 had a goal in Coventry City's 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup on Tuesday (WATCH). With nine goals and four assists in all competitions this season, the 25-year-old from Los Angeles has been instrumental in the Sky Blues' impressive form this season — Coventry is in seventh in the league and through to the Round of 16 in the cup. Respect to West Midlands Lewandowski. … Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (23; O’Fallon, MO) scored against a Wright-less Coventry City in Norwich’s 2-1 win on Saturday (WATCH). O’Fallon d’Or now has six goals in just 10 league appearances this season. … Antonee Robinson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (26; Liverpool, ENG) had his fourth assist of the season in Fulham’s 2-2 draw at Burnley (WATCH). We like to think he meant that to be a pass, at least. 😉 Tim Ream 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (36; St. Louis, MO) also started for the Cottagers, his first in the league since Dec. 3. … Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola provided an update on Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Wappingers Falls, NY): "He is training. On his own still, but he is touching the ball, going through the process. There have been no setbacks. Everything is going well. But I don’t know exactly when he is going to start training with the team."

Booth Bowl I:

Take a bow, Family Booth.

Brothers Taylor Booth 🇳🇱 (22; Eden, UT) and Zach Booth 🇳🇱 (19; Eden, UT) squared off in the Netherlands on Sunday, when FC Utrecht hosted FC Volendam, a match that saw the brothers starting opposite one another. Zach opened the scoring in the ninth minute (WATCH), only for Taylor to pull the ultimate big brother move and one-up baby bro with a hat trick (WATCH) before being serenaded by the home fans in Utrecht’s 4-2 win.

After the match, Taylor admitted he played with an extra edge after his little brother was the first to get in the goals.

“I knew the pressure was on (me) when Zach scored the opener. Feeling the pressure from him as the younger brother is something you don’t want as the older brother, but I knew I had to respond and show him who the boss was. He looked over at me when he scored and gave me a little smirk. When I made it 4-2, I made him a little ‘money’ sign for him to get his credit card ready for an expensive night. We’re going to go big tonight, for sure.”

🎙 Perhaps even more remarkable than the two brothers combining for four goals was the fact that they were both interviewed by our own Herculez Gomez ahead of Booth Bowl I on a special episode of VAMOS (Listen Here). The two Edenites need to sit down with Herc before every game. They would be unstoppable.

Taylor and Zach weren’t the only Americans in the Eredivisie to spend time with Men in Blazers this week. Sergiño Dest 🇳🇱 (23; Almere, NED) connected with Rog ahead of PSV’s clash with Ajax to talk about the wonderful season he’s having with PSV, as well as his social media strat. Rog’s conversation with the Human Highlight Reel can be found here.

American Women Abroad:

It’s all going down in West London. Mia Fishel 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; San Diego, CA) had an assist in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Everton on Sunday (WATCH) … Cat Macario 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; San Diego, CA) is expected to return from injury after the upcoming February international break. Macario was seen on the pitch for Chelsea’s warm-ups ahead of their Conti Cup match on Wednesday … Mia, Cat, Emma, and the rest of the Blues found out Tuesday that they’ll face Ajax — and American teen Lily Yohannes 🇳🇱 (16; Springfield, VA) — in the Champions League quarter-finals … Congrats to Emily Fox 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Ashburn, VA) who was nominated for Arsenal’s Player of the Month, after only making her Gunners debut on January 14.

News and Notes:

• Luca de la Torre 🇪🇸 (25; San Diego, CA) had a goal and an assist in Celta Vigo’s 3-0 win at Osasuna on Sunday. Club socials celebrated with a video featuring Luca, eagles, fire, and flags.

• Johnny Cardoso 🇪🇸 (22; Denville, NJ) got his third straight start for Real Betis in their 1-1 draw at Getafe. Manager Manuel Pellegrini after: “He played a good game and as the games go by he will improve his level. He is an important player for us and he has adapted very well to our football.”

• Gregg Berhalter has confirmed that Sergiño Dest (23; Almere, NED) will be part of the USMNT Nations League squad in March. 🗣 "We know he can’t play for the semifinals, but in the event that we make the finals, we want him playing. He’s an important part of the team and we’re going to bring him along and hope that we can advance past Jamaica and play in the final." Rog sat down with Sergiño for our latest PSV USA interview. Come for the insight in Barcelona and mini-USMNT as PSV, stay for the truth about his post-match mixtapes.

• Jordan Pefok 🇩🇪 (27; Washington, DC) had an assist at Bayern via a lovely lay-off pass (WATCH), but the Foals still lost on Saturday, 3-1. 

• Dante Polvara 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (23; Pleasantville, NY) had an assist in Aberdeen’s 1-1 draw with Celtic on Saturday (WATCH).

• Kahveh Zahiroleslam 🇧🇪 (21; Saratoga, CA) had a brace for St. Truiden in their 4-1 win against Gent (WATCH). 🙌

• Poor Duncan McGuire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (23; Omaha, NE). It turns out his move from Orlando City to Blackburn Rovers did not go through because the club thought they’d clicked “submit paperwork” when they only hit “save.”

• Despite taking the long road, Matko Miljevic 🇦🇷 (22; Miami, FL) has signed with Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina.

• Philadelphia Union Academy product Luciano Sanchez 🇷🇸 (19) has signed with Serbian top-flight club FK Novi Pazar.

• Great interview in The Athletic with former Arsenal midfielder Gedion Zelalem 🇳🇱 (27; Berlin, GER), on the tragedy and torment he faced in putting his career back together after suffering an ACL injury in 2017, followed by the death of his younger sister.

Parting Shots:

We close this week with a tribute to U.S. international Jonathan Bornstein, who has joined the coaching staff at Florida State, seemingly signifying the end of his playing career. The Bornstein Supremacy had one of the more fascinating professional careers abroad. After starting out in MLS, the UCLA alum spent seven years in Mexico before making a move to Maccabi Netanya in Israel. After one season, he returned to MLS for four years, after which he transferred to CDS Vida in Honduras, a nation in which he will never have to pay for a meal again, thanks to this header against Costa Rica in 2009 that wound up sending Los Catrachos to their first World Cup since 1982. Here’s to a CONCACAF original, who’s likely more famous in a rival country than the nation he played for in a World Cup.