The Colorado Rapids picked up in the U.S.-vs.-Mexico tournament right where they left off after a remarkable 2024 run to third place, with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Santos Laguna on Thursday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The identity of last year’s run was mirrored in the final minute Thursday, when Armas tried to defuse — then fueled the fire of — multiple scuffles before turning to the crowd and pumping it up. In essence, the club has embraced the chaos of a mostly chaotic tournament and somehow come out on top.

For some reason, the Rapids thrive in the disarray, no matter the turbulence of the regular season. Against Mexican teams, they’ve become one with it. The win marked the fifth-straight win over a Liga MX opponent, dating back to last year’s tournament. Four of them were at home, where fans of the Liga MX teams turn out en masse, often chanting louder and reacting to plays more passionately than Rapids fans in attendance.

“We love it. It’s real. I did an interview in Spanish and the word I used was, ‘Picante,’” Rapids midfielder Cole Bassett said. “It’s a different spice to (games) than normal. It feels like something’s on the line every single time. Those are the games you love playing as a player and that’s what this group loves.”

It’s particularly true for forward Rafael Navarro, who played even more contentious games in Brazil before moving to the Rapids. Jokingly, he said games there end similarly all the time — with numerous tussles, a swing to the face and subsequent red card to Santos goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo — but the way Santos played beforehand was familiar to him stylistically and physically.

He scored both the Rapids’ goals after going down one, marking his third and fourth in two Leagues Cups. He equalized for the Rapids on a brilliant counterattack of their own. Right back Reggie Cannon played a ball through to Calvin Harris on the right wing. Harris beat his defender and played a simple square pass to Navarro for a simple finish.

The game winner was on a wonderful free kick by Djordje Mihailovic for which Navarro only had to stick a foot out to tuck away from six yards out.

Santos was rewarded with a beauty of a goal for coming out of the break on the front foot. In stark contrast to its first half, Santos got multiple opportunities, then a counterattack ended with something between a scissor kick and a bicycle kick by Jordan Carrillo in the 53rd minute. Seconds before, a shot went off the post, which caused enough confusion and chaos for Carrillo to wait for the ball unmarked around the penalty spot.

The comeback was the exact sort of response to adversity and change in game pace the Rapids have lacked in recent games. Bassett — who had a goal called back for offside in the first half — mentioned after their last match at Philadelphia that the Rapids “stop playing” after going up a goal, or at the very least after playing positive ball for long stretches.

That said, given Colorado’s dominance in the first half and conceding early in the second, that could have repeated easily. But according to Armas, Leagues Cup energy and success is no accident for his team.

“Our guys believe that last year wasn’t a fluke, and that we found ways to win. I give Santos a lot of credit because they came out in the second half and made it very difficult for us,” Armas said. “We love these tournaments. You can see what makes the tournament so special, (we have) so much respect for the Mexican teams and the coaches, the tactics. It’s such a challenge for us. It pushes us and we have a lot of work to do. We love that we found a way to come back late again, kind of like last year.”

The Rapids will return to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Sunday to face Club Tijuana at 7:30 p.m. Tijuana opened with a 5-2 loss to L.A. Galaxy, continuing an early-tournament trend of MLS domination over its Liga MX counterparts. With two group stage games to go, only four MLS teams will advance, meaning it’ll be tough for the Rapids to reach the knockout rounds.

As the U.S.-vs.-Mexico club tournament returns, the Rapids are chasing the same highs that made August 2024 one of the most thrilling months in recent club history. After a 4-0 thrashing in its opener, Colorado went on an MLS-first four-match winning streak against Liga MX clubs to reach the semifinal round as the 46th overall seed (second to last).

That run included toppling powerhouse Club América in the quarterfinal. The Rapids lost to LAFC in the semifinal, but beat the Philadelphia Union a few days later to take third place.

Yet the pursuit of another run that deep comes with the risk of repeating the fallout that followed last season: five losses in the final eight regular-season matches, then a 9-1 thrashing over two games against eventual MLS champion L.A. Galaxy.

Nonetheless, the Rapids did take a lot of positives away from that run. And there are reasons to believe another could be beneficial with the tournament set to begin Thursday at home against Club Santos Laguna.

The run that made them

Zack Steffen: The 2024 Leagues Cup run was the beginning of the Rapids goalkeeper’s resurgence. He struggled in the first half of his first year in Colorado after leaving England with his first child and a recovering meniscus tear.

He found his form in Leagues Cup, earning Goalkeeper of the Tournament honors with an absurd five saves per game. He starred in three penalty shootouts, including an iconic keeper-on-keeper finish against Club América, where he buried his penalty before Luis Malagón missed his own.

Since then, Steffen has climbed back into the U.S. Men’s National Team picture and is making a case for a 2026 World Cup spot.

Darren Yapi: Yapi waited three long seasons to score his first goal for the Rapids. It came in a 4-1 rout of St. Louis CITY near the start of last year’s tournament. His next goal was a game-winner in stoppage time vs. Toluca in the Leagues Cup Round of 16.

Since then, he has become a spark plug, particularly as a substitute. Yapi has scored five regular-season goals since the winner vs. Toluca, four of which were go-ahead goals, game-winners or equalizers. The latest bit of Yapi-hour magic was the game-tying goal off the bench to cap a thrilling three-goal comeback at Seattle earlier this month.

Could use a boost

Cole Bassett: No Rapids player stands to benefit more from a tournament reset than Bassett.

After a career-best 2024 season playing a box-to-box role in coach Chris Armas’s double pivot, the Homegrown midfielder has struggled to replicate those performances. Injuries stunted his rhythm this year, but now that he’s healthy, goal contributions have not returned en masse yet: In 19 games, he has just two goals and two assists.

July was equally cruel and kind for Bassett last year. He was the first player left off the U.S. Olympic roster, then used the snub as fuel to explode for six goal contributions in the following four matches.

“We said (before the season) we wanted to get a trophy this year. … For me, I’m very focused on that piece because you have fewer games this year (with the new format) to get to the trophy, but you’ve got to be really good in these first three to advance,” Bassett said. “I think it can kickstart me toward the end of the year.”

Built to last

It’s not entirely unreasonable to be on the fence about another deep run. Last year’s tournament was remarkable, but it left the Rapids gassed.

Armas should shoulder some of the blame for that. He had a general unwillingness to rotate his squad on a game-to-game basis last season. But to his credit, the player pool getting big minutes this season is larger.

At the end of last season, only 14 players finished the season with more than 1,000 minutes — 13 if you exclude Moïse Bombito, who departed during Leagues Cup. That meant the starting 11 looked nearly the same every week, particularly after the tournament.

With nine games left after Leagues Cup this season, that number could jump as high as 18. Lineup experiments, greater trust in youth and more tactical flexibility all suggest Armas is thinking ahead.

“I would say we feel prepared for three really tough games. In terms of our health, in terms of our style of play, we’re better now than we were last year at this stage, and we have a lot of the same characters that had that experience and a year more of experience,” Armas said. “I do feel we’re prepared for that and maybe more ready than ever.”

This year, the Rapids don’t need to sacrifice balance for ambition. If they’re deeper, rested and more experienced, another Leagues Cup run could fuel the home stretch rather than derail it.

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Coming off of a wild three-goal comeback to draw against Seattle 10 days ago, the Rapids had a shot to get a third result in the toughest four-game stretch they’ll see this year. After Colorado went up a goal in the first half, Philadelphia scored three unanswered in the second half to seal it.

With the win, Philadelphia stands atop the MLS in points (50 in 25 games). The Rapids, who have played the most games in the league, continue to jostle for position in a tight race for the last playoff spots in the Western Conference.

The Rapids are winless in nine straight away games. Their last away win was against San Jose on March 16.

“It frustrates me that we stopped playing in the second half. It’s maybe four or five results this year that we have a lead, especially away from home, and we stop doing the things we’re good at,” midfielder Cole Bassett said. “We’re playing too many long balls, we invite the pressure and I think we need to do better at that. Us as a group, as leaders, we’ve got to continue to harp on that: we can’t stop doing the things that get you the lead in the first place.”

Philadelphia had the vast majority of chances, but Colorado absorbed and deflected pressure as well as it had all season before Uhre’s 89th- and 90+5th-minute strikes stole points away. In total, the Union took an eye-popping 30 shots (11 on target). It took 11 corners, all but one were beaten away by the Rapids. Philadelphia tied the game at one a piece in the 64th minute on a short corner, where Kai Wagner found Tai Baribo for a simple finish at the back post.

Goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s three goals against doesn’t entirely reflect his contribution, either: eight saves with a pair of wonderful stops in both halves.

Entirely against the run of play in the first half, the Rapids’ No. 9, Rafael Navarro, scored his ninth of the season in the 37th minute. Winger Calvin Harris bruised his way through a Union defender to win a ball near midfield, then sprung a counterattack. It found Cole Bassett on the right side of the box, whose shot rang off the crossbar. The rebound went straight to Navarro, who scored via diving header.

It was the Brazilian’s fourth in his last six matches, and he’s scoring in a variety of ways from headers to lunging toe pokes to penalties.

“I would like to see us create more transition. If we’re more compact in moments, if we’re more aggressive on our back line, stepping in (with) strikers, we would have created more moments,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “The times we did remain aggressive from a compact structure, we were worried with those big moments.

“Slowing down, making the right decisions, finding the right pass at the right moment, executing at that fast tempo is not so easy. … That’s something we always work on that comes with time.”

With some troubling form a month ago, the Rapids were teetering on the edge of ninth and 10th place in the Western Conference — maybe just good enough for a play-in game. A four-game slate against top clubs like LAFC, Vancouver, Seattle and Philadelphia (three of those on the road) seemed on paper like the potential final blow to the Rapids’ playoff hopes.

Despite the result at Philadelphia, that’s four crucial points in a span that very well could have yielded none. Without them, the Rapids could be as low as 12th, but instead sit in eighth (pending San Jose’s result against Real Salt Lake).

The Rapids will shift focus to the third-annual edition of Leagues Cup, an in-season tournament between MLS and Liga MX clubs, which starts at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Thursday against Santos Laguna. Colorado made a remarkable Cinderella run to the third-place game last year, in which it beat Philadelphia at Subaru Park in penalties.

The club signed U.S. Youth National Team center back Noah Cobb on loan through the end of the 2025 season with a purchase option, the club announced Friday evening.

Colorado will pay $100,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) initially, then can decide on an undisclosed purchase option amount at the end of the loan period.

Cobb, 20, is the Rapids’ first acquisition of the secondary transfer window, which began Thursday. Last week, the club transferred its best center back, Chidozie Awaziem, to one of his many former clubs, FC Nantes. Since then, the Rapids have been looking for a replacement.

The Tennessee native came up through Atlanta’s academy before signing a Homegrown deal in 2023 as a 17-year-old. He’s played 35 matches (21 starts) in his MLS career. He’s only amassed 13 appearances in 23 chances this season.

According to his FBRef profile, he’s one of the better passing center backs, ranking in the 90th percentile or better at his position in short passes (attempted and completed), long passes (attempted and completed), expected assists and passes into the final third. On paper, he could be a nice complement to Andreas Maxsø, who ranks in the bottom 41% in all of the same categories.

At the national level, Cobb featured for the USYNT at the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championships. Rapids goalkeeper Adam Beaudry (now on loan with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks) played alongside Cobb.

The Rapids are still in search of a proven starting-quality center back to replace Awaziem, sources told The Denver Post. Cobb could back up Ian Murphy, the now-presumed starter next to Maxsø, if nothing can get done.

The Rapids are in talks with Crystal Palace center back Rob Holding, but no deal has been signed. Formerly of Arsenal, which is also owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the defender has seemed to have fallen out of favor with his current Premier League club and could make the jump to the MLS.

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The Rapids announced they waived 26-year-old winger Kévin Cabral on Friday, leaving a Designated Player slot open on the roster amid a turbulent 2025 campaign.

The Frenchman had fallen out of favor over the course of the year, going from a regular starter to benchwarmer before being left off the team sheet altogether for the past two matches.

Since signing with the Rapids ahead of the 2023 season, he scored seven goals and provided four assists in 68 regular-season games. In 770 minutes across 18 matches this year, he didn’t record a goal or an assist.

According to the MLS Players’ Association’s spring salary report last month, Cabral was the highest-compensated player on the team by a wide margin at $2.1 million for 2025. Half of his wages, however, have been paid by his former team, the L.A. Galaxy.

He seemed to have gotten through some confidence issues from 2023 with a mini-breakout halfway through last season. While he didn’t necessarily contribute to goals directly, he looked noticeably more comfortable within Chris Armas’ system. The goals eventually did come in July of 2024, when he scored twice and notched an assist in a three-game span.

That came to a halt against his former club that month when he barreled into a metal rod beneath the net while scoring a goal. He finished the last few minutes of that half, but required surgery for a compound elbow fracture and dislocation on his right arm. He didn’t return until the final regular-season match.

Nothing really clicked in 2025, no matter how long Armas tried keeping Cabral in the mix. His final appearance as a Rapid was a 15-minute substitute appearance last month against the Galaxy.

With the transfer window looming, the Rapids have some intriguing moves to consider. A DP slot is open, so they could theoretically bring in a splash signing to supplement the salary and talent hole in Cabral’s place on the wing.

New this season, MLS clubs have the option to go with a traditional three-DP, three-U-22 model, or switch to a two-DP, four-U-22 makeup. After Cabral’s departure, those players are as follows:

Designated players (2): Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic, forward Rafael Navarro

U-22 Initiative players (3): Winger Ted Ku-DiPietro, midfielders Cole Bassett and Josh Atencio

What appears more likely is a switch to a fourth U-22 Initiative player, especially with declared interest for 22-year-old Colombian midfielder and winger Alexis Manyoma.

Ahead of the transfer window, there’s also a Chidozie Awaziem-sized hole to fill with FC Nantes currently finalizing a deal to bring the Nigerian back to the French club. He joined the Rapids’ back line during the offseason and was their best defender this year.

Beaudry loaned to Switchbacks

The club also announced on Friday that 19-year-old Homegrown goalkeeper Adam Beaudry has been loaned to the defending USL Championship title winners Colorado Springs Switchbacks for the remainder of this season. As part of the deal, the club retains the right to recall Beaudry at any time.

The move should provide more playing time for the young star at a higher level than Rapids 2, where he recorded three clean sheets in nine matches this year.

Beaudry, the presumed backup to Zack Steffen at the first-team level, suffered an ankle injury around the same time as Steffen was sidelined. That left third-string Nico Hansen with the job. Hansen crushed the opportunity and earned the right to backup duty once Steffen returned.

The Castle Pines native has starred in numerous camps and tournaments with the U.S. Youth National Team, including starts in the 2023 U-17 World Cup and the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championships. He got his first MLS start on Decision Day last year in a loss to Austin.

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Sources confirmed to The Denver Post that French club FC Nantes is finalizing a deal to sign Rapids center back Chidozie Awaziem. Family played a role in the move, as Awaziem’s is not in the U.S., sources added.

Awaziem played for Nantes as a 20-year old from 2017-2018, and has seen nine clubs in three continents over the course of his career.

The 28-year-old Nigerian international joined the Rapids last offseason in a move from FC Cincinnati that sent Awaziem and center back partner Ian Murphy to Colorado in exchange for $1 million in General Allocation Money (GAM).

He found an integral role within coach Chris Armas’s system quickly and cemented himself as arguably the team’s best defender. He became a bit of a fan favorite in Colorado with a no-nonsense style defensively, an ability to pull impressive passes from his hat and a kind-hearted demeanor.

He started all 20 matches he played for the Rapids and recorded an assist to Darren Yapi against San Diego FC back in April. He missed a match a few weeks ago for personal reasons.

Wednesday night, in what may have been Awaziem’s final match in a Rapids jersey, he played all 90 minutes in a 3-all thriller, in which the Rapids came all the way back from down 3-0.

Early this season, he was central in a controversy in which LAFC player Sergi Palencia was accused of using a “derogatory term” toward Awaziem in the second match of the Concacaf Champions Cup first round series. The soccer confederation launched an investigation, but concluded the term Awaziem alleged was not used.

More recently, the Rapids agreed to a $1.6 million transfer fee to sign Israeli center back Stav Lemkin from Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. The deal was all but finalized, but Lemkin backed out of the transfer and instead went to Dutch side FC Twente, where he’s now playing.

In hindsight, that move was potentially a preemptive succession plan for Awaziem, as it’s highly unlikely the Rapids would spend that sort of money for a bench player or to move Awaziem or Andreas Maxsø to the bench in favor of Lemkin.

On that front, the Rapids are targeting a few options at center back for the MLS secondary transfer window, which begins next Thursday, July 24. There could be more back-line instability, with Saudi Arabian teams having reported interest in Maxsø over the offseason. That option is not off the table, whether it be this window or when his base contract expires after this season (he has a club option for 2026).

Rapids interested in Colombian midfielder Alexis Manyoma

Sources confirmed to The Post that the Rapids are in talks with Argentinian club Estudiantes for 22-year old Colombian midfielder Alexis Manyoma. A deal is far from being struck, but could potentially be a decent grab to begin the transfer window at the right price.

This season, he’s been in and out of Estudiantes’s lineup, with most of his appearances coming off the bench. In 13 of them in 2025, he’s played 390 minutes at a variety of positions, but mostly as a winger. If he were transferred or loaned to Colorado, he’d likely set up shop out wide on a Rapids team with a bevy of central mids and a yearning for more wing production.

Colorado made up the same deficit in what was shaping up to be a disaster for a Rapids team coming off an impressive win at home against Vancouver. At Lumen Field on Wednesday night, they turned a 3-0 Seattle Sounders lead into a 3-all draw.

A point from a venue that’s long haunted the Rapids — Colorado has lost 16 of 21 matches at Seattle — could prove crucial down the stretch of the regular season. With the result, the Rapids are still clinging to a playoff spot, though they’ve played more games than any team in the Western Conference. A loss would have placed them below the postseason threshold.

That makes four points in what on paper is the toughest stretch of the season: a bad loss at LAFC, a shocking 3-0 win against West second-place Vancouver and the draw at Seattle. Colorado’s next match is at Eastern Conference leader Philadelphia.

It took a monstrous comeback Wednesday night, the Rapids’ first from down three goals in regular-season history. It was also the first time Seattle had ever led by three goals at home and failed to win.

“It’s a night that we can feel really proud of the team because they showed a lot of character and heart and grit to come on the road with a mindset to win,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “Take the couple of goals that were tough ones to swallow, those put us up against it. … I think there’s a lot of people out there who probably counted us out (after the third Sounders goal), but to see a team stick together, to see guys step up, I thought were big moments.”

Obed Vargas scored off a deflection, and Albert Rusnak caught Rapids keeper Zack Steffen off his line to give Seattle a 2-0 lead at halftime. Then Rusnak struck again in the 47th minute, sneaking a shot to the left corner from about 20 yards.

The Rapids’ lifeline came in the 50th minute, then was copied and pasted three minutes later. Rapids forward Rafael Navarro drew two penalties back to back on consecutive attacks. Djordje Mihailovic scored the first to move into third all-time in Rapids penalty goals with eight.

Having just faced a penalty situation, Mihailovic smartly deferred to midfielder Cole Bassett for the second try, both to avoid an unnecessary mental battle with Sounders keeper Andrew Thomas and to potentially give Bassett his first goal in four months. The Littleton native delivered with a rocket to the top netting for his second of the year and 30th career goal for the Rapids.

“You just love seeing the ball hit the back of the net. And I just needed that feeling again,” Bassett said. “I consider myself a goal-scoring midfielder, so I need to be scoring goals. I’ve got to give credit to Djordje and (Navarro) for giving me that one. … For them to both give it to me because they know I haven’t had as many this year, I think, was big, and it shows the character of this team and the togetherness we’re starting to build here. Hopefully, it can spark a few more.”

Darren Yapi scored the equalizer in the 75th minute, just five minutes after subbing into the match. He got the ball at the top of the box, dribbled and snaked through two defenders — albeit with a lucky bounce off a shin — and fired it to the opposite lower corner. It was the 20-year-old Denver native’s fourth goal of his breakout 2025 season.

While the youngster isn’t a high-volume scorer like Navarro or Mihailovic, he’s taken opportunities head-on and often produced in the biggest moments. This season alone, he’s scored a winner against St. Louis and a go-ahead goal in an eventual win against San Diego FC. Last year, he scored game-winners at the death in a Leagues Cup elimination game and at Dallas as a late sub.

“(Yapi’s) goals keep getting better. I mean, that was probably my favorite one, just his composure in the box to be able to maneuver the ball until he gets his angle. It’s huge for us right now,” Bassett said.

“He has waited for his time, then the second he steps on the field, I think that shows his true character, to be able to stay ready, be ready and show that he deserves to play solid minutes and start for us or come in off the bench and have that sort of moment. For me, as a leader on the team, I look at that as a true moment of growth in him.”

The Rapids will take a 10-day break before hitting the road to face the Philadelphia Union.

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As part of the club’s 30th anniversary season, the Rapids unveiled their throwback “Original Green” kit on Wednesday morning in a nod to the team’s inaugural 1996 look. The Rapids are one of 10 MLS teams to feature a third kit this season, joining other original clubs and some newer franchises.

Before adopting the burgundy and blue scheme the Rapids sport today, the team’s look was centered around green and white with hints of gold and blue. The 30th anniversary throwbacks are entirely green with large white and gold numbers on the back.

The visual design reimagines the original Rapids logo front and center: the word ‘Rapids’ between waves of water and mountain peaks. The club’s secondary logo, used from 1996-2007, is featured as the crest on the chest. While the look is retro, the fit and technical features of the jersey are modern, featuring moisture-wicking fabric and a slimmer cut compared to the baggier jerseys of the ’90s.

It also features subtle easter eggs like the jock tag that includes a silhouette of club legend Marcelo Balboa’s iconic bicycle kick — named the MLS goal of the year in 2000 — from a match against the Columbus Crew.

“This kit is a reflection of where we started and a reminder of everything we’ve built since 1996,” Rapids president Pádraig Smith said in a news release revealing the kits. “‘Original Green’ represents more than just a uniform, it embodies our legacy, our growth and the community that’s stood with us every step of the way. As one of the league’s true originals, we’re proud of our heritage and deeply committed to remaining at the forefront of Major League Soccer’s continued growth.”

Colorado will debut the kit on July 26 in a game at the Philadelphia Union right before Leagues Cup — a midseason tournament between MLS and Liga MX teams. It won’t appear at home until a match against Atlanta United on Aug. 16, during which Balboa will have his jersey retired.

It’s scheduled to feature in two other matches this season: Sept. 27 against Minnesota United and on Decision Day on Oct. 18 against LAFC, both home games.

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The U.S. Men’s National Team will face Australia in a friendly at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Oct. 14 for its first match in Denver since the 2021 Nations League final against Mexico. It will be the team’s first match at DSGP since 2017.

The match will be the second of a pair of October friendlies, the first being in Austin against Ecuador on Oct. 10. It will be the second time a U.S. national team visits DSGP in 2025, after the women’s national team routed the Republic of Ireland, 4-0, in June.

The USMNT has played just three times at DSGP, but has had some memorable moments. Perhaps most notable of all is 2013’s “Snow Clasico,” a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica that saw Clint Dempsey score the lone goal in a 1-0 win in the midst of a blizzard.

Fresh off a second-place finish at the Concacaf Gold Cup that culminated in a 2-1 loss to Mexico in the final, the USMNT is less than a year from co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. Colorado Rapids midfielder Djordje Mihailovic and goalkeeper Zack Steffen are in the mix for roles when that time comes.

Steffen, who is putting together a career year in goal, is the most likely to feature after being the presumed starter for the Gold Cup before a knee injury sidelined him for the tournament. Mihailovic, who recorded three assists against Vancouver last Saturday and set a club record for goal contributions in his first two seasons with the club (39), was included on the preliminary 60-man Gold Cup roster but did not make the final cut for an already-stacked midfield core.

The USMNT has played Australia, which will participate in the World Cup, just three times in its history and has a 1-1-1 record. Tickets go on pre-sale on Tuesday, before public sale begins on Friday.

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The English winger has been on an absolute tear since earning his first start of the season for the Colorado Rapids just a couple weeks ago, finally providing a scoring threat from the flanks, which has famously eluded the Rapids this season.

He was the first to score in what became a 3-0 win for the Rapids over the Vancouver Whitecaps, who fell to third in the Western Conference. The Rapids, however, jumped from 10th to seventh, though they’ve played more games than any team in the West.

Harris found himself in acres of space in the 12th minute after a toe-poke pass by midfielder Djordje Mihailovic toward the right side of the box. Harris took it on first time and beat Vancouver keeper Yohei Takaoka to the bottom right corner on the shot. Just a minute prior, appeals for a Whitecaps own goal were hushed after the ball took a goalbound bounce off of Whitecaps defender Mathias Laborda, but he recovered to somehow clear it off the goal line.

Harris had a potential incredible goal saved off the line later in the second half when he attempted a scissor kick.

Rapids forward Rafael Navarro doubled the lead in the 30th minute with an outstretched foot at point blank range off a delicious low cross from Mihailovic. Navarro missed a penalty right before halftime with a chance to score a brace. He’s now scored eight goals this season, three of them coming in the last four games.

Mihailovic recorded his third assist of the game — a season high for the marksman — in the 59th minute with a corner kick to center back Andreas Maxsø, who used an awkward bounce on the header to bag his first goal of the season.

It brought Mihailovic’s season total of goal contributions to 14. In a little more than a season and a half in Colorado, he has amassed 39 for the Rapids in the regular season, passing Mark Chung (38) for the most in a player’s first two seasons in burgundy in club history.

After a string of disappointing games that included a blown 3-0 lead at New England, a July 4 home loss to a horrible Sporting Kansas City team and a road thrashing at LAFC, the Rapids seem to be on an uptick and potentially have finally found their most effective lineup and formation, at least for this stage of the season.

Zack Steffen made his return to action after an oblique injury in mid-May took him off the field before a knee injury at U.S. Men’s National Team camp required surgery. He made a trio of impressive saves in the second half that kept a clean sheet — his fourth of the season in 12 appearances.