Lewandowski Scores On Home Debut And The Lucas Herrington Transfer Process - MLS Roundup
Major League Soccer is on a high going into its latest season break, this time for the Leagues Cup, as star names are shining and fans are turning out in numbers.
Luis Suarez has been regularly on the scoresheet for Inter Miami in the absence of Lionel Messi, while there were comebacks across the league this weekend in another packed matchday.
Lewandowski lights up the Fire on home debut
Amid the celebrations of Robert Lewandowski’s brace against Charlotte FC was a small element of relief.
You don’t sign one of the greatest strikers European football has seen and worry he won’t score, but when you have got rid of a player, Hugo Cuypers, who remains top of the MLS scoring charts, to make way for him, there is extra pressure for those goals to arrive quickly and at a certain rate.
After a promising start in the pre-World Cup portion of the season, Chicago Fire lost their opening two games of what feels like a Clausura stage of MLS 2026, and Lewandowski struggled to make an impact in them.
As Lewandowski turns 38 this month, there were worries as to whether the Fire had made the right decision.
Those games, on the road at Inter Miami and at a surgent New York City, were about as difficult as you could get to re-kick-off the campaign, but back in Illinois for his home debut, the real Lewandowski finally came through.
The Pole’s brace secured a 2-1 win against Charlotte FC and meant the 32,183 in attendance at Soldier Field witnessed a feel-good win and an incentive to return for more. Their star striker is scoring multiple goals at home, which is exactly what Chicago need.
Lucas Herrington, we hardly knew ye
Colorado Rapids announced the signing of the teenage centre-back Lucas Herrington in August 2025, indicating that he would join the team in January 2026 once he had turned 18.
An encouraging start to the 2026 season saw him drop straight into the lineup in the centre of defence. By then, the Rapids were also convinced enough of his talent to pay an extra fee of around $400,000 to Brisbane Roar in order to remove the 20% sell-on clause from the original transfer deal.
It turned out to be a masterstroke from the Rapids, who now look set to receive a transfer fee of around $23 million for Herrington from newly promoted English Premier League side Hull City, less than six months after he made his MLS debut.
💣 BREAKING: Hull City has reached a verbal agreement to sign Australia int'l defender Lucas Herrington for a deal worth up to $23m, per sources. - $17m (!) fixed fee - $6m add-ons - 15% sell-on clause of any profit - Deal not done, but just formalities www.nytimes.com/athletic/748...
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2 August 2026 at 16:52
[image or embed]
His regular appearances in MLS gave him a better chance of getting into the Australian national team starting XI, and as a result his profile was raised thanks to a couple of starts at the World Cup.
Buying out the sell-on percentage ahead of the tournament means the Rapids will get the large majority of the fee. Brisbane Roar will still receive a solidarity payment as a percentage of the fee, but it will be around 5% rather than the 20% from the original deal.
Herrington helped the Rapids keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against Austin this weekend, with a 94th-minute Rafael Navarro penalty giving them all three points.
It could be the Aussie’s last game for the Colorado outfit, as the pros and cons of being a stepping stone club played out in fast forward.
A player who many think has potential to make another step up after Hull City is leaving MLS before even playing a full season, and the Rapids acknowledged his further potential by adding a clause in the deal that sees them get 15% of any future sale from Hull.
Timbers see off struggling Seattle once again
After losing just once in 11 games at the start of 2026, Seattle Sounders' season has turned sour.
They’re currently on a run of six defeats in a row, including all four of their games since MLS returned after the World Cup.
That two of those defeats came against Cascadia rivals Portland Timbers makes it hurt even more.
The Timbers are on an opposite trajectory, and have recovered some form since Phil Neville’s departure in May. England-born Irish coach Jack Cassidy has been in interim charge, winning three and drawing one during his four games on the touchline.
New full-time head coach Martí Cifuentes is due to take over this month after having to wait a few weeks to start work while his US visa was processed, and he’ll look to build on Cassidy’s work.
Seattle took the lead through Kalani Rienzi in the latest meeting of the two sides, but goals from Kevin Kelsy and Brandon Bye gave Portland the kind of comeback win that can really ignite a home crowd.
Fans out in force following World Cup
MLS resumed while the World Cup was still ongoing with the slogan, “thanks world, we’ll take it from here.”
While the league may not always capture the attention of the wider world, they are certainly enjoying a mini post-World Cup boom at home.
Attendances are healthy across the league with atmospheres to match.
As well as Chicago’s big turnout for Lewandowski’s home debut, there was a crowd of 40,086 to watch Vancouver’s game against LAFC at World Cup venue BC Place,
The buzz from Portland’s packed Providence Park stands for the game against Seattle could be heard all the way to the South Waterfront by the Willamette River, while on the other side of the country, DC United have sold out two home games in a row.
MLS feels like it is on a roll, making the upcoming break for the Leagues Cup feel ill-timed.
That said, the format of the MLS versus Liga MX competition being similar to the World Cup, in that it has a group stage followed by a knockout round, could continue to capture the imagination of football fans in North America.
Worth noting
- Luis Suarez’s instinctive long-range goal against Columbus.
Luis Suarez doesn't need to be able to run because he can just kick it in the goal from anywhere
— James Nalton (@jdnalton.bsky.social) 2 August 2026 at 02:12
[image or embed]
- Philadelphia Union’s two goals in added time to help them come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. Their 16-year-old star Cavan Sullivan is continually improving and looks more settled in the team, while the combination of creative left-back Kai Wagner crossing to 6ft 7in defender Neil Pierre looks like an MLS cheat code.
- FC Cincinnati’s Brazilian attacking midfielder Evander scored his 100th MLS goal. A genuine star of the league and one of the best players ever to grace it. He earned the highest FotMob rating this matchweek.
- A Central American wonderkid? The 19-year-old Panamanian Mijahir Jiménez scored twice in Red Bull New York’s 3-2 win at home to Orlando City.
- Son is back. After a goal drought at the beginning of 2026, Son Heung-min has scored in each of LAFC’s four games post World Cup.
