LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers, with just three starting pitchers, will rely heavily on their bullpen to try to topple the New York Yankees and win the World Series. And they'll have to do it without one of their top relievers.

Evan Phillips was left off the club's roster, which was unveiled Friday morning ahead of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, after suffering an arm injury during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

His absence registers as a significant blow. The right-hander didn't allow a run in 6 innings across five postseason games through the NLCS after posting a 3.62 ERA with 18 saves in 61 appearances during the regular season.

The good news for the Dodgers is Alex Vesia, the team's best left-hander, and infielder Miguel Rojas are on the roster after missing the NLCS with injuries. Brusdar Graterol, who hasn't pitched in the postseason, was also included. Outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, who was used as a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch runner in the NLCS, was left off the roster.

Vesia, who posted a 1.76 ERA in 67 games during the regular season, was not available for the NLCS after suffering an intercostal injury during the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres in which he logged three scoreless innings. He was cleared to return after throwing 15 pitches in a live bullpen session Wednesday.

Shoulder and hamstring injuries limited Graterol to just seven appearances during the regular season. The playoff-tested reliever owns a 1.64 ERA in 22 career postseason games.

Rojas has been dealing with a nagging adductor that has kept him off the field since he was removed from Game 3 of the NLDS. The veteran began the postseason as the Dodgers' starting shortstop, but his role could change given that Tommy Edman, the NLCS MVP, moved to shortstop and starred against the New York Mets, and Kiké Hernández continued his October excellence when given the opportunity to play every day after Rojas' injury.

For the Yankees, Nestor Cortes, out for the past month, was included on their roster, replacing infielder Jon Berti from their AL Championship Series roster. Cortes, who hasn't pitched since Sept. 18, finished the regular season with a flexor strain in his left forearm. He rejoins the club as a reliever, with a limit of 30 pitches, after making 30 starts during the regular season.

Ospreys: Jack Walsh; Dan Kasende, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles, Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake, Ben Warren, Will Greatbanks, Adam Beard, Jac Morgan (capt), Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris.

Replacements: Sam Parry, Garyn Phillips, Tom Botha, Lewis Jones, Lewis Lloyd, Kieran Hardy, Tom Florence, Iestyn Hopkins.

Edinburgh: Harry Paterson; Wes Goosen, Matt Currie, Matt Scott, Duhan van der Merwe; Ross Thompson, Ben Vellacott (capt); Boan Venter, Ewan Ashman, Darcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Jamie Hodgson, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Ben Muncaster

Replacements: Dave Cherry, Angus Williams, Paul Hill, Glen Young, Luke Crosbie, Charlie Shiel, Ben Healy, Mosese Tuipulotu.

Referee: Griffin Colby (SARU)

Assistant referees: Adam Jones & Ben Breakspear (WRU)

TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Munster and Leinster have named strong teams boasting plenty of Ireland players for their United Rugby Championship matches against South African opposition on Saturday.

Munster have named Calvin Nash, Jack Crowley, Craig Casey and Tadhg Beirne to start against the Sharks in Durban (15:00 BST), while Leinster have included a host of their Test players for their top-of-the-table clash with the Lions at Aviva Stadium (17:15).

Munster boss Graham Rowntree makes four changes from last week's loss to the Stormers with Rory Scannell, Casey, Stephen Archer and John Hodnett all recalled.

Caelan Doris, who was this week named Ireland captain for next month's autumn internationals, skippers a Leinster side featuring Robbie Henshaw for the first time this season. Henshaw will be partnered in midfield by Hugh Cooney, who makes his first senior start.

With Ciaran Frawley not included after his injury against Connacht last weekend, Sam Prendergast - who was included in the Ireland squad this week - starts at fly-half for Leo Cullen's side.

Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Sean OBrien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; John Ryan, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Jack ODonoghue.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Kieran Ryan, Ronan Foxe, Fineen Wycherley, Ruadhan Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Billy Burns, Alex Kendellen.

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Andrew Osborne; Hugh Cooney, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Michael Milne, Gus McCarthy, Rabah Slimani; RG Snyman, Ryan Baird; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).

Replacements: Stephen Smyth, Andrew Porter, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, James Culhane, Cormac Foley, Ross Byrne, Charlie Tector.

Saracens centre Alex Lozowski says he never gave up hope of an England recall after returning to the fold for the first time in six years.

The 31-year-old last played for England in November 2018, but is part of Steve Borthwick's 36-man squad for the upcoming autumn internationals.

With Henry Slade touch-and-go after shoulder surgery, Lozowski is in contention to feature against New Zealand on 2 November.

"I am determined this time around to enjoy it - I really mean it," he told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

"Back in 2018 I was a younger player, more inexperienced, and I put myself under a lot of pressure potentially, and maybe I found it hard to actually really enjoy being in the England rugby team.

"You really should be trying to make the most of it if you can. Before I let that not happen, but I am determined this time - however long it is for - to come in with a smile on my face."

Lozowski won five caps under former head coach Eddie Jones, making his debut in Argentina in 2017, but found himself jettisoned from the set-up following England's erratic first-half performance against Japan in the autumn of 2018.

"It was probably the one game if I could have another crack at and do it again then I would," Lozowski admitted.

"But a lot of things happened that day and I don't think it was all my fault necessarily. Obviously I paid a heavy price for the way it went in the first half, but that's a long time ago and I'm looking forward now.

"Initially I was pretty negative about it and carried it around with me, and thought I was not good enough. But since then England have had some excellent players in my position.

"I was - and am - up against excellent players. Just because you are not playing for England every week doesn't mean you are no good. It's just a high level and very competitive."

With Borthwick replacing Jones at the end of 2022, Lozowski's hopes of forcing himself back into the England reckoning were dashed by a serious knee injury in November 2023, ruling him out for the bulk of last season.

However, he returned at the back end of the campaign before starring for Sarries over the first five rounds of the Premiership.

"I never gave up [on a recall]. I kept doing my best and wanting to play my best to give myself a chance. Funny things happen in sport and in rugby," he said.

"Im just really loving being here. There are a lot of guys who I was in the squad with six years ago, and a lot of young guys who I am just getting to know."

Can the ultimate team player ever hope to win the Ballon d'Or, the most prized individual award in football? That is the question being asked of Rodri, the Manchester City and Spain midfielder, and he will discover the answer when the 2024 winner is announced at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday.

While the award is decided by the votes of a panel of journalists from the top 100 ranked nations in the FIFA Men's Ranking, with the candidates drawn from a 30-player shortlist, the 2024 award is almost certain to come down to the claims of two players -- Rodri, and Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinícius Júnior.

It is football's version of the immovable object against the irresistible force -- the defensive brilliance and awareness of deep-lying midfielder Rodri against the goals, pace and creativity of Vinícius. With Rodri ruled out for the rest of this season due to a cruciate ligament injury sustained last month, and Vinícius emphasising his claim with a stunning Champions League hat trick against Borussia Dortmund this week, the odds now seem stacked against Rodri in his attempt to become the first defensive player since Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or in 2006 after leading Italy to World Cup glory.

Cannavaro's success was the first non-forward since Germany defender/midfielder Matthias Sammer won the award in 1996, again after helping his national team to success at Euro '96, while only Germany defender Franz Beckenbauer (1972 and 1976) and Russia goalkeeper Lev Yashin (1963) had previously denied attacking players the Ballon d'Or since it was first awarded in 1956.

So history is not on Rodri's side and neither is current form or fitness, but the 28-year-old was a Premier League winner with City last season -- 12 months after his goal in the Champions League final win against Inter Milan sealed the club's Treble -- and he was also named as Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament after helping Spain to success in Germany this summer. He is the player who has forgotten how it feels to lose in the Premier League, with his recent injury halting his run of 52 games without defeat in the competition, dating back to February 2023.

Regardless of whether he was fit or not heading into next Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony, was it ever possible for Rodri to buck the trend with football's most prestigious individual award?

"I really think there's a lot of marketing involved," Rodri told ESPN when asked about the Ballon d'Or in an exclusive interview last month. "But how it works when they give you the cards in a game, you just have to play with these cards -- you cannot say 'I would like to play another game.'

"No, this is what it is. We all know how it works and that's why it's something that doesn't frustrate me. I hope that sometimes in the next 10 years we have one or two players in my position, or different position, that people can value what they do on the pitch. There's great players on the defensive side, on the midfield. We all agree about this. But yeah, let's see."

When a defensive midfielder excels, it can be transformative for the team and the player. France international Claude Makélélé dominated the position during the early-2000s with Real Madrid and Chelsea to such an extent that everybody wanted that type of player. The position eventually became known as the "Makélélé Role."

Xabi Alonso (Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Spain), Michael Carrick (Manchester United, England), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus, Italy), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich, Germany), N'Golo Kanté (Leicester, Chelsea, France) and Sergio Busquets (Barcelona, Inter Miami, Spain) have all followed the Makélélé blueprint, with Alonso and Carrick also adding goals and creativity to their game, just as Rodri has done with Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and City.

For City manager Pep Guardiola, whose success at Barcelona owed plenty to the work done by Busquets away from the spotlight shining on his teammates Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, there is no doubt as to Rodri's status in the world game.

"He's the best midfield player in the world currently by far because he is able to do everything," Guardiola said. "The holding midfielder has to play positive, for him and for the team, and make the team play. This is the role for the holding midfielders. All the highlights have to be for the guys up front who score goals and make assists and so on.

"But Rodri always has the ability in important moments to score goals so he's an unbelievable player. What a signing. It's difficult to understand how we could have done what we have done in recent years without him."

Guardiola's view is shared by Luis de la Fuente, the Spain coach, who has known Rodri since working with him as youngster during Spain under-19s' winning campaign at the 2015 European Championship in Greece. Rodri was central to that success as well as Spain's emergence as champions at Euro 2024 this summer.

"I think he's the best player in the world at his position and he's accomplished enough to win the Ballon d'Or," De La Fuente told ESPN. "It would be an injustice if he wasn't one of the players in the running to win the Ballon d'Or.

"Those of us who have known Rodri from an early age, like I know him, aren't surprised. We knew he had a lot of room to improve, and he's improving still, but the growth he has experienced and above all his production now is the production of a genuine No. 1 in the world.

"One follows natural leadership, and Rodri has it. He's a player who grabs his teammates' attention and influences action. That's why he is one of the strongest leaders. For us, Rodri's importance is huge."

It is another coach that Rodri regards as having the greatest impact on his career, however, in terms of making him the player that he is today. Rodri spent just one season working under Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid, having moved to the Estadio Metropolitano from Villarreal in 2018 before City triggered his 62.6 million release clause 12 months later. But Rodri says that Simeone, a former defensive midfielder with Argentina, Lazio, Inter Milan and Atlético, added crucial elements to his game in their short time together.

"Well I think, I never said this, but I met Simone in the right moment," Rodri told ESPN. "It was a great experience with him.

"The knowledge I got from him was great in the way I was playing because I thought that football just was with the ball and trying to be a beautiful footballer. But if I want to play holding midfield, you have to be also a bad guy sometimes and be trying to be better defensively and he improved me in that sense.

"The first time I met him he said, 'I know you're very good with the ball. I don't care about that. I know you got it. I'm not going to work in that. I'm going to work in the other side. I think you can improve.' And that's what really happened: [Simeone taught me] blocks defensively, running the games, being competitive. And this is something I gained before I came here [to City].

"We all know how the rhythm of the Premier League is and how tough it is for the players to adapt into this league and I think that year [at Atlético] made it easier for me."

Moving to City and linking up with Guardiola, after Simeone had toughened him up, proved to be Rodri's finishing school.

"With Pep, we know I improve in all the aspects," Rodri said. "I mean there's a thing with him that he never gives up on. He never stops. He always thinks that you can be better and I agree. It's something I've managed to try to improve in the areas that I think I can do better every day than every season.

"Now, I have to visualise all the players, visualise where the spaces are. Not only focus on the ball, but also what happens when you don't have the ball. Like look in the sides, detect where the problems are.

"These kind of things that you might not think it's useful before because no one tells you, but the first time someone tell you, you realise, oh yeah, you're fine. If I move more intelligent, I can run less, but I can run better. It's these kind of things [with Pep.]"

At the peak of his career and with multiple successes with City and Spain on his roll of honour, Rodri has made himself the reference point for every aspiring midfielder in the game. For Javier Calleja, Rodri's coach at Villarreal, his progression has been everything he expected.

"I'm not surprised by his evolution," Calleja told ESPN. "I didn't know how far he was going to go, since obviously I can't read the future, but I knew that he was going to have a brilliant career because he puts everything together to make him who he is. From his technique to his vision, positioning, intelligence on the pitch ... and another thing that sets him apart that I've said puts him at the top is his character. His demeanour has made him the best midfielder in the world, every year getting better.

"I don't think there's a better player right now. It's true that scorers get the most attention, but it would say a lot about football to recognise a player with Rodri's ability and accomplishments toward winning a Ballon d'Or. Because he's done it and he deserves it."

Rodri has been selected by his fellow professionals in England as part of the Premier League Team of the Year for the past two seasons and, barring his injury, would have been expected to secure a spot for third successive year this time around. While pundits and supporters have their opinions, it is those who share the same space on the pitch who know best.

"He [Rodri] doesn't get so much credit because he's playing a position that doesn't score, assist or it's not so much on the scoresheet all the time," City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan said. "But for me he's one of the best players right now in the world.

"He's someone that if there's someone maybe in our team right now that is irreplaceable, for me it's definitely Rodri. He's such an important puzzle piece and he deserves to be named with the best players in the world."

Former Spain international Juanfran played with and against Rodri during his eight-year career with Atlético, and told ESPN that Rodri's calmness and humility mark him out as a special player.

"Rodri is a sensational and very simple guy," Juanfran said. "He brings calmness in most situations on the pitch and he symbolises the success of a real humble guy. He's a very normal guy who surrounds himself with normal people and acts normal. That's a great virtue and it's one of the keys to his success.

"He has gone from strength to strength and will continue to grow. He has also had very good teachers to learn from as he has been coached by two of the most important midfielders who played in Spain like Simeone and Guardiola, with two very different ways of interpreting football.

"If I could, I would vote for him to win the Ballon d'Or without even having to think about it for a second. He's the No.1 in his position."

City teammate Rico Lewis, who has been tried out by Guardiola in the defensive midfield role following Rodri's injury, says that his teammate is "nine times out of 10 right" when making judgement calls on the pitch and is always "two steps ahead."

But perhaps the greatest praise comes from Busquets, the former Barcelona and Spain midfielder, who Rodri has replaced in the national team. Busquets was the Rodri of Guardiola's great Barcelona team and the crucial midfield cog in Spain's 2010 World Cup-winning team, and he believes Rodri has become the world's best in his position.

"You could always see the potential he had since he started at Villarreal, then at Atlético, then at City," Busquets told ESPN. "He's learned a lot, improved a lot, and today for me, he is the best midfielder in the world in terms of his position.

"It was a shame the injury he had. It's the worst thing for a footballer. I talked to him and I hope he can return to the level he was at because he made us enjoy a lot and also in the team he was in, which I believe that the role he has is very important and his characteristics come to light individually and collectively."

Michael Owen won the Ballon d'Or in 2001 after helping Liverpool win a treble of FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. It was another era -- the former England striker didn't even know what the award meant.

"When I first got told by [Liverpool manager] Gerard Houllier that I'd won it, I said to him, 'What is it?'" Owen told ESPN. "I didn't know what it was. I knew there was an award to vote for the best player in the world of that year, but I didn't know what it was called and I didn't know much about it. It's very different now."

In the age before Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, who won the award 13 times between them from 2008 to 2023, the importance of the accolade was nowhere near the level that it enjoys today. But nonetheless, Owen was merely the latest in a long line of forwards to win it and he expects Vinícius to add to the list of attacking players who have won the Ballon d'Or this year

"I'm not saying that a defensive midfielder can't win it, but I think it's a rarity for that to happen and I think it should be a rarity," Owen said. "Why? Because the hardest thing is to score a goal. Lots and lots of players can ruin, can kick a ball into Row Z and get a clap, but to score a goal, to create a goal, every young player, when they start on the football pitch wants to score.

"So I will always favour an attacking player, but Rodri is the dominant force in his position and he has such an influence on the teams he plays for and those teams have been so successful, so this could be the year that a holding player could win the Ballon d'Or."

Overcoming football's inclination to favour the goal scorers and the creators -- the headline-makers -- is Rodri's biggest challenge. Vinícius ticks every possible box for a potential Ballon d'Or winner, but Rodri, as Owen says, performs a different role. And while Rodri accepts the commercial aspect of the Ballon d'Or and that it is about more than simply what is achieved on the pitch, he believes that his position is as important as that of a goal scorer.

"I understand the debate, I understand the people that say they don't see what they can see in a winger or a striker in a holding midfielder because we do such a different task on the pitch," Rodri said.

"And I understand because football is about goals, it's about the excitement of scoring and I get it. But on the other hand I can show you that being a midfielder, a defender, is as beautiful as being as a striker and it has different things to manage on the game. And in my opinion, the holding midfielder is a bigger role on the football pitch than a striker.

"I think we all agree that scoring is the most difficult thing in football and there's a few players who they can score 30, 40 goals in the season. But the [holding midfield] role in terms of football is the most important."

So back to the original question: can the ultimate team player win football's biggest individual award?

"I hope that the people that vote and the people that when they watch football, they don't see the fancy cars or the fancy way you live, they just watch a game and we are equal on the game, no matter what you are or wherever you come from, you're equal," Rodri said. "So let's see what the people [voters] think."

Paris Saint-Germain will take their wage dispute with Kylian Mbappé to court after the Ligue de Football Professionnel's (LFP's) ruled in favour of the France captain on Friday.

French media reported the 25-year-old, who has not commented on the dispute, is seeking around 55 million ($60m) in salary and bonuses he says he is owed by the club.

The Ligue 1 champions have said Mbappé's contract was "legally amended" and that he reneged on commitments when he left the club to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the close season.

PSG said last month that Mbappé had refused an offer from the LFP to mediate on the issue.

The LFP's National Joint Appeals Commission heard the parties on Oct. 15 and announced on Friday it had ruled in favour of Mbappé.

"The club must pay him the salary he is claiming. This decision is not subject to appeal, but may be referred to the FFF [French Football Federation] Executive Committee," the LFP told Reuters.

However, PSG said they would be "forced to bring the case before the competent courts" while still trying to find an "amicable solution" with Mbappé, who became the French club's all-time top scorer during his seven-year stay in the capital.

"What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024-25 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 -- until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club," a PSG spokesperson said.

"As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.

"The club hopes these basic commitments will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player's bad faith judged by the competent courts if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for French football, further."

Mbappé's representatives were not immediately available for comment.

In January, Mbappé had said he made an agreement with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi which would "protect all parties and preserve the club's serenity for the challenges ahead".

Manchester United coach Darren Fletcher has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association (FA) for allegedly abusing the match officials at half-time during the 2-1 win over Brentford.

Fletcher was in the press box at Old Trafford with United's analysts, but made his way down to the tunnel area just before the break.

The FA allege that the former United midfielder acted in an "improper and/or confrontational manner" and used "abusive and/or insulting words" towards referee Samuel Barrott and his team.

United were furious that Barrott ordered defender Matthijs de Ligt off the pitch to receive treatment for a head injury and subsequently conceded from a corner while the Dutchman was on the touchline.

Both manager Erik ten Hag and assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy received yellow cards for their protests at the time.

A statement issued by the FA on Friday read: "Darren Fletcher has been charged with misconduct following Manchester United's fixture against Brentford on Saturday, 20 October, in the Premier League.

"It is alleged that the coach acted in an improper and/or confrontational manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official and the referee and/or assistant referees. Darren Fletcher has until Tuesday, 29 October, to respond."

Kylian Mbappé "knows what he has to do" in his first Clásico, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday, as he backed the star forward to deliver in this weekend's top-of-the-table LaLiga clash.

Madrid go into the game three points behind leaders Barça, but unbeaten domestically after picking up seven wins and three draws so far.

Mbappé has scored six goals in nine league appearances in a solid start to his time in Spain, but hasn't received universal praise for his all-round performances.

"We're satisfied," Ancelotti said in a news conference. "[Mbappé] has scored goals, he's very important to the team... He's looking for his best form. We aren't in a hurry, and neither is he. Obviously he'll do better, because he has all the qualities to do better."

Ancelotti said he hadn't offered any special advice to Mbappé going into the player's first Clásico.

"He has experience, he's often played against Barcelona," Ancelotti said. "He knows what he has to do ... His way of preparing for a game is to be very calm, very straightforward. He believes a lot in his qualities. We're confident that he'll bring something to the team [on Saturday], and so is he."

Both teams shone in the Champions League in midweek, with Madrid coming back from 0-2 down to beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2, while Barça thrashed Bayern Munich 4-1.

"They're doing very well," Ancelotti said, praising his counterpart Hansi Flick. "In a game like the Clásico, like a derby, it's hard to choose a favourite. But luckily, nobody's made me lose sleep so far."

Ancelotti described the development of Barca winger Lamine Yamal, 17, as "spectacular."

"I love his way of playing, his attitude," Ancelotti said. "He's a very dangerous player ... You have to bear the opponent's qualities in mind, but you have to be more focused on what you want to do."

Madrid will face Barcelona without forward Rodrygo Goes, who picked up a thigh problem this week, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, with a recurrence of his adductor injury.

AUSTIN, Texas -- On Thursday, the United States women's national team picked up where it left off in August: on the podium. Two hours before kickoff of the team's first game since winning the 2024 Olympics, the 18 players present from that squad filed out onto the field to face Iceland at the Q2 Stadium and stood on an elevated platform to record a prematch TV interview.

Gold was omnipresent around the arena, from the medal around captain Lindsey Horan's neck during the interview, to special "champions edition" aluminum water bottles and spiked seltzer cans. Thursday was, first and foremost, a celebration of the USWNT's fifth Olympic gold medal.

"Just being back with each other is celebration in itself," USWNT forward Sophia Smith said later, after scoring in her team's 3-1 win.

A few minutes after the smoke had cleared from the prematch fireworks, the whistle blew to start the match and midfielder Rose Lavelle touched the ball into play. With that, the page turned toward the 2027 Women's World Cup.

When Emma Hayes met reporters for the first time as head coach of the USWNT in May she used a common coaching refrain to describe the changing landscape of women's soccer: "What got you here won't get you there."

She was discussing how the USWNT could bounce back from a poor 2023 World Cup at this year's Olympics, but the phrase rang even more true on Thursday as the USWNT kicked off a three-game victory tour with a goal from a player who wasn't even at the Olympics.

Nineteen-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson, playing in her first international match in nearly a year after regaining form with Angel City FC, smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 39th minute to give the Americans the lead. It was the first goal of her USWNT career.

Forward Yazmeen Ryan and midfielder Hal Hershfelt came off the bench for their international debuts in the second half. Hayes had promised debuts during this three-game victory tour over the next week, and there are likely more to come given there are six uncapped players in camp.

Thompson, Ryan, Hershfelt and dozens of other young players are hoping to break into the USWNT as Hayes maps out her strategy to win the 2027 World Cup. That work has already begun. Hayes plans to use this international window, which includes a rematch against Iceland on Sunday and a game against Argentina on Wednesday, to test new players. But all that experimentation might result in some "choppy" performances, the coach admitted earlier this week.

"One of the hardest things to do at the international level is we always want to see more players, but the more changes you make, the more broken up the play becomes," she said. "Football, like any sport, is about building connections and building relationships, and you can't do that if the relationships change game in, game out."

Hayes said the team looked "a little rusty" on Thursday, noting that most players are at the end of a long NWSL season. Ten of the USWNT's 11 starters on Thursday were from the Olympic gold medal-winning team, but the 3-1 win over Iceland would certainly qualify as imperfect from the USWNT's perspective.

Key passes in the final third were lacking in the first half and players were too slow to recognize when to switch play across field, Hayes said. She also suggested that the Americans lost the physical battle to a compact and defensively disciplined Iceland team.

"It was a physical team," Hayes said of Iceland, ranked No. 13 in the world. "Sometimes I want us to win the fight first, and there's parts of that I didn't particularly like from us, and I'll address that."

Iceland scored an equalizer early in the second half as the USWNT's midfield was beaten in one quick sequence, and it took superb finishes from Smith and Jaedyn Shaw off the bench to break the deadlock in the final minutes of the game.

Shaw and Smith were both part of the Olympic team -- although Shaw didn't play due to injury -- and at 19 and 24 years old, respectively, they will be major parts of Hayes' plan going forward. The USWNT coach said after the match that Shaw's "ability to create and score goals is second to none in this country," and that Smith "is becoming the prolific striker that I want her to become."

Hayes has the core of the team that she will develop to compete at the 2027 World Cup, but she is still catching up on studying the player pool. The gold medal match was only Hayes' 10th in charge of the team after taking over in June. Players spoke this week about how they are still getting to know their new coach, and that their development as a group is only beginning, with Horan claiming: "There's going to be a huge evolution of this team."

Ryan is one of three players in her first USWNT camp; Hershfelt, who was an alternate on the Olympic team despite being uncapped, was never called into youth national team camps. Neither was forward Emma Sears, who is training with the USWNT for the first time this week. An entire roster of new players will train alongside the senior team in January as Hayes conducts an identification camp. It will take time for such a large volume of new faces to adapt to what is known as the most cut-throat environment in the sport -- and incumbent players will need to adjust, too.

"One is the conversations, communication off the field," Horan said. "Making players feel comfortable but also knowing that they are new; that they have to figure out the level and the standard. It's different coming from the club environment to this team, and it's hard. We've all been there and we have to adjust.

"I think that's the reality of it: You have to let these players know that that is the job at hand, but again, they're all here for a reason. I'm sure they are going to do great. We've had only one training session in this camp so far. We'll do whatever we can to make them feel welcome."

Hayes said her "biggest goal is broadening the player pool." A deeper pool of players will bring competition and more diversity of skills, which Hayes claims will lead to a wider variety of ways to beat teams.

The margins are thinner than ever in women's soccer. The USWNT won all three knockout games at the Olympics by a 1-0 score -- two of those after extra time. The team "suffered" through winning at the tournament, as Hayes said at the time, grinding out results and riding the peak form of an unstoppable forward line.

It was only a year ago that Spain won its first World Cup and the Americans endured a different kind of suffering with their worst finish at a major tournament in history: a Round of 16 exit after losing a penalty shootout to Sweden on a shot that crossed the line by a millimeter. The 2023 World Cup exposed the USWNT as too predictable, and showed how much other teams had improved.

"The realities are that it's extremely difficult to create some of the more traditional advantages, whether that be numerical superiority, whether that be technical advantages, for example," Hayes said this week. "You have to find a different way to be able to do that."

What got the Americans to the podium at the Olympics won't get them there at the next World Cup. The next three years require evolution, and that process began on Thursday.

New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. East Coast vs. West Coast. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto vs. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.

Yeah, this World Series is going to be big -- and we're here to get you ready for all of the action.

With the first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium, we dive into the players and matchups that matter most for both teams. We also asked our ESPN MLB experts to make their picks for who will win the Series, how many games it will take and who will be the MVP of this Fall Classic.

Jump to: Dodgers | Yankees | Our predictions

Los Angeles Dodgers

Chance of winning: 52.2% | ESPN BET odds: -125

What's on the line for the Dodgers: A much-needed exclamation point on L.A.'s incredible run of 12 consecutive playoff appearances (including 11 division titles), with five 100-win seasons since 2017. The only World Series title in this stretch came in 2020 and -- fair or not -- it's a bit diminished because it came during the pandemic with limited attendance for the NLCS and Fall Classic played at Globe Life Field in Texas (along with expanded rosters, which helped a pitching-heavy Dodgers team go heavy on its bullpen). The Dodgers were the best team that season, but a championship in 2024 would be different.

Then, of course, there's all the money the Dodgers spent this offseason to sign Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and trade for/extend Tyler Glasnow. Over $1 billion in salary commitments. With that money, it's World Series or bust, and while the Dodgers expect to remain competitive, some of their key players such as Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Max Muncy (not to mention Clayton Kershaw) are on the other side of 30. You never know how long they can keep this level of dominance going.

And one more thing: Dave Roberts has the highest winning percentage of any manager in MLB history. With a second World Series title (and a few more years of managing), his Hall of Fame résumé would look pretty good. -- David Schoenfield

Three reasons L.A. can win:

1. The depth of the lineup. Max Muncy set a postseason record by reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances during the NLCS, and Shohei Ohtani set a Dodgers postseason record by reaching 17 times in the same series. And yet neither was really in consideration for series MVP. That honor, without much pushback, went to Tommy Edman, who hits at the bottom of the lineup when the Dodgers are fully clicking. Given that Mookie Betts has clearly put his bewildering, 0-for-22 postseason slump behind him, Freddie Freeman has had close to a week to rest his sprained right ankle, Teoscar Hernandez and Will Smith showed signs of getting right again in NLCS Game 6, and that Kiké Hernández clearly has a propensity for thriving in October, the Dodgers' lineup could be at full tilt for this World Series. So, sure, the Yankees can pitch around Ohtani. But there are many concerns behind him

2. The strength of the bullpen. Given the rest days that allowed the Dodgers to line up their three starting pitchers, L.A. might only have to stage one bullpen game in this series. It's a clear strength, though, NLCS Game 2 notwithstanding. The Dodgers have six high-leverage relievers to deploy in those instances, a list that includes Ryan Brasier, Anthony Banda, Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen. If Alex Vesia can return from an intercostal injury, that's seven. If Brusdar Graterol can bounce back from shoulder inflammation, that's eight. The Dodgers used a bullpen game to keep their season alive in the NLDS and to clinch a pennant in the following round. Don't be surprised if they ride the bullpen to a championship.

3. The experience on the roster. The Dodgers could deploy as many as 10 players who were on the World Series roster when they overcame baseball in a bubble to win it all in 2020. Most of the others have been with them through the following three Octobers, which ended in disappointment. The stakes of this stage are not foreign to them. Quite the contrary, actually. Their biggest challenge might have been the five-day layoff that comes with a first-round bye. They finally conquered it this year -- and they have the moxie to capture four more wins in what will be the most hyped World Series in recent memory. -- Alden Gonzalez

Where the Dodgers are vulnerable: The lack of plentiful left-handed pitching out of the bullpen could be a problem area for L.A. Anthony Banda was the lone lefty reliever on the roster last round against the Mets. If Alex Vesia is healthy (he left Game 5 in the NLDS with an intercostal injury) it could help shore up a potential weakness.

Depending on Vesia's health, Roberts runs the risk of having to use righties or overusing Banda against a lineup featuring the left-handed hitting Juan Soto, Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo. Even if Banda and/or Vesia are effective against Soto, they will still have to stay in the game to face Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton because of the three-batter minimum rule. That's a step up from Mets sluggers Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos, and how Dodgers relievers fare in those key matchups could determine the series. -- Jesse Rogers

How Dodgers can pitch Soto and Judge: First, let out a long sigh.

Soto does his damage up in the strike zone -- and just above it (Hunter Gaddis is nodding). He also does almost all of his chasing out of the zone up there, but it is best to not tempt fate too many times near his nitro zone.

Here's the best opportunity: Soto's worst zones for any contact or slugging metrics are the low/in and low/out corners. Now, he doesn't really chase out of the zone, so you have to throw a strike and hit your spot, probably best to do so with a slider. He will chase a bit below the zone with changeups, so cross your fingers with a fastball above the zone that maybe he fouls off, then when you're ahead, throw a low slider in the zone or changeup just below the zone and you might have a fighting chance.

Do not throw Judge a middle-in fastball under any circumstances! You have a shot if you nibble around the zone, but even missing inside is a bad idea, so try to stay away and above and below the zone. I would advise to throw almost entirely sliders (especially hard, true sliders that look like fastballs out of the hand) down and away, which is by far his worst pitch and location. The other look you show to get him from leaning out over the plate for a slider is where you might get in trouble. Remember what I said about middle-in fastballs? Don't do it! -- Kiley McDaniel

Jeff Passan's inside intel:

Even if you exclude Game 5 of the NLCS, when Los Angeles didn't manage to strike out a single New York Mets hitter, the Dodgers still have one of the worst strikeout rates this postseason. And as good as the Mets were that game, the Yankees are even more disciplined at the plate. They have a playoff-low 23.2% chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone. "If the Dodgers can strike the Yankees out," one evaluator who watched Los Angeles all postseason said, "they're going to be in good shape. I just don't know that they will." The flip side for the Dodgers: their hitters have the second-lowest chase rate in the playoffs at 25%

Watch out, Carlos Rodon, Tim Hill and Nestor Cortes. The Dodgers have feasted on left-handed pitching this postseason, getting on base more than 40% of the time with their righty-stacked lineup. Against lefties, they are hitting 80 points higher. While 15 of Los Angeles' 20 playoff home runs have come against right-handers, "I like their right-heavy lineup better," a scout said. "Their left-handed hitters (who play against lefties, Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman) have good eyes and will work ABs. And their righties kill pitchers from the left."'

Speaking of left-handed pitching: The only left-hander certain to be on the Dodgers' roster is Anthony Banda, who entered this postseason with zero playoff experience. While he has been good in limited time, Banda could be alone in the bullpen after lefty Alex Vesia was left off the NLCS roster with a strained muscle in his ribs. The Yankees' reliance on left-handedness -- Juan Soto, Anthony Rizzo, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo all are regulars -- might be problematic against other teams. Instead, another scout said, "their reverse-split guys (Luke Weaver and Tommy Kahnle) need to do the heavy lifting."

New York Yankees

Chance of winning: 47.8% | ESPN BET odds: +105

What's on the line for the Yankees: The obvious stakes are that the Yankees are trying to end a 15-year title drought now that they've quenched their pennant thirst. With 27 titles all-time, New York's lead on the cosmic standings board is secure for eons to come but it has been a while. The last time New York won it all, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter were still active and Juan Soto had just celebrated his 11th birthday. More than the unrequited longings of Bronx fans is the reality that this might be the Yankees' best chance for some time to come. Sure, the Yankees are always contenders to win it all but his Soto-Aaron Judge pairing is a rare thing and if Soto signs elsewhere, it's also fleeting. When you think of all-time Yankee power duos, the specter of Lou Gehrig bolting for, say, the on-the-other-side-of-the-river Giants was not something the Babe Ruth era Yankees ever had to confront. Soto may stay of course but just in case, this is as good a time as any for the Bombers to take World Series No. 28. -- Bradford Doolittle

Three reasons New York can win:

1. The starting rotation. Bullpen games are fashionable, but the surest way to win in October is with great starting pitching. And the Yankees have the advantage in that department. The Yankees have four legitimate starters to cover the seven-game series. Gerrit Cole is the best starting pitcher between the two clubs. Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, and Luis Gil are all capable of quality starts behind him. Cole has logged seven innings once in this postseason. Rodón went six in the ALCS. Starts like those alleviate the pressure on the bullpen, which increasingly matters as the series goes along. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have three starters before Game 4 will be a bullpen game for them. The formula has worked thus far but allows for less margin for error. Expose relievers enough and they'll get hit. Just ask Emmanuel Clase and Cade Smith

2. The stress the top of the lineup applies on pitchers. Getting through the version of Gleyber Torres we've seen this month followed by Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and October Giancarlo Stanton atop the lineup is a gauntlet. Torres has a .400 OBP and has reached base in the first inning in eight of nine postseason games. Soto, a proven postseason performer, is 11-for-33 with three home runs, seven walks, seven strikeouts and a 1.106 OPS. Stanton has thrived in October again, swatting five home runs with five walks and a 1.179 OPS. Judge, the presumptive AL MVP, is just 5-for-31, but he's worked seven walks and hit two home runs. They grind pitchers down.

3. Judge is due. The Yankees have made it this far without MVP Judge. Remember the regular season? When Judge posted perhaps the greatest season ever by a right-handed hitter? When he led the majors in home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, wRC+ and every version of WAR under the sun? That Judge has not emerged in the postseason, and the Yankees have gone 7-2 anyway. An MVP-level Judge emergence would change the series. -- Jorge Castillo

Where the Yankees are vulnerable: The Yankees' bullpen performance has been a revelation, given the context of mid-September, when Manager Aaron Boone talked about the need to be "creative." What that entailed, in the end, was the shift of Luke Weaver into the closer role, in place of Clay Holmes, and the bullpen has performed spectacularly in the first two rounds of the postseason. But this Dodgers' lineup is a whole different level of tough, and so Holmes and Tommy Kahnle and Tim Hill and the others will have to respond in big moments in this series. The Yankees need their starters to cover a majority of innings in this series, because the more that New York's bullpen is exposed, the more likely it is that the Dodgers will get to them. L.A.'s bullpen is deeper. - Buster Olney

How Yankees can pitch Ohtani and Betts: I'm looking at heat maps of Ohtani's tendencies, like how his nitro zone is almost the entire strike zone, and I can't help but hear "Welcome to the Jungle" and Ohtani chuckling at me trying to find a weakness. I'm having trouble finding a type of pitch that he doesn't have a 1.000 OPS against. He has excellent lateral plate coverage, so he'll tend to spoil pitches just inside/outside -- but he will whiff on stuff just above/below the zone. He has the least success with hard stuff that looks like four-seam fastballs out of the hand, like cutters, sliders, and sinkers. I think working down with firm stuff and mixing in a pitch or two above the zone to change his eyeline will give you a shot, maybe after getting ahead from him fouling off a cutter/slider on his hands. -- Kiley McDaniel

Pitching to Betts is a walk in the park after breaking down Judge, Soto, and Ohtani. Betts' weakest location is away, along with some struggles just above the zone. He excels down and in and even off the plate down and in. It might start sounding repetitive, but a four-seamer or two above the zone to mix things up is smart to deploy at the right time, with the pitch you're trying to get to most often being a breaking ball down and/or away. He won't swing and miss much, so it'll be hard to strike him out, but his nitro zone is the inner half, while the outer half is less scary and off the plate away is where you're trying to land those sliders. -- Kiley McDaniel

Jeff Passan's inside intel:

The Yankees have no problem getting runners on base. Sometimes they just have trouble keeping them there and advancing them. If there is a clear advantage in this series, it's the Dodgers' on the basepaths. Not only do the Yankees make too many boneheaded mistakes, they were thrown out a disproportionate number of times on the basepaths and took extra bases (going first to third on a single, first to home on a double and second to home on a single) at the lowest rate in MLB, just 36% of the time. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were the best in baseball (49%) "They're going to make dumb outs at inopportune times," one scout said. "They're just consistently not good at running."

Everything is pointing toward Nestor Cortes returning from a flexor strain in his left forearm, and because he hasn't pitched since Sept. 18 and isn't built up, the strong likelihood is him slotting into a relief or opener role. New York could be inclined to use him early in the series to see whether his stuff is playing -- and if he can be an effective left-on-left counter to a pocket of the lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. "It's risky spending a roster spot on a guy you don't know you can rely on," an executive involved in postseason roster construction said. "If he's not good, you can just take him off the roster, but if he costs you a game, you're already regretting the choice."

One thing the Yankees will be happy not to see against the Dodgers: changeups. No Dodgers pitcher regularly throws a change. Yoshinobu Yamamoto's splitter and Brent Honeywell's screwball function the same, but considering the Yankees' OPS against changeups this season was 18^th in MLB, Los Angeles -- especially its bullpen, in which Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen do not offer a change - is doing the Yankees a favor. "It's something to exploit," a scout said. "And the Dodgers just don't have guys who can do that."

Our predictions

New York Yankees (7 votes)

Los Angeles Dodgers (7 votes)

How many games?

Yankees in 7 (5 votes)
Dodgers in 7 (4 votes)
Dodgers in 6 (3 votes)
Yankees in 6 (2 votes)

MVP: Juan Soto (4 votes), Aaron Judge (3 votes), Mookie Betts (3 votes), Shohei Ohtani (2 votes), Teoscar Hernandez (1 vote), Max Muncy (1 vote)

Our voting was split, why did you pick the Yankees?

The baseline percentages I use to run the simulations that generate the probabilities you read here are virtually dead even between the Yankees and Dodgers. In other words, this is a coin flip of a matchup with the Dodgers getting an extra home game which, based on what we've seen the last couple of years, may or may not be an advantage. My pick of the Yankees, given the hours upon hours I spent working with numbers and trying to appraise every team at each stage of the season, is based on little more than a hunch. Sorry, statheads.

Things I like about the Yankees:

The Yankees are battle-tested after surviving a gauntlet of young, fast-rising AL Central contenders.

I like that the Yankees have a more coherent pitching setup entering the series, one sharpened by the long layoff since the ALCS. Yes, you can say that helps the Dodgers and their bullpenning ways even more, but I still think there are diminishing returns in trying to ride that to the end, at least for that team.

I also think the layoff will give Aaron Judge a chance to get his head together and he is overdue for a heater.

More than anything: If there is one player I think could dominate this matchup from beginning to end, it's Juan Soto, who, for now at least, resides in the Yankees dugout. -- Doolittle

And why do you think the Dodgers will win it all?

Rigorous statistical studies have shown that it would take a best-of-75 series to determine the best team in a matchup of two essentially equal teams, which is what we have here, but given that we can't really keep playing baseball until mid-January, we're stuck with a best-of-7.

Here's why I'm picking the Dodgers:

I believe more in Shohei Ohtani right now than Aaron Judge.

The Yankees haven't been tested in the postseason -- the Royals and Guardians, simply put, were average-at-best offensive teams. The Cleveland bullpen was also running on fumes.

Sure, the Dodgers have issues with the starting rotation, but they've already proven they can overcome that with their bullpen depth.

I don't trust the Yankees bullpen. Tim Hill? Jake Cousins? Even Luke Weaver, as good as he's been, was touched up for a couple home runs in the ALCS.

Giancarlo Stanton can -- and will -- be pitched to. (though I'm not sure the same can be said for Juan Soto)

Mookie Betts is back: .342/.419/.763, 4 HR, 12 RBIs over his past nine games. (though I do worry about Freddie Freeman's ankle)

Ohtani will deliver in Game 7. -- Schoenfield