Griezmann and Lewandowski Shine in MLS as Messi Takes Break

Lionel Messi is on pause, but Major League Soccer is not.

With the Argentina captain taking a post-World Cup break after that gutting final defeat to Spain, the league has wasted no time handing the spotlight to its next wave of global stars. Antoine Griezmann has already grabbed it with both hands. Robert Lewandowski is still reaching for it.

Griezmann hits the ground running

On Wednesday, July 22, Orlando City gave Griezmann his first taste of MLS. He responded like a player who has seen every stage the game can offer.

Three minutes into the second half against the San Jose Earthquakes, the 2018 World Cup winner had his first MLS goal. Orlando were already in control; by the final whistle they had crushed San Jose 4-0, and Griezmann’s debut had the feel of a statement rather than a soft launch.

While Orlando were flying, Lewandowski’s first night in the league told a very different story.

The Polish striker started for the Chicago Fire against an Inter Miami side missing Messi, but the script refused to bend to his reputation. Sixty-three minutes, no goals, and a 3-2 defeat. For a player who has spent his career treating penalty areas like personal property, it was a subdued beginning.

The contrast was stark. One European star off to a dream start, the other still searching for his first real MLS moment.

Lewandowski heads to Yankee Stadium, Griezmann faces a test

The next chapter comes quickly.

On Saturday, July 25, Lewandowski and the Fire head to Yankee Stadium to face New York City FC. The setting is big, the margins tight. He will not need telling that marquee forwards in this league are judged early and often. A first MLS goal in the Bronx would settle nerves in Chicago and shift the conversation overnight.

Griezmann’s assignment is tougher on paper. Orlando City host Nashville SC, the current leaders in the Supporters’ Shield race. One sparkling debut is one thing; doing it again against the league’s pace-setters is how reputations are built on this side of the Atlantic.

A stacked Saturday slate

Those two storylines sit inside a packed Saturday schedule, with every game available on Apple TV:

• Red Bull New York vs. Charlotte FC, 6:30 p.m. ET
• Columbus Crew vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:15 p.m. ET
• D.C. United vs. Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
• CF Montréal vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET
• New England Revolution vs. Atlanta United, 7:30 p.m. ET
• New York City FC vs. Chicago Fire, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Orlando City SC vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Houston Dynamo vs. Austin FC, 8:30 p.m. ET
• Minnesota United vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 8:30 p.m. ET
• St. Louis City SC vs. Colorado Rapids, 8:30 p.m. ET
• San Diego FC vs. FC Dallas, 9:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Los Angeles FC vs. Sporting Kansas City, 10:30 p.m. ET
• Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake, 10:30 p.m. ET
• San Jose Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m. ET

Plenty of options. One fixture towers above the rest.

“Hell is Real” returns

Columbus against Cincinnati rarely needs hype. The rivalry has its own name — “Hell is Real” — and its own history, and on Saturday at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field it returns with the two clubs heading in very different directions.

FC Cincinnati arrive with momentum and purpose. They are in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race and coming off a wild 4-3 win over Western Conference leaders the Vancouver Whitecaps, a result that underlined both their attacking threat and their refusal to go away.

Columbus, by contrast, are stuck in a grim 2026.

Four wins from 16 league matches tell the story. The club fired Henrik Rydström on May 17 after just 14 games, handing the reins on an interim basis to Laurent Courtois. The World Cup break offered a chance to reset. It did not last long. On July 22, the Crew fell 2-1 to New York City FC, another defeat in a season that keeps finding new ways to frustrate their supporters.

So the stakes for this derby go beyond bragging rights. Cincinnati can use it as another step in a serious campaign. Columbus are looking for something more basic: a lifeline.

The bigger picture: Miami lead the odds

Step back from the week-to-week chaos and the oddsmakers still see one team above the rest.

According to the latest BetMGM numbers, Inter Miami sit as favorites to win the 2026 league championship at +333, even with Messi currently on his post-World Cup break. Los Angeles FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps follow at +750, Nashville SC at +800, with FC Cincinnati at +1200 — a price that will not last if their recent form holds.

The season’s key dates still stretch out ahead, the trophy still a distant shape. For now, MLS leans on a familiar truth: stars come and go, breaks are taken, eras shift. The games keep coming.

On Saturday night, from “Hell is Real” in Ohio to Lewandowski under the lights at Yankee Stadium and Griezmann facing the league leaders in Orlando, the question is simple enough: who seizes the moment while Messi is away?