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Seven Atlanta United players receive National Team call-ups for September and October FIFA window

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1 month ago

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Seven Atlanta United players received call-ups from their respective national teams for the Sept. 21-Oct. 6 FIFA window. Miguel Almirón, Júnior Alonso, Paulo Díaz, Breel Embolo, Alexey Miranchuk, Fafa Picault and Cooper Sanchez will all participate in their respective national team camps. Embolo and Sanchez will remain with Atlanta United this week and join their national teams after Atlanta’s match against New York City FC on Sept. 26.

Almirón and Alonso will join Paraguay for friendlies against Bolivia on Sept. 27 and Colombia on Oct. 2 after helping the nation reach the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Almirón has started 73 of his 80 appearances for Paraguay and recorded 10 goals and seven assists since his debut on Sept. 9, 2015. Alonso has started 74 of his 76 appearances and recorded three goals and three assists since his debut Oct. 10, 2013.

Díaz joins Chile for friendlies against Canada on Sept. 26 and the United States on Sept. 29. He has made 56 appearances for Chile and recorded one goal since his debut in 2015. He has appeared in 25 World Cup qualifying matches in CONMEBOL as well as five matches in Copa América.

Embolo joins Switzerland, who will play four Nations League Group Stage matches during the window, facing North Macedonia on Sept. 26, Scotland on Sept. 29, Slovenia on Oct. 3 and North Macedonia on Oct. 6. The forward most recently helped lead Switzerland to the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup where he started all six matches and recorded two goals and two assists. He has recorded 26 goals and 20 assists in 92 appearances with Switzerland since his debut in 2015. He’s played in three FIFA World Cups, recording a total of four goals and three assists in 14 appearances. He was named Switzerland’s Golden Player and Best Young Player in 2015 at the age of 18.

Miranchuk returns to Russia’s National Team for friendlies against Iran on Sept. 29, Namibia on Oct. 2 and Nigeria on Oct. 5. He has recorded 11 goals and nine assists in 53 appearances with the National Team since his debut in 2015.

Picault joins Haiti for four Concacaf Nations League Group Stages matches against Trinidad and Tobago on Sept. 24, Costa Rica on Sept. 27, Dominican Republic on Oct. 1 and Costa Rica on Oct. 4. Picault has recorded one goal and four assists in 16 appearances for Haiti since his debut on June 25, 2023.

Sanchez has been called up to the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team for friendlies against Brazil’s U-20s on Oct. 1 and Denmark’s U-20s on Oct. 4, with both matches to be played in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain. The U-20 squad qualified for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan this summer with a runner-up finish at the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship. Sanchez has made four appearances for the U.S. U-20s and previously made two appearances for the U.S. U-18s and 10 appearances for the U.S. U-17s, including three appearances at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

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Match recap: Unforced errors cost Atlanta United in loss to Chicago Fire

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3 days ago

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October 24, 2026

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Against the top teams in the conference, a mistake-free match isn’t a nice-to-have but an imperative for success. The 5-Stripes created and converted on the attacking end twice, but a pair of defensive miscues in the second half were costly enough to decide the match. Atlanta United fell 3-2 to Chicago Fire in their penultimate home match of the 2026 season.

What happened

The 5-Stripes jumped out the gate with purpose, pushing forward on the right side with Tomás Jacob overlapping attackers. He was to thank for the earliest goal of Atlanta United’s season, finding room on the right side of the box from a keen through ball from Miguel Almirón. The Paraguayan had picked the ball up from midfield and dribbled all the way to the edge of the box before dishing it across to Jacob, who finished with power past Chris Brady in the 4th minute.

Chicago tried their hand at possession to settle into the match, but Atlanta United were chaotic in defense and eager to win the ball back. That early energy dissipated as the visitors kept pressing, and the Fire jumped out to

Philip Zinckernagel hit the crossbar on a rogue attempt from the left side of the box in the 25th minute that Lucas Hoyos may have gotten a touch on. Chicago did eventually find an equalizer in the 30th minute. The ball fell outside the box after a corner kick, and a crisp strike on the half volley from Anton Salétros snuck through defenders and past Hoyos.

Paulo Díaz had to make a sliding stop to prevent a possible second for Chicago in the 32nd minute, putting his body on the line to block a shot inside the box.

Breel Embolo had a great look saved by Brady in the 35th minute, as Mauricio Amaro did some lovely work to get the ball into a dangerous area. His cross was driven low, and the Swiss forward struck the ball cleanly but right at the Chicago keeper. The U.S. international picked up an injury making the save, though he carried on.

The 5-Stripes finished out the half with vigor, and Embolo scored a goal in what would eventually be ruled an offside run by Jacob before playing the cross to his forward. Things were starting to heat up just as the referee blew the whistle for halftime.

Chicago missed an open net on the first real chance of the second half, as Maren Haile-Selassie skied a chance with no one in goal. A minute later, the 5-Stripes gifted them a second goal. Substitute Anzor Mekvabishvili turned in a simple finish after winning a tackle and intercepting a routine pass at the back from Hoyos, leaving the 5-Stripes with a frustrating 2-1 deficit.

Atlanta United surrendered an indirect free kick in the 57th minute when Hoyos picked up a back pass from Elías Báez. It left Chicago with a rare free kick inside of the 6-yard box, which after a flurry of whistle restarts for players jumping too early, they dispatched for 3-1. Zinckernagel was the man to roof the ball into the net.

The 5-Stripes got one back 10 minutes later in the 67th when Breel Embolo thumped a header past Brady. Báez put in a whipped cross to the forward, whose header was pure to bring Atlanta United back into the match.

Atlanta’s striker broke away in the 70th minute and missed a golden opportunity to level the scoring. Embolo ran onto a deep clearance and got one-on-one with the keeper. but couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball. He missed the frame of the goal wide right.

So it was the hosts pressing for an equalizer down the stretch, playing a daring high line and going for points they desperately needed. They got five minutes of stoppage time to pull it off, but Chicago’s low-block defending was enough to finish off the match, and the 5-Stripes lost 3-2.

Standouts

  • Miguel Almirón continued his bright post-World-Cup form with another goal contribution, an assist where he brought the ball from midfield and ushered it to Tomás Jacob for the first goal. It was Almirón’s 15th MLS match with multiple chances created since the break, tying him with Carles Gil for most such by any MLS player in that time.

Milestones

  • Miguel Almirón became Atlanta United’s outright leader in assists on the season with 8.
  • Mauricio Amaro picked up his first two assists with the 5-Stripes with a secondary assist on both of the goals.

Up next

Atlanta United hits the road for a midweek match against New York City FC. They’ll need to pick up points to stay alive in the playoff race. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, October 28 at Citi Field in Queens.

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