Impact Ratings: MLS Games Hit Hard by International Duty (March 2025)

I guess I am turning into a soccer blogger! After writing about the Vancouver Whitecaps’ offseason, I am returning to discuss how the international break impacts different matches this weekend in MLS.

MLS is ridiculed yearly for continuing to have matchdays during FIFA international breaks. It’s the only major league in the world that still ignores them entirely, and we’re nearing 100 players being unavailable this March 2025 window.

Every fan will complain about their team’s missing players, but I wanted to look at the underlying data for those absences. I compiled a spreadsheet of every player called up, the number of minutes they’ve played this season, and their average FotMob ratings.

Taking these variables, you can see a few interesting metrics. I’ve broken them down below. You can also see my raw spreadsheet where I’ve played all this out if you’re interested. I’m no statistician, so if you have any suggestions for improvements here, I am all ears.

Percent of Team Minutes

For an 11-man team, over four matches of 90 minutes, what percentage of the players that played those minutes is unavailable? This is the quickest way to see what impact these absences will have. If you’re missing 25%+ of the minutes played so far this season, it will significantly impact your team this week.

Weighted Average FotMob Rating

Four games into the 2025 MLS season is a small sample size, especially for new players to their teams, but it still gives you a rough idea of their impact on the team.

I’ve weighted these averages based on a player’s number of minutes. A player who has only had a few minutes on the pitch shouldn’t impact them in the same way.

Match Impact Score

This was the end number I was trying to reach—a clean, simple number that shows how much impact these absences will have on a team. It is based mainly on the percentage of team minutes missing, with some effect from the weighted average FotMob Rating. If you have any suggestions on making this metric more enjoyable, please let me know in the comments!

March 22/23, 2025 Matches

The first-ever Battle of the Berhalter. The match had me thinking about the impact of absences in the first place.

Vancouver is struck with four first-team players missing, all of whom have played at least 50% of the available minutes. Chicago is impacted but nowhere near as heavily, with neither player crossing 90% of the available minutes.

Vancouver is undefeated this season, and it is their match to lose. It will be an uphill battle with a few key injuries and four international unavailibilities.

It’s a fairly even matchup. Houston is missing more players, but two are U-20/U-18 players who aren’t getting any first-team minutes. This will be a recurring theme throughout: teams losing more players but not being impactful.

Real Salt Lake is another case of more missing players, but most are depth pieces from their academy. Diego Luna will be their most significant loss, while Dallas must rely on their backup goalkeeper.

Both teams are missing goalkeepers - but Maxime Crépeau has fallen the pecking order for Portland and the Canadian MNT. He didn’t start for Canada on Thursday against Mexico, and we’ll see if he gets the nod against the USA on Sunday.

Colorado will hope to keep up its strong start to the season despite missing some key pieces.

Kansas City had almost no impact until Zorhan Bassong got a late call-up to the Canadian MNT. Bouanga will be the most missed by the LAFC side. It will be a reasonably regular match for both teams.

Both teams only lose one important player - Joel Waterman for Montreal and Andy Najar for Nashville. Montreal is still a bottom-of-the-table team this year, so I imagine it will be an easy win for Nashville.

St. Louis is the exception from this list of MLS teams. Their only call-up is for a U-18 player with no first-team minutes. This is what you expected MLS teams to look like a decade ago when it made sense not to break for the international window.

On the other hand, Philly is the second most impacted team by the international window. This one will be tough for them, losing their starting goalkeeper, four other outfield players and two depth pieces.

It’s a very even matchup! Orlando is losing their goalkeeper, which is always a roll of the dice. This one is anyone’s game to win.

It’s another very even loss on the surface, but the Toronto side has been abysmal so far this year. Red Bulls are missing their starting goalkeeper, which is always a roll of the dice, but their outfield is in good shape. They’ll be expecting to win this one.

A perfect example of the number of players you’re missing doesn’t show the impact it will have. Columbus Crew is missing three locked-in starters, while NYCFC is just missing one, despite four total for each. Columbus is going to be relying on some depth for this one.

Charlotte is losing three starting players, while San Jose is just missing one. Both teams are having solid starts to their year, and San Jose hopes to capitalize on Charlotte’s losses.

Ooph, poor Minnesota. This should have been a walk in the park for them over a weak LA Galaxy side. All five of their missing players are regular starters, including their goalkeeper. Galaxy is just missing two depth options.

Atlanta United is the most impacted MLS team this window! Eight players are missing, covering 43% of their first-team minutes so far this season. Cincinnati is relatively unscathed, but they are losing their starting striker, Kévin Denkey, who is getting settled in after moving from Cercle Brugge this offseason.

Austin may be missing more players, but half are depth pieces who haven’t been getting first-team minutes in 2025. San Diego will be pushing to keep their incredible first MLS season start strong.

This match is actually the bye for the week and not being played until July 9th. It’s a mystery how Inter Miami got to skip this of all weeks…