SAN DIEGO FC v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC make a field trip to Cottonwood Lane to play the return match against San Diego FC. I predict the weather will be 70ºF-ish and clear skies.

What: MLS league match San Diego FC v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: Cottonwood Lane, San Diego, California.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 24 October 2026 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league for the purposes of MLS Cup qualification. Sounders FC are currently in 13th place in the MLS league table on 42 points, 25 points adrift of likely league champions Nashville. The regional table for MLS Cup qualification currently looks like this:

6 LAFC 3 matches remaining 46 points

7 Sounders 4 matches remaining 42 points

8 LA Galaxy 3 matches remaining 40 points

9 Colorado 4 matches remaining 39 points

———————————————————————————————————————————————

10 Salt Lake 4 matches remaining 36 points

11 Portland         4 matches remaining 34 points

12 San Diego 4 matches remaining 34 points

13 Minnesota 4 matches remaining 34 points

14 Austin 4 matches remaining 31 points

15 Kansas City 4 matches remaining 22 points - eliminated

Relevant matches for this weekend:

LAFC v. LAG || COL v. VAN || RSL v. STL || POR v. CLT || HOU v. MIN || SKC v. ATX

Where to Watch: Apple TV.

Where to Listen: KJR 950 AM and El Rey 1360 AM.

Although we managed to salvage a point against Montreal, the last two matches have been hard going for our beloved Sounders. The difference in the 1:0 loss at Dallas was leaving Kaick unmarked for long enough that he could lash in a volley from inside the Penalty Area combined with our inability to finish a chance. The home fixture against Montreal featured both teams scoring a fluky goal, each set up by an unpredictable deflection that fell favourably for first, Synchuk, and later, Gomez.

That’s some hard luck. Sounders have had 14 shots on target over the last two matches. Seven shots on target in each match. Several of those shots were legitimate threats to score. Football can be such a cruel game sometimes. You can do all the right things and you might still be left without a favourable result.

Funny thing about hard luck is that we are talking about statistical outliers. If we continue to do the right things, create chances, attack open spaces, make clever runs, play quick combinations, not jam each other up in the final third, defend as sharply as we possibly can, and run run run run run, we’re going to score some goals at some point. If only because of the law of averages.

The markedly less funny thing is that San Diego have also seen their share of hard luck. They haven’t won a league match since 29 August. Since then, their record in the league is 0-4-4. You look throughout their lineup and there’s a fair amount of quality there. They endured a humiliating 0:5 battering from Philadelphia in front of their own supporters on 13 September, and could only manage a 3:3 draw in their most recent home match with Houston as the visitor. This lot are backed into a corner and I’d expect a fair bit of snarl in their game.

San Diego are only five points adrift of Colorado for that last qualification spot. They were able to defeat Toluca once (to be completely fair, Toluca beat them 4:0 in the second leg), while we couldn’t manage it. They were unbeaten against Austin when we couldna take a point off the Texans. We barely eked out a 1:1 draw with Montreal whilst San Diego pumped them for five goals. They played better against LAFC and LA Galaxy. All of this to say, it’s going to be hard going. They won’t give anything away cheaply and if they can manage enough good chances, they have the quality to beat us.

With all this said, we must do what we always do. Support our Boys in Green. To the end. For those making the trip south, look after each other and tie your scarves proper. Behave yourselves in town, and be as uproarious and insufferable as possible on the terraces at the Cottonwood Lane football ground. We will hear you.

For those of us that remain in The Evergreen. it’s telly screens and fellowship. Pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings. Houses and flats for pints and cats. Boats and ships for pie and chips. Within every fibre of us, every sound that comes out of us, every great hope we have for the lot of us, we shall carry on for our lads, and they shall carry on for us in turn.

Its MLS league football under the Saturday night lights of Cottonwood Lane. Accept no substitutes, it’s gonna be a belter. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

Although many in San Diego would be focused on shooting the curl, Sounders FC will be more focused on shooting the football on-target come Saturday night.

The Good News

Our lads are doing the right things; the ball just isn’t going into the big white box. If we keep at it, we’ll see success. Of this, I am certain.

Sounders still have the 4th best defence in the league whilst our hosts are bleeding nearly two goals per match (1.86 goals conceded/match in all competitions). Add to this our superior recent form (3-1-1 for Sounders and 0-1-4 for San Diego over the last five matches) and we’re in with a shout.

Gomez Andrade is injured again, but this is mitigated by both our younger centre-halves getting key minutes and experience during our injury crisis, and also by the availability of Sailor who is a seasoned professional. Although Musovski is hurt, Joveljic has been quite good since arriving at Longacres, and Morris was a pleasant surprise last time he was deployed at centre-forward.

If we can get seven points out of our last four matches, it should be enough to guarantee MLS Cup qualification. That won’t be easy, but it can be done.

Although the Sounders FC Reserves were recently eliminated from MLS Next Pro Cup, there were definitely signs of quality, not to mention resolve and perseverance during some rocky stretches during the season. The real bright spot was centre-forward Mark Bronnik (13 goals, 4 assists). There were also a number of good performances from Yu Tsukanome (before his loan to Pittsburgh), Edson Carli, Charlie Gaffney, Rafael Jauregui, Mark O’Neill, and from the small six-match sample we saw from young Matthew Bell. We must remember that it’s the lessons learnt in developmental football that are the most important. Winning titles is icing on the proverbial cake.

The Bad News

San Diego score a lot of goals. As a team they average 1.76 goals/match (in all competitions). As we’re struggling to put the ball in the old onion bag of late, defensive lapses would be less than ideal playing against such a successful attacking side.

San Diego don’t really lose at home (10-4-5 in all competitions). This combined with Sounders pedestrian away form (5-5-8 in all competitions) means that Saturday night’s match may end up being a very heavy lift indeed. Granted, we recently won away at Foxboro 0:3 over New England, but that was our first away victory in the league since our visit to Houston on 4 April.

The danger men for San Diego are as follows: Dreyer (13 goals, 13 assists - €15M estimated transfer value) can hurt you with a goal or a well-placed pass. The Danish forward is all quality. Ingvartsen (12 goals, 5 assists), another Danish forward, is also a troublesome attacker. Rounding out the attack are Valakari (4 goals, 9 assists), Pirani (4 goals, 1 assist), and Pellegrino (3 goals, 3 assists). Our defence had better be on its toes.

Although the Sounders FC Reserves made a good fight of it in their MLS Pro Cup play-in match against San Jose Earthquakes II, in the end it wasn’t enough. Our lads battled back from a 2:0 deficit at Coleman Avenue, with Rafael Jauregui hitting a brace to level the terms on 51 minutes. Allen would hit back for Earthquakes, but the South Bay lads were thwarted by a Mark O’Neill equaliser on 77 minutes. The cup tie would go to extra-time with Earthquakes taking yet a third lead on Spivey’s 104th minute marker, only to see Sounders equalise yet again on Lucero’s 110th minute equaliser. The match ended a 4:4 draw, with Earthquakes advancing on penalty kicks. Our lads showed courage, effort, and resolve, and I’m proud of what they done this season. Some days you get the bear. Some days the bear gets you. Hopefully the core of this team will remain on to represent us next season. Good on ye, lads. Ye never gave up, and you made us proud.

Gomez Andrade is out. He’s our most experienced centre-half, and it’s less than ideal that he has been re-injured so quickly after returning to fitness. Musovski is also out which is also not good, with Rothrock facing a late fitness test to determine his availability.

The Side I Would Select

With LA Galaxy and Colorado nipping at our heels in the regional table, it would be prudent to select the best available players. I’d have Gomez and/or Arreola off the bench if Morris and/or Ferreira are struggling.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Alex

LDM   Dotson

RDM   Cristian

LF     Morris

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Joveljic

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I reckon the team we’ll see at kick-off on Saturday night will be mostly the same as against Montreal, but with one or two changes.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH     Ragen

RCH    Sailor

RB     Alex

LDM    Dotson

RDM   Cristian

LF     Morris

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Joveljic

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Allen Chapman.

SD record with Chapman as Ref: 2-0-0

SEA record with Chapman as Ref: 16-5-10

SD aggregate squad estimated transfer value: €49.65M

SEA aggregate squad estimated transfer value: €50.83M

SD 2026 transfer fees paid: €7.25M

SEA 2026 transfer fees paid: €5.2M

San Diego’s Manager, Mikey Varas, previously worked for United States U-20s as Manager and the United States senior team as caretaker. He additionally worked for the academies of Sacramento Republic and FC Dallas, and was a coach at both FC Dallas and United States. Varas holds a United States FA ‘A’ License.

General notes on personnel

San Diego transfers IN:

Bombino (Los Angeles FC) €173,000

Verhoeven (San Jose Earthquakes) €304,000

Valakari (Pafos) €1.5M

Vazquez (Philadelphia Union) €215,000

Morgan (New York RB) €383,000

Sargeant (Houston Dynamo) undisclosed

Eisner (San Jose Earthquakes) free

Soe (Boldklubben af 1893) €500,000

Duke (CF Montreal) free

Zamble (Right to Dream Academy) free

Jackson (FC Dallas) free

Murphy (Colorado Rapids) free

Pirani (DC United) €305,000

Thorhallsson (CF Montreal) €440,000

Achouri (FC Copenhagen) €3M

Alstrup (Austin FC) free

Vines (Houston Dynamo) loan

Mimbang (FC Nordsjaelland) loan

Bakambu (Real Betis) free

San Diego transfers OUT:

Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo) end of loan

Negri (Houston Dynamo) free

Bruseth (Kristiansund BK) free

McNair (Hull City) undisclosed

Angel (America de Cali) free

Duru (Blackburn Rovers) end of loan

Lozano (LA Galaxy) loan

Reyes (Atletico Nacional) free

Eisner (FC Tulsa) loan

Saidi (Benfica) loan

Bombino (Stoke City) €4.3M

Morgan (Toronto FC) free

Duke (Wellington Phoenix) undisclosed

Comparison against common opponents

SD 5:0 MTL

SEA 1:1 MTL

(against MTL: SD 1-0-0 +5, SEA 0-1-0 0) decisive edge SD

SD 2:0 STL

STL 0:1 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

(against STL: SD 1-0-0 +2, SEA 2-0-0 +4) decisive edge SEA

SKC 0:1 SD

SKC 1:1 SEA

SEA 2:1 SKC

(against SKC: SD 1-0-0 +1, SEA 1-1-0 +1) marginal edge SEA

DAL 3:3 SD

SD 1:0 DAL

SEA 2:1 DAL

DAL 1:0 SEA

(against DAL: SD 1-1-0 +1, SEA 1-0-1 0) marginal edge SD

SD 2:2 RSL

RSL 4:2 SD

RSL 2:1 SEA

SEA 2:0 RSL

(against RSL: SD 0-1-1 -2, SEA 1-0-1 +1) marginal edge SEA

SJ 3:0 SD

SD 2:3 SJ

SJ 0:1 SEA
SEA 3:2 SJ

(against SJ: SD 0-0-2 -4, SEA 2-0-0 +2) decisive edge SEA

SD 1:2 MIN

MIN 1:1 SD

MIN 0:0 SEA

SEA 3:1 MIN

(against MIN: SD 0-1-1 -1, SEA 1-1-0 +2) decisive edge SEA

HOU 1:0 SD

SD 3:3 HOU

HOU 0:1 SEA

(against HOU: SD 0-1-1 -1, SEA 1-0-0 +1) edge SEA

SD 1:2 POR

POR 3:1 SD

SEA 1:5 POR

POR 2:1 SEA

(against POR: SD 0-0-2 -3, SEA 0-0-2 -5) marginal edge SD

SD 2:2 LAFC

LAFC 0:1 SD

LAFC 1:0 SEA

(against LAFC: SD 1-1-0 +1, SEA 0-0-1 -1) decisive edge SD

SD 5:0 ATX

ATX 3:3 SD

ATX 3:1 SEA

SEA 1:2 ATX

(against ATX: SD 1-1-0 +5, SEA 0-0-2 -3) decisive edge SD

SD 3:3 CIN

CIN 1:1 SEA

(against CIN: SD 0-1-0 0, SEA 0-1-0 0) even

SD 2:4 VAN

SEA 0:2 VAN

VAN 0:3 SEA CCC

SEA 2:1 VAN* CCC *Spokane

(against VAN: SD 0-0-1 -2, SEA 2-0-1 +2) decisive edge SEA

COL 1:0 SD

SD 3:0 COL

SEA 2:0 COL

COL 3:3 SEA

(against COL: SD 1-0-1 +2, SEA 1-1-0 +2) marginal edge SEA

SD 3:1 LAG

LAG 2:2 SD

SEA 0:2 LAG

LAG 1:1 SEA

(against LAG: SD 1-1-0 +2, SEA 0-1-1 -2) decisive edge SD

SD 0:5 PHI

PHI 1:0 SEA

(against PHI: SD 0-0-1 -5, SEA 0-0-1 -1) edge SEA

NYRB 4:1 SD

SEA 0:0 NYRB

(against NYRB: SD 0-0-1 -3, SEA 0-1-0 0) edge SEA

SD 3:2 TOL CCC

TOL 4:0 SD CCC

TOL 3:0 SEA LC

(against TOL: SD 1-0-1 -3, SEA 0-0-1 -3) edge SD

Know Thine Enemy

San Diego as they lined up in their 2:2 draw against LA Galaxy at Avalon Boulevard on 17 October.

GOALKEEPER

Pablo Sisniega, 31

Mexico

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles FC (28/0), Charlotte FC (5/0), San Antonio FC (22/0), San Diego FC (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

Notes: Developed by CD Guadalajara, Philadelphia Union, and Real Sociedad. Won a league championship with LAFC in 2019.

DEFENCE

Kieran Sargeant, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Lexington SC (27/0), San Diego FC (21/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Houston Dynamo. Played his university football for Georgetown (60/4).

Manu Duah, 21

Ghana

Notable Clubs: San Diego FC (43/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by Santa Barbara SC. Played his university football for Santa Barbara (14/0).

Christopher McVey, 29

Sweden

Notable Clubs: Elfsborg (32/0), Inter Miami CF (50/1), DC United (27/1), San Diego FC (57/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Sparsors AIK and Elfsborg. Won a Leagues Cup with Inter Miami CF.

Oscar Verhoeven, 20

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (7/0), San Diego FC (40/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by San Jose Earthquakes. Has played for United States (23/0) at youth levels.

MIDFIELD

Gabriel Pirani, 24

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Santos (51/4), Cuiaba (10/1), Fluminense (15/2), DC United (78/14), San Diego FC (10/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Santos. Played for Brazil (12/2) at youth levels.

Anibal Godoy, 36

Panama (160/4)

Notable Clubs: Chepo (113/10), Honved (24/1), San Jose Earthquakes (101/5), Nashville SC (111/3), San Diego FC (53/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €100,000

Notes: Full name: Anibal Casis Godoy Lemus. Developed by Arsenal de Sarandi and Chepo.

Alejandro Alvarado, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Vizela (9/0), San Diego FC (33/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Los Angeles Galaxy. Has played for United States (9/1) at youth levels. Won a CONCACAF U-20 championship with United States.

FORWARD

Elias Achouri, 27

Tunisia (33/5)

Notable Clubs: Estoril (2/0), Viborg (28/6), FC Copenhagen (72/9), San Diego FC (11/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Mohamed Elias Achouri. Developed by Saint-Etienne and Vitoria Guimaraes. Won a Danish Superliga and Danish Cup double for FC Copenhagen.

Cedric Bakambu, 35

DR Congo (72/21)

Notable Clubs: Sochaux (94/18), Bursaspor (27/13), Villarreal (75/32), Beijing Guoan (71/48), Marseille (15/4), Olympiacos (32/18), Galatasaray (10/1), Real Betis (47/5), San Diego FC (7/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Ivry and Sochaux. Won a Chinese FA Cup with Beijing Guoan. Won the Golden Boot (8 goals) in the 2014-15 Turkish Cup. Named to UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season 2015-16. Won the Golden Boot (14 goals) in the 2020 Chinese Super League. Won the Golden Boot (18 goals) in the 2022-23 Super League Greece.

Anders Dryer, 28

Denmark (9/3)

Notable Clubs: Esbjerg fB (41/20), St. Mirren (10/1), SC Heerenveen (11/1), Midtjylland (79/28), Ruben Kazan (14/8), RSC Anderlecht (69/26), San Diego FC (63/32)

Estimated Transfer Value: €15M

Notes: Developed by Ribe BK, Bramming BK, and Esbjerg fB. Won a Danish 1st Division promotion play-off with Esbjerg fB. Won a Danish Superliga and Danish Cup with Midtjylland. Named MLS Newcomer of the Year 2025. Named to MLS Best XI 2025.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

San Diego from:

Dos Santos, Sisniega, Alstrup, Ferree, Kumado, Thorhallsson, Sargeant, Soe, Vines, Pilcher, Murphy, Verhoeven, McVey, Tverskov, Valakari, Pirani, Soma, Vazquez, Godoy, Duah, Mimbang, Alvarado, Ingvartsen, Dreyer, Zamble, Boateng, Mighten, Pellegrino, Bakambu.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Anchor, Hawkins, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez, Nouhou, Alex, Ragen, Sailor, Brunell, Kingston, Clark, Cristian, Dotson, Rusnak, Arriola, Ferreira, Gomez, Joveljic, Morris, Rothrock.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

San Diego -

OUT: Achouri (lower body, we’ll say painful anal lumps).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Sounders FC -

OUT: Gomez Andrade (hamstring), Musovski (head), De la Vega (quadriceps), Petkovic (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Rothrock (hamstring).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

San Diego: No players suspended. Godoy and McVey out next match if booked.

Sounders FC: No players suspended. Dotson and Kingston out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Since 2009 when Sounders FC first joined MLS, we have earned the most points from league play with 943 points. The New York Red Donkeys are second with 872 points. Sounders FC have also won the most trophies since joining MLS, having won nine titles (2x MLS Cup, an MLS league Championship, 4x US Open Cup, a CONCACAF Champions Cup, and a Leagues Cup). Los Angeles Galaxy are second within this time-frame with six titles (4x MLS Cup and 2x MLS League Championship).