Every year, New York City FC is handed a tough start to the Major League Soccer season. Because of the freezing-cold temperatures and winter-like conditions at home in February, NYCFC has played every season opener in club history on the road — and it hasn’t gone well.
Just look at the numbers. New York City has won just two of its 11 opening-day games, boasting an overall record of 2W-3D-6L. In five of those losses, NYCFC was held scoreless five times. Over that 11-match run of games, New York City has kept just one clean sheet, a 2-0 win at Sporting Kansas City in 2018, which was also the last time the club won on Matchday 1.
New York City FC | Opening Day Results
| Year | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Date | Time | Att |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Inter Miami | 2 – 2 | New York City FC | Chase Stadium | 02/28/2025 | 7:30 pm ET | 21,184 |
| 2024 | Charlotte FC | 1 – 0 | New York City FC | Bank of America Stadium | 02/24/2024 | 7:30 pm ET | 62,291 |
| 2023 | Nashville SC | 2 – 0 | New York City FC | Geodis Park | 03/15/2025 | 4:30 pm ET | 28,051 |
| 2022 | LA Galaxy | 1 – 0 | New York City FC | Dignity Health Sports Park | 02/27/2022 | 5:00 pm ET | 25,174 |
| 2021 | DC United | 2 – 1 | New York City FC | Audi Field | 04/17/2021 | 8:00 pm ET | 4,500 |
| 2020 | Columbus Crew | 1 – 0 | New York City FC | Historic Crew Stadium | 03/01/2020 | 12:30 pm ET | 17,473 |
| 2019 | Orlando City | 2 – 2 | New York City FC | Exploria Stadium | 03/02/2019 | 2:30 pm ET | 25,527 |
| 2018 | Kansas City | 0 – 2 | New York City FC | Children’s Mercy Park | 03/18/2018 | 7:30 pm ET | 20,831 |
| 2017 | Orlando City | 1 – 0 | New York City FC | Exploria Stadium | 03/05/2017 | 1:00 pm ET | 25,527 |
| 2016 | Chicago Fire | 3 – 4 | New York City FC | SeatGeek Stadium | 03/06/2016 | 2:00 pm ET | 17,768 |
| 2015 | Orlando City | 1 – 1 | New York City FC | Camping World Stadium | 03/08/2015 | 5:00 pm ET | 62,510 |
To add to the misery, there’s an overarching theme found in most of New York City’s season opener results: The club almost finds a way to drop points in a soul-crushing way. Let’s take a closer look at the five most painful opening day losses, plus a bonus draw that hurts just as much.
John Baney
#5: Orlando City 1-0 New York City
March 5, 2017
New York City was coming off its first playoff appearance in 2016, and it was always going to have it tough playing on the road against Orlando City. It was Orlando’s first-ever game at Orlando City Stadium (now Inter & Co Stadium), and a sold-out crowd ready to cheer on Kaká made for a hostile environment.
Things started somberly for Orlando, as Kaká came off injured in the 11th minute. But then Cyle Larin put the home team ahead a few minutes later, heading in Giles Barnes’s cross. That was Orlando’s only shot on target in the game.
Orlando parked the bus and hunkered down, neutralizing a New York City that dominated possession with 68.4 percent, and that created so many chances that the squad took 14 shots. But Orlando goalkeeper Joe Bendick made seven big saves to preserve his clean sheet.
A full-strength NYCFC that featured Sean Johnson, Maxime Chanot, Alexander Callens, Maxi Moralez, and David Villa was frustrated by Orlando despite being the better team.
Oliver Strand
#4: Columbus Crew 1-0 New York City
March 1, 2020
It was just three minutes into the 2020 season, and New York City was already on the back foot.
Chanot received a red card for denying Lucas Zelarayán an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, which forced NYCFC to switch to a 4-4-1 and play defensively for the subsequent 87 minutes.
Zelarayán, in his MLS debut, scored the game-winner in the 56th minute with a great finish on his left foot. At the same time, New York City mustered just three shots on goal with 37.7 percent possession as Columbus reaped the benefits of Chanot’s costly mistake. Columbus went on to win MLS Cup that season, and Zelarayán was named MLS Newcomer of the Year.
Andrew Leigh
#3: DC United 2-1 New York City
April 17, 2021
NYCFC’s MLS Cup-winning 2021 season started off rocky at Audi Field.
Valentín Castellanos opened the scoring in the 15th minute, but DC scored twice in five minutes to take the lead before halftime. New York City struggled to create chances for most of the second half, but had two late shots from Castellanos and Keaton Parks saved by Chris Seitz.
It was another season opener in which NYCFC dominated possession but didn’t do enough offensively to seriously threaten the opposition, and they were punished for their defensive mistakes.
John Baney
#2: LA Galaxy 1-0 New York City
February 27, 2022
New York City opened 2022 with lofty expectations. Not only was NYCFC coming off its first-ever MLS Cup, but it was also undefeated in its last 12 games dating back to the 2021 regular season.
That changed in the season opener against LA Galaxy, which was also the professional debut of NYCFC’s Volt Kit. The game was tense, and remained scoreless until the 90th minute. That’s when Javier Hernández scored the game-winner in a season opener for the second straight year.
It was an afternoon to forget for the NYCFC attack. Castellanos, who scored a league-best 19 goals the season before, was limited to just two off-target shots. LA goalkeeper Jonathan Bond had to make only one save as New York City started its MLS title defense in disappointing fashion.
Oliver Strand
#1: Charlotte FC 1-0 New York City
February 24, 2024
After ending their playoff streak the year before, NYCFC had a lot to prove in 2024.
But the season got off to a rocky start as Charlotte FC took the lead in the eighth minute in the opening game off a poorly-defended set piece, igniting the announced crowd of 62,291 at Bank of America Stadium. New York City went on to settle into the game and find its footing, but didn’t do enough to test Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.
Overall, it was a lackluster night from NYCFC’s offense: Julián Fernández had a quiet game, Santiago Rodríguez missed a clear-cut chance, Hannes Wolf struggled to make an impact, and Mounsef Bakrar was too wasteful in front of goal.
If not for the heroics of Matt Freese’s five big stops — including a penalty save on Kerwin Vargas — it would’ve been a much more crushing defeat for New York City.
The loss followed a familiar and frustrating trend under former head coach Nick Cushing: NYCFC falling narrowly on the road as it struggled to create clear-cut chances and threaten.
Andrew Leigh
Bonus: Inter Miami 2-2 New York City
February 28, 2025
New York City ended its miserable five-game season-opening losing streak last year when it drew 10-man Inter Miami 2-2. NYCFC, which went down in the fifth minute, fought back to take a 2-1 lead, and looked to break a six-year winless streak byy finally getting three points on Matchday 1. But it was not to be after New York conceded a goal 10 minutes into injury time, and extended the winless streak.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez were held quiet, but it was another heartbreaking season opener for New York City.
Matthew. Dude. Don’t harsh my mellow, man. 😉
guess HRB tryin’ to set up expectations uhm, ‘safe’ lol
Wallow in the misery haha
LOL