• Matchday 1: LA Galaxy vs New York City FC
• Date and Time: Sunday, February 22, 7:10 pm ET
• Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA
• Forecast: A sunny, breezy, gorgeous SoCal afternoon, 69F/21C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman (English), Sammy Sadovnik and Diego Valeri (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Victor Rivas (referee), Jeffrey Greeson and Felisha Mariscal (assistant referees), Servando Berna (4th official), Edvin Jurisevic and Robert Schaap (VAR)
• Kits: New York City will debut the tri-color All Nations Kit; LA Galaxy will debut the classic white VeloCITY Kit
Major League Soccer is back! While the Northeast braces for a snowstorm, New York City FC are in sunny California to face LA Galaxy in the first Justin Haak Derby. The sellout is one of the marquee matchups this opening weekend — the first Sunday Night Soccer of the season will have Taylor Twellman (English) and Diego Valeri (Spanish) in the Apple TV broadcast booth calling a game that will see a reformulated NYCFC missing their star No 9 will try to get past a rebuilt LA Galaxy missing their star No 10.
Before you get too excited, remember that New York City are unbelievably bad at season openers. Every single Matchday 1 in club history has been played on the road, with just two wins for NYCFC out of 11 games. Last year, New York City seemed poised to snap their six-match winless streak in season openers, but instead conceded an equalizer to Inter Miami CF in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time to settle for a 2-2 draw.
New York City | Season Openers
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 16 | -4 |
The Galaxy have an all-time franchise record of 13W-8D-9L in their 30 season openers, but LA will be looking for their first win on Matchday 1 since 2022, when they beat the defending MLS Cup winners, New York City FC.
Both teams will be playing in uniforms introduced just this season. New York City will debut the All Nations Kit, a deep blue top finished with white shorts and orange socks. The All Nations Kit is a new look for the club, a colorful departure from the back-and-neon 24/7 Kit. LA will debut the VeloCITY Kit, a white shirt with a blue sash and matching white shorts and socks that evokes the classic uniform from the David Beckham era.
Andrew Leigh
New York City vs LA Galaxy H2H
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 9 | -1 |
This will be just the eighth meeting between the two clubs, with the most recent coming in June 2024, when LA Galaxy defeated NYCFC 2-0 on a Wednesday night in Carson. The historic head-to-head tilts slightly in New York City's favor despite the fact that the Galaxy usually host these matchups — this will be the sixth game played at Dignity Health Sports Park, where New York City have won twice and lost three times.
And it will be second season opener contested by the two teams. In 2022, LA defeated New York City 1-0 when Chicharito headed in the game-winner in the 90th minute.
New York City last won in Carson back in May 2019, when Héber and Maxi Moralez scored within a minute of each other at the end of the first half. That gave NYCFC a 2-0 win.
Five of the seven games played so far have been clean sheets, with New York City blanking the Galaxy three times. And not one has been a draw: It's always a win or a loss when these two teams play.
Matthew Mangam
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Andrés Perea (leg), Alonso Martínez (knee), and Malachi Jones (leg) are Out. Jonny Shore and Talles Magno (calf) aren't on the official injury report but are considered questionable to make the squad for this game.
• Keaton Parks looks set to return to action for the first time since May 31, 2025 after being sidelined by blood flow issues in his leg. He trained and played throughout the team's preseason and Pascal Jansen says "it looks like he's gonna be part of the roster from Sunday on." Parks contributed at an elite level for the 880 minutes he was available in 2025 and if he's back to normal this season, it would be a huge addition to a midfield missing Andrés Perea.
• At what position will Kevin O'Toole line up to start this game, assuming he makes the XI? He spent most of the preseason playing as a central defensive midfielder while Aiden O'Neill and Shore recovered from injuries. O'Toole also played some at his usual left-back spot, and even made an appearance as a left-center-back in the second half of the team's Coachella Valley Invitational finale last weekend.
• Speaking more of that midfield, it's unclear how many minutes Aiden O'Neill can give. The Aussie only made his first competitive preseason appearance in the club's Coachella finale last Saturday against San Jose and only played the first half in that game, so it's worth monitoring if he's deemed ready to start and possibly play deeper into the second half, or if he's held back and only used as a sub.
Matthew Mangam
LA Galaxy Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Edwin Cerrillo (suspension), Isaiah Parente (ankle), Chris Rindov (leg), Erik Thommy (knee), and Elijah Wynder (leg) are Out.
• The Galaxy played Thursday night in Panama to open their Concacaf Champions Cup campaign, playing to a 1-1 draw away to Sporting San Miguelito. Their lineup on Thursday didn't include Designated Player striker João Klauss, nor did it include Marco Reus, though both entered as substitutes. The attacking talent is there for LA, as they've also still got Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil ready to pose problems.
• LA waived forward Christian Ramirez yesterday, with a little over 24 hours to go before tonight's game — and after Ramirez logged 58 minutes in that midweek Concacaf match in Panama. That might come as a bit of good news for NYCFC, as Ramirez has three goals and two assists in his seven career matches played against the Pigeons, mainly while with Columbus Crew.
• The big player to watch for most New York City-minded observers: Justin Haak, with the former Homegrown signing from Brooklyn facing off against his boyhood club for the first time. For more on how Haak has settled in with his new team, and why he might be lining up in the midfield in this game, read our first edition of Oppo Research of 2026, in which our Matthew Mangam speaks with Josh Guesman of Corner of the Galaxy podcast.
Matthew Mangam
Updated 6:01 pm ET: The Starting XIs are out for each team. New York City will give Kai Trewin his MLS debut and will start both Australians with Aiden O'Neill also in there, while the recovering-from-injury duo of forward Talles Magno and midfielder Jonny Shore each make the bench as substitutes.
LA Galaxy will give striker João Klauss, midfielder Justin Haak, and defender Jakob Glesnes their first MLS starts and first home starts with their new club – welcome to Hollywood, Mr. Haak.
Updated 8:05 pm ET: Halftime: LA Galaxy 1-0 New York City FC.
New York City started sluggishly and conceded to João Klauss in the 2nd minute, playing from behind right from the start of their 2026 season. Pascal Jansen's team enjoyed 63% of the possession in the first half but didn't put any of their three shot attempts on target, and Matt Freese was forced to make four saves to keep the deficit at just one goal, a goal which you can see below.
Video courtesy @MLS on Twitter.
Updated 9:25 pm ET: FULL TIME: LA Galaxy 1-1 New York City FC
Honors ended even in Carson, California, as New York City dominated possession and ended up playing with a man advantage for the final 30 or so minutes of the match, but only got an equalizing goal from the penalty spot from Nico Fernández Mercau. Nico earned that PK after he was dragged down behind by a falling, clumsy Emiro Garcés, though it required VAR's intervention for Garcés to be penalized and then shown a second yellow card. After the Galaxy went down to 10, NYCFC had all the momentum, but didn't create any clear chances and ended the match with 10 shot attempts but with only one of those put on target. Watch Nico's penalty conversion, then Rate the Players from this season-opening draw.
Video from @MLS on Twitter.
