• Matchday 3: New York City FC vs Orlando City SC
• Date and Time: Saturday, March 7, 2:30 pm ET
• Venue: Yankee Soccer Stadium, The Bronx, NY
• Forecast: Overcast, cool, 48F/9C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Jessica Charman and Ian Joy (English) , Sergio Ruiz and Walter Roque (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Guido Gonzales, Jr. (referee), Gerard-Kader Lebuis and Ben Pilgrim (assistant referees), Ricardo Montero Araya (4th official), Geoff Gamble and Tom Supple (VAR)
• Kits: New York City will wear the sky-blue Excelsior Kit; Orlando will wear the newly-introduced yellow and purple Sunken Treasure Kit
The 4 Train is partially suspended, and not running between 125th St station in Manhattan and 149th St-Grand Concourse station in the Bronx.
Consider taking the D Train, or Metro-North to Yankees–East 153rd Street (Metro-North will cross-honor subway fares from Manhattan)
New York City FC are back home in The Bronx to host Orlando City after a successful two-game road trip to open the 2026 season, drawing at LA Galaxy and winning at Philadelphia Union. To put that in context, home teams had an eye-popping record of 21W-5D-4L in the first two weeks of the Major League Soccer season: NYCFC were one of just four teams to win on the road (Inter Miami, LAFC, and Red Bull New York were the others) out of 30 games.
Later today, NYCFC will play in front of their fans in a fixture that they dominate: New York City are 8W-2D-1L in home openers, with 24 goals scored and just seven allowed.
If New York City are to add another to the win column, they’ll need to continue to figure out how to score without a No 9 making runs in the center. It worked on Sunday, when Agustín Ojeda’s strong performance on the left wing led to both of the team’s goals.
They’ll face a shaky Orlando defense that gave up six goals in two games. While the overall vibes are not strong in Orlando, the attack still has some bite: They have three goals in those games, the same total as NYCFC.
Guido Gonzales, Jr. will be the referee today. In the four New York City matches he officiated last year, NYCFC’s record was 3W-0D-1L. Gonzales Jr. oversaw the 1-0 win over Philadelphia at Citi Field on Matchday 8, the 2-0 loss to Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium on Matchday 21, the 3-2 win over Red Bull New York at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Matchday 32, and the 1-0 win over Philadelphia at Subaru Park in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Gonzales Jr. is exceptionally consistent with the whistle, calling exactly nine fouls on NYCFC in each of those four games, for a total of 36; he called a combined 48 on their opponents. He handed out 18 yellow cards in those games, nine to New York City and nine to the opposition.
New York City will wear the sky-blue Excelsior Kit for the second time this season, and the 34th time in league play. The team’s overall record in the kit is 18W-4D-12L, for a win percentage of 52.9%. And today will feature the public introduction of Sky, the plush pigeon and Bronx native that’s the team’s new mascot.
For those of you not in attendance at Yankee Stadium, fan favorite Ian Joy will be in the Apple TV broadcast booth. It’s his first time calling a New York City game for Apple and his first time calling NYCFC action since the final 2022 regular-season game in Atlanta.
Andrew Leigh
John Baney
New York City vs Orlando H2H
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 49 | 33 | 16 |
New York City have a decisive advantage in the head-to-head between the two clubs, with a record of 11W-10D-7L — those 10 draws are the most with any club. NYCFC’s 49 goals against Orlando is the joint-most against (equal to Toronto FC), and the +16 goal differential is the joint second-most, behind only CF Montréal (+19), and equal to Chicago Fire and DC United.
New York City’s record in the last five matchups is a near-perfect 4W-1D-0L, with nine goals scored and four allowed. Those results feed into a seven-game undefeated streak that dates back to August of 2022, which was the last time Orlando beat NYCFC.
The last time Orlando earned a result in New York City was 2019, when an early Nani goal helped the away team to a 1-1 draw in The Bronx. NYCFC’s home record against Orlando is 8W-2D-3L. One of those losses includes Orlando’s 3-1 win in 2020, during the pandemic, when they were the designated away team at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida during the pandemic.
But recent matchups have been tightly contested: NYCFC won 2-1 in Matchday 3 last year, then 2-1 again in Matchday 22. New York City’s last clean sheet came in 2023, when a team that struggled to find its form comfortably beat Orlando 2-0 behind goals from Mounsef Bakrar and Talles Magno.
Mark Radigan
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Andrés Perea (leg), Alonso Martínez (knee), and Malachi Jones (leg) are out.
• We can expect to see the same Starting XI that faced Philadelphia on Sunday. But will Pascal Jansen begin the game with Ojeda on the left? The head coach started Ojeda on the right in both matches played this season, then switched the winger to the other side during play.
• Will we see more minutes from Talles Magno? The former youth phenom is working his way back to fitness: He looked gassed in his cameo in Los Angeles two weeks ago, but he was sharper against Philadelphia, feeding the ball to Ojeda for the game-winning assist.
• More on NYCFC’s impressive four points on the road to open the season: New York City were one of seven teams to play Matchdays 1 and 2 as the away team, and the only one to win a match. The other six combined for two draws and 10 losses.
Oliver Strand
Orlando Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Midfielder Wilder Cartagena (thigh) Midfielder Joran Gerbet (knee) and defender Robin Jansson (foot) are out. Defender Adrián Marín (thigh) is questionable. In addition, midfielder Colin Guske is serving a suspension after earning two yellow cards in last week’s loss to Inter Miami.
• Is Orlando’s Oscar Pareja in the hot seat? The head coach could be in trouble after an opening day loss to Red Bull New York at home, then an even more disappointing implosion last week when they went up 2-0 over Miami, only to allow four unanswered goals. Orlando are now winless in their last seven matches dating back to the 2025 season, with their last win coming on September 20 vs Nashville SC.
• Duncan McGuire has something to prove. The striker took just one shot in two starts. The 25-year-old had three goals in 19 appearances, down from 10 goals in 32 appearances in 2024.
• Tiago Souza is one to watch. The striker joined from Esporte Clube Bahia at the start of the season, and is currently coming off the bench. The 20-year-old has one goal in 25 minutes played.
• Looking to learn more about Orlando? Be sure to read “Oppo Research: 5 Things about Orlando City” with Ben Miller of The Mane Land.
Matthew Mangam
Update 2:00 pm ET: The Starting XIs are out for both teams.
New York City’s Pascal Jansen makes one change, swapping out Raul Gustavo from his backline in favor of Kai Trewin, who makes his first MLS start as a defender (he played in the midfield on Matchday 1 vs LA Galaxy). Otherwise it’s an unchanged XI from the team that won in Philadelphia.
Orlando still doesn’t have influential midfielder Eduard Atuesta available from the start and they’ve dropped Duncan McGuire in favor of Tyrese Spicer at center-forward.
Update 5:00 pm ET: FT: NYCFC 5-0 Orlando
The Boys In Blue demolished Orlando, winning 5-0 after Orlando went down to 10 players late in the first half. Agustín Ojeda opened the scoring, then Nico Fernández Mercau and Maxi Moralez added two more before halftime. Things got even better for New York City in the second half, as Keaton Parks scored twice, his first goals since April 2025 as he makes just his second start for the team since last April.
You can dive into our post-match coverage below.
Andrew Leigh
Mark Radigan
Hudson River Blue Staff
