With the 3-1 win over Colorado Rapids on Saturday night, New York City FC compiled a record of 3W-1D-0L through the first four games of 2026. Not only does that match the club's best start to a season, equaling the record set in 2018, it gives Head Coach Pascal Jansen 20 regular-season wins since he took over the team last year.
With that result, Jansen becomes the fastest head coach to reach 20 league wins in New York City history, reaching that milestone in 37 games.* He edges out Ronny Deila, who needed 38 games, and is comfortably ahead of Patrick Vieira (43 games) and Domé Torrent (44 games). As for Nick Cushing, he needed 64 games to get to 20 wins.
New York City FC | First 20 Wins by Head Coach
| Head Coach | Years | GP | W | D | L | Win % | GF | GA | GD | GF/G | GA/G | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascal Jansen | 2025-26 | 37 | 20 | 6 | 11 | 54.1% | 61 | 46 | 15 | 1.65 | 1.24 | 1.78 |
| Ronny Deila | 2020-21 | 38 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 52.6% | 67 | 41 | 28 | 1.76 | 1.08 | 1.71 |
| Patrick Vieira | 2016-17 | 43 | 20 | 11 | 12 | 46.5% | 79 | 67 | 12 | 1.84 | 1.56 | 1.65 |
| Domé Torrent | 2018-19 | 44 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 45.5% | 75 | 53 | 22 | 1.70 | 1.20 | 1.64 |
| Nick Cushing | 2022-24 | 64 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 31.3% | 76 | 79 | -3 | 1.19 | 1.23 | 1.27 |
Even more impressive, Jansen achieved this feat with a squad that has been missing key players for the majority of his time in New York City. Last year, the NYCFC midfield was incomplete until the signings of Aiden O'Neill, who made his debut in Matchday 12 (which, coincidentally, was overseen by Mehdi Ballouchy while Jansen was away because of a personal matter), and Nico Fernández Mercau, who first played in Matchday 24. This year, New York City is playing without a true No 9 after Alonso Martínez was injured at the end of 2025, and the deal to bring in Moussa Sylla collapsed before the start of the season.
In other words, out of the 37 games Jansen needed to compile his club-best record, he had a complete roster just 11 times.
Andrew Leigh
New York City's record during that 11-game run was 7W-0D-4L, with four of those wins coming on the road. That works out to a win rate of 63.6% and 1.91 points per game.
New York City FC | Record by Head Coach, MLS Regular Season
| Name | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | GF/G | GA/G | PTS | PPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascal Jansen | 2025- | 37 | 20 | 6 | 11 | 61 | 46 | 15 | 54.1% | 1.6 | 1.2 | 66 | 1.78 |
| Mehdi Ballouchy | 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0.0% | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Nick Cushing | 2022-24 | 89 | 31 | 27 | 31 | 121 | 119 | 2 | 34.8% | 1.4 | 1.3 | 120 | 1.35 |
| Ronny Deila | 2020-22 | 70 | 34 | 14 | 22 | 118 | 71 | 47 | 48.6% | 1.7 | 1.0 | 116 | 1.66 |
| Domé Torrent | 2018-19 | 53 | 26 | 14 | 13 | 92 | 67 | 25 | 49.1% | 1.7 | 1.3 | 92 | 1.74 |
| Patrick Vieira | 2016-18 | 83 | 39 | 22 | 22 | 148 | 120 | 28 | 47.0% | 1.8 | 1.4 | 139 | 1.67 |
| Jason Kreis | 2015 | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 49 | 58 | -9 | 29.4% | 1.4 | 1.7 | 37 | 1.09 |
| Total | 367 | 160 | 90 | 117 | 589 | 482 | 107 | 43.6% | 1.6 | 1.3 | 570 | 1.55 |
