{"id":180523,"date":"2026-02-16T20:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180523\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T20:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:19:08","slug":"what-to-know-about-san-diego-fc-ahead-of-its-second-mls-season-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180523\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about San Diego FC ahead of its second MLS season \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twelve weeks after San Diego FC\u2019s historic inaugural season ended in the 2025 Major League Soccer Cup Western Conference Final, the club is back to start its second MLS season and try to bring a championship to San Diego.<\/p>\n

The team has already played two non-MLS matches in 2026. San Diego FC has advanced<\/a> in the Concacaf Champions Cup tournament after defeating Pumas UNAM from Mexico City.<\/p>\n

The club will now prepare for its next game, the 2026 MLS season opener at Snapdragon Stadium versus CF Montreal on Feb. 21.<\/p>\n

To get fans ready for the new MLS season, here is a recap of the 2025 season and offseason news.<\/p>\n

\"OnniOnni Valakari, Anders Dreyer and Luca Bombino of San Diego FC celebrate after Dreyer’s goal against the Portland Timbers during match one of the Western Conference Round One of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\n2025 season recap<\/p>\n

San Diego FC broke records in its inaugural season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The club won 19 matches and earned 63 points during the 34-match regular season, the most victories and points ever recorded by a new MLS expansion team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This led to being the top seed in the 2025 MLS Western Conference playoffs.<\/p>\n

In the playoffs, SDFC triumphed over Portland Timbers<\/a> in a first-round, best-of-three series. In the conference semifinals, the club narrowly beat Minnesota United FC 1-0<\/a>. The club lost in the MLS Western Conference final to the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team won its first-ever match<\/a>, 2-0, against\u00a0the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy on Feb. 23, 2025.<\/p>\n

At the first home game in franchise history, SDFC came out with a 0-0 draw against St. Louis City SC at Snapdragon Stadium on March 1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forwards Anders Dreyer and Hirving \u2018Chucky\u2019 Lozano, along with midfielder and team captain Jeppe Tverskov were named to their first MLS All-Star Game on June 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dreyer was also named MLS player of the month twice in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Diego FC coach Mikey Varas takes a photo with Amado Perez, of San Diego, after their win against the FC Dallas at Snapdragon Stadium on May 3. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nOffseason highlights<\/p>\n

The club traded San Diego native Luca de la Torre\u2019s<\/a> rights to Charlotte FC on Dec. 30. San Diego received $50,000 in 2026 general allocation money from Charlotte. De la Torre started 26 matches and came off the bench in 11 more last season. He scored five goals and logged two assists.<\/p>\n

San Diego FC parted ways with Mexican star Lozano<\/a> after one season. Coach Mikey Varas said, \u201cHolistically, all together, it\u2019s not a fit.\u201d He\u00a0finished with nine goals and 10 assists in 27 appearances, 22 of them starts.<\/p>\n

The franchise announced it agreed to a multi-year contract extension with coach Varas<\/a> on Jan. 12. He led SDFC to a 19-9-6 record and a first-place finish in the MLS Western Conference standings.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 14, the club signed Dreyer<\/a> to a contract extension through the 2028-29 season with a club option for one more year.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 22, the 19-year-old defender Luca Bombino<\/a> resigned with San Diego FC with a contract extension through the 2028-2029 season with a club option for the 2029-2030 season.<\/p>\n

The team officially released a new uniform<\/a> on Feb. 10. Its \u201cunprecedented unity\u201d kit replaces the inaugural \u201ccommunity\u201d kit, which was primarily worn during road games. The new jersey is white with splashes of orange and royal blue, a departure from last season\u2019s road jersey, which was a navy-and-white color palette. The \u201cupredicented unity\u201d kit also has players wearing royal blue shorts for the first time.<\/p>\n

2026 giveaways and promotions<\/p>\n

There are 11 announced giveaways and promotions, which the club calls \u201ccelebration nights,\u201d planned this season for home games.<\/p>\n

For the MLS season opener, there will be pregame festivities outside on the east lawn, outside the stadium, including an arts and crafts area, live music, games and bounce houses.<\/p>\n

March 1 is the club\u2019s San Diego Sports Night, which will feature a SDFC football jersey giveaway for the first 25,000 fans who enter the stadium. The team will take on St. Louis City FC.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kids\u2019 night versus Real Salt Lake on March 22. The first 10,000 children ages 14 years and under will be handed a lunch box.<\/p>\n

The initial 25,000 guests into Snapdragon will get a captain\u2019s pennant when San Diego FC plays Minnesota United FC on April 11.<\/p>\n

The first bobble head giveaway will take place on May 16 against FC Cincinnati. The first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive an Anders Dreyer bobblehead, featuring the striker on an ice cream bicycle cart, in reference to his nickname \u201cel paletero\u201d or ice cream man.<\/p>\n

On May 23, when the club tried to get revenge for a Western Conference loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the first 10,000 people in the stadium will score a mini soccer ball.<\/p>\n

A summer concert is planned on July 25, when FC Dallas comes into town. However, no musician or band has been publicly announced.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 22, the team will host its Native American Heritage Night. Giveaways are scheduled for the match, which features the Colorado Rapids.<\/p>\n

The club\u2019s Hispanic Heritage Night is slated for Sept. 13 versus the Philadelphia Union. The initial 25,000 fans through the stadium gates will get to wear a new SDFC cowboy hat.<\/p>\n

San Diego FC\u2019s Fan Appreciation Night will be held on Oct. 24 against the Seattle Sounders.<\/p>\n

Nov. 7 is military appreciation night. SDFC will face Sporting Kansas City, and the first 10,000 fans receive a camouflage beanie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twelve weeks after San Diego FC\u2019s historic inaugural season ended in the 2025 Major League Soccer Cup Western…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,74,84,1254,76,75,1083,127,420,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-180523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-county","11":"tag-san-diego-fc","12":"tag-san-diego-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego-news","14":"tag-soccer","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-things-to-do","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}