What Austin FC's eight (or nine) remaining opponents are facing
Whether Austin FC has an easy schedule the rest of the way is open for debate. Some of Verde's remaining opponents definitely do not.
Two weeks ago, we looked into a bit of what Austin's neighbors in the table are looking at between now and Decision Day.
Now that various results have fallen favorably in Austin's direction on top of a decisive win against San Jose, we're changing the focus to what Verde's final seven league play opponents and one or two (from a pool of three) U.S. Open Cup opponents are staring down before facing the 512.
Sporting Kansas City
(away, Sept. 7)
Zorhan Bassong would have been suspended due to the yellow card he picked up against Colorado, but he and Ian James, who also snagged a card this weekend, will be out on international duty regardless.
Manu Garcia was out with a quad injury and may not be back against an Austin FC team that is also injured and international break-depleted. (Arguably more so.) We'll see how the rest of the week shapes up.
FC Dallas
(away, Sept. 13)
Dallas is coming off back-to-back draws on their way to playing away in St. Louis next Saturday, who they ought to consider as dangerous as Nico Estévez warned Montréal could be...and were!
Were St. Louis to win every remaining match they have, they would max out at 39 points, which is where Portland currently sit, having played exactly as many matches as the City boys. What does a team hanging at the bottom of the West with LA Galaxy have to play for? Not being the bottom of the West, that's what!
Even if FCD pulls out a win against St. Louis, they'll be on 33 points heading into this match. A Verde win wouldn't quite allow them to mathematically clinch finishing better than Frisco, but it'd come close. Should results break the right way, Austin could finish this match up 14 points on their Texas rivals with 15 points possible remaining for each.
Minnesota United FC
(away, U.S. Open Cup semifinal, Sept. 17)
Minnesota doesn't play during the international break, and then plays away against first-place San Diego on Sept. 13.
They are the stalking horse just behind San Diego, and have had a great season overall, but their August started with a hard-fought draw against Club América, getting shut out by Atlético San Luis, and losing to Colorado. Then they squeaked out a 1-0 win against Seattle, beat RSL handily, and just last night drew against Portland.
They also have five guys going out on international duty, and what if any of Michael Boxall, Dayne St. Clair, Carlos Harvey, Robin Lod, or Joseph Rosales come back a little worse for wear?
What Minnesota does against the West leaders four days before the Open Cup semi will be telling? Will they go hard to challenge for the top spot and see what they have in the tank? Or will they rotate some to be full strength at home with the chance to secure a tournament final at home?
Seattle Sounders FC
(home, Sept. 21)
There's more to consider for Brian Schmetzer's Sounders than just the next three weeks. Whether they win or lose the Leagues Cup final, it's a match against a formidable Miami team, then they take 12 days' rest before hosting the LA Galaxy, where they will presumably rotate heavily ... before playing Miami again on 2 days' rest followed by playing Austin in Texas heat just four days later.
If you're Schmetzer and presumably still fighting for 4th in the conference to secure home-field advantage in the best of three first-round series, do you rotate away against the Verde and Black in advance of a three-game home sequence against Vancouver, then Portland, and then Real Salt Lake, finishing on Decision Day away against NYCFC? I think you do (perhaps believing you can pull that off and still get at least a point).
Real Salt Lake
(away, Sept. 27)
As of this writing, they are winless in MLS play since July 26th, going into 12 days' rest on back-to-back-to-back losses against Red Bulls, Charlotte, and Minnesota. When they rise from their international break hibernation, they have a really annoying three-game series leading into their home fixture against Austin, starting with SKC at home, with Bassong suspended, which is good for RSL in theory.
But then they only have three days' rest before playing LAFC, and LAFC have the most punishing remaining schedule in the West (more on that in a bit).
If you're LAFC, you want to pile on points as early in their endurance run as they can, and guess who RSL will have to play on three days' rest after LAFC? LAFC, only in Los Angeles this time. RSL will them get five days' rest after those back-to-back LAFC matches before Verde play them at altitude, but that is an unenviable amount of Black & Gold at the peak of their late-season, Son Heung-min-enhanced strength.
Philadelphia Union or Nashville SC, maybe, hopefully
(home, possible U.S. Open Cup final, Oct. 1)
If Verde win against Minnesota, they'll face either the Philadelphia Union or Nashville SC in the final. As solid as those East teams are doing this season (Philly especially), they've both had weird recent forms.
Philadelphia Union
In the event the current Supporters' Shield leaders beat Nashville, they'll be continuing great recent form, going 5W 1 L 2D in their last eight league matches. Yet, they did draw against Houston in July, drew against "just-a-hair-over Montréal" Toronto in August, and they lost to Red Bulls three days after beating them in the rescheduled Open Cup quarterfinal. The road to Austin for Philadelphia starts by going away against Vancouver prior to the theoretical away win against Nashville, which should both be tough, but then they have the Revs at home and travel to play D.C.
Nashville SC
St. Louis beat them 3-1 at the beginning of August, and then NYCFC beat them 2-1 ... before they beat Orlando 5-1. Atlanta kept a clean sheet against them last night in Nashville though, so it's been a pretty up-and-down (mostly down) August. Their path to the Live Music Capitol begins away at Cincy, then the theoretical win against Philly, an away match against the Lions in Orlando, and then back home against an annoying and unpredictable Dynamo before the final in Austin.
St. Louis City SC
(home, Oct. 4)
So if Verde wins a U.S. Open Cup Final, they get two days' rest before playing St. Louis on the same pitch at Q2. In theory, that final could result in this getting pushed back to the next Wednesday, during the same international break as the 10/12 home match against LAFC. So many things regarding table placement will be radically different by the time October gets here, but let's go back to the fact St. Louis would max out at 39 points if they win every single one of their last eight games.
Austin will be catching them after they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs unless St. Louis goes on an incredible tear. Here's evidence from Saturday night's game that they're not going on an incredible tear.
— Burki’s Turkey & Wooden Spoon (@PuckPickz) August 31, 2025
Of course, that means they'll have zero "effs" to give in their penultimate 2025 season game, which makes them very dangerous.
But also, they're going to be pretty worn out by this point, too. Their September will have been a home game sandwich, starting the month against Dallas and ending it against a very tired, adrenaline-jacked LAFC, with away games against Montréal (The Whose Season Sucked Worse Cup) and San Jose in between. Their 2025 was rough. They will more than likely rotate in Austin so that they can show up big at home for their fans on Decision Day against RSL.
If the incredibly mathematically unlikely situation of the table being in utter chaos leading into Decision Day happens, that goes out the window. It won't.
LAFC
(home, Oct. 12)
Son Heung-min has arrived, and he's awesome. He will still be playing for LAFC and awesome six weeks from now. The problem facing LAFC is they have played less games than everyone else in the West and have an absolutely brutal final quarter of the season.
Tonight, they have San Diego at home. That should be a pretty even match, but they don't play during the international break at all and then launch into a crazy run of fixtures 12 days hence.
Away at San Jose, three days' rest, then away at RSL, then another three days' rest and they play RSL again but at home.
They do get six days' rest before heading away against St. Louis, but three matches in seven days is a hell of a way to begin the last push of the season. They get seven days' rest on the other side of St. Louis away, but here's where it gets really stupid. They play Atlanta at home on Oct. 5, rest two days, and then play Toronto at home, and then have three days before going away to play Austin, making up the rescheduled July 4th weekend game. That's another three-in-seven stretch, but this time during an international break. You ought to expect the biggest stars of LAFC2 to show up at Q2 on Oct. 12 because that may be all the people they have available and healthy.
San Jose Earthquakes
(away, Oct. 18)
The Quakes have home-field advantage, but they have not exactly had the most fun path there. The Quakes have to be at the tip of LAFC's spear as the Black and Gold head into their Final Quarter of Hell. They get a breather in theory hosting St. Louis, sure, but guess what they get for their trouble in return? Away against both San Diego and a fully Müllerized Vancouver.
The San Diego match? It's the Shiny and Chrome's final regular-season home match for 2025. San Jose's reward for surviving whatever that nuclear blast is like is getting buried under the avalanche of a similarly triumphant Vancouver season with their brilliant new mega-star.
And then after all that, they get an Austin team that knocked them out of the Open Cup and then beat them by two goals in a match that would have made their playoff path easier should they have won or at least drawn it.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
If you think Austin FC has trouble finishing out seasons, we have math to prove you right. Perhaps this season will reverse a trend ... but it's not happening thus far.
Two weeks ago, we looked into a bit of what Austin's neighbors in the table are looking at between now and Decision Day.
Now that various results have fallen favorably in Austin's direction on top of a decisive win against San Jose, we're changing the focus to what Verde's final seven league play opponents and one or two (from a pool of three) U.S. Open Cup opponents are staring down before facing the 512.
Sporting Kansas City
(away, Sept. 7)
Zorhan Bassong would have been suspended due to the yellow card he picked up against Colorado, but he and Ian James, who also snagged a card this weekend, will be out on international duty regardless.
Manu Garcia was out with a quad injury and may not be back against an Austin FC team that is also injured and international break-depleted. (Arguably more so.) We'll see how the rest of the week shapes up.
FC Dallas
(away, Sept. 13)
Dallas is coming off back-to-back draws on their way to playing away in St. Louis next Saturday, who they ought to consider as dangerous as Nico Estévez warned Montréal could be...and were!
Were St. Louis to win every remaining match they have, they would max out at 39 points, which is where Portland currently sit, having played exactly as many matches as the City boys. What does a team hanging at the bottom of the West with LA Galaxy have to play for? Not being the bottom of the West, that's what!
Even if FCD pulls out a win against St. Louis, they'll be on 33 points heading into this match. A Verde win wouldn't quite allow them to mathematically clinch finishing better than Frisco, but it'd come close. Should results break the right way, Austin could finish this match up 14 points on their Texas rivals with 15 points possible remaining for each.
Minnesota United FC
(away, U.S. Open Cup semifinal, Sept. 17)
Minnesota doesn't play during the international break, and then plays away against first-place San Diego on Sept. 13.
They are the stalking horse just behind San Diego, and have had a great season overall, but their August started with a hard-fought draw against Club América, getting shut out by Atlético San Luis, and losing to Colorado. Then they squeaked out a 1-0 win against Seattle, beat RSL handily, and just last night drew against Portland.
They also have five guys going out on international duty, and what if any of Michael Boxall, Dayne St. Clair, Carlos Harvey, Robin Lod, or Joseph Rosales come back a little worse for wear?
What Minnesota does against the West leaders four days before the Open Cup semi will be telling? Will they go hard to challenge for the top spot and see what they have in the tank? Or will they rotate some to be full strength at home with the chance to secure a tournament final at home?
Seattle Sounders FC
(home, Sept. 21)
There's more to consider for Brian Schmetzer's Sounders than just the next three weeks. Whether they win or lose the Leagues Cup final, it's a match against a formidable Miami team, then they take 12 days' rest before hosting the LA Galaxy, where they will presumably rotate heavily ... before playing Miami again on 2 days' rest followed by playing Austin in Texas heat just four days later.
If you're Schmetzer and presumably still fighting for 4th in the conference to secure home-field advantage in the best of three first-round series, do you rotate away against the Verde and Black in advance of a three-game home sequence against Vancouver, then Portland, and then Real Salt Lake, finishing on Decision Day away against NYCFC? I think you do (perhaps believing you can pull that off and still get at least a point).
Real Salt Lake
(away, Sept. 27)
As of this writing, they are winless in MLS play since July 26th, going into 12 days' rest on back-to-back-to-back losses against Red Bulls, Charlotte, and Minnesota. When they rise from their international break hibernation, they have a really annoying three-game series leading into their home fixture against Austin, starting with SKC at home, with Bassong suspended, which is good for RSL in theory.
But then they only have three days' rest before playing LAFC, and LAFC have the most punishing remaining schedule in the West (more on that in a bit).
If you're LAFC, you want to pile on points as early in their endurance run as they can, and guess who RSL will have to play on three days' rest after LAFC? LAFC, only in Los Angeles this time. RSL will them get five days' rest after those back-to-back LAFC matches before Verde play them at altitude, but that is an unenviable amount of Black & Gold at the peak of their late-season, Son Heung-min-enhanced strength.
Philadelphia Union or Nashville SC, maybe, hopefully
(home, possible U.S. Open Cup final, Oct. 1)
If Verde win against Minnesota, they'll face either the Philadelphia Union or Nashville SC in the final. As solid as those East teams are doing this season (Philly especially), they've both had weird recent forms.
Philadelphia Union
In the event the current Supporters' Shield leaders beat Nashville, they'll be continuing great recent form, going 5W 1 L 2D in their last eight league matches. Yet, they did draw against Houston in July, drew against "just-a-hair-over Montréal" Toronto in August, and they lost to Red Bulls three days after beating them in the rescheduled Open Cup quarterfinal. The road to Austin for Philadelphia starts by going away against Vancouver prior to the theoretical away win against Nashville, which should both be tough, but then they have the Revs at home and travel to play D.C.
Nashville SC
St. Louis beat them 3-1 at the beginning of August, and then NYCFC beat them 2-1 ... before they beat Orlando 5-1. Atlanta kept a clean sheet against them last night in Nashville though, so it's been a pretty up-and-down (mostly down) August. Their path to the Live Music Capitol begins away at Cincy, then the theoretical win against Philly, an away match against the Lions in Orlando, and then back home against an annoying and unpredictable Dynamo before the final in Austin.
St. Louis City SC
(home, Oct. 4)
So if Verde wins a U.S. Open Cup Final, they get two days' rest before playing St. Louis on the same pitch at Q2. In theory, that final could result in this getting pushed back to the next Wednesday, during the same international break as the 10/12 home match against LAFC. So many things regarding table placement will be radically different by the time October gets here, but let's go back to the fact St. Louis would max out at 39 points if they win every single one of their last eight games.
Austin will be catching them after they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs unless St. Louis goes on an incredible tear. Here's evidence from Saturday night's game that they're not going on an incredible tear.
Of course, that means they'll have zero "effs" to give in their penultimate 2025 season game, which makes them very dangerous.
But also, they're going to be pretty worn out by this point, too. Their September will have been a home game sandwich, starting the month against Dallas and ending it against a very tired, adrenaline-jacked LAFC, with away games against Montréal (The Whose Season Sucked Worse Cup) and San Jose in between. Their 2025 was rough. They will more than likely rotate in Austin so that they can show up big at home for their fans on Decision Day against RSL.
If the incredibly mathematically unlikely situation of the table being in utter chaos leading into Decision Day happens, that goes out the window. It won't.
LAFC
(home, Oct. 12)
Son Heung-min has arrived, and he's awesome. He will still be playing for LAFC and awesome six weeks from now. The problem facing LAFC is they have played less games than everyone else in the West and have an absolutely brutal final quarter of the season.
Tonight, they have San Diego at home. That should be a pretty even match, but they don't play during the international break at all and then launch into a crazy run of fixtures 12 days hence.
Away at San Jose, three days' rest, then away at RSL, then another three days' rest and they play RSL again but at home.
They do get six days' rest before heading away against St. Louis, but three matches in seven days is a hell of a way to begin the last push of the season. They get seven days' rest on the other side of St. Louis away, but here's where it gets really stupid. They play Atlanta at home on Oct. 5, rest two days, and then play Toronto at home, and then have three days before going away to play Austin, making up the rescheduled July 4th weekend game. That's another three-in-seven stretch, but this time during an international break. You ought to expect the biggest stars of LAFC2 to show up at Q2 on Oct. 12 because that may be all the people they have available and healthy.
San Jose Earthquakes
(away, Oct. 18)
The Quakes have home-field advantage, but they have not exactly had the most fun path there. The Quakes have to be at the tip of LAFC's spear as the Black and Gold head into their Final Quarter of Hell. They get a breather in theory hosting St. Louis, sure, but guess what they get for their trouble in return? Away against both San Diego and a fully Müllerized Vancouver.
The San Diego match? It's the Shiny and Chrome's final regular-season home match for 2025. San Jose's reward for surviving whatever that nuclear blast is like is getting buried under the avalanche of a similarly triumphant Vancouver season with their brilliant new mega-star.
And then after all that, they get an Austin team that knocked them out of the Open Cup and then beat them by two goals in a match that would have made their playoff path easier should they have won or at least drawn it.
In a word: MLS.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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