Forget Leagues Cup: Looking at Austin's forthcoming four MLS opponents

Forget Leagues Cup.

Or, rather, forget Leagues Cup itself, while considering what Austin FC's recent participation in the three 2026 Phase One matches portends for Austin's fortunes against its forthcoming four MLS opponents.

Does the remainder of this regular season require the boys in Verde to suit up superheroically, or are they already poised and prepped to do so? Face forward, True Believers, and let's look ahead to the first quartet out of this final Sinister Sixteen MLS matches facing the club.

That opener is best read if you can hear the voice of Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee narrating it, for what it's worth.

FC Dallas (home, Sunday, Aug. 16)

Here's how the frisky boys from Frisco experienced Leagues Cup.

First, they were unable to score against Querétaro until the second half of a game played in North Texas SC's mostly empty new stadium in Mansfield. Their second goal of a 2-0 final scoreline did not come until after the 80th minute in a match that required subbing in a rotated-out Petar Musa.

They went on to beat Chivas 1-0 in unfriendly territory at PayPal Park in San Jose on Saturday. in advance of heading to yet-more-unfriendly territory against Toluca in Mexico.

Dallas endured the 8,750-foot elevation of Toluca’s Bombonera before bouncing out of Leagues Cup. Not seen in yesterday’s Foreign Exchange was the fact that Eric Quill played Petar Musa for a full 2/3 of that match. Dallas got an extra day of rest as compared to Austin, but Musa and other key starters playing significant minutes that hard at elevation ought to be a factor in Sunday’s Copa Tejas derby.

Seattle Sounders FC (away, Wednesday, Aug. 19)

As of this writing, Seattle has only just broken a seven-games-in-all-comps losing streak, in part driven by Austin welcoming them back to Q2 Stadium with a kick to the proverbial nethers. By the time this match happens at Lumen Field, that losing form could very well return.

Breaking that streak happened thanks to running into a massively rotated, already-eliminated Querétaro — which the beleaguered Sounders ran through like tissue paper. While Seattle won, it came at the cost of a quad injury to Pedro de la Vega that required him to head straight into the tunnel from the field — in his first appearance back from injury.

The Sounders' third Leagues Cup match was against Chivas, who were eliminated by Dallas before Seattle's "we are both already out, let's be real" game against Querétaro kicked off on Sunday afternoon. Seattle needed the pride and confidence of breaking the worst losing streak in Sounders history … but at what cost?

For its ostensible improvements over the "too many matches nobody cares about" old format, the new LC format still results in a bunch of "nothing to play for" third matches between mutually eliminated opponents. Even if Seattle had gotten a result against a better-than-Querétaro Chivas (Sounders lost 1-2), they still had to endure that match prior to a home game against also-beleaguered rival Vancouver.

The Whitecaps are mentally in a much better place than Seattle. This is despite the ongoing 50/50 uncertainty surrounding the club's possible relocation, relatively troubling run of form, and having transferred key piece Sebastian Berhalter to Middlesborough. (Not to mention finishing last in the MLS Leagues Cup table with just a single point, albeit against Tigres.) It is most likely that they will do Austin a good favor in some form or another in a Cascadia rivalry match that both teams want and need to win.

Philadelphia Union (home, Saturday, Aug. 22)

Philly has had an upswing since dismissing former head coach Bradley Carnell, but its roster is still a mess, and its match against Cruz Azul showed some regression to their 2026 average in various ways.

Cruz Azul are a favorite to go far in Leagues Cup and the Snakes held them to just one goal. The Union went into that match on a three-game heater putting away Red Bull, Seattle, and Atlanta ... but all three of those teams have had at best up-and-down seasons if not pronounced big slides.

Against Cruz Azul, on paper at least, the Sullivan Brothers ought to have been a major threat right out of the gate. That a non-MLS side neutralized them so well should be concerning to Philadelphia. The biggest takeaway from that match for me wasn't the "should it have been a PK" handball at the end of regulation. It's that Philadelphia should not have been needing to bank on an unexpected last-minute PK to equalize in the first place.

Necaxa's Leagues Cup 2026 legacy (thus far) was being the first of two teams (again, so far) to see their manager sent off with a red card. Against Necaxa, the Union showed a return to their solid, goal-scoring form of late. Cavan Sullivan returned to his generational talent average, scoring in the 53rd minute. The Union figured some stuff out again, but they still let one in during the 79th minute. The Thicc L'il Dragons gave Necaxa more opportunities than they should have though, with nine of 15 shots on target.

Philly, like Vancouver, had their own "Who gives a shit? Neither of these teams is going through" third round match against also-eliminated Santos Laguna, who played Philadelphia off the field. The Union regressed to their pre-Leagues Cup form and set off various alarm bells for fans who thought they might be escaping the need for a generational rebuild.

Before coming to Q2, Union have to go away to NYCFC and then play at home against Miami. That's one of the least-ideal two-match swings an Eastern Conference team could hope for on the other side of a 2-0 Santos drubbing before coming to face an Austin side that now boasts their own club's newly former head of Soccer Strategy.

Portland Timbers (away Saturday, Aug. 29th)

This one is furthest out, and on the other side of Austin playing Toluca in a Leagues Cup quarterfinal up in Harrison, N.J. Portland’s decisive loss against Club América before new manager Martín Cifuentes took over for its third LC match against Tijuana sets up a weird series of questions about their status quo.

Portland had a better match and better opportunities than the final scoreline reflects against América. To something Davy Arnaud said about Austin’s discipline and focus in Verde’s second half against Puebla falling off applies to what I saw across the entire match when rewatching POR-CA. The Timbers showed a lack of discipline and focus on tactics that were working when they locked in on them. The 5-1 scoreline against Seattle could and arguably should have been 6-0 or even 7-0 had interim Jack Cassidy kept them on course.

The way that Cassidy openly dismissed any notion of wanting to work as an assistant under Cifuentes was eyebrow-raising. “I’m a head coach,” he said. That says to me that he did not do much if any work preparing the way for the new gaffer, and there could be a weird short (or long) term run of form if, as it seems, Cifuentes is very much having to start from scratch with guys who don’t even know what to be varying levels of bought in to do.

Cassidy was auditioning for a different theoretical job somewhere else that he’s annoyed Portland did not give him after they fired Phil Neville. Davy Arnaud has bluntly declared his interest in staying at Austin and serving in whatever capacity they need his Good Soldier skills, whether as an interim or assistant or whatever else.

The Timbers beat Tijuana 3-1 … but Tijuana rotated heavily, and managed to score 19 minutes in. It took until the 40-minute mark for Kevin Kelsy to equalize, and Portland’s remaining pair of goals took until 64’ and 77’, respectively. These players are only just getting to know their new manager and vice versa, with that acclimation process progressing in a very packed schedule.

Before Austin go to Providence Park in a week and a half, the Jimbo Joeys (nobody calls them this) play Chicago away, San Diego at home, and away again at LAFC. Chicago are the top MLS seed in Leagues Cup and in great form overall otherwise, San Diego have finally rid themselves of the Curse of Chucky, and LAFC is as LAFC as ever. That is a hell of an unideal trio of matches to have to play.

Cifuentes may be dealing with any number of “getting to know you” variables after a rolling start racing through only four short-turnaround matches. He’ll be going up against Arnaud, who has a fully bought-in squad that’s ground through nine games plus a full preseason.

Granted, Arnaud has to play that Portland match on short turnaround after a Leagues Cup Quarterfinal match … but what if it’s a further emboldening win against a formidable Red Devils side that further refines things we already see working well?

Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.