Austin FC is now out of the 2026 edition of Leagues Cup.
In its quarterfinal match at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J., on Wednesday night, Verde went down a man late in the first half, gave up a PK goal less than eight minutes after the restart, and ultimately wilted at the end of a spirited fight by a 2-0 scoreline.
With its available roster of players thinned by three outbound moves officially announced on Wednesday morning, interim head coach Davy Arnaud went to familiar players to start: Brad Stuver in goal, Joseph Rosales and Jon Gallagher flanking a back three of Brendan Hines-Ike, Oleksandr Svatok, and Guilherme Biro, a midfield two of Ilie Sánchez and Besard Šabović, and a front three of Myrto Uzuni, Christian Ramírez, and Ervin Torres.
Toluca put Verde's defense under pressure early, and the partisan Toluca crowd wasted no time indulging in the discriminatory goalkeeper chant that continues to blight Mexican soccer – getting a first in around the five-minute mark and doubling down on it with a second slightly more than 10 minutes in.
Toluca, in fact, got the first eight shots of the night off — doing so within the first 18 minutes, with two of those on target — but then in the 20th minute, Uzuni got off a shot deflecting off a Toluca defender to win a corner kick chance to tip the match a bit toward Verde.
In the 28th minute, Stuver was forced into action, saving what looked like a long Alexis Vega pass into the box, but what turned out to be functionally a shot that troubled Verde's goal.
Six minutes later, Uzuni troubled Toluca with what looked to be a diagonal pass across the goalmouth that didn't find a teammate, but was credited as a mishit shot.
Rosales made a poor challenge on Federico Pereira in the 38th minute, which initially earned a yellow card, but was reviewed by referee Filip Dujic, and raised to a red card.
To start the second half, interim head coach Davy Arnaud put Mikkel Desler on for Ramírez to return to the five-back look but without a striker.
Four minutes into the half, Jesús Ángulo got past Svatok inside the box, and though Svatok tried to recover, he fouled Ángulo with enough verve for Dujic to call for the penalty.
Helinho took the PK, and though Stuver guessed the right way and got a hand to the shot, he wasn't able to repel it, and Toluca took the lead.
Stuver came up with a big save on Jesús Gallardo in the 65th to prevent Toluca from doubling the lead.
Shortly after that heart-in-throat moment, Arnaud tried a double sub, getting Jorge Alastuey and Przemysław Płacheta on for Ilie and Gallagher.
In the 73rd, Biro had an attempt on goal thwarted by Bruno Méndez; Biro thought it was worthy of a penalty, and when Dujic didn't entertain it, that set off Arnaud enough to get a yellow card and then Ilie (from the sideline) enough to get a red card.
Five minutes later, Arnaud did a signature Torres-for-Torres save to get Facundo on, and Brandon Vázquez came on for Šabović. The two subs nearly made good on the corner kick they came on for, with Torres sending a ball to Vázquez, who headed it wide.
In the 85th minute, Stuver sent a long free kick toward goal, and Hines-Ike got a head to it, but nodded it over. In the 89th, Płacheta had a chance go wide. Deep into stoppage time, Stuver got deep into Toluca territory on a corner kick to try to engineer a shot.
Even later, Verde got countered on, with Jorge Díaz Price getting an insurance goal with the last play of the match.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
It's probably the ball from one DP to another with both freshly into the match.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
It's between the Rosales red and Svatok committing the penalty-worthy foul.
One thing you might have missed
Apple TV had a tunnel shot to capture Ilie's walk from the sideline to the locker room, which was as bleak as that description sounds.
One nerdy tidbit
20 minutes in, Toluca had 75% possession.
By the match's end, the stats that stood out most were Toluca having 24 shots to Austin's 10 and seven shots on target to Austin's one.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
With the loss, Verde's last best chance for glory is extinguished. Arnaud and his squad must now focus on a playoff race it's far behind in with a lineup depleted by roster-building ambition.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Did Arnaud think the red card was deserved?
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.
Austin FC is now out of the 2026 edition of Leagues Cup.
In its quarterfinal match at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J., on Wednesday night, Verde went down a man late in the first half, gave up a PK goal less than eight minutes after the restart, and ultimately wilted at the end of a spirited fight by a 2-0 scoreline.
With its available roster of players thinned by three outbound moves officially announced on Wednesday morning, interim head coach Davy Arnaud went to familiar players to start: Brad Stuver in goal, Joseph Rosales and Jon Gallagher flanking a back three of Brendan Hines-Ike, Oleksandr Svatok, and Guilherme Biro, a midfield two of Ilie Sánchez and Besard Šabović, and a front three of Myrto Uzuni, Christian Ramírez, and Ervin Torres.
Toluca put Verde's defense under pressure early, and the partisan Toluca crowd wasted no time indulging in the discriminatory goalkeeper chant that continues to blight Mexican soccer – getting a first in around the five-minute mark and doubling down on it with a second slightly more than 10 minutes in.
Toluca, in fact, got the first eight shots of the night off — doing so within the first 18 minutes, with two of those on target — but then in the 20th minute, Uzuni got off a shot deflecting off a Toluca defender to win a corner kick chance to tip the match a bit toward Verde.
In the 28th minute, Stuver was forced into action, saving what looked like a long Alexis Vega pass into the box, but what turned out to be functionally a shot that troubled Verde's goal.
Six minutes later, Uzuni troubled Toluca with what looked to be a diagonal pass across the goalmouth that didn't find a teammate, but was credited as a mishit shot.
Rosales made a poor challenge on Federico Pereira in the 38th minute, which initially earned a yellow card, but was reviewed by referee Filip Dujic, and raised to a red card.
To start the second half, interim head coach Davy Arnaud put Mikkel Desler on for Ramírez to return to the five-back look but without a striker.
Four minutes into the half, Jesús Ángulo got past Svatok inside the box, and though Svatok tried to recover, he fouled Ángulo with enough verve for Dujic to call for the penalty.
Helinho took the PK, and though Stuver guessed the right way and got a hand to the shot, he wasn't able to repel it, and Toluca took the lead.
Stuver came up with a big save on Jesús Gallardo in the 65th to prevent Toluca from doubling the lead.
Shortly after that heart-in-throat moment, Arnaud tried a double sub, getting Jorge Alastuey and Przemysław Płacheta on for Ilie and Gallagher.
In the 73rd, Biro had an attempt on goal thwarted by Bruno Méndez; Biro thought it was worthy of a penalty, and when Dujic didn't entertain it, that set off Arnaud enough to get a yellow card and then Ilie (from the sideline) enough to get a red card.
Five minutes later, Arnaud did a signature Torres-for-Torres save to get Facundo on, and Brandon Vázquez came on for Šabović. The two subs nearly made good on the corner kick they came on for, with Torres sending a ball to Vázquez, who headed it wide.
In the 85th minute, Stuver sent a long free kick toward goal, and Hines-Ike got a head to it, but nodded it over. In the 89th, Płacheta had a chance go wide. Deep into stoppage time, Stuver got deep into Toluca territory on a corner kick to try to engineer a shot.
Even later, Verde got countered on, with Jorge Díaz Price getting an insurance goal with the last play of the match.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
It's probably the ball from one DP to another with both freshly into the match.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
It's between the Rosales red and Svatok committing the penalty-worthy foul.
One thing you might have missed
Apple TV had a tunnel shot to capture Ilie's walk from the sideline to the locker room, which was as bleak as that description sounds.
One nerdy tidbit
20 minutes in, Toluca had 75% possession.
By the match's end, the stats that stood out most were Toluca having 24 shots to Austin's 10 and seven shots on target to Austin's one.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
With the loss, Verde's last best chance for glory is extinguished. Arnaud and his squad must now focus on a playoff race it's far behind in with a lineup depleted by roster-building ambition.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Did Arnaud think the red card was deserved?
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.
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