Major League Soccer officially welcomes San Diego FC as the league’s newest franchise Sunday. The club will face a stiff challenge in its inaugural match.
San Diego FC will visit the reigning MLS Cup champion L.A. Galaxy at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) on MLS Season Pass and Apple TV+ in the league’s first ‘Sunday Night Soccer’ showcase.
As MLS begins its 30th season, San Diego FC begins play as the 30th team in the league.
San Diego FC features U.S. national team standout Luca de la Torre and Mexican international Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano. Head coach Mikey Varas hopes to implement an aggressive style of play to help the club compete immediately in the MLS Western Conference.
San Diego FC plans to honor the local community, which showed massive support at a recent fan event at the club’s new home, Snapdragon Stadium.
“It’s important we bring a product to the community here that can be a reflection of them,” Varas said. “San Diego is a creative place, and a vibrant city, vibrant people and also very hard-working people, and very competitive community.”
De La Torre – a San Diego native who got his start at youth clubs like San Diego Nomads and San Diego Surf – says he’s living a dream playing for the new MLS club.
“I hope that we can play a style of football that attracts people, and we can win,” said De La Torre, who has played professionally at Fulham in the English Premier League, Heracles Almelo in the Netherlands, and Celta de Vigo in Spain’s La Liga.
“At the end of the day, it’s our job to fill the stadium and create those moments people want to be part of, and create emotions in people.”
Mohamed Mansour, 77, is the majority owner and chairman of San Diego FC. He is the chairman of Mansour Group, and founder and chairman of Man Capital. He also owns the Right to Dream network of youth academies in Ghana, Egypt, Denmark and San Diego. Forbes estimates Mansour’s net worth to be $3.3 billion.
San Diego FC went 1-2 in exhibition games earlier this month during the Coachella Valley Invitational. They fell 3-1 to New York City FC on Feb. 8, lost 3-0 to the Portland Timbers on Feb. 12, and beat the MLS Cup runner-up New York Red Bulls 6-0 on Feb. 15.
“We improved a lot as the friendlies went on, and obviously the last match was really good,” De La Torre said. “I think the coaches have been introducing useful ideas that the guys have been taking on well. And the fitness has been growing. Now, we’re in a good place. … We’re ready to start the season.”
After San Diego FC’s inaugural match, it will play its home opener March 1 against St. Louis City SC at Snapdragon Stadium.
Only one of the six previous MLS expansion teams won its inaugural match. St. Louis was the last to do so in 2023.
“It’s just an exciting time, and we can’t wait for the club to officially start league play,” Varas said.