Sporting Kansas City continues club’s Leagues Cup 2024 campaign with a Round of 32 clash against reigning MLS Cup champions the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream for free on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. The match will be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
1. KNOCKOUT STAGE BEGINS
After advancing out of Group 4 of the West Region, Sporting Kansas City now begins Leagues Cup knockout stage play on Friday night with a trip to take on reigning MLS Cup champions the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field in the Round of 32. Sporting finished second in their group to advance while Columbus - as reigning MLS Cup champions - were awarded a bye to the Round of 32.
Should Sporting advance on Friday, the club would host the Round of 16 at Children’s Mercy Park on Tuesday, Aug. 13 against the winner of the Inter Miami CF vs. Toronto FC clash set to take place on Thursday, Aug. 8.
Sporting has now advanced to the knockout stages in both editions of the current iteration of the Leagues Cup. Sporting is one of 22 teams that has advanced out of their group in each of the past two seasons, with 25 MLS and Liga MX teams exiting in the group stage in either 2023 or 2024.
In last season’s tournament, Sporting advanced out of their group following a 3-3 draw with FC Cincinnati and a 1-0 victory over Chivas Guadalajara before falling to Toluca FC in the Round of 32.
2. HEADING BACK TO COLUMBUS
Sporting Kansas City continues the club’s Leagues Cup journey with a Round of 32 clash against reigning MLS Cup champions the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field on Friday night. The match sees Sporting return to a venue where the club had never visited prior to June 22, 2024 and now heads back to Lower.com just six weeks later.
On that night on June 22, Sporting suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against a rampant Columbus team that saw star striker Cucho Hernandez score a hat trick while Christian Ramirez also got on the scoresheet for the Crew.
Prior to that match, the two sides last met on April 23, 2022 in a rainy, weather-delayed match at Children’s Mercy Park. Despite getting more than three-quarters of the game in, the match was stopped due to inclement weather with 15 minutes remaining and the score locked at 0-0. After a 47-minute delay, the two sides saw out the remainder of the game to claim a share of the spoils.
Sporting leads the all-time series with Columbus 26-23-9, including a 12-14-5 mark on the road in Columbus. June’s loss was Sporting’s first in six meetings against the Crew (2-1-3).
3. AFRIFA’S STOCK CONTINUES TO RISE
Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa got himself back on the scoresheet during Monday night’s 2-1 loss to Toluca FC in the Leagues Cup group stage finale, continuing his fine form over the past two months.
Afrifa received a pass from Johnny Russell, dribbled inside on his right foot and curled a stunning effort that looped over Toluca goalkeeper Tiago Volpi before crashing off the crossbar and into the back of the net to make the score 1-1 in first-half stoppage time. The goal was named the Leagues Cup Goal of the Matchday.
Afrifa now has a goal contribution in back-to-back Leagues Cup matches after assisting in Sporting’s 2-1 win over Chicago on July 28 - a brilliant cross that was diverted into the back of the net by Willy Agada for the game-winner. Afrifa was named the Player of the Match following that performance.
The 23-year-old Canadian has five goals and two assists on the season across all competitions, all coming since May 21. Afrifa’s five goals this season in all competitions place him in a tie with Alan Pulido and Erik Thommy for second most on the team behind Agada (11).
4. NDENBE RETURNS AFTER NINE MONTHS OUT
Sporting Kansas City left back Logan Ndenbe made his long-awaited return to the field on Monday night, appearing as a 73rd minute substitute during the club’s 2-1 loss to Toluca FC in the Leagues Cup group stage at Children’s Mercy Park.
The moment marked the Belgian’s first appearance for exactly nine months, having suffered a torn ACL during the club’s sweep of rivals St. Louis during the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs on Nov. 5, 2023.
The injury came at an especially cruel time for Ndenbe, who had broken out as a cult hero for Sporting fans during the Round One Best-of-3 Series against St. Louis.
He scored his first professional goal with a stunning strike in Game One before opening the scoring with his second-ever goal in Game Two only to tear his ACL in the 62nd minute yet still completed the match to seal Sporting’s spot in the Western Conference Semifinals.
5. RUSSELL REACHES 50 ASSISTS
Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell reached a major milestone on Monday during the club’s 2-1 loss to Toluca FC in the Leagues Cup group stage finale at Children’s Mercy Park.
After being credited with an assist on Stephen Afrifa’s stunning equalizer late in the first half, Russell now has 50 career assists for Sporting in all competitions. He passes Roger Espinoza for sole possession of fifth place on the club’s all-time assist chart and only trails club icons Preki (104), Graham Zusi (90), Benny Feilhaber (58) and Chris Klein (54).
After a slow start to the season where Russell suffered a hamstring injury in March and recorded zero goals and just one assist in his first 10 appearances across all competitions, the Scotsman has turned it up a notch since mid-May and tallied four goals and six assists in his last 16 games.
Dates | Games | Minutes | G+A | G+A per 90 |
Feb. 24 - May 8 | 10 | 556 | 1 | 0.16 |
May 11 - Aug. 5 | 16 | 1,079 | 10 | 0.84 |
