Sporting Kansas City will look to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit when the team takes on Inter Miami CF in the second leg of Round One of the Concacaf Champions Cup at Chase Stadium on Tuesday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and will be nationally televised on FS2 (English) and TUDN / ViX (Spanish).
1. FOCUS BACK ON CHAMPIONS CUP
Sporting Kansas City will shift focus back to the Concacaf Champions Cup when the team takes on Inter Miami in the second leg of the club’s Round One matchup at Chase Stadium on Tuesday night.
Sporting have begun the 2025 campaign with a pair of narrow 1-0 losses - first against Inter Miami in the first leg last Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park before taking another slender loss in the club’s MLS opener on the road at Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Saturday night.
Sporting is participating in the Concacaf Champions Cup for the seventh time in club history and first time since advancing to the semifinals of the 2019 tournament. Sporting’s best finishes in an international competition came in 2002 and 2019 when the club reached the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Sporting has a 5-11-4 road record in international competitions, while SKC owns a 15-20-10 record in 45 international matches all-time. Sporting has a 12-11-6 record in the Concacaf Champions Cup, including a 6-8-4 record away from home.
2. DECISIVE SECOND LEG WITH MIAMI LOOMS
Sporting Kansas City will look to shock hosts Inter Miami CF in the second and decisive leg of the two teams’ Round One Concacaf Champions Cup clash this Tuesday night at Chase Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Inter Miami claimed a tense 1-0 victory in frigid conditions at Children’s Mercy Park last Wednesday in the first leg and Sporting will be looking to overturn that deficit on Tuesday night in the aggregate-scoring affair, with away goals serving as a tie-breaker.
Sporting and Miami have met twice in MLS play - with Miami claiming narrow 3-2 victories on each occasion. Sporting first visited Chase Stadium on Sept. 9, 2023 in MLS regular-season play and took the lead through Daniel Salloi only for Miami to score three unanswered goals to take a commanding lead before Alan Pulido struck a late consolation.
The two sides met again in a monumental occasion on April 13, 2024 as Sporting hosted Miami at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and a crowd of more than 72,000 witnessed a pulsating encounter, with Erik Thommy scoring twice for Sporting while Diego Gomez, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez tallied for the hosts.
3. SPORTING ANNOUNCES ROSTER COMPOSITION
Sporting Kansas City announced last Friday the composition of the club’s roster for the 2025 MLS season, with information on the designations for Sporting KC’s senior and supplemental roster, international roster spots, Designated Players and U22 Initiative Players as of Feb. 21.
Entering the 2025 MLS campaign, Sporting has 25 rostered players and five open roster slots. The club has filled 18 of 20 spots on its Senior Roster and seven of 10 spots on its Supplemental Roster.
Sporting currently has six players occupying international roster slots: William Agada, Zorhan Bassong, Joaquin Fernandez, Manu Garcia, Dejan Joveljic and Shapi Suleymanov. Tim Leibold has received his green card and no longer occupies an international slot. The club has one open international spot available.
Sporting’s current Designated Players are Garcia and Joveljic. The club’s U22 Initiative Players are Ndenbe and Voloder.
In addition, Sporting has selected the U22 Initiative Player Model entering 2025. This roster construction model allows the club to assemble a roster that includes up to two Designated Players and up to four U22 Initiative Players while also receiving up to an additional $2 million of General Allocation Money (GAM).
4. SHAPI MAKES SKC DEBUT, THREE OTHERS EARN MLS DEBUTS
During Sporting Kansas City’s 1-0 loss to Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Saturday night, four Sporting players made their MLS debuts for the club - including a debut in Sporting Blue for winger Shapi Suleymanov.
After not appearing during Wednesday night’s season-opening match with Inter Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup, Shapi played the final six minutes on Saturday after replacing Erik Thommy on the right wing.
Fellow offseason arrivals Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia and Dejan Joveljic - who all made their club debuts in the Concacaf Champions Cup last week - each earned their MLS debuts for Sporting on Saturday as Bartlett started and played the opening 45 minutes in central midfield while Garcia and Joveljic came off the bench as a tandem during the halftime interval.
5. “ONE KC” PRIMARY JERSEY UNVEILED
On Feb. 14, Sporting Kansas City unveiled the club’s new primary jersey for the 2025 and 2026 seasons featuring a progressive take on a classic look as the Sporting Blue kit proudly displays the club’s signature hoop stripes with each Dark Indigo stripe intricately composed of a repeating state line pattern.
The “One KC” kit celebrates the deep connection between club, city and community with a design that showcases two powerful symbols: the beloved hoops that have become an unmistakable hallmark of Sporting KC as well as the state border that defines the region’s unique identity.
Compass Minerals debuted as Sporting’s official jersey front partner in 2022 and the company’s logo is prominently displayed on the front of Sporting’s primary and secondary kits through a First Team partnership as the club’s official plant nutrition and salt provider.
