Sporting Kansas City vs. LAFC
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 5
Saturday, March 22 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:40 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | Pub Partners
Listen: SKC App or SportingKC.com
More: 5 Things | By the Numbers | Game Notes | MatchCenter
Sporting Kansas City will host LAFC at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park in a rematch of last year's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
Tickets for the Western Conference match-up are available online at SeatGeek and fans can take advantage of the 2025 Rally Pack to secure seats and a drink voucher to SKCvLAFC on Saturday in addition to SKCvNE on May 24, SKCvSEA on July 12 and SKCvHOU on Oct. 18 as well as exclusive Sporting merchandise items.
SportingStyle will also continue the club's new 2025 Pin of the Month set this weekend. The stadium-exclusive series features a collector's case to showcase eight total pins that will be released monthly from March through October at Sporting Kansas City home matches.
Sporting Kansas City and LAFC meet for the first time in 2025 after playing in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final last September at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Erik Thommy scored a sublime equalizer at the hour-mark before LAFC struck twice in extra time to secure a 3-1 victory.
The championship added a new trophy for a club that has no shortage of success in recent years, including MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield titles in 2022 as well as runners-up finishes in MLS Cup 2023, the 2023 Concacaf Champions League Final and 2024 Leagues Cup Final. LAFC leads MLS in points, wins and goals scored since entering the league in 2018, however the visitors arrive in Kansas City having lost three straight matches in all competitions and having suffered defeats in all three of the team's road matches this season.
Sporting KC is coming off a historic 3-3 draw against Minnesota United last weekend in which SKC erased a three-goal deficit to earn a result for the first time in club history. The rally snapped a club-record 10-match losing streak in all competitions and it was sparked by Sporting KC Academy product Daniel Salloi, who came off the bench in the 58th minute to score 10 minutes later for his first goal as a substitute since recording the game-winning goal in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup Final.
Designated Player Dejan Joveljic completed the comeback with an 80th-minute equalizer, giving the Serbian striker eight goals in his last eight MLS starts in addition to goals in seven consecutive MLS home matches. Acquired from the LA Galaxy in the first cash-for-player trade in MLS history during the offseason, the 25-year-old Joveljic recorded 21 goals and eight assists across all competitions in 2024 to lead LA to a record sixth MLS Cup title.
Sporting Kansas City is winless in eight straight match-ups with LAFC (0-6-2), whose roster is headlined by 38-year-old MLS All-Star Hugo Lloris. The all-time appearance leader for the France Men's National Team, Lloris started in each of the last two FIFA World Cup finals -- winning the 2018 edition of the competition and setting a record in 2022 for the most career World Cup appearances by a goalkeeper (20).
Fellow World Cup champion Olivier Giroud missed LAFC's last match due to a leg injury and will be honored by the French Football Federation in Paris this weekend as the national team's all-time leading scorer. LAFC will also be without 2023 MLS Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga (Gabon) and Homegrown forward Nathan Ordaz (El Salvador) due to international duty. In their absences, LAFC's attack will be led by Designated Player Cengiz Ünder. The 27-year-old winger is on loan from Fenerbahçe after previously playing for AS Roma and Leicester City.
Sporting will also be without two players on international duty in midfielder Zorhan Bassong (Canada) and centerback Ian James (U.S. U-17s) on Saturday as Manager Peter Vermes is set to reach a major milestone with his 700th match at the club as a player (2000-2002) and head coach (2009-present) across all competitions.
Saturday's showdown will be available to watch live on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers with English (Tyler Terens and Kyndra de St. Aubin) and Spanish (Alejandro Figueredo and Tony Cherchi) commentary. MLS Season Pass is available through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and game consoles as well as on the web at tv.apple.com.
Sporting KC Season Ticket Members receive a free subscription to MLS Season Pass. Fans can sign up for MLS Season Pass for $14.99 per month or $99 for the full season and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month or $79 for the full season. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password.
Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will show all of the action from SKCvLAFC, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light district featuring $4 domestic drafts, $5 wells and 50% off chicken nachos for fans in SKC gear starting at 5:30 p.m.
