Recap: Sporting KC ends season with 1-0 victory in San Diego

Sporting Kansas City (7-22-5, 26 pts.) concluded the 2026 MLS season with a 1-0 victory over San Diego FC (9-14-11, 38 pts.) at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night. Andre Luiz scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the second half to vault Sporting out of last place in the Supporters’ Shield standings on Decision Day.

Head coach Raphael Wicky restored Stephen Afrifa and Lasse Berg Johnsen into the lineup following last Saturday’s draw with Dallas, with Ruben Ramos Jr. dropping to the bench and Jacob Bartlett missing out through an ankle injury.

The two sides traded early chances when Marcus Ingvartsen stung the palms of Stefan Cleveland in the fourth minute before Andre Luiz slammed a shot into the side netting a minute later to cap a rapid counterattack.

Sporting continued to absorb pressure and hit on the counter to good effect as the first half wore on, with Andre unfortunate not to win a penalty after being taken down by Manu Duah before Afrifa and Jansen Miller each went close in quick succession but saw their efforts scrambled away from goal by a desperate San Diego backline.

Afrifa continued to pose danger and was sent through one-on-one with Pablo Sisniega by Berg Johnsen in the 40^th minute but the San Diego goalkeeper did well to spread himself and block Afrifa’s attempt after cutting onto his favored right foot.

San Diego almost took the lead 10 minutes into the second half when Bryan Zamble found space on the left wing and drove into the penalty area before sending a low effort off the near post.

At the other end, Andre had a gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring when he was sent through on goal by Ramos with just Sisniega to beat, but once again the San Diego stopper made himself big to deny Andre’s powerful attempt.

Sporting finally got the breakthrough their performance deserved when Andre was brought down in the penalty area while bearing down on goal. The Brazilian picked himself up and sent Sisniega the wrong way for his eighth goal of the season to give Sporting a 1-0 lead in the 76^th minute.

San Diego responded by putting the Sporting defense under siege for the remainder of the match, but Sporting continued to create the better chances with Capita Capemba and Andre forcing Sisniega into action on multiple occasions during the closing stages as Sporting saw out the 1-0 victory for the team’s second shutout of the season.

The result saw Sporting leap above CF Montreal into 29^th in the standings, ensuring Sporting remains the only MLS charter team to never finish in last place in the club’s 31-year history.

Saturday’s match concluded the 2026 season for Sporting KC and the team will now shift focus to the 2027 MLS Sprint Season. Sporting will begin preseason preparations in mid-January before kicking off the truncated season on Feb. 20, 2027 with a trip to Houston before returning home on Feb. 27 to host the Vancouver Whitecaps in the team’s home opener. For information on tickets and more, visit SportingKC.com.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 34
Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, CA
Attendance: 23,695
Weather: 79 degrees and clear

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis, Jansen Miller, Wyatt Meyer, Emir Karic; Andre Luiz, Lasse Berg Johnsen (C) (Justin Reynolds 69’), Owen Wolff, Capita Capemba (Jayden Reid 87’); Stephen Afrifa (Shapi Suleymanov 87’), Taylor Calheira (Ruben Ramos Jr. 12’)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ethan Bartlow, Ian James, Zamir Loyo Reynaga

San Diego FC: Pablo Sisniega; Dagur Thorhallsson, Manu Duah, Christopher McVey, Kieran Sargeant; Alejandro Alvarado (Gabriel Pirani 59’), Pedro Soma (Jeppe Tverskov 59’), Onni Valakari (David Mimbang 69); Anders Dreyer, Marcus Ingvartsen (C) (David Vazquez 69’), Bryan Zamble (Amahl Pellegrino 59’)

Subs Not Used: CJ dos Santos, Ian Pilcher, Oscar Verhoeven, Anibal Godoy

Scoring Summary:
SKC – Andre Luiz 8 (Penalty Kick) 76’

Misconduct Summary:
SD – Marcus Ingvartsen (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 57’
SKC – Lasse Berg Johnsen (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 61’
SD – Manu Duah (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 67’
SKC – Justin Reynolds (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 70’
SD – Christopher McVey (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 72’

Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistant Referee: Corey Rockwell
Assistant Referee: Kevin Lock
Fourth Official: Ricardo Fierro
VAR: Jaclyn Metz
AVAR: Fabio Tovar