Los Angeles FC hardly had time to savor the pride of arguably the greatest win in its comparatively short but already rich history and is already back in business for another game-defining match. This coming Sunday, the club hosts Sporting Kansas City in BMO Stadium in what will be the final regular-season match in MLS prior to the group stage of the highly anticipated FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
The win came on the heels of last weekend's historic win against Mexican three-time winners of the last four Liga MX championships, Club América, 2-1 in the 120-minute thriller to claim the 32nd and final berth into the world's largest club competition.
LAFC peaks towards the latter part of the year
If anything, the only thing that head coach Steve Cherundolo has been doing better in 2025 is preparing his team to the fullest for situations that matter.
They are impressive in home play with the top Western Conference mark (5-1-1) and lowest number of goals conceded by any MLS side on home soil.
LAFC are in the midst of their finest spell of the campaign and are on a favorable streak of form on the pitch. And although already the eyes are on the match with Chelsea on June 16 in Atlanta, nobody in LA is keen to drop points anywhere else currently.
Now the challenge is to translate that momentum into MLS points and carry on from there until the Club World Cup break.
Sporting Kansas City tries to shock with grit
Their counterpart on the opposite side is Sporting Kansas City, with a rollercoaster of a year but by no stretch throwing in the towel. The club is not the same club since the departure of Peter Vermes in late last month. SKC has, under Kerry Zavagnin, recorded four victories, three draws, and three defeats.
Most notably, the goals-per-game ratio rose from 0.86 to 1.9. The away win in the last game showed that the club is not giving up yet.
Though they are in 12th place in the Western Conference with their 4-8-4 record, Sporting is clinging to hope to come back. There is hope in newer away performances in the sense that they have beaten San Jose and in Houston. To play LAFC in their fortress is another challenge, though, in the wake of all that has transpired between the teams of late.
History favors LAFC
LAFC has not lost to Sporting since last year, 2021. Nine games and no win, seven of them on the losing end, two draws. In the last game, in March of this year, the California team emerged victorious by the score of 2-0 in Children’s Mercy Park. That game was the second-to-last of Peter Vermes’ time in command of SKC. The return game now has some of the revenge factor with it but does carry the weight of the statistics: LAFC knows how to win this game.