LAFC played its third preseason friendly of the 2026 preseason, hosting the Portland Timbers for a closed-door scrimmage inside empty BMO Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
LAFC shuttled more than 20 players onto the pitch by the end of the match after opening with a starting eleven of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, centerbacks Eddie Segura and Ryan Porteous, fullbacks Artem Smoliakov and Sergi Palencia, midfielders Timmy Tillman, Mark Delgado, Mathieu Choinière, and Matt Evans, and forwards Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz. Several LAFC2 players saw extended minutes, especially in the second half.
Each team scored twice in the first 45 minutes, with Bouanga netting two goals from close range and Portland capitalizing on two set pieces. Neither team scored in the second half.
LAFC regulars Son Heung-Min, David Martínez, and Jeremy Ebobisse sat out the friendly but remain with the team during daily training. Freshly acquired attacking midfielder Amin Boudri was on hand, visiting BMO Stadium for the first time since he arrived from Swedish top flight club, Gais.
“It's far still from being our group,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said after the final whistle. “When I look behind me and I see all the guys in the stands watching the game, I'm like, ‘Hey, how are you? ’ I'm excited about how we could look as a team with everybody in. ”
Wednesday’s scrimmage represented a step up in competition and physicality compared to LAFC’s first two preseason scrimmages against Bayern Munich’s U-23 side and Orange County SC. Portland, which has been training in southern California since January 19, started eight of the 11 players who took the field for its playoff defeat to San Diego FC that ended its 2025 season less than three months ago. Eighth-place finishers in the Western Conference last year, Phil Neville’s side provided a stiff test to a Black & Gold group that is less than three weeks away from its first real match of 2026—the opening game of its two-leg matchup with Honduran club Real España in Round One of Concacaf Champions Cup.
“This was a typical MLS game with big chances,” Dos Santos said of Wednesday’s back-and-forth friendly. “You're in the opponent's half, you have the ball, and then the two or three times they go to goal, they win a foul or a corner kick and they get a set play.” A noted set-piece strategist, Dos Santos added: “It's good that we have these set-play wake-up calls in the preseason because we're aware that those are going to be big moments during the season. ”
Dos Santos replaced five starters to begin the second half, as Lloris was relieved in goal by Thomas Hasal, defenders Ryan Hollingshead and Nkosi Tafari came on for Smolyakov and Segura, teenage midfielder Jude Terry replaced Tillman, and Marius Aiyenero of LAFC2 came on in place of Ordaz.
Five LAFC2 players came on to close out the match over its final 30 minutes, along with defender Kenny Nielsen, who debuted in MLS in '25.
“I'm happy that we're giving chances, giving looks to the younger players,” Dos Santos said. “It doesn't make sense for us to have an academy or MLS NEXT Pro team if we do nothing with it. This was also very clear in the interview process I had [to become head coach], to pay a little bit more attention to the second team, our academy. Not a lot of them will make it [to the first team roster] this year, but there are two or three guys that we are really paying attention to this season. So, they're getting looks, they're getting opportunities, they're going to keep on getting opportunities. This is good for the club. ”
For LAFC, the friendly coincided with the team’s annual Media Production Day, with players participating before and after the match in various interviews and photo shoots inside the stadium’s suites. Recent front-line additions Jacob Shaffelburg and Tyler Boyd sat out the scrimmage but took part in the on-camera sessions indoors.
Next week, both clubs will move inland to the Coachella Valley Invitational, where LAFC will play a public friendly against NYCFC on Sunday, February 8, at Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. Passes for the 2026 CVI are still available.
LAFC kicks off its 2026 MLS regular season on February 21, against Inter Miami, at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Black & Gold’s home opener at BMO Stadium is scheduled for March 7 against FC Dallas. Visit the club’s 2026 schedule and season ticket membership pages for more information.
