Saturday, February 28 | 5:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
🖥 | WATCH: Apple TV | Coupang Play (Korea), SpoTV (Korea), Local Bar Partners
📻 | LISTEN: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), & KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
Riding a three-game win streak across all competitions to start 2026, LAFC departs for its first MLS road trip of the year, facing Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium.
The Black & Gold seeks to resume the road form it displayed last season when the club built a road unbeaten streak of 11 straight games, the longest such streak in MLS in 2025, taking at least a point from every regular-season away match between April 5 and October 12.
So far in 2026, LAFC has won its first three matches in all competitions, something the club has done only once previously, back in 2023, when it defeated the Portland Timbers (MLS regular season), L.D. Alajuelense (Concacaf), and New England Revolution (MLS regular season) by a combined 10 goals to two.
This weekend’s Houston trip represents the final match in LAFC’s run of four matches in just twelve days, a challenging start to 2026 that head coach Marc Dos Santos managed earlier this week by rotating his roster in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Real España, which pushed LAFC into the Round of 16 of Concacaf Champions Cup.
“We knew that at some point we had to do a little bit of rotation,” Dos Santos said after Tuesday's match. “I thought everybody worked hard [tonight] but there are synergies and some micro-dynamics that don't work as well because it's a lot of changes. It was good to give opportunities to some players to finish the job, to rest a lot of players, because Saturday we want to go to Houston with our full strength.”
Less than three months into his tenure as LAFC’s head coach, Dos Santos is pleased with the on-field results so far. “When we look at it, three games, three wins, a trip to Honduras, a big game against Inter Miami, 10 goals scored, one conceded, a rotation opportunity for young players to play, so everything is very positive— and now [we] prepare for Houston.”
SON SUMMARY
LAFC forward Son Heung-Min played in Texas twice last year, against FC Dallas on August 23 – scoring his first goal in an LAFC shirt, a strike that later claimed MLS Goal of the Year honors – and in Austin in an MLS Cup playoff match on November 2. Son scored within the first 22 minutes of both matches, and added an assist in the playoff match. Weather for both of those games was hot and humid. Forecasts in Houston on Saturday night call for milder temperatures in the 60s or 70s, and humidity around 85 percent.
Against Real España on Tuesday, despite LAFC’s congested schedule and its 6-1 aggregate-goal advantage headed into the match, Dos Santos started Son and played him for 45 minutes instead of giving him the night off, explaining his thinking with one word. “Rhythm. Like I said before, Sonny didn't have a perfect preseason, so it's important that he keeps getting rhythm. And I told both Sonny and Denis [Bouanga] that I would have them 45 minutes on the field, that at halftime we would make the changes. So they were aware of it, they knew what was going on, they were on board.”
DYNAMO LOWDOWN
After finishing 12th in the Western Conference standings last year and missing the playoffs, Houston had an active offseason, adding former LAFC star Mateusz Bogusz from Cruz Azul of Liga MX and making him a Designated Player. Bogusz, a Polish international, scored 20 goals for LAFC in all competitions in his breakout 2024 season. The 24-year-old appeared in 60 MLS regular-season matches in black and gold between 2023 and ‘24, registering 18 goals and 11 assists.
In his Houston debut last week against the Chicago Fire, Bogusz played all 90 minutes, overcoming an early giveaway that led to Chicago’s only goal and making the key pass that led to Houston’s second goal in the 2-1 Dynamo win.
Another big acquisition, Brazilian attacker Guilherme, joined Houston in January and scored two goals in his debut against Chicago, earning him MLS Team of the Matchday honors – joining LAFC’s Bouanga and Stephen Eustáquio, who earned Team of the Matchday nods for their performances against Inter Miami.
LAFC SO FAR
LAFC has sandwiched a 3-0 win over Inter Miami in front of a record crowd in between two wins over Real España by 7-1 on aggregate. Son has registered four assists and one goal in those three games, in just 195 minutes, while Bouanga has put up four goals and one assist in 217 minutes, continuing their torrid form from 2025, when they combined for 25 goals and eight assists in just three-and-a-half months together.
Centerback Nkosi Tafari has also picked up where he left off, earning Man of the Match recognition against Miami and in the second leg against Real España. Tafari scored his first ever goal for LAFC in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over the Honduran club since arriving from FC Dallas 13 months ago.
“When Kos started preseason, it wasn't always in the starting team,” Dos Santos said. “We were trying different things and his mentality was exceptional when he was not with a pinnie [scrimmage vest] on … and I'm just happy for him to get rewarded with tonight's goal. Very good beginning of season for him. He's doing a lot of the things we're asking him to do, so it's positive.”
THE SERIES
LAFC holds a 7W-5L-5D advantage over Houston in MLS play, including its 2-0 win over the Dynamo in the 2023 Western Conference Final. However, the Black & Gold has not won in Houston since July 12, 2019. Houston topped LAFC in Houston in April of last year, 2-1, in what would be last road loss for the Black & Gold before its 6-month unbeaten streak in away matches.
In the 2018 U.S. Open Cup Semifinal on August 8, 2018, the Dynamo defeated LAFC 7-6 on penalties following a 3-3 draw.
Of note: Houston is the only Western Conference club that Bouanga - the leading goal scorer in MLS over the last three years - has never scored against.
LAFC WILL WIN IF
Dos Santos pulls the right strings with his second-half changes. Given the warm weather and all the miles his team has run over the last two weeks, Dos Santos will be strategic in how he alters his personnel as the game wears on. By most accounts, this is the deepest squad LAFC has had since the MLS Cup trophy winners of 2022, and so far Dos Santos has proven adept at running men on and off over the last 45 minutes to suit each match’s needs.
HOUSTON CAN WIN IF
Bogusz, Guilherme, and Jack McGlynn find a rhythm. Along with midfielder Ondřej Lindr and striker Ezequiel Ponce, the Dynamo have some pop in their attack. If they can connect and finish near goal a couple times on Saturday night, Houston's five-game home unbeaten streak against LAFC could grow.
