Preview | LAFC vs. Orlando City - 2026 MLS Season

Saturday, April 4 | 6:30 p.m. PT

🏟 | BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA

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LAFC returns to BMO Stadium following the final international break before the World Cup, hosting Eastern Conference opponents Orlando City SC for an MLS regular-season match presented by SuperFile.

After five MLS matchdays LAFC stands unbeaten and in first place in the Western Conference with a record of 4W-0L-1D (13 points). The Black & Gold has not conceded a goal in MLS play so far, becoming the first club in MLS history to post five straight clean sheets at the start of a season. LAFC owns a 3W-0L-0D record at home this year, including a 3-nil win over Inter Miami at the LA Coliseum, and has won seven straight MLS home matches dating back to last summer.

Forward Son Heung-Min, fresh off international duty with South Korea, leads all MLS players with seven assists across all competitions so far in 2026. Last season’s MLS Golden Boot runner-up, Denis Bouanga, leads LAFC with five goals scored in all competitions. Twenty-year-old Venezuelan sensation David Martínez has contributed four goals, including two in MLS.

SCOUTING ORLANDO

Orlando City has gotten off to a tough start following its run of six straight appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the longest current streak in MLS.

The Lions have scored four goals in five games and have conceded a league-high 17 times for a goal differential of -12, which ranks last in MLS.

On March 11 the club parted ways with longtime head coach Oscar Pareja, who had served more than five years at the helm. Pareja’s top assistant Martín Perelman was named interim head coach.

Perelman’s tenure got off to a thrilling start when Orlando acquired star French forward Antoine Griezmann from LaLiga's Atlético Madrid last week. A former teammate of LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on France’s national team, Griezmann will join the Lions after the World Cup ends in July. 

Lloris and Griezmann became World Cup champions together in Russia in 2018, and made the World Cup final again in 2022 in Qatar.

This year’s Lions have been led by 2025 MLS MVP contender Martín Ojeda (16g/15a last year) who currently leads the team in goals scored with two. Winger Iván Angulo has notched a team-best three assists. Marco Pašalić, an MLS All-Star in 2025, provides danger on the other wing.

Midfielder Braian Ojeda has yet to come off the field in 2026 and leads all Orlando players in minutes played (450).

Two former LAFC players, Black & Gold Original Eduard Atuesta and 2022 MLS Cup champion Maxime Crépeau, currently wear Orlando purple, in midfield and in goal, respectively.

“Because they've struggled in the beginning of the season, it's a red alert for us not to bring our guard down,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos told the media on Thursday. “To be ready, to push the game, to make sure that we're aggressive. We showed our guys what they've been doing since the beginning of the season but we also were clear with the players that look it might be also a moment where they want to change something during these two weeks [the international break].”

INTERNATIONALS RETURN

LAFC welcomes seven members of its MLS senior roster back into the fold after they represented their countries in international play in late March. 

While Son (South Korea) and midfielder Mathieu Choiniére (Canada) were logging minutes for their respective World-Cup-bound national teams, most of LAFC’s roster remained in Los Angeles and logged minutes on the training pitch.

“It is important for us to not only keep the guys that we have here fit, but to slowly integrate the guys that are arriving this week in different periods,” Dos Santos said. “Matt Evans arrived earlier in the week, then David [Martínez] arrived, then last night Amin [Boudri], Chonière, Sonny arrived, so just kind of managing slowly the guys coming back and having an idea of what we want to do against Orlando.”

“It's good to see the guys again,” LAFC midfielder Mark Delgado said. “They're slowly getting back into rhythm, coming back from international duty, getting the flights out of their legs, and we’re slowly getting the guys integrated again.”

• ALSO READ: Ten LAFC Players Join Their National Teams

As for Orlando’s internationals, Pašalić took the field for Croatia—which has also qualified for the World-Cup—contributing the winning assist in a 2-1 win over Colombia in a friendly in Orlando last week. Crépeau joined Choiniére on Team Canada, and Braian Ojeda played for Paraguay, which will open the World Cup against the United States in Los Angeles on June 12. 

THE SERIES

LAFC has faced Orlando City five times, with the last four matchups taking place in Orlando. The Black & Gold owns a 3W-0L-2D overall record against the Lions, including a 1-1 draw in the Quarterfinals of the MLS Is Back Tournament in July 2020 which saw Orlando advance on penalty kicks. 

In their most recent meeting on June 15, 2024, Bouanga scored two goals in a 3-1 LAFC win at Inter & Co Stadium in central Florida.

LAFC CAN WIN IF

It remains focused on securing three points at home instead of on Tuesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinal clash against defending CCC champs Cruz Azul. Just 70 hours after the final whistle against Orlando, LAFC will kick off against the Mexican giants at BMO Stadium, with the second and decisive leg scheduled for the following Tuesday in Puebla, Mexico.

“We can't look forward too far,” said LAFC midfielder Ryan Raposo. “The staff has been telling us that everyone has to be ready to play. I think from what the coaching staff has said there's going to be a lot of rotation, a lot of opportunities for guys to prove themselves, and we just need to focus on getting the three points in MLS and then advancing in Champions League.”

ORLANDO CITY CAN WIN IF

LAFC’s early-season evolution hits a snag. The Black & Gold’s defending, and the goalkeeping of Lloris, has carried the club while its playmakers have been working out the kinks, playing through minor injuries, and adapting to new faces and to Dos Santos’ game model. With no defeats through nine total games, LAFC’s imperfect form in the final third has yielded no setbacks thus far. 

“I don't think we're close to being our best, which is the scary part,” Raposo said. “I think we have a lot more in us. But it's fine, it's still early in the year and we're winning matches. So far it's OK, but I truly believe that we have another two gears that we can hit, when everyone is at their top form and flying.”