LAFC meets Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, August 23 at BMO Stadium, and we reflect on the squad that played the most games by mid-July in MLS history. LAFC’s hectic first half of 2023 was for a thrilling run to the Concacaf Champions League Final. Head coach Steve Cherundolo termed his club’s busy schedule “a privilege.” It shows ambition and a love of winning. Other clubs want our position.”
16. A KING DOING IT
We included the June match in Kansas City above because it was crucial to LAFC’s 2023 tale. The Concacaf Finals defeat to Leon hurt the club. LAFC worked hard to draw a match against an undefeated opponent in their last four home games. until Aaron Long delivered a long volley into the attacking third that Carlos Vela sprinted onto, settled, and scored, quieting Childrens Mercy Park, winning, and boosting his team’s confidence.
15. Breaking the Minnesota tape
LAFC ended their record-setting run of 33 matches in four-and-a-half months with a 1-1 draw against Minnesota United on July 15. The true finish line won’t come until the MLS Cup final. Two full days of soccer. Ryan Hollingshead’s 90th-minute drive was inches from a win, but the 17-day hiatus was enough.
14. Unbeaten through April
LAFC became the last undefeated team in Major League Soccer in 2023 after tying Nashville 1-1 away on April 22. The Black & Gold established a club record for greatest season start (5-0-3). LAFC is the only MLS club to be undefeated in its first seven games in several seasons during the previous 20 years.
13. DueÑas Emerges
Erik Dueñas, a homegrown midfielder, made his first LAFC start in Nashville and has since contributed to the Club’s second-place Western Conference status. Born in El Monte, Dueñas joined LAFC, a new club at the time, at 11 years old. He quickly advanced through the academy and second team with his characteristic positivity.
12. RING ME
The champions got their title jewelry just before the season opener against Portland. A packed BMO Stadium applauded playoff heroes John McCarthy, Carlos Vela, and their teammates—including recently retired Gareth Bale—as they walked onto the field to receive their rings as a flowing tifo flailed in the North End. Vela had lifted the trophy four months earlier. A huge black banner read MLS CUP CHAMPIONS from the rafters to the east.
11. Youth IS SERVED
SKC game again. The front line—Stipe Biuk, Nathan Ordaz, and Mateusz Bogusz—averaged 20 years old, while Steve Cherundolo started five players under 21. Bogusz helped score the second-half tying goal.
10. Globally and online
Denis Bouanga played full 90 minutes in Gabon’s 1-0 African Cup of Nations qualification win against Sudan on March 23. After that, Bouanga travelled to Istanbul, where he took a 7,000-mile journey to Los Angeles, arriving soon before LAFC’s home match against FC Dallas. Bouanga entered in the 65th minute. He headed a cross into the goal unchallenged in the 84th and scored the winning goal at the far post. Indeed, bon voyage.
9. McCarthy is upright.
The impression after LAFC’s 2-1 loss at León in the Champions League final first leg was that FC León and goalie John McCarthy mean business. The perennial Liga MX power produced many chances in McCarthy’s area in their 2-1 win at Estadio León. Still, the lanky MLS Cup final hero parried or snatched strikes that appeared destined for his net. He won the Best Goalkeeper award for his five saves, which seemed like twenty, and kept his side alive in the two-leg final.
8. Rose Bowl Record
A sold-out Rose Bowl, a gorgeous sunset, two ferocious rivals. The Black & Gold lost 2-1 to the Galaxy on July 4 in front of an MLS-record 82,110 people in the ancient stadium.
7. Costa Rica Vacation
Before traveling to Costa Rica to face LD Alajuelense in the Concacaf Champions League, LAFC’s 2023 roster had only played together once, in their MLS season start against Portland. LAFC sent 25 attempts, including 12 on target, at Alajuelense goalkeeper Leonel Moreira on a humid night. In a 3-0 win, Denis Bouanga scored three. The first of three hat tricks Bounga would score in three events before July’s conclusion.
6. PHILLY SPECIAL
A handball on Kellyn Acosta handed Philadelphia Union a penalty kick and a 1-0 lead in the 82nd minute of LAFC’s Champions League semifinal against them. In the first minute of stoppage time, things looked bleak until Acosta saw a chance at redemption, ran at the Union goal, and knocked a Timothy Tillman pass into the upper corner, tying the game and giving LAFC a crucial road goal that helped them win the return leg in LA the following week.
5. LAFC GETS CARSON
LAFC has defeated the Galaxy in prior derby matches, but never on enemy territory. That changed on April 16, when Black & Gold fans filled Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson early and stayed all day. The team capitalized on this momentum with two Carlos Vela goals and a Ryan Hollingshead header in the 70th minute to win 3-2.
4. PHILLYEXTRA SPECIAL
Setup was straightforward. LAFC just needed to beat Philadelphia Union in the semifinal’s second leg to reach their second Champions League final in four years. In the 13th minute, Timothy Tillman scored on a rebound at BMO Stadium on a loud night. In the 90th minute, leading scorer Denis Bouanga finished a Jose Cifuentes pass to win the game. The 3-0 win against one of MLS’s best teams secured LAFC’s berth in the final of the region’s most renowned event, which includes first-division leagues in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
3. Late Heroes in LeÓn
León seemed to have won the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League final 2-0 at home when stoppage time expired. But then Denil Maldonado sent a ball out of the back to Vela, who passed it to running wingback Sergi Palencia, who turned from the right sideline and crossed into the danger area. Who ran onto it at the far post? John Strong of Fox Sports replied, “BOUANGAAAAAAAAAA!” Bouanga ran along the sideline after tapping the final kick into León’s goal, soaking up the cervezas and giving his squad optimism.
2. BMO hosts CCL final
Finish him! Read the huge tifo unfurled at BMO Stadium before the CCL final second leg. It was like Mortal Kombat, and these 180 minutes of football—90 in León and 90 in LA—felt like life or death. LAFC needed to beat León by two goals to win the region’s biggest championship after trailing 2-1 on aggregate. On this magnificent Sunday night in June, Los Angeles was filled with “We can do this” sentiments after the Black & Gold had defeated León in the 2020 CCL quarterfinals after coming back from two goals down. Unfortunately, it failed. León won the championship 1-0, but the excitement in LAFC’s stadium on this momentous night will be remembered.
1. Monaco Magic
No title was at stake, and LAFC’s smallest stadium was by far. LAFC’s sole game this year that extended to two additional 15-minute minutes was their U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 meeting versus Monterey Bay of the USL Championship. Cherundolo started eight youngsters, two 20-year-olds, and Eldin Jakupovic, the senior team’s backup goalkeeper and an English Premier League veteran who will be 40 next year, due to LAFC’s busy Champions League schedule. Even if you were one of the 6,000 who observed it, what happened is impossible to describe. The LAFC youth team “was at times spotty and disorganized, at other times clever and clinical—and at every moment gritty and resolute,” according to this website. After twelve penalty kicks—including one by the aging fox Jakupovic—LAFC won and danced on the pitch after his last diving save.