Is this a rivalry yet? A look at Austin FC's history against LAFC

Does Austin FC have a rivalry going with LAFC? It depends on who you ask, as rivalries are in the eye of the beholder. 

First of all, some unsolicited opinion: Rivalries are good. They drive interest from fans and they raise stakes in an appreciable way. If LAFC and Austin FC are rivals, the teams and fans theoretically approach each match with more intensity and more investment than they might if it were, say, the Colorado Rapids — who through a quirk of the 2023 schedule is the last team each has faced in MLS play, with both teams getting draws against the league original. 

Some are edging closer to calling Saturday’s seventh meeting between the current MLS Cup holders and their fellow 2022 Western Conference finalists a rivalry. For instance, Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff broached the topic at last week’s media availability when the question came up. While not quite saying LAFC was a rival, he did indicate the team gets his squad’s attention every time they face off. 

“I think it's certainly taken roots,” Wolff said of the burgeoning rivalry. “It's taken shape. I mean, we've been in existence three years now. They were the team that we opened up our existence with. So right away, there's a relationship and a connection to the two teams. There are a fairly recent team as far as an expansion team … we've seen some of the things that they've done well and some of the some of the struggles that they've had at times, but on the field, the competitiveness, I think has been quite good over the first two years.” 

“Last year I think was a different dynamic,” Wolff added. “They were and are today the best team in the league, and they continue to show that. It was easy for us to get up to those games last year, knowing they were above us and knowing they are kind of a benchmark inside our league. We still look at them that way.” 

LAFC holds the series edge with four wins to Austin’s two — the teams have never drawn — but Austin won the 2022 series 2-1 after being swept in 2021. However, the one match Austin lost last season was the most pivotal, coming in the playoffs after Verde took both regular-season contests. 

Some contend that Austin FC doesn’t have a rival yet — not even Copa Tejas competitors Houston and Dallas. You’d think that if any team qualified as a Verde rival, it’d be the folks from Frisco, given that they’ve traded Copa Tejas titles in Austin’s first two seasons, had an epic playoff battle for the right to challenge LAFC, and have the whole trophy in the parking lot fiasco to provide some of the narrative oomph that fans look for in a rivalry. 

When We Are Austin TV's Hernan Gonzalez sought the opinion of a group of LAFC podcasters, they would only grant that the teams had a "big brother/little brother" dynamic and that the matches were fun to watch. 

Indeed, some people think rivalries only develop over time and need high-stakes and close matches to move it into that echelon. 

As this trip down memory lane will reveal, the matches between LAFC and Austin FC haven’t always been close, but many of them have been compelling, and as Wolff noted, 2022 allowed Austin to get to a new level. 

April 17, 2021: LAFC 2, Austin 0

Danny Hoesen. Rodney Redes. Cecilio Dominguez. Tomas Pochettino. Ben Sweat. Each of those names is bound up with varying degrees of futility and disappointment for Verde fans — and they were also all starters for Verde’s inaugural match nearly two years ago, showing just how much a team’s roster can be overhauled in two seasons. (Another indication of how much has changed: Matt Besler and Jhohan Romaña was the starting center back pairing.) 

Austin FC’s first-ever regular season match happened when L.A. was still under COVID-19 restrictions, so while it wasn’t as boisterous as it might have been, a contingent of Austin fans did find their way into what was then Banc of California Stadium for the historic match. While Carlos Vela came out of the game early with a surprise injury — maybe prematurely, given that then-head coach Bob Bradley misinterpreted Vela’s signal about his trouble, LAFC still dominated. Goals from Corey Baird (now with Houston) and Jose Cifuentes (now languishing on the LAFC bench in limbo, after being projected as an offseason departure) made the difference in this one. 

July 7, 2021: LAFC 2, Austin 0

Austin hosted this midweek match with the same scoreline as the opener. Cifuentes once again found his scoring touch against Verde, getting the first goal late in the first half, and then Diego Rossi (remember him?) put the exclamation point on this one late. 

Chris Bils, who covered Austin FC matches for The Striker during its first two years, pegged this match as a “reality check” for Austin. He wrote, assessing Pochettino’s absence in this match: 

“Jared Stroud started at right wing in place of Gallagher, and Kekuta Manneh made his first start in Verde. Many of you have been asking to see what this team looks like Tomás Pochettino, and it could be argued that the squad didn’t miss a step for the first 35 minutes as ATX took the match to LAFC and held nearly 65% of possession.

“However, I’d argue that if Pochettino was in then Austin would have finished one of its many chances. Stroud got into many of the same areas that Pochettino and Gallagher were operating in against the Timbers, and we saw the same indecisiveness that has plagued him all season.” 

Bils also couldn’t believe he was calling No. 1 SuperDraft pick Dani Pereira “the straw that stirs the drink for this first-year franchise,” adding, “Without him, Verde looks lost.” Two years after an eye-opening rookie season, Pereira continues to show his brilliance as a box-to-box catalyst. 

September 16, 2021: LAFC 2, Austin 1

It was a better scoreline but the same result for Austin FC in the teams’ third matchup of 2021. Diego Fagundez committed a handball foul that led Cristian Arango to convert the PK, but then in an in-game redemption arc, got Verde level before Danny Musovski scored what would stand as the match winner during the inaugural team’s end-of-season swoon. The loss was the third in a four-match losing streak and part of a final 13 matches where Verde lost nine and won four. 

Bils called the match “a shot at redemption,” and in assessing the performance, still praised Fagundez for his play despite the penalty giveaway. He noted, “Everything that Wolff has been begging for — grit, determination, competitiveness — his No. 14 has been all year long. It’s just unfortunate that he gave away the penalty, or the result might have been different.” 

May 18, 2022: Austin FC 2, LAFC 1

Austin FC got off to a strong start in 2022, winning its first two matches by 5-0 and 5-1 margins, but this match put the rest of the league on notice as to the team's quality. After this win, it was clear Verde was going to be an MLS Cup contender rather than a mere springtime meteor — and also made clear that pundits' bottom-of-the-table projections were off-target and suitable for laminating.

Verde played without the ball, uncharacteristically — getting less than 43% possession in a season where it enjoyed 55.2% possession — but got an early goal from Ruben Gabrielsen to put the hosts on their heels. Fagundez then scored a goal off the filthiest assist in Verde history — a Driussi raboni that grew his legend — for what would turn out to be the decisive goal. 

While Vela did engineer and convert a penalty that turned stoppage time into what Sir Alex Ferguson famously once called “squeaky bum time,” Verde hung on for the signature win. 

“The analytics models still don’t love Austin FC, and Verde created far fewer opportunities than its opponent on Wednesday night,” Bils wrote after the match. “But there’s something beneath the surface that statistics can’t capture, a personality that is starting to show itself, whether it’s in goal celebrations, social media posts or postgame interviews. Verde is a vibe that’s not slowing down anytime soon.” 

To be fair, the win was sandwiched in between two losses prior and a draw and loss following, but after that rough patch, Austin FC went on to go on a crucial 10-3-1 summer run — concluding with the next Austin-LAFC match on the calendar — that made 2022 the success it was. 

August 26, 2022: Austin FC 4, LAFC 1

This is perhaps the most complete start-to-finish match that Austin FC’s put together in its history.  It came at an optimal time in the race for the West’s top spot. Eventually, an inopportune late-season Austin swoon would allow LAFC the open door to win the Supporters’ Shield (and, of course, the West’s top playoff spot), but on this magical Friday night at Q2, we learned that Austin FC really, truly was playoff bound. (Though it did take a few weeks and a Mousse Djitte hat trick against RSL to officially make the playoffs. 

We also learned in this match that Gareth Bale was not a starter, but fate would still have him on a hero’s journey — just not the one people might have expected when he came to Los Angeles just weeks prior to this crucial matchup. 

Bils said, “This Austin FC performance was about the collective. It didn't require Driussi to lift his teammates up, because everyone was playing well together.  And while the numbers weren't overly impressive (LAFC had 1.6 expected goals, along with more possession and more total shots), anybody who watched the match knew who was the better team on the night. When it works, Wolff's style of soccer can look like a beautiful symphony. Everybody at Q2 came away wanting to see more on Friday night.” 

October 30, 2022: LAFC 3, Austin FC 0

The dream season had a nightmare finish, and LAFC delivered it. An inevitable Cristian Arango goal inside of the first half-hour was all the Black & Gold needed to get to MLS Cup against a lackluster Austin offense, but they got additional goals for good measure via Kwadwo Opoku and an inopportune Maxi Urruti own-goal header. 

How bad was this one for Verde? Leading up to the first goal, Gabrielsen had a sit-down on the Banc field, seemingly injured but really just buying time for his team to regroup against an increasingly relentless LAFC attack. 

"I tried to make them run to the coach and speak about what to do," Gabrielsen explained after the match. "You try to do everything you can."

But just six minutes later, Arango found the back of the net — I remember quipping when they scored, "They were losing 0-0, and now they're losing 1-0" — and the rout was on

That was less than six months ago, and it's the last time the two teams have faced off. Some of the key players have moved on — Arango's now at Pachuca despite being so clinical for LAFC the previous season, and Gabrielsen moved back to Norway for family reasons to resume his career there. But certainly, the returning Verde players walking into the Banque on Saturday — same stadium, different name, long story — will have memories about how close they were to reaching the final, as well as an acute understanding this season of just how competitive MLS can be. 

Oddsmakers have LAFC as considerable favorites to get their fifth win of the series, but we know that Verde will be up for it. And, given what happened last season, we know not to necessarily assume LAFC will win.