The 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational kicked off on Saturday, Feb. 7, with a lineup of four Major League Soccer exhibition matches. The annual start to the season, known as “MLS is Back weekend”, will start the weekend of Feb. 21.
MLS Day 1 of the invitational consisted of the following preseason matchups:
St. Louis CITY SC vs. Austin FC
San Jose Earthquakes vs. Charlotte FC
Minnesota United FC vs. Sporting Kansas City
Portland Timbers vs. D.C. United
A total of 21 professional clubs are taking part in the preseason festivities: 12 MLS and 9 NWSL. Along with the aforementioned men’s clubs are New York City FC, LA Galaxy, LAFC, and Chicago Fire. On the women’s side, the participating NWSL clubs are Portland Thorns, Utah Royals, Angel City FC, Bay FC, Denver Summit FC, Houston Dash, KC Current, San Diego Wave, and Seattle Reign FC. The full match schedule and day passes are available on the tournament website.
St. Louis CITY SC – Austin FC
CITY SC arrives in the Coachella Valley after a fruitful offseason. The club made several key offseason moves, even grabbing international headlines in the process. Dante Polvara arrives from Aberdeen FC, Rafael Santos was signed in free agency, Daniel Edelman came via trade from New York Red Bulls, and Mamadou Fall comes to the club from FC Barcelona.
Austin FC came to play with some recent signings of their own. The club signed three players within MLS: Jon Bell (Seattle Sounders), Jayden Nelson (Vancouver Whitecaps), and Joseph Rosales (Minnesota United FC). Just two weeks ago, the club made a splash and signed Facundo Torres from Brazilian giants Palmeiras.
St. Louis CITY SC walked away with a 1-0 preseason victory over Austin FC. It only took 16 minutes for CITY SC to take the lead after a Simon Becher strike. The best chance for Austin FC came in the first half on behalf of former Atlanta United youngster Jon Gallagher. Teammate Guilherme Biro took a chance after a corner kick, but his header sailed over the crossbar.
San Jose Earthquakes – Charlotte FC
The San Jose Earthquakes have their work cut out for them after losing four key players in the offseason. Josef Martinez left for Club Tijuana, Cristian “Chicho” Arango was loaned to Atlético Nacional (requested to return home to Colombia for personal reasons), Cristian Espinoza became a free agent after the club forgot to trigger his contract extension, and youngster Hernan Lopez was loaned to Argentinos Juniors in Argentina. In brighter news, the club did sign star forward Timo Werner after gutting their attack, but the superstar is yet to arrive in San Jose.
Unlike their Western Conference counterparts, Charlotte FC arrive to the invitational having made five significant signings: Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), David Schnegg (D.C. United), Tyler Miller (Bolton Wanderers), Henry Kessler (St. Louis City SC), and Isaac Walker (Crown Legacy FC). The club is looking to get precious reps in with their players before the season kicks off in two weeks. This is key as the club is set to lose star forward Wilfried Zaha in June due to his loan expiring (on loan from Galatasaray in Turkey).
The match between the two clubs ended in a 1-0 win for San Jose. Youngster Beau Leroux struck a low effort from just outside the top of the box to the far corner. Charlotte FC will play its next match against Minnesota United next Saturday, Feb. 14. The San Jose Earthquakes will play the Portland Timbers on Feb. 11.
Minnesota United FC – Sporting KC
The Loons of Minnesota had the largest margin of victory on Day 1 with a 3-0 win over Sporting KC. Two goals from Anthony Markanich and one from Kelvin Yeboah.
Minnesota made international headlines this week after signing Colombian international James Rodriguez. Just four months before the World Cup, the Colombian captain was a free agent and in desperate need of a football club to keep him sharp. While he won’t be in attendance in the valley, Minnesota United fans have a lot to be excited about with his addition to an already solid roster. The Loons will attempt to outdo the 2025 campaign that saw them finish the regular season in fourth place. Their next opponent will be D.C. United on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Kansas City has been busy in the offseason, making a large swath of signings. Justin Reynolds was acquired via trade with Chicago Fire. Calvin Harris, Wyatt Meyer, and Jayden Reid were acquired during free agency. Kwaku Agyabeng was taken in the MLS SuperDraft, Cielo Tschantret was signed as a Homegrown, and Stefan Cleveland was signed from Austin FC.
Sporting KC saw its best chance at goal in the 34th minute but failed to convert. Manu Garcia combined with Dejan Joveljic before forcing a save from Drake Callender. The club will face NYCFC next Wednesday, Feb. 12.
Portland Timbers – D.C. United
The Timbers-United match ended in a nil-nil draw. There was a decent effort from both sides, but neither could pull out a goal.
Fourteen players from the Timbers’ 2025 first-team roster appeared in today’s match. Portland’s most recent transfer signings, Alex Bonetig and Cole Bassett, both started in today’s match. Designated Player Kristoffer Velde also made his official CVI debut and played 77 minutes. Notably, Timbers Academy midfielder Eric Izoita made his first senior appearance while Timbers2 player Noah Santos saw minutes as a late second-half substitute. 2026 MLS SuperDraft third-round pick Lucas Fernandez-Kim saw 13 minutes of action.
D.C. United made some legitimate changes in their offseason shakeup. After losing Belgian international Christian Benteke, they were able to secure a promising forward in Louis Munteanu, a lockdown goalkeeper in Sean Johnson, and a legit defender in Keisuke Kurokawa. Just before the start of the tournament, the Black-and-Red signed Silvan Hefti to bolster their backline.
The next matches for Portland and D.C. will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
More information about the invitational can be found on their website.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Anthony Reaves