2026 Austin FC season

Austin FC

2026 season
Chairman	Anthony Precourt
Head coach	Nico Estévez
Stadium	Q2 Stadium
U.S. Open Cup	Round of 32
Leagues Cup	Phase One
Average home league attendance	0
Home colors
←  2025 2027 →

The 2026 season will be Austin FC's sixth season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States. They play in the league's Western Conference. In addition the MLS play, Austin will also compete in the U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup.

Background

Austin FC started playing in the MLS Western Conference in 2021, finishing in 12th place with a record of 9W-4D-21L. ^[1] 2022 brought many new experiences for Austin FC. They lost their first ever U.S. Open Cup match against San Antonio FC in extra time, ^[2] won their first derby trophy, the Copa Tejas, ^[3] and qualified for their first-ever MLS Cup Playoffs in just their second season as a franchise. ^[4] Austin FC advanced to the Western Conference Finals but lost to LAFC. ^[5] Austin FC fell almost all the way to the bottom of the 2023 standings, with the team finishing in 27th place in Major League Soccer. The new sporting director Rodolfo Borrell was quoted as saying "The team overachieved last year, the team underachieved this year", but showed his support for coach Josh Wolff as the team looks to rebuild for the 2024 season. ^[6] At the end of the 2024 season, and after back-back seasons without reaching the MLS playoffs, Austin FC release their first ever coach Josh Wolff, having an interim coach for the final game of the season. ^[7] In November 2025, Austin announced Nico Estévez as the second coach for the franchise. ^[8] 2025 saw Austin advance to the finals of the 2025 U.S. Open Cup, falling to Nashville SC 2–1 at home, ^[9] and one month later qualify for their second every MLS Cup playoffs, ^[10] before falling in the first round to Los Angeles FC. ^[11]

Summary

Pre-season

Prior to the completion of the 2025 MLS playoffs, Austin FC announced they would participate in the 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational, the third year in a row participating in this pre-season tournament. ^[12] On November 24, 2025, Austin announced they had signed Ervin Torres to a homegrown contract through the 2028 season with two one-year options. He becomes the third player from the Austin FC Academy to sign a homegrown contract. ^[13] One day later, Austin announced their end–of–season roster decisions. The club denied the options for Julio Cascante, Jimmy Farkarlun, and Diego Rubio while exercising the options for Stefan Cleveland, Dani Pereira, and Riley Thomas. Brendan Hines-Ike's option was automatically trigger based on performance statistics from the 2025 season. Austin also signed Ilie Sánchez to a new contract for the 2026 season with a one-year option. With these decisions, Austin is left with two open slots on the senior roster as they build for the 2026 Major League Soccer season. ^[14] On December 10, 2025, Austin made their next roster decision as they build towards 2026 by trading Stefan Cleveland to Sporting Kansas City for $50,000 in 2026 GAM. ^[15] On December 16, 2025 Austin signed free agent Jon Bell through June 2028, with an option for the 2028-29 season. Bell has spent the last two years with Seattle Sounders. ^[16] On December 18, 2025, Austin traded $700,000 in 2026 GAM, $550,000 in 2027 GAM, and their 2026 MLS SuperDraft first round pick to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for Canadaian International Jayden Nelson. Nelson made 40 appearances and tallied three goals across all competitions during the 2025 season. He will hold a senior international slot on the roster. ^[17] After trading their first round pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft, Austin selected Stefan Dobrijevic from the University of Akron in the second round and Patrick Cayelli from the University of Pennsylvania in the third round. ^[18] On December 19, 2025, Austin announced they had traded Osman Bukari to Widzew Łódź for a reported $6.5 million, which is an Ekstraklasa record transfer fee. ^[19]

Management team

Position	Name
Chairman	Anthony Precourt
Sporting Director	Rodolfo Borrell [20]
Head coach	Nico Estévez [8]
Assistant coach	Davy Arnaud
Assistant coach	Alberto González [21]
Assistant coach	Nico Bosch [21]
Goalkeeping Coach	Fabio Hernandaz [22]

Roster

As of December 19,2025 ^[update] . ^[23]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Signed in	Previous club	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Brad Stuver		GK	(1991-04-16) April 16, 1991 (age 34)	2020	New York City FC	0	0
12	Damian Las		GK	(2002-04-11) April 11, 2002 (age 23)	2022	Fulham F.C.	0	0
Defenders
2	Riley Thomas		DF	(2002-03-15) March 15, 2002 (age 23)	2025	Austin FC II	0	0
3	Mikkel Desler		DF	(1995-02-19) February 19, 1995 (age 30)	2024	Toulouse FC	0	0
4	Brendan Hines-Ike		DF	(1994-11-30) November 30, 1994 (age 31)	2024	D.C. United	0	0
5	Oleksandr Svatok		CB	(1994-09-27) September 27, 1994 (age 31)	2024	SC Dnipro-1	0	0
17	Jon Gallagher		LB/RB	(1996-02-23) February 23, 1996 (age 29)	2020	Atlanta United FC	0	0
23	Žan Kolmanič		LB	(2000-03-03) March 3, 2000 (age 25)	2021	Maribor	0	0
29	Guilherme Biro		LB	(2000-05-02) May 2, 2000 (age 25)	2024	Mirassol	0	0
35	Mateja Djordjevic (U22) [a]		DF	(2003-07-17) July 17, 2003 (age 22)	2025	FK TSC	0	0
	Jon Bell		DF	(1997-08-26) August 26, 1997 (age 28)	2026	Seattle Sounders	0	0
Midfielders
6	Ilie Sánchez		MF	(1990-11-21) November 21, 1990 (age 35)	2025	Los Angeles FC	0	0
8	Daniel Pereira (GA)		MF	(2000-07-14) July 14, 2000 (age 25)	2021	Virginia Tech Hokies	0	0
14	Besard Šabović		MF	(1998-01-05) January 5, 1998 (age 27)	2025	Djurgårdens	0	0
16	Robert Taylor		MF	(1994-10-21) October 21, 1994 (age 31)	2025	Inter Miami CF	0	0
20	Nicolás Dubersarsky (U22) [a]		MF	(2004-12-21) December 21, 2004 (age 20)	2025	Instituto	0	0
32	Micah Burton (HG)		MF	(2006-03-26) March 26, 2006 (age 19)	2024	Austin FC II	0	0
33	Owen Wolff (HG)		MF	(2004-12-30) December 30, 2004 (age 20)	2020	Austin FC Academy	0	0
38	Ervin Torres (HG)		MF	(2007-11-14) November 14, 2007 (age 18)	2025	Austin FC II	0	0
Forward
7	Jáder Obrian		FW	(1995-05-18) May 18, 1995 (age 30)	2024	FC Dallas	0	0
9	Brandon Vázquez		FW	(1998-10-14) October 14, 1998 (age 27)	2025	C.F. Monterrey	0	0
10	Myrto Uzuni (DP)		FW	(1995-05-31) May 31, 1995 (age 30)	2025	Granada	0	0
19	CJ Fodrey (GA)		FW	(2004-02-10) February 10, 2004 (age 21)	2023	San Diego State	0	0
	Jayden Nelson		FW	(2002-09-26) September 26, 2002 (age 23)	2026	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0	0

1. U22 initiative

Transfers

In

Date	Position	No.	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
December 16, 2025	DF		Jon Bell	Seattle Sounders	Free Agent	[16]
December 18, 2025	FW		Jayden Nelson	Vancouver Whitecaps	$700,000 in 2026 GAM $550,000 in 2027 GAM 1st round pick in 2026 MLS SuperDraft	[17]

Out

Date	Position	No.	Name	To	Type	Fee	Ref.
November 25, 2025	DF	18	Julio Cascante		Declined contract option	N/A	[14]
	FW	26	Jimmy Farkarlun		Declined contract option	N/A	[14]
	FW	21	Diego Rubio		Declined contract option	N/A	[14]
December 10, 2025	GK	30	Stefan Cleveland	Sporting Kansas City	Trade	$50,000 in 2026 GAM	[15]
December 19, 2025	FW	11	Osman Bukari	Widzew Łódź	Trade	$6.5 million	[19]

MLS Re-Entry Draft picks

Main article: 2025 MLS Re-Entry Draft

2024 Austin FC Re-Entry Picks
Round	Selection	Player	Position	Team	Notes	Ref.
1	17	PASS
2	17 (47)	PASS

MLS SuperDraft picks

Main article: 2025 MLS SuperDraft

2025 Austin FC SuperDraft Picks
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Notes	Ref.
1	17				Traded to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for Jayden Nelson.	[17]
2	17 (47)	Stefan Dobrijevic	FW	University of Akron		[18]
3	17 (77)	Patrick Cayelli	MF	University of Pennsylvania		[18]

New contracts

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	Contract until	Ref.
November 25, 2025	MF	6	Ilie Sánchez	2026 + 1yr option	[14]

Non-competitive fixtures

Preseason

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Location	Result	Scorer(s)	Attendance	Notes
February 7	St. Louis City SC	Coachella Valley Invitational	Indio, California	-	-	-	-
February 11	Chicago Fire FC	Coachella Valley Invitational	Indio, California	-	-	-	-
February 14	Sporting Kansas City	Coachella Valley Invitational	Indio, California	-	-	-	-

Competitive fixtures

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
MLS regular season	February 21	November 7	Matchday 1	TBD	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
U.S. Open Cup	April 14-15	TBD	Round of 32	TBD	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
2026 Leagues Cup	August 4	TBD	Phase One	TBD	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total					0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—

Last updated: November 25, 2025
Source: Soccerway

Major League Soccer Regular Season

Main article: 2026 Major League Soccer season

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Matchday	Date	Opponent	Venue	Location	Result [a]	Scorers	Attendance	Referee	Position
1	February 21	Minnesota United FC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
2	March 1	D.C. United	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
3	March 7	Charlotte FC	Bank of America Stadium	Charlotte, North Carolina
4	March 14	Real Salt Lake	America First Field	Sandy, Utah
5	March 21	Los Angeles FC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
6	April 4	Inter Miami CF	Miami Freedom Park	Miami, Florida
7	April 11	LA Galaxy	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
8	April 18	Toronto FC	BMO Field	Toronto, Canada
9	April 22	San Jose Earthquakes	PayPal Park	San Jose, California
10	April 25 Copa Tejas	Houston Dynamo FC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
11	May 3	St. Louis City SC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
12	May 10	Minnesota United FC	Allianz Field	Saint Paul, Minnesota
13	May 13	San Diego FC	Snapdragon Stadium	San Diego, California
14	May 16	Sporting Kansas City	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
15	May 23	St. Louis City SC	Energizer Park	St. Louis, Missouri
16	July 22	Seattle Sounders FC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
17	July 25 Copa Tejas	Houston Dynamo FC	Shell Energy Stadium	Houston, Texas
18	August 1	Colorado Rapids	Dick's Sporting Goods Park	Commerce City, Colorado
19	August 15 Copa Tejas	FC Dallas	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
20	August 19	Seattle Sounders FC	Lumen Field	Seattle, Washington
21	August 22	Philadelphia Union	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
22	August 29	Portland Timbers	Providence Park	Portland, Oregon
23	September 5	San Jose Earthquakes	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
24	September 9	Colorado Rapids	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
25	September 13	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	BC Place	Vancouver, Canada
26	September 19 Copa Tejas	FC Dallas	Toyota Stadium	Frisco, Texas
27	September 26	San Diego FC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
28	October 10	Nashville SC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
29	October 14	Los Angeles FC	BMO Stadium	Los Angeles, California
30	October 17	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
31	October 24	Sporting Kansas City	Children's Mercy Park	Kansas City, Kansas
32	October 28	Real Salt Lake	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas
33	October 31	LA Galaxy	Dignity Health Sports Park	Carson, California
34	November 7	Portland Timbers	Q2 Stadium	Austin, Texas

1. Austin FC's score written first

U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2026 U.S. Open Cup

On December 4, 2025 U.S. Soccer announced Austin would take part in the 2026 U.S. Open Cup, entering in the Round of 32 along with all MLS teams participating in this iteration of the tournament. ^[24]

Leagues Cup

Main article: 2026 Leagues Cup

On December 16, 2025, The Leagues Cup organizing committee announced the 36 teams taking part in the 2026 Leagues Cup. All eighteen Liga MX teams and the 18 MLS teams who qualified for the 2025 playoffs will participate in the tournament between August 4 and September 6, 2026. ^[25]

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Further information: List of Austin FC records and statistics

Numbers after plus–sign (+) denote appearances as a substitute.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS		USOC		Leagues Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	USA	Brad Stuver	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
3	DF	DEN	Mikkel Desler	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
4	DF	USA	Brendan Hines-Ike	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
5	DF	UKR	Oleksandr Svatok	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
6	MF	ESP	Ilie Sánchez	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
7	FW	COL	Jáder Obrian	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
8	MF	VEN	Daniel Pereira	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
9	FW	USA	Brandon Vázquez	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
10	FW	ALB	Myrto Uzuni	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
14	MF	SWE	Besard Šabović	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
16	MF	FIN	Robert Taylor	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
17	FW	IRL	Jon Gallagher	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
19	MF	USA	CJ Fodrey	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
20	MF	ARG	Nicolás Dubersarsky	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
23	DF	SVN	Žan Kolmanič	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
29	DF	BRA	Guilherme Biro	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
32	MF	USA	Micah Burton	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
33	MF	USA	Owen Wolff	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
35	DF	SRB	Mateja Djordjevic	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
38	MF	USA	Ervin Torres	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	JAM	Jon Bell	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	CAN	Jayden Nelson	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

• Last updated: December 18, 2025
• Source: https://www.austinfc.com/stats/

Top scorers

Rank	Position	Number	Name	MLS	USOC	Leagues Cup	Total
1				0	0	0	0
Total				0	0	0	0

• Last updated: November 2, 2025
• Source: https://www.austinfc.com/stats/

Top assists

Rank	Position	Number	Name	MLS	USOC	Leagues Cup	Total
1				0	0	0	0
Total				0	0	0	0

• Last updated: November 2, 2025
• Source: https://www.austinfc.com/stats/

Clean sheets

Rank	Number	Name	MLS	USOC	Leagues Cup	Total
1			0	0	0	0
Total			0	0	0	0

• Last updated: November 2, 2025
• Source: https://www.austinfc.com/stats/

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Player	MLS			USOC			Leagues Cup			Total
1	GK	Brad Stuver	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Mikkel Desler	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF	Brendan Hines-Ike	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	Oleksandr Svatok	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Ilie Sánchez	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW	Jáder Obrian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	Daniel Pereira	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Brandon Vázquez	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	Myrto Uzuni	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	Besard Šabović	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	Robert Taylor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	Jon Gallagher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	MF	CJ Fodrey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	MF	Nicolás Dubersarsky	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	LB	Žan Kolmanič	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF	Guilherme Biro	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF	Micah Burton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	MF	Owen Wolff	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	DF	Mateja Djordjevic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	MF	Ervin Torres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	Jon Bell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Jayden Nelson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

• Last updated: December 18, 2025
• Source: https://www.austinfc.com/stats/

References

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22. austinfc (December 4, 2025). "Fabio Hernandez Joins Austin FC as Club's New Goalkeeper Coach | Austin FC". Austin FC. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
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