SDFC’s return ends in 1-0 road defeat after late Colorado Rapids winner

San Diego FC’s first game back following the 2026 FIFA World Cup break ended in heartbreak on Wednesday night, falling 1-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to the Colorado Rapids on a Loïc Williams stoppage-time winner.

After an eight-week break, SDFC's return to MLS play came on the road on Wednesday night, visiting Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for their Western Conference faceoff against the Colorado Rapids.

SDFC’s last matchday ended in a 4-2 Snapdragon Stadium loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 23 in a rematch of last season's Western Conference Final.

Coming into their league-restarting game, San Diego FC sat outside the Western Conference playoff positions with 17 points from 15 matches played. 

Wednesday night was the first of two meetings between Colorado and San Diego this season, with the teams set to meet again on August 22, when the Rapids travel to Southern California.

A cagey first half in Commerce City, Colorado saw a scoreless first 45-minutes, with both teams unable to create a big scoring chance as SDFC went shotless heading into the locker room break.  

SDFC’s first shot of the game came in the 64-minute, with a dangerous counterattack seeing midfielder Onni Valakari have a one-on-one chance tipped over the crossbar and out of play by Rapid goalkeeper Nico Hansen, keeping the match at 0-0. 

Despite only seeing two shots on target, Nico Hansen came up big once again in the 69-minute, denying forward Marcus Ingvartsen the opening goal of the game with a near goal-area save. 

A VAR review came in the 86-minute with referee Chris Penso sent to the monitor after a corner kick resulted in Rapid’s Reggie Cannon and SDFC’s Jeppe Tverskov going to the ground inside the penalty box. No penalty was awarded for SDFC as play continued. 

On his MLS debut, Rapid’s new addition Loïc Williams stole the win and three points for Colorado, netting his first career MLS goal and the match-winner in the 90+5 minute, created off a low centering pass from Paxten Aaronson.

SDFC’s struggles away from home continue to grow in 2026, having only seen victory once in seven league games away from Snapdragon Stadium.

Following the lengthy MLS World Cup pause, SDFC return to Snapdragon Stadium for the first time since May 23, hosting FC Dallas on Saturday night. Kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m.

The two sides will meet for the second time this season after their six-goal thriller ended in a 3-3 draw at Toyota Stadium back on March 14.