Sporting Kansas City hits the road this week to face off against Minnesota United at Allianz Field on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream on Apple TV, while the game will also be broadcast locally on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
1. ENTERING FINAL THROES OF SEASON
Sporting Kansas City enters the final two weeks of the 2026 MLS season with an opportunity to escape out of the MLS basement with Eastern Conference side CF Montreal three points ahead. Sporting will travel to take on Minnesota United on Wednesday night before hosting high-flying FC Dallas at Sporting Park on Saturday as the regular season winds to a close.
With the MLS Cup Playoffs out of sight, Sporting will aim to climb out of the bottom of the standings and avoid setting an unwanted record over the final three games.
One victory combined with a Montreal loss would vault Sporting out of last place in the Supporters’ Shield standings, as Sporting would be tied on points but pip the Canadians on the wins tie-breaker. Sporting has already set an unwanted club record with 77 goals conceded this season, surpassing the previous record of 70 set in 2025, and the club will be aiming to avoid setting a new MLS record in goals conceded (78) over the final three games of the season.
Following the double-game week matches against Minnesota and Dallas, Sporting will close out the season with a trip to Southern California to take on San Diego FC at Snapdragon Stadium on Decision Day, set for Saturday Nov. 7 before all focus shifts to the 2027 MLS Sprint Season and beyond.
2. PENULTIMATE ROAD MATCH
Sporting Kansas City returns to action midweek for the team’s penultimate road match of the 2026 season when the squad heads north to take on Minnesota United at Allianz Field on Wednesday night.
One of Sporting’s six victories this season came in the reverse fixture against the Loons, picking up a 2-1 victory at Sporting Park on July 22, 2026 in the team’s first home match out of the World Cup break. Both goals came from now-departed players as then-Designated Player duo Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia each found the back of the net either side of halftime to lead Sporting to all three points.
Sporting last visited Minnesota on Oct. 4, 2025 in the team’s final road match of the 2025 campaign. Minnesota ran out comfortable 3-0 winners on the night following a brace from Anthony Markanich and a strike from Joaquin Pereyra.
Sporting leads the all-time regular-season series against Minnesota 12-8-5, including a 2-6-4 mark on the road. Sporting’s victory over Minnesota in July snapped a five-game winless run against the Loons dating back to the start of 2024.
3. ANDRE TALLIES 10 GOAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN LAST 8 GAMES
Sporting Kansas City Designated Player Andre Luiz continued his streak on the scoresheet during the team’s 2-1 defeat to Austin FC at Sporting Park on Saturday night, tallying an assist on the opening goal.
In the 55th minute, Andre kept a play alive down the right wing by prodding the ball through two Austin defenders to find Stephen Afrifa to fire home the opening goal of the night. It marked Andre’s third assist of the season to go along with seven goals, taking him to 10 goal contributions in his last eight games.
The 24-year-old Brazilian, who has a goal contribution in each of the club’s past five home games, leads MLS with seven goals since Sept. 12 - tied with worldwide superstar Lionel Messi, Nashville SC playmaker Hany Mukhtar and Philadelphia Union marksman Milan Iloski.
Andre broke out during the first half of the 2025-2026 season with Rio Ave FC in Portugal, tallying seven goals and six assists in 19 matches - including a stunning strike against Benfica. After a brief spell at Olympiacos, Andre joined Sporting in August and has so far proven to be more than a handful against MLS defenses, currently ranking first in club history with 0.78 goals per game in a single season.
4. AFRIFA BACK AMONG THE GOALS
Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa was back among the goals this past weekend, tallying the opening goal in the eventual 2-1 defeat to Austin FC at Sporting Park on Saturday night.
Afrifa latched onto Andre Luiz’s prodded pass and lashed home a clinical low strike into the bottom corner to give Sporting the lead in the 55th minute. The goal was Afrifa’s fourth of the season and ties his single-season career high that he set in 2024. His seven goal contributions are third most among players on the active roster, while he also now has three goals against Ausitn in his career - his most against any opponent.
Afrifa, who set a career-high with eight shots on Saturday night, has now tallied 10 goals and six assists since joining the club as the eighth overall selection in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft out of Florida International University.
5. SPORTING EXPANDS TECHNICAL STAFF WITH THREE VP HIRES
Sporting Kansas City has expanded the club’s technical staff with the appointment of three new Vice Presidents, the club announced on Monday. Sebastian Stein has been named Vice President, Scouting & Recruitment, Kevin Geary has joined as Vice President, Human Performance and Francisco Belo has been appointed Vice President, Data & Analytics.
Stein joins Sporting with 13 years of experience in the German Bundesliga at Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund. Stein most recently served as the Head of Scouting for Eintracht Frankfurt, having joined the club in 2021. The Germany native began his career with Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and spent eight years with the club, initially working as a match analyst before joining the scouting department and coordinating talent identification and recruitment for both the senior and youth levels.
Geary arrives in Kansas City on the back of a 20-year professional career in sports performance at various rugby organizations. The Irishman spent the last seven years as the Head of Athletic Performance at Bristol Bears, while also serving as the Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach with England Rugby. Geary previously worked as a strength and conditioning coach with Irish Rugby, Ulster Rugby and Munster Rugby earlier in his career.
Belo brings over a decade of experience in the English Premier League and joins Sporting KC from Nottingham Forest where he worked as Head of Football Intelligence for the past three years. The Portugal native previously worked at Wolverhampton Wanderers from 2021-2024 as a First Team Football Research & Methodology Analyst and at Everton from 2015-2021 as a Technical Coaching Analyst.
