Sporting Kansas City continued the club's preseason campaign with a 3-0 loss against Minnesota United FC on Saturday at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., in the club's first match at the 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational.
SKC nearly opened the scoring in the 34th minute as Manu Garcia won the ball in the attacking third and combined with Dejan Joveljic for a give-and-go before forcing a diving save from Drake Callender.
A minute later, Minnesota struck on the opposite end to grab a 1-0 lead. John Pulskamp did well to turn away an initial header from Anthony Markanich however Markanich was first to the rebound and sent a first-time finish into the back of the net from close range.
Markanich would play a part in Minnesota's two second-half goals as well, first earning an assist on Kelvin Yeboah's goal in the 57th minute and then scoring the final goal of the game in the 68th minute -- again on a rebound -- after Stefan Cleveland had denied Yeboah.
Sporting will continue the club's participation in the Coachella Valley Invitational with an exhibition against New York City FC at 3:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday before concluding preseason with a match-up with Austin FC at 12 p.m. CT next Saturday. Both matches will be available for fans to watch online via a free stream at SportingKC.com/live.
Sporting Kansas City vs. Minnesota United FC
Feb. 7, 2026 – Empire Polo Club (Indio, Calif.)
Sporting Kansas City 0, Minnesota United FC 3
Scoring Summary:
MIN - Anthony Markanich 35'
MIN - Kelvin Yeboah 57’
MIN - Anthony Markanich 68’
Sporting Kansas City Lineup
John Pulskamp (Stefan Cleveland 61’); Justin Reynolds (Jake Davis 61’), Ian James (Jansen Miller 61’), Wyatt Meyer (Ethan Bartlow 73’), Zorhan Bassong (Jayden Reid 36'); Jacob Bartlett (Kwaku Agyabeng 61’), Manu Garcia (Cięło Tschantret 73’), Daniel Salloi (Carter Derksen 73’); Shapi Suleymanov (Johann Ortiz 73’), Dejan Joveljic (Shane Donovan 73’), Calvin Harris (Stephen Afrifa 61’)
