SDFC wraps CCC run with a 2-2 record in its first-ever participation
TOLUCA, Mexico (Wednesday, March 18, 2026) – San Diego FC (SDFC) concluded its participation in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup with a 4-0 loss in Leg Two of the Round of 16 against defending Liga MX champion Deportivo Toluca F.C. at Estadio Nemesio Díez. Toluca advanced to the Quarterfinals by winning the series with a 6-3 aggregate despite losing Leg One 3-2 against a nine-men SDFC on March 11 at Snapdragon Stadium.
SDFC finished its first-ever participation in the international competition with a 2-2 record, having advanced to the Round of 16 after a 4-2 aggregate against UNAM Pumas in Round One.
SDFC will return to MLS action when it hosts Real Salt Lake on Sunday, March 22 for SDFC’s Kids Night, presented by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, as the Club celebrates the next generation of fans where kids run the show at Snapdragon Stadium. The first 10,000 kids (14 and under) will receive a free SDFC-branded lunchbox. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. PT, with live coverage available on Apple TV, as well as an English radio broadcast on San Diego Sports 760 AM. SDFC looks to remain unbeaten in MLS and undefeated at home, continuing to build momentum as one of the most exciting teams in the league. Tickets to Sunday’s match are on sale now.
Goal Scoring Plays:
TOL – 1-0 – Jesús Angulo, 43rd minute: Angulo opened the scoring with a left-footed shot from inside the penalty area after a Nicolás Castro effort struck the left post and rebounded into open space, where Angulo charged in to finish.
TOL –2-0 – Paulinho Dias (Jesus Gallardo), 56th minute: Dias tapped in a rolling ball with his left foot from inside the six-yard box, finishing a quick combination play. Gallardo delivered the final pass after receiving the ball from Angulo in the buildup.
TOL 3-0 – Jesús Angulo, 59th Minute: Angulo scored his second of the night with a left-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area after the ball deflected off SDFC’s Jeppe Tverskov and fell to him unmarked.
TOL 4-0- Jesús Gallardo (Alexis Vega), 90+2: Gallardo capped the scoring with a powerful left-footed shot from just inside the left side of the penalty area, beating SDFC goalkeeper Duran Ferree.
Postgame Notes:
- SDFC finished its first-ever participation in the Concacaf Champions Cup with a 4-0 loss tonight against Toluca (3-6 on aggregate).
- SDFC finished the competition against LIGA MX clubs having scored 7 goals while allowing 7.
- SDFC is now 5-2-1 in 2026 across all competitions (MLS Regular Season 3-0-1, Concacaf Champions Cup 2-2).
- SDFC has outscored opponents 18-10 across all competitions in 2026.
- SDFC has now played in eight matches against Liga MX clubs across official competitions and exhibition matches.
- SDFC has faced seven teams in that span (Toluca F.C. and Pumas UNAM in Concacaf Champions Cup; CF Pachuca, Tigres UANL and Mazatlán F.C. in the 2025 Leagues Cup; and Club Tijuana and Club America in an exhibition matches last season).
- Tonight marked the second time in team history that SDFC plays outside the United States. It visited Pumas UNAM on Feb. 10, where it advanced to the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16.
- SDFC is now 3-4 against Liga MX clubs in official competition (beat Mazatlán F.C. in Leagues Cup action, Pumas UNAM (Feb. 3) and Toluca (March 11) in Concacaf Champions Cup) and 4-4 overall across all competitions (beat Club Tijuana and Club América in friendlies).
- SDFC has now scored 97 goals across all competitions (MLS, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup).
- Goalkeeper Duran Ferree made his second international start and second in the Concacaf Champions Cup. He made his international debut against Toluca on March 11 at Snapdragon Stadium.
- Ferree had a career-high eight saves tonight after facing 12 shots against Toluca who had 25 shots overall.
- Ferree allowed four goals in a match for the first time in his professional career.
- Midfielder Aníbal Godoy was back in action after missing the previous match against Toluca due to yellow card accumulation.
- Midfielder Marcus Ingvartsen missed tonight’s match due to a red card ejection in the Leg One match against Toluca.
- Defender Manu Duah missed tonight’s match after being shown a red card against Toluca on March 11.
- Defender Oscar Verhoeven made his second-consecutive CCC start tonight. He made his debut in the competition against Toluca on March 11.
- Newcomer Osvald Søe made his second consecutive CCC appearance for SDFC. He came on as a substitute for Ian Pilcher in the 64th minute tonight. He made his debut SDFC and CCC debut on March 11, also coming on as a substitute.
- Forward Lewis Morgan made his first CCC start for SDFC tonight and his second consecutive appearance for the club in the international tournament.
- Defender Ian Pilcher made his first CCC start tonight, registering his fourth consecutive appearance in the competition.
- Forward Anisse Saidi made his second CCC appearance, coming on as a substitute for Onni Valakari in the 80th minute.
- Defender Willy appeared in the 23-man roster for the first time in this competition.
- SDFC was held to zero shots on goal for the first time in Club history.
- SDFC secured its first Concacaf Champions Cup participation after a first-place finish in the MLS Western Conference during the 2025 MLS Regular Season, its inaugural season.
- SDFC is the 52nd club from the United States to participate in the Concacaf Champions Cup and the 26th from MLS.
Match Information
Concacaf Champions Cup – Round of 16 – Leg Two
San Diego FC vs. Deportivo Toluca F.C.
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 – Estadio Nemesio Díez (Toluca, Mexico)
Scoring Summary:
TOL (1-0) –Jesús Angulo, 43’ TOL (2-0) -Paulinho Dias (Jesus Gallardo) 56’
TOL (3-0) - Jesús Angulo, 59’ TOL (4-0) - Jesús Gallardo (Alexis Vega) 90+2
Misconduct Summary:
TOL – Paulinho Diaz (caution, 12’)
SD – Christopher McVey (caution, 40’)
TOL – Jorge Diaz (caution, 40’)
SD – Jeppe Tverskov (caution, 43’) SD – Christopher McVey (caution, ejection, 85’)
TOL – Jesús Angulo (caution, 87’)
Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Luca Bombino, D Oscar Verhoeven, D Ian Pilcher (Osvald Søe, 64’), D Christopher McVey; M Onni Valakari (Anisse Saidi, 80’), M Aníbal Godoy, M Jeppe Tverskov –C-; F Anders Dreyer, M Lewis Morgan (David Vazquez, 62’), F Amahl Pellegrino
Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos, GK Pablo Sisniega, F Willy, F Bryan Zamblé, M Pedro Soma, M Bryce Duke, D Wilson Eisner, F Emmanuel Boateng, F Alex Mighten
TOTAL SHOTS: 5; SHOTS ON GOAL: 0; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES; 8
TOLUCA FC: GK Luis Garcia; D Bruno Mendez, D Andres Pereira (Luan Garcia, 89’), F Helio Nunes (Diego Barbosa, 69’), M Jesús Angulo (Sebastian Cordova, 89’), M Jesús Gallardo –C–, M Jorge Diaz (Alexis Vega, 65’), F Simon Santiago, M Nicolas Castro (Fernando Arce, 46’), F Paulinho Dias, F Franco Romero
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hugo Gonzalez, D Antonio Briseño, D Mauricio Isais, F Oswaldo Virgen, F Franco Rossi, M Fernando Arce, D Everardo Lopez, M Victor Artega
TOTAL SHOTS: 27; SHOTS ON GOAL: 12; FOULS: 13; OFFSIDES 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 0
Referee: Ismael Cornejo
Assistant Referees: Juan Francisco Zumba, Geovany Garcia
Fourth Official: Julio Luna
VAR: Benjamin Pineda
AVAR: Jesús Montero
Weather: 53-degrees, Clear
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS
On the tournament coming to an end and what can be taken away from this:
“Yeah, we're all very disappointed. The end of the day we lost to a very good Toluca team and big club, but we're disappointed because we know that we didn't play a good enough game to move on, and we're beaten, and we're just not there yet with our ball possession away in altitude, in a big game like this. And we take a lot of learning lessons from this, but right now, it's about taking it on the chin and getting better and changing the chip, because we have a long season, and we got to, we got to get going in a few days, and we'll be ready for that turn.”
On what are the overall takeaways from playing in the Concacaf Champions Cup and what it means to the younger players:
“Yeah, a few takeaways are, we have a really good fighting spirit about the group, you can see that we didn't give up ever. Even in 3-0, we felt that we could get the 3-1, and if we got the 3-1, then anything could happen. You know that 3-2, I think that we maintained the composure and the willingness to fight the entire time, even when we got another red card, three red cards and two games. I think the other thing is that, yeah, we can go toe to toe with the top teams, because Toluca is top team, two time champion, most recently, and although today's game got ahead of us, I think we cannot forget the game we played with 10 men for 70 minutes in San Diego, and how we were able to pull that win off. And then for the young players, I think it's a great experience for all of us, to be honest, because we have a lot of guys who never played this tournament, a coach who never coached the tournament, and a club that didn't exist 14 months ago. So, we take all these experiences and we won't shy away from strong self reflection of that we can play better. But at the same time, we also know that we can use a lot of this experience to get better and make sure we're more ready the next time around.”
[Translated from Spanish]
On what SDFC needs to do to be more competitive in such competitions:
“Well, we have to demonstrate that our greatest strength, our ball-playing ability, can be executed at the high altitude of Mexico against a very good team, a rival that applies pressure extremely well. I believe that today Toluca actually gave us the space to break through that pressure, however, we lacked the consistent quality in our transitions, both when we won possession and during the extended spells of possession we are typically accustomed to having in order to control the rhythm of the game. So, we need to take the next step in that regard. The good news, if there is any good news, is that this is our forte, and everyone believes in it one hundred percent. Now we head back to San Diego to reset our mindset a bit and get ready for the upcoming league campaign.”
[Translated from Spanish]
On what the overall feeling is after finishing play in this tournament:
Well, it leaves me with the feeling that we are taking positive steps as a club. We fielded a squad with many young players and showed great courage in playing against the league's giants. However, it also leaves us with the sense that we must continue to improve, as we are not yet at the level required to take that next step, though we will get there, because we are a club, a team, that always makes the absolute most of these learning experiences.”
