D.C. United will host Nashville SC at Audi Field on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C. It is an Eastern Conference matchup that sends the league leaders into a late-summer test against a home side trying to keep its recent run moving.
For D.C. United, the timing matters because the club enters at 5-5-7 with 22 points and has taken at least a point in nine of its last ten matches. The win over Toronto FC on July 25 gave that stretch another lift, and Tai Baribo supplied the finish in the 100th minute for his 10th goal of the season, extending his scoring run to three straight matches. The home record is more mixed at 3-3-2, but the result at Audi Field showed the group can still close a game late.
Nashville arrives with the stronger table position and the cleaner numbers. The club is 12-2-3 with 39 points, first in the Eastern Conference and atop the Supporters' Shield standings. Sam Surridge leads the way with 10 goals in 11 appearances, while Hany Mukhtar has added six goals and five assists and Brian Schwake has eight clean sheets in 17 appearances. Nashville also comes in after a 1-0 loss at Orlando City SC on July 25, a reminder that its edge at the top has not come with much margin for error.
That narrow margin is part of what makes this meeting interesting. Nashville has not scored more than once in a match since May 23 against New York City FC, even as it followed that stretch with home wins over Atlanta United on July 17 and CF Montréal on July 22. D.C. United, meanwhile, has already shown it can push this opponent. The clubs met on May 9 at GEODIS Park and finished 2-2, with Louis Munteanu scoring in the 25th minute, Lucas Bartlett adding another in the 30th, and D.C. United taking a two-goal lead before Silvan Hefti was sent off in the 75th minute. Nashville answered in the 76th and 89th minutes to salvage the draw.
This is the second of two regular-season meetings between the clubs in 2026 and their 12th all-time. D.C. United has only two wins in the series against five losses and four draws, and it is 1-3-2 on the road against Nashville. The next checkpoint comes at kickoff, when D.C. United tries to turn home momentum into a result against the conference leader and Nashville tries to show that the top spot still travels. Fans can watch on Apple TV through MLS Season Pass.
