LAFC returns to BMO Stadium on Sunday to host the Seattle Sounders on Pride Night, and the night is set to end with a fireworks show after the final whistle. It is the latest chapter in one of Major League Soccer’s fiercest rivalries, with both clubs heading into the match in position to make the Western Conference race even tighter before the season stops for six weeks.
LAFC enters in seventh place in the Western Conference, while Seattle is fourth. The Sounders have the league’s best defensive record by goals allowed, with 10, tied with Vancouver and Nashville, while LAFC leads MLS in assists through Son Heung-Min with nine and has Hugo Lloris atop the league in clean sheets with eight. Sunday is also the last match for both teams before the 2026 FIFA World Cup break, with LAFC scheduled to return on July 17 for a derby in Carson against the Galaxy.
The matchup has been unusually decisive for one side. LAFC and Seattle have faced each other 25 times across all competitions, and LAFC has won 14 of those meetings to Seattle’s seven, outscoring the Sounders 42-29. Since LAFC joined MLS in 2018, the two clubs have won more games than anyone else in the Western Conference, and Seattle is the only other team besides the Galaxy to have faced LAFC as often. LAFC beat Seattle in the 2023 Western Conference Semifinals, the 2024 Leagues Cup Quarterfinals and the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals, while Seattle’s 2024 playoff win at BMO Stadium snapped LAFC’s 10-game unbeaten run in the series. LAFC also beat Seattle 4-0 at BMO Stadium on May 14, 2025.
Seattle arrives with Brian Schmetzer still in charge, as he has been since 2016, and with Andrew Thomas now the number one goalkeeper after replacing Stefan Frei. Thomas has five clean sheets in 12 MLS appearances in 2026. Paul Rothrock leads the Sounders with four league goals, while Cristian Roldan has three goals and two assists, Albert Rusnák has three goals and four assists, and Jesus Ferreira has two goals and five assists. Osaze DeRosario has added two goals and one assist, and Jackson Ragen and Nouhou Tolo lead the team in minutes among non-goalkeepers.
Seattle’s 2-0 loss to the Galaxy last weekend ended a nine-match MLS unbeaten run, but the Sounders had beaten second-place San Jose 3-2 on May 13 and have lost only one of six road matches in 2026. LAFC, meanwhile, will look to use home field to keep control of a rivalry that has swung both ways, even if the overall ledger has leaned its way. With the World Cup pause coming and the standings still tight, this is less a midseason curiosity than a checkpoint that could shape where both clubs restart in July.
