Published for Orlando City SC fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 23, 2026
🦁 Orlando City Fans — Your Lions Are Roaring Into the Playoffs!
A World Cup winner in purple, a hometown king breaking the club scoring record, and the No. 7 seed in Orlando’s hands. The Lions were 13th in the East this summer — now a seventh straight playoff berth is theirs to lose.
The Club
Orlando City Soccer Club traces its roots to 2010, was announced as MLS’s 21st expansion team on November 19, 2013, and debuted in the league in 2015 — 2026 is the club’s 12th MLS season. The Lions, named for the lion on the crest, play in purple with white and gold accents and are owned by the Wilf family, with Mark Wilf as Owner & Chairman. Consistency is the club’s calling card: six straight postseason appearances from 2020 to 2025, a club record and the longest active streak in MLS.
Home is Inter.co Stadium in downtown Orlando — a soccer-specific stadium at 655 West Church Street that opened on February 24, 2017, with a listed capacity of 24,453. Renamed from Inter&Co Stadium in July 2026, it is also home to the Orlando Pride, and its north-end safe-standing section, The Wall, houses The Ruckus and the Iron Lion Firm.
The coaching story defines the year. Óscar Pareja — in charge since December 2019, coach of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup title and those six straight playoff trips — parted ways with the club on March 11, 2026, after a 5–0 loss at NYCFC left Orlando bottom of the East. Assistant Martín Perelman stepped up as interim head coach that day and is still in post in October. Whether he gets the job permanently is an open winter question.
Is Griezmann playing? It is the Orlando version of the question America asks about Messi every week — and since July the answer has been yes, and scoring at a historic rate. Add the club’s all-time leading scorer in the form of his life, and the purple Orlando City jersey has never carried more star power.
⭐ FAN FAVORITE
#7 Griezmann — Orlando City Style Jersey
$59.99
A World Cup winner in Orlando purple. Twelve goals and seven assists in his first 14 MLS matches — the fan-inspired No. 7 Griezmann style jersey is the shirt of the season.
Last Season (2025): So Close, Then the Slide
For two-thirds of 2025, Orlando looked like a genuine contender. The Lions finished ninth in the East with 51 points (14W–11L–9D), powered by one of the conference’s best attacks: Martín Ojeda produced a Best XI-caliber season with 16 MLS goals, Marco Pašalić starred on the wing, and homegrown right-back Alex Freeman was named 2025 MLS Young Player of the Year — the first Orlando City player ever selected to an MLS Best XI.
The deepest run came in the Leagues Cup: Orlando beat Toluca on penalties in the quarterfinal, led Inter Miami in the semifinal through Pašalić before a late Messi brace flipped it 3–1, then lost the third-place match 2–1 to LA Galaxy. The league season never recovered — one win in the final 11 across all competitions — and as the No. 9 seed the Lions lost the Wild Card game 3–1 at Chicago Fire on October 22, 2025.
Best Players Right Now
Martín Ojeda — #10, attacking midfielder / winger. The face of the club. After his 16-goal 2025, the Argentine Designated Player is Orlando’s top scorer again in 2026 with 15 MLS goals — and on October 14 at Toronto he became Orlando City’s all-time leading scorer, netting his 48th goal in all competitions while wearing the armband for the injured Robin Jansson. Four days later he scored a scorpion kick in the rout of D.C. United. Signed through 2029-30.
Antoine Griezmann — #7, forward. The landmark signing: a 2018 World Cup winner and Atlético Madrid’s all-time top scorer with 211 goals, announced on March 24, 2026 and arrived in July. The impact has been instant — 12 goals and seven assists in just 14 MLS matches, a goal contribution in 12 of those 14 games (a league first), and two MLS Player of the Matchday awards. Under contract through 2027-28, with a club option.
Marco Pašalić — #87, right winger. The Croatian Designated Player was the 2025 breakout star — 16 goals and nine assists in all competitions and an MLS All-Star selection — and this summer he went to the World Cup with Croatia. A post-tournament move to Hull City fell through; he returned on August 8 and scored in the Leagues Cup loss to Club León that week.
Daryl Dike — #9, striker. The hometown story of the summer: five years after his club-record sale, the powerful American forward returned home as a free agent from West Bromwich Albion on July 17, 2026, signed through the 2027 Sprint Season with an option.
Maxime Crépeau — #71, goalkeeper. The Canadian international arrived from Portland Timbers in the winter to replace long-time No. 1 Pedro Gallese. It has been a baptism of fire behind a leaky defense, but his eight saves in the Leagues Cup loss to León showed why the club moved for him.
Robin Jansson — captain, center-back. The Swedish defensive leader whose injury this autumn handed the armband to Ojeda. His absence has been felt in a back line that has shipped goals all season; his return for the run-in would be a timely lift.
Star Spotlight
The greatest comeback in club history. May 2, 2026, at Inter Miami: Orlando trailed 3–0, with Messi among the scorers. Then came one of the very few three-goal comeback wins in MLS history — Ojeda scored a hat trick as the Lions stormed back to win 4–3. Perelman’s side were 3W–7L–1D that morning; this was the night the season turned.
Griezmann lands in Orlando. Signing a World Cup winner — and Atlético Madrid’s greatest-ever scorer — was the biggest incoming transfer in club history, into the Designated Player slot opened by Luis Muriel’s January move to Junior FC. His first Orlando goal came in the Leagues Cup win over CF Monterrey in August, and his numbers since have dragged the Lions from 13th in the East to seventh. This is what a franchise signing is supposed to look like.
Ojeda becomes the King of Orlando. October 14, 2026, at Toronto FC: Ojeda scored his 48th goal in all competitions for Orlando City to become the club’s all-time leading scorer — wearing the captain’s armband. Four days later he added a scorpion-kick goal in the 4–1 rout of D.C. United.
🔥 More Fan Favorites
More Lions stars, same Orlando purple.
This Season (2026): The Griezmann Effect
Orlando sit seventh in the Eastern Conference on 41 points from 30 matches (12W–5D–13L) — 58 goals scored and 70 conceded. The No. 7 seed is the last spot that skips the Wild Card and goes straight to the Round One Best-of-3, and FC Cincinnati sit just two points behind with four matches left. Nothing is clinched yet — but a seventh straight playoff berth is in Orlando’s own hands.
The arc is extraordinary. A disastrous 0–3 start cost Pareja his job in March; Perelman’s side were still 13th when play resumed after the World Cup break. Then Griezmann arrived, and everything changed: an 8W–3D–3L run in his 14 matches, unbeaten in the last three. The cups told the same story: a U.S. Open Cup semifinal run, routing Atlanta United 4–1 in the quarterfinal before a 2–1 loss at Columbus, and a Leagues Cup exit in Phase One despite beating Monterrey. MLS’s official forecast currently projects a Round One Florida Derby against Inter Miami — a projection only; final seeding is set on Decision Day.
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Mark Your Calendar
Saturday, October 24, 2026 — vs New York City FC, Inter.co Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET). Military Appreciation Night, and a rematch of the 5–0 defeat in New York that ended the Pareja era. Payback, with the No. 7 seed on the line.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 — at Chicago Fire FC, Soldier Field (8:30 p.m. ET). A midweek trip to face the side that knocked Orlando out of last year’s playoffs.
Saturday, October 31, 2026 — at Charlotte FC, Bank of America Stadium. The Halloween road test. Orlando beat Charlotte 4–1 at home in April behind an Ojeda brace — the return comes with seeding at stake for both.
Saturday, November 7, 2026 — vs New England Revolution, Inter.co Stadium (4:00 p.m. ET). Decision Day and Fan Appreciation Night, where the No. 7 seed and a seventh straight playoff berth are decided.
November 20 – December 2, 2026 — Round One, Best-of-3 (if Orlando hold their seed). If the Lions slip to eighth or ninth, their road starts in the Wild Card round on Wednesday, November 18; hold seventh and they go straight into Round One. Conference semifinals follow December 5–6, conference finals December 11–12, and MLS Cup 2026 lands on Friday, December 18. Every match streams on Apple TV with MLS Season Pass.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Inter Miami CF — the Florida Derby. The in-state war, first played on July 8, 2020 — Orlando won the first-ever meeting 2–1 — and across 20 meetings the Lions hold the most wins, eight, even with Lionel Messi as the derby’s top scorer on nine goals. The cup history is baked in: Orlando beat Miami on penalties in the 2022 U.S. Open Cup on the way to lifting that trophy, and Miami flipped the 2025 Leagues Cup semifinal. The 2026 editions were classics: Miami won 4–2 in Orlando in March after trailing 2–0, then Orlando won 4–3 at Miami in May after trailing 3–0. A third 2026 meeting — a Round One playoff series — is the current projection.
2. Atlanta United FC. The Southeast’s other heavyweight and Orlando’s most frequent cup dance partner. The two sides met three times in 2026 and the Lions never lost: a 1–1 league draw on May 16, a 4–1 rout in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal three days later — Brekalo, Dorsey and a Tiago brace — and a 3–2 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 9.
3. New York City FC. The 2015 expansion twins, and a fixture with real scar tissue: the all-time head-to-head favors NYCFC, 12 wins to Orlando’s seven with 10 draws. The 2026 low point came on March 7 at Yankee Stadium, a 5–0 defeat with Crépeau sent off inside the opening 18 minutes — the loss that completed the 0–3 start and cost Pareja his job four days later. The rematch comes on October 24 at Inter.co Stadium, with the No. 7 seed on the line.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Orlando City’s next game?
Next up is Saturday, October 24, 2026, at home to New York City FC at Inter.co Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, Military Appreciation Night). It starts a four-game run-in: at Chicago Fire on October 28, at Charlotte FC on October 31, and New England at home on Decision Day, November 7. Every match streams on Apple TV via MLS Season Pass.
Are Martín Ojeda and Antoine Griezmann playing?
Yes — both are fit, starting and in form. Ojeda, the No. 10, is Orlando’s top scorer with 15 MLS goals, became the club’s all-time leading scorer on October 14, 2026 with his 48th goal in all competitions, and scored a scorpion kick on October 17. Griezmann, the No. 7, has 12 goals and seven assists in 14 MLS matches since arriving in July 2026. Ojeda is under contract through 2029-30; Griezmann through 2027-28 with a club option.
Where do Orlando City play, and how do I get tickets?
At Inter.co Stadium in downtown Orlando (655 West Church Street) — a soccer-specific stadium opened in 2017 with a listed capacity of 24,453, also home to the Orlando Pride, with the safe-standing supporters’ section known as The Wall. The stadium was renamed from Inter&Co Stadium in July 2026. Single-match tickets are sold through the club’s official site and Ticketmaster, and every match streams on Apple TV via MLS Season Pass.
Have Orlando City ever won a trophy?
Yes — the club’s first major trophy is the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, won on a run that included knocking out Inter Miami on penalties in the round of 16 and beating Sacramento Republic FC 3–0 in the final. Orlando have never won MLS Cup, but they own a club-record run of six straight playoff appearances from 2020 to 2025 — extendable to seven in 2026 — and reached the U.S. Open Cup semifinals again in 2026.
⚽ Orlando City Fan Shop
The full Lions trio — Griezmann, Ojeda and Pašalić in Orlando purple.
Sources & official links: Orlando City official site · MLS official site · Orlando City tickets
Purple reign, Wall loud, one more streak to stretch — vamos Orlando.
