Apr 5, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego FC midfielder Onni Valakari (8) fights for the ball with Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan (7) at Snapdragon Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego, California – In a league where new franchises are expected to struggle, San Diego FC is flipping the script — fast.
With a commanding 3-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night, SDFC now sits second in the Western Conference and boasts the fourth-best record in all of Major League Soccer. Not bad for a club that didn’t exist three months ago.
Expansion teams are traditionally expected to suffer through early growing pains. Historically, new franchises across North American sports are often cannon fodder for established powers. Since 1969, 37 expansion teams have debuted across the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. All but one — the 2018 Vegas Golden Knights — failed to post a winning record or make the playoffs in their first season.
MLS has been slightly more forgiving to newcomers, but sustained early success remains rare. Since 2007, only five of the league’s 19 expansion teams have qualified for the postseason in their inaugural campaigns. Of those five, just one — Nashville SC in the pandemic-altered 2020 season — managed to win a playoff match.
That’s the hill San Diego FC is climbing. And if their start is any indication, they’re doing more than just climbing — they might be sprinting.
Captain Jeppe Tverskov, who notched his first goal for the club against Seattle, credits structure and clarity. “We train very structured. People know their roles and that’s why we are clicking that early, being a brand-new team,” he said postgame.
It’s more than just locker room chemistry. San Diego has already beaten four of the last five MLS Cup champions and is showing signs of real depth and balance. Head coach Mikey Varas, however, insists the best is yet to come.
“The fact of the matter is, we’re not even close to as good as we can be,” said Varas. “I don’t think we’ve put together more than 50 minutes, 55 minutes of our complete highest level without a bit of a drop. When we get there, I think we’re going to be quite a special team.”
If this is San Diego FC still learning to walk, the rest of the league should be concerned about what happens when they start to run.
