LAFC to play one of MLS’ toughest 2024 schedules as it pushes to return to Cup final
LAFC will meet the crosstown rival Galaxy three times in 2024, including a renewal of last season’s July 4 game at the Rose Bowl, which drew an MLS-record 82,110 fans.
Coming off its second consecutive trip to the MLS Cup final, LAFC will open the 2024 season Feb. 24, hosting the Seattle Sounders. The team, which finished 2023 by losing to Columbus in the title game, will report to training camp in the middle of January.
Because the 29-team league is unbalanced, with 14 teams in the Western Conference and 15 in the Eastern Conference, each team in the West will play two conference opponents three times. For LAFC, those opponents are the Galaxy and San Jose, with the first match against the Earthquakes to be played May 4 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the NFL’s 49ers.
LAFC will host the Galaxy at BMO Stadium on April 6 and will visit Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on Sept. 14 in addition to the Rose Bowl game.
LAFC’s home schedule also includes a rematch of this month’s MLS Cup final with Columbus, with the Crew visiting BMO Stadium on July 13. That makes LAFC’s 34-game schedule among the league’s toughest because in addition to facing all 13 Western Conference opponents at least twice, it will also play the top three teams in the East in Columbus, the reigning league champion; Cincinnati, the Supporters’ Shield winner; and Orlando City, which finished second in the overall table in 2023.
LAFC played a league-record 53 games last season, eight of them coming in the CONCACAF Champions League. LAFC didn’t qualify for that tournament in 2024 but its calendar will be crowded nonetheless, with the team scheduled to play 13 times with fewer than five days rest between matches.
2024 LAFC schedule
Feb. 24: vs. Seattle, 1:30 p.m.
March 2: at Real Salt Lake, 11 a.m.; 9: vs. Sporting K.C., 7:30 p.m.; 16: at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m.; 23: vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.; 30: at Colorado, 1 p.m.
April 6: vs. Galaxy, 4:30 p.m.; 13: at Portland, 1:30 p.m.; 20: vs. N.Y. Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.; 27: vs. Portland, 7:30 p.m.
May 4: vs. San Jose at Levi’s Stadium, 4:30 p.m.; 11: vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.; 15: at St. Louis, 5:30 p.m.; 25: at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.; 29: vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.
June: 1: vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.; 15: at Orlando, 4:30 p.m.; 19: at Austin, 5:30 p.m.; 22: vs. San Jose, 7:30 p.m.; 29: vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m.
July: 4: vs. Galaxy at the Rose Bowl, 7:30 p.m.; 7: at Houston, 5:30 p.m.; 13: vs. Columbus, 7:30 p.m.; 17: vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.; 20: at Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
Aug, 24: at Vancouver, TBD; 31: vs. Houston, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14: at Galaxy, 7:30 p.m.; 18: vs. Austin, 7:30 p.m.; 21: at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.; 28: at Cincinnati, 4:30 p.m.
Oct: 2: vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.; 6: at Sporting K.C., 5:30 p.m.; 19: vs. San Jose, 6 p.m.
— All times Pacific
