RSL Looking to Snap Five-Game Road Winless Streak;
Portland and St. Louis Trips Surround MLS All-Star Game Wednesday, Prior to Utah Return for Leagues Cup;
Five Home Games from August 4-19, Including Three Liga MX Contests;
Tickets Remain Available via www.RSL.com/Tickets
HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, July 24, 2026) – This weekend, Real Salt Lake (8W-5L-2T, 26 points, 4th West MLS / 7th Shield) continues its 2026 Major League Soccer campaign with the second leg of an extended road trip to face Portland Timbers FC on Saturday at Providence Park in Portland. With kickoff at 8:30p MT, RSL looks to snap an active five-game winless streak away from home, amidst a critical stretch of 11 games in 44 days for RSL across both MLS and Leagues Cup contests that began with Wednesday’s 3-1 loss at LAFC.
Saturday’s RSL contest on Apple TV features Blake Price and Paul Dolan on the English-language call, with Raul Guzman providing the Spanish-language analysis. Simultaneously, the KSL Radio team of David James and Jay Nolly return to the mic, with Nelson Moran – now in his 22nd RSL season as RSL’s Spanish radio voice – conducting the Spanish call on KBMG Latino 106.3 FM.
GAME NOTES for Saturday’s RSL @ Portland Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2026 RSL Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Portland can be found HERE. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact RSL Communications via email at RSLcommunications@RSL.com.
RSL now arrives in Portland seeking its first road win since March 7 in Atlanta, RSL owning an all-time 5-10-7 (W-L-T) record across MLS, playoffs and Open Cup matches played in the Timbers’ home. Last July, RSL won 1-0 on the Portland turf, with Diogo Gonçalves scoring the game-winner on an Ariath Piol assist, in support of Rafael Cabral’s seventh out of nine clean sheets a year ago. RSL also boasts a 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup knockout match and the second leg of the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final amongst notable wins on Portland’s artificial surface.
Earlier this season, RSL recorded a 2-0 home win over the Timbers, a match that saw the Claret-and-Cobalt overcome numerous outstanding saves by Portland GK James Pantemis. RSL snapped its two-game losing streak with a stellar first-half performance against the visitors, as Zavier Gozo (10th minute) and Diego Luna (28th minute) each found the back of the net against the Timbers.
In that match, Uruguayan international Juan Manuel Sanabria assisted on both goals, while rookie Sergi Solans also tallied an assist. French-born playmaker Morgan Guilavogui was also dangerous on the attack, slamming a long-distance shot off the crossbar and seeing multiple breakaways snuffed out. Holding mids Noel Caliskan and Stijn Spierings also saw dangerous attacking opportunities saved in an impressive performance by Pantemis, the Canadian World Cup third-string keeper.
In Wednesday’s statistically-dominant yet disappointing loss at LAFC, RSL did celebrate some individual milestones. In the 88th minute, RSL avoided the shutout suffered when DF Lukas Engel scored his first-ever MLS goal, in his 50th game in the League. Engel’s lefty blast was his first professional goal since March, 2024, for Middlesbrough against Norwich City in the EFL Championship, prior to his 2025 loan to FC Cincinnati and subsequent transfer this January to Real Salt Lake.
Assisting on the Engel goal was second-half substitute Saba Lobjanidze, the early July acquisition from Atlanta making his RSL debut. With his dynamic late minutes, the Georgian international provided service and danger, earning an assist on the corner kick to Engel. “Saba” became the eighth all-time RSL player to assist in his debut and the 14th to provide a goal contribution in his first-ever Claret-and-Cobalt contest, also becoming RSL’s all-time player No. 237 to log MLS minutes for the Utah side.
Despite the loss Wednesday at LAFC, RSL remains in fourth place in the MLS Western Conference with 19 games remaining in its 22nd all-time MLS season, with Saturday’s trip to the Pacific Northwest 10 days removed from last week’s 4-1 home exhibition win over English Championship side Burnley FC. The first of at least four international clubs to arrive on the Wasatch Front during the next 30 days, Burnley was denied early by a sixth-minute penalty-kick save from Captain Rafael Cabral, later buoyed by a brace from rookie FW Sergi Solans, the Club’s co-Golden Boot leader with Utah native and teenager Zavier Gozo, who also added a goal and an assist on the night. RSL star Diego Luna converted a late penalty to determine the final margin, with Burnley becoming the 33rd different international opponent to compete on Utah soil against Real Salt Lake, which now boasts an all-time 18W-10L-7T mark against international visitors.
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni has now managed the Club in 200 matches across all competitions, registering 83 wins, 71 losses and 46 draws in MLS, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Leagues Cup, Open Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup and international friendly contests since late August, 2021. The former U.S. Men’s National Team World Cup standout (2002, 2006), MLS Cup Champion (2010) as a player, and former Colorado Rapids manager (2014-16) has averaged 1.60 points per game with RSL in his 200 matches at the helm. Only Cup-winning former manager Jason Kreis (2007-13) – now the Club’s President of Soccer – boasts more games, more wins and a higher PPG average than Mastroeni in RSL’s 22 seasons.
During the Mastroeni era, resilience, grit and determination have served as trademarks for RSL, with the Club suffering back-to-back losses on just 19 occasions in those 200 games. Saturday at Portland will mark the latest opportunity for the Claret-and-Cobalt to display its “xDAWG” mentality as it seeks the result in Portland, previously winning 35 and drawing 16 times in “bounce-back” games following a loss.
LEAGUES CUP ON THE HORIZON
Following the trio of MLS road trips to LAFC (Wed., July 22), Portland Timbers FC (Sat., July 25) and St. Louis CITY SC (Sat., Aug. 1), RSL then welcomes three Liga MX opponents to visit Sandy, Utah, for Phase One of Leagues Cup 2026, with perennial title contender Tigres UANL arriving on Tuesday, August 4 (8:00p MT kickoff), later joined by both Atlante CF (Saturday, August 8) and FC Juarez (Tuesday, August 11) to compete on the Wasatch Front, where the Utah side boasts an all-time 6W-6L-5T record against Mexican visitors, who have outscored the Claret-and-Cobalt 24-21 over the years on their collective visits.
Real Salt Lake enters the tourney ranked as the 30th overall side out of 36 participants based on its 2025 performance and standings results, with RSL fifth of the six teams in the West 1 pod, which also includes MLS sides Vancouver and Minnesota, in addition to RSL’s three Liga MX opponents. Further information on each match can be found at www.RSL.com or www.LeaguesCup.com.
RSL’s history with TIGRES UANL is the most extensive of any Liga MX opponent, with RSL and Tigres squaring off for a fifth occasion later this year. Tigres ousted RSL from the Concacaf Champions League back in 2016, winning 2-0 at home before drawing 1-1 in Sandy.
In July, 2019, RSL fell 0-1 to Tigres at home in what was then called the Leagues Cup “Showcase,” a match that is known for a cat running on the field in what was former RSL Head Coach Mike Petke’s final match with the Club. Tigres first visited Utah back in 2008, arriving for a friendly as part of the Xango Cup, RSL winning the game at Rice-Eccles, 1-0. Former RSL centerback Carlos Salcedo arrived in Utah from the Tigres academy more than a decade ago, while RSL sold former goalkeeper Lalo Fernandez to Tigres at a similar juncture.
ATLANTE FC – In recent months, Atlante secured its return to Liga MX by acquiring Mazatlán’s franchise, taking its place in the league. The club now moves to Mexico City yet again, with the famed Estadio Azteca becoming its new home. Mazatlan was formerly known as Monarcas Morelia before relocation in 2020 – entering this summer’s tourney as the second of three visitors to the Beehive State, arriving for the second Phase One match on Saturday, August 8 (kickoff time TBD). Interestingly, back in July, 2006, Morelia did defeat RSL by a 3-1 scoreline at its former Rice-Eccles Stadium home.
FC JUAREZ also makes its maiden visit to Utah as part of the 2026 Leagues Cup, RSL hosting another first-time opponent. Juarez was founded as a second-division side in 2015, ascending to Liga MX in 2019 as a replacement for Lobos BUAP. Former RSL Academy, Real Monarchs and RSL forward and Park City, Utah native Sebastian “Bofo” Saucedo played 17 games for FC Juarez from 2023-25, scoring one goal.
Now in its fourth edition, Leagues Cup 2026 will once again award three spots in the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup, where the winner will represent the region at FIFA international club competitions, with the Leagues Cup 2026 champion earning a direct berth to the Round of 16.
A year ago, RSL drew with both Club América and Atlético San Luis at home before winning against Queretaro, splitting the shootout tiebreakers in the first two matches. RSL Captain and GK Rafa Cabral enjoyed perhaps his signature moment in the dramatic penalty-kick session against Las Aguilas, denying several attempts from the spot after América scored deep into second-half stoppage time to force the draw.
Three days later against Atlético San Luis, RSL saw late dramatics from former MF Braian Ojeda force the tiebreaker, the Claret-and-Cobalt conceding the extra point in the group standings against 2026 newcomer Juan Manuel Sanabria’s former side.
In the group stage finale, RSL defeated Queretaro by a narrow 1-0 scoreline in a match dominated by RSL, which conceded just a lone shot on goal over the 90 minutes, Ojeda again providing the match-winner.
Running from August 4 through September 6, Leagues Cup 2026 will feature 36 clubs – all 18 LIGA MX teams and 18 qualified MLS clubs. All 54 matches during Phase One along with the Quarterfinals will deliver LIGA MX vs. MLS matchups and feature defending Leagues Cup champion Seattle Sounders, top-rated LIGA MX Club Toluca, 2025 MLS Cup Champion Inter Miami, as well as 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup winner Cruz Azul and runner-up Vancouver Whitecaps.
