Real Salt Lake Hosts 2026 Leagues Cup Tuesday in Must-Win Match V FC Juárez

RSL Remains in Utah for Must-Win Leagues Cup Phase One Finale;

Tuesday Match Third of Five Home Games from August 4-19, Including Three Liga MX Contests;

Tickets for All Home Events Remain Available via www.RSL.com/Tickets

SANDY, Utah (Monday, August 10, 2026) – This week, Real Salt Lake (8W-6L-3T, 27 points, 5^th West MLS / 9^th Shield) remains home for the third of at least three 2026 Leagues Cup home matches with Tuesday’s 7:30p MT kickoff against emerging Liga MX side FC Juárez. This week’s must-win match marks the third of five RSL home games in a 15-day span on the Wasatch Front, with a trio of Leagues Cup contests and two MLS regular-season matches through August 19.

Following Saturday’s dominant 4-0 win against Liga MX upstart Atlante CF – one which snapped a five-game winless run across multiple competitions – RSL now owns a 9-1-1 (W-L-T) mark on Utah soil in 2026, outscoring visitors 27-10, with the lone setback coming on April 22 in an 0-2 loss to Inter Miami CF. Since June 1, 2025, RSL is 17-4-3 (W-L-T) at home, while the weekend’s victory improved RSL to 7-6-6 all-time against Mexican visitors in the last 22 seasons, with a 19-10-8 mark on the Wasatch Front against all international opponents.

Tuesday’s RSL Leagues Cup contest on Apple TV features Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce on the primary English-language call, with Carlos Ramirez and Max Cordaro 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 22^nd RSL season as RSL’s Spanish radio voice – conducting the Spanish call on KBMG Latino 106.3 FM.

GAME NOTES for Tuesday’s RSL v FC Juarez Match Available Online 

The Adobe PDF version of the 2026 RSL Game Guide in advance of Tuesday’s Leagues Cup contest between Real Salt Lake and FC Juárez 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.

With heavy rotation to the weekend lineup due to schedule congestion, RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni made six changes to the starting XI, with rookie FW Sergi Solans, playmaker Diego Luna and Utah native Zach Booth joining Noel Caliskan and DeAndre Yedlin in the selection after brief respites on Tuesday. In the game’s 16^th minute, Solans found the back of the net for his 10^th goal of the season (seven in MLS, two vs. Burnley), the RSL Golden Boot leader opening his Leagues Cup account on the first of two assists by Luna on the night. When scoring first during the Mastroeni era, RSL is now 55-11-21 (W-L-T) since August, 2021, while taking a 1-0 lead.

Just five minutes into the second half, RSL blew the game open with a pair of goals in short succession, as Eden, Utah native Booth – making just his sixth start of the season – scored his first-ever home goal (and second overall) with a blistering left-footed shot from 18 yards out. Shortly thereafter, Lukas Engel deftly redirected a Morgan Guilavogui pass off a Luna free kick, the Danish defender scoring his second goal in the last five matches – after being shut out in his first 49 career MLS appearances.

Wrapping up RSL’s first four-goal win in more than two years was veteran RSL midfielder Pablo Ruiz, who followed up Tuesday’s equalizer – his first goal since a midfield bombazo in June, 2023, at D.C. United, a span of just 35 games played across 1,444 days due to two severe knee injuries for the metronomic, deep-lying playmaker – with a hard, left-footed shot far post after picking the Atlante player’s pocket for his second goal of the week.

Led by “Iron Man” goalkeeper and Captain Rafael Cabral – who has played every minute of all 60 matches since arriving at RSL in January, 2025 – RSL earned its third clean sheet of the season with the blanking of Atlante, all three shutouts coming at home. First-year Colombian centerback Juan Jose Arias made his second consecutive start in impressive fashion, while Engel, Yedlin, Caliskan and holding mid Stijn Spierings – making his 13^th start in 14 matches – defused numerous opposing attacks.

Tuesday’s match against Juarez is the sixth amidst a critical stretch of 11 games in 44 days for RSL across both MLS and Leagues Cup contests, a run that began with late July road losses at LAFC and Portland. While the St. Louis draw snapped a two-game losing streak in RSL’s post-World Cup slate following losses at LAFC on July 22 and at Portland on July 25, the Club is forced to carry an active seven-game winless streak away from home into its next road match, August 22 at Orlando.

Despite the recent spate of winless matches, RSL remains in fifth place in a tightly-packed MLS Western Conference with 17 games remaining in its 22^nd all-time MLS season, with Tuesday’s match four weeks removed from a 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 a 30-day midsummer span.

Real Salt Lake Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni has now managed the Club in 204 matches across all competitions, registering 84 wins, 72 losses and 48 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 202 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 20 occasions in those 204 games. Last Saturday at St. Louis marked the latest opportunity for the Claret-and-Cobalt to display its “xDAWG” mentality as it earned the result at Energizer Park, previously winning 35 and drawing 17 times in “bounce-back” games following a loss in Mastroeni’s five-plus seasons in Utah.

LEAGUES CUP NOW ON THE HORIZON

Competing on the Wasatch Front, the Atlante CF win Saturday boosts RSL’s all-time record against Mexican visitors to an 7W-6L-6T on the Wasatch Front, where RSL has now outscored the Liga MX sides 26-25 over the years on their collective visits. A must-win Phase One finale remains for RSL against FC Juárez, with RSL needing to accrue seven points, and likely requiring a very heavy goal differential in order to advance to the Quarterfinals as one of four MLS sides to emerge from the 18 currently in the competition.

Real Salt Lake entered the tourney ranked as the 30^th 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.

FC JUÁREZ 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 last year’s 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.