Following Late Heartbreak in 1-1 Draw Wednesday, RSL Now Off to Face Longtime Rival Sporting Kansas City;
Club Likely Needs Four Wins in Final Five to Extend Playoff Qualification Streak;
RSL Seeks Second Road Win of Season, First Since March 7 at Atlanta;
Back at Home on Sat., Oct. 24 v St. Louis, 11W-4L-4T Record in Sandy This Season;
Tickets for All Home Events Remain Available via www.RSL.com/Tickets
HERRIMAN, Utah (Thu., Oct. 15, 2026) – This weekend, Real Salt Lake (9W-14L-6T, 33 points, t-10th West / 20th Shield MLS) travels away for a 6:30p MT kickoff against longtime Western Conference rival Sporting Kansas City (6W-19L-4T, 22 points, 15th West / 30th Shield). With only five reg. season games remaining, RSL sits tied with Portland in 10th place in the West, five points behind the 8/9 Wild Card spots, likely needing four wins in those final five games in order to extend the Club’s postseason qualification streak to six seasons. On Saturday, RSL will seek for its first victory away from home since March 7 at Atlanta, looking to snap a dubious 13-game winless run away from home across MLS reg. season and Leagues Cup action this season.
Real Salt Lake enters Saturday unbeaten in its last five matches overall against Kansas City, including a 5-1-2 (W-L-T) mark over the last eight, a span that has seen RSL secure one win and two draws in its last three visits to Kansas City, last losing there in October, 2022. Earlier this season, RSL defeated Kansas City, 3-1, with Diego Luna, Sergi Solans and Zavier Gozo each finding the back of the net at America First Field in Sandy.
All-time, RSL boasts 17 wins and 10 draws against just 11 Kansas City wins, the series highlighted by a dramatic, 10-round shootout tiebreaker in frozen conditions to decide MLS Cup 2013 at Sporting Park. The RSL loss in that match marked Jason Kreis’ final match as head coach for RSL, the current President of Soccer moving on to launch New York City FC’s MLS expansion season.
Saturday’s RSL at Sporting Kansas City contest on Apple TV features Josh Eastern and Lloyd Sam on the primary English-language call, while Jesus Acosta will provide 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 with Willy Barrueta and Isidro López on KBMG Latino 106.3 FM.
GAME NOTES for Saturday’s RSL @ Kansas City Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2026 RSL Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City 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.
Wednesday night at America First Field, RSL endured a tense affair against the visiting San Jose Earthquakes, ultimately settling for a 1-1 draw five minutes into second-half stoppage time. 21-year-old Canadian World Cup centerback Luc de Fougerolles made his home debut in his first-ever RSL / MLS start, scoring what appeared to be the game-winner in the 79th minute. Assisted by Uruguayan World Cup standout Juan Manuel Sanabria, RSL appeared poised for its 12th home win of 2026 across all competitions, but in the 95+ minute, a poor clearance by Sanabria led to the late San Jose equalizer.
In the previous two games this week, including last Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Philadelphia, RSL has welcomed the return of several players from injury, international absences and visa issues, as Juan Manuel Sanabria (Uruguay), Saba Lobjanidze (Georgia), Kobi Henry (Trinidad), Luc de Fougerolles (Canada / visa), Zach Booth (hamstring) and Ariath Piol (Achilles) have all featured in both contests. Late at Philadelphia, Lobjanidze scored his third goal in the last seven matches for RSL, assisted by Canadian World Cup standout de Fougerolles, who became all-time RSL player No. 245 in the Club’s 22-year history, and the ninth player in RSL annals to register an assist in his Club debut.
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni has now managed the Club in 217 matches across all competitions, registering 86 wins, 80 losses and 51 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 25 occasions in those 217 games. Wednesday’s contest against San Jose marked the latest opportunity for the Claret-and-Cobalt to display its “xDAWG” mentality to earn the result, now winning 36 and drawing 19 times in “bounce-back” games following a loss in Mastroeni’s five-plus seasons in Utah.
