2026 preview: What does 2026 hold for LAFC?????

Photo Courtesy of CONCACAF

New coach, new season, but the expectations are still high for LAFC.

After falling just two wins short of the MLS Cup, LAFC heads into a new year looking to redeem themselves. While they were not spared the short of mass organizational changes that seem to affect other franchises, LAFC nevertheless is approaching the upcoming season with the hopes of not just winning MLS Cup, but also numerous trophies.

The biggest change for LAFC in the offseason came in the coaching ranks, as Steve Cherundolo, who coached the franchise for the last four seasons, departed at the end of the season to resume a coaching career in Germany, where he played his entire career. Cherundolo’s accomplishments are extraordinary, as during his four seasons, he amassed a record 0f 104-38-50 and led the franchise to a Supporters Shield and MLS Cup tile in 2022, made another MLS final the following season, and won the US Open Cup in 2024.

Replacing someone that thar resume is quite the challenge, so LAFC decided the stay in-house, as they appointed Marc Dos Santos, who had been an assistant during all of Cherundolo’s four seasons in Los Angeles, to be the head coach. Dos Santos has some coaching experience in MLS, as he was head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps for 2 1/2 seasons, a stretch in which he went 22-20-39.

Dos Santos however inherits a far more talented roster than what he inherited in Vancouver. Expected to lead the charge through the 2026 season is its forward tandem of Denis Bouanga and Son-Heung Min. Bouanga had another banner year in 2025, as he scored 24 goals in the 31 games he played last year, while Son, the legendary Korean star from Tottenham Hotspur, joined the team mid-season and made a relatively smooth transition, scoring nine goals in 10 MLS matches.

The challenge for Dos Santos is to spread the scoring wealth. In the second half the season, it seemed that it was either Bouanga or Son scoring the goals for LAFC, and they hope that having Son for a full preseason training camp will go a long way towards taking some of the scoring load off both Son and Bouanga. LAFC’s 2026 campaign kicked off on Tuesday in the CONCACAF Champions Cup in Honduras against Real Espana, and LAFC dominated from the start, scoring five goals in the first half and left San Pedro Sula with a 6-1 win. Son and Bouanga again carried the scoring load, with Bouanga having a ha trick, but LAFC did get goals from Timothy Tillman and David Ortiz, and one of Bouanga’s goals as well as Son’s goal came from the penalty spot, which offers some hope that it won’t be just the Son and Bouanga show every match that LAFC play, which would in turn give other MLS teams a chance to scheme to neutralize LAFC.