The FC Cincinnati Academy is set to compete at the 2026 MLS NEXT Cup, presented by Allstate, in Salt Lake City, Utah in what serves as the culminating event of the season and crowns a champion in each pf the age groups within the MLS NEXT Homegrown Division. The Young Garys will be represented by their U13, U14, U15 and U18 teams.
Live updates for the Young Garys - including lineups, in match updates, scoring and schedule information - will be listed at the bottom of this article
MLS NEXT Cup matches will be played from May 23-31 at the Regional Athletics Complex with the age group finals to be held at Real Salt Lake’s America First Field. Each of the 32 teams competing in each age bracket qualified through MLS NEXT league results, the Pro Player Pathway, MLS NEXT Flex or through MLS’ .
The U15s qualified through both league play, where they were unbeaten. The Young Garys also won their group at MLS NEXT Flex in April, earning six points through three matches, including a 3-0 win against Cedar Stars Bergen and a 5-1 win against Real Salt Lake.
The U18s qualified through MLS NEXT Flex, winning the group with an unbeaten record. The U18s opened their MLS NEXT Flex run with a 5-0 win over City SC San Diego before earning a 1-0 win against Charlotte Independence and closing things out with a shootout win against Baltimore Armour.
Both the U15s and U18s will play one age group up in MLS NEXT Cup, with the U15s playing in the U16 age bracket and the U18s playing in the U19 age bracket.
The U13s and U14s each qualified for MLS NEXT Cup through the league’s Quality of Play metric, which places teams based on match performance and actions rather than results. The U13s finished with the second highest QoP score out of 15 teams in their division. The U14s topped their group with the highest QoP score of 16 teams in their division.
The U15s kick things off for the Young Garys on Saturday, May 23 against Real Futbol Academy (New Jersey). The U18s follow up on Sunday, May 24 against IMG Academy (Florida). The U13s and U14s begin their schedule on Thursday, May 28 against FC Golden State (California) and Springfield SYC (Virginia), respectively.
22 matches, including the U15s match against Real Futbol Academy, will stream live on MLS’ YouTube page. The FC Cincinnati Academy’s full MLS NEXT Cup schedule is listed below. For more information on MLS NEXT Cup, including full results and schedule, visit mlssoccer.com/mlsnext.
FC Cincinnati Academy 2026 MLS NEXT Cup Schedule
U15
Round of 32: Saturday, May 23 vs. Real Futbol Club – L, 2-1
Game 2: Sunday, May 24 vs. San Jose Earthquakes - D, 3-3
Game 3: Tuesday, May 26 vs. Houston Dynamo - D, 5-5
U18
Round of 32: Sunday, May 24 vs. IMG Academy – FC Cincinnati advance due to forfeit (3-0)
Round of 16: Monday, May 25 vs. FC Delco - W, 3-2
Quarterfinal: Wednesday, May 27 vs. LAFC - 2:45 p.m. ET/12:45 p.m. MT
Semifinal: Friday, May 29 (TBD)
Final: Sunday, May 31 (TBD)
U13
Round of 32: Thursday, May 28 vs. FC Golden State – 11 a.m. ET/9 a.m. MT
Round of 16: Thursday, May 28 (TBD)
Quarterfinal: Friday, May 29 (TBD)
Semifinal: Saturday, May 30 (TBD)
Final: Sunday, May 31 (TBD)
U14
Round of 32: Thursday, May 28 vs. Springfield SYC – 11 a.m. ET/9 a.m. MT
Round of 16: Thursday, May 28 (TBD)
Quarterfinal: Friday, May 29 (TBD)
Semifinal: Saturday, May 30 (TBD)
Final: Sunday, May 31 (TBD)
LIVE UPDATES
U15
Round of 32: vs. Real Futbol Club – L, 2-1
Starting XI: Ben Saunders, Ali Divanovic (Adrian Maldonado 60'), Orlando Hernandez, Cole Keenan, Isaiah Fowlkes, Hudson Cicala, Djibriil Rivera, Hassan Sakr, Mateo Anderson (Lincoln Cicala 80'), Gabe Jones, Islam Imran
Bench: Niko Christidis, Gio Garcia, Zach Maslin, Henry Von Lehman, Jackson Feeney, Graeme Martin
Scoring: Hassan Sakr 45'+2
Game 2: vs. San Jose Earthquakes - D, 3-3
Starting XI: Ben Saunders, Ali Divanovic (Zach Maslin 68'), Pierce Bikoko (Orlando Hernandez 46'), Cole Keenan, Jackson Feeney (Isaiah Fowlkes 46'), Hudson Cicala, Djibriil Rivera, Gio Garcia (Henry Von Lehman 46'), Lincoln Cicala (Mateo Anderson 62'), Gabe Jones (Graeme Martin 68'), Adrian Maldonado (Islam Imran 62')
Bench: Niko Christidis, Hassan Sakr
Scoring: Lincoln Cicala 45'+2, Graeme Martin 75', Islam Imran 78'
Game 3: vs. Houston Dynamo - D, 5-5
Starting XI: Niko Christidis, Ali Divanovic (Zach Maslin 57'), Pierce Bikoko (Orlando Hernandez 46'), Cole Keenan, Isaiah Fowlkes, Hudson Cicala (Lincoln Cicala 58'), Mateo Anderson (Graeme Martin 46'), Hassan Sakr (Jackson Feeney 46'), Djibriil Rivera (Henry Von Lehman 46'), Adrian Maldonado (Islam Imran 58'), Gabe Jones (Gio Garcia 76')
Bench: Ben Saunders
Scoring: Gabe Jones 24', Mateo Anderson 33', Graeme Martin 73', Islam Imran 74', Islam Imran 84'
U18
Round of 32: Sunday, May 24 vs. IMG Academy – FC Cincinnati advance due to forfeit (3-0)
Starting XI: Connor Dale, Gavin DeHart, Amin Ibrahim, Chadwell Mima (LJ Born 46'), Sean Johnson (Dom Lester 46'), Noah Gassan (Brady Locker 82'), Gael Huguet (Cristian Mancheno 73'), Jaylen Lester, Chance Malilo, Jarell Bonilla (Christian Suarez 46'), Steel Cook
Bench: Luke Broz, Dom Czachor, Brady Locker, Jonathan Navarro, Ali Sakr
Scoring: LJ Born 81'
Round of 16: Monday, May 25 vs. FC Delco - W, 3-2
Starting XI: Connor Dale, Gavin DeHart (Dom Czachor 65'), Amin Ibrahim (Sean Johnson 75'), LJ Born, Dom Lester (Brady Locker 65'), Jonathan Navarro (Chance Malilo 46'), Chadwell Mima (Ali Sakr 69'), Noah Gassan, Gael Huguet, Jaylen Lester, Steel Cook
Bench: Luke Broz, Cristian Mancheno, Jarell Bonilla, Christian Suarez
Scoring: Gavin DeHart (PK) 23', Brady Locker 73', Brady Locker 87'
