CARSON, Calif. — Yahoo Sports has live coverage of the Saturday’s 2024 MLS Cup final, where the LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls face off in a showdown of heavyweight versus underdog. The match kicks off at 4:10 p.m. ET, 1:10 p.m. PT at the Galaxy’s fortress, Dignity Health Sports Park. Fox will broadcast the final in the United States. Fans can also stream it on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass in England or Spanish.
The Galaxy are chasing a league record sixth title after an electric season fueled by big-name signings and free-agent coups. But Saturday, they’ll be without midfield maestro Riqui Puig, whose torn ACL leaves a massive gap in their attack. Can Greg Vanney’s side adapt and deliver yet another championship to Los Angeles?
On the other side, the Red Bulls have defied all odds to get here. After sneaking into the playoffs as the East’s seventh seed, they’ve clawed their way past defending champ Columbus, then crosstown rival NYCFC, then Orlando. They’ve been fueled by gritty pressing and a lights-out defense led by goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. Now, with history on the line, Sandro Schwarz’s team has a chance to pull off one of the league’s greatest Cinderella stories.
Will the Galaxy’s star power shine through, or can the Red Bulls grind out one final upset to lift their first MLS Cup?
All of the latest updates, highlights and more will be below.
Live13 updates
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Dylan Nealis lucky to avoid yellow
Paintsil picks up the ball near midfield, megs Nealis, and looks to race down the left sideline.
Nealis, beaten, throws a forearm into Paintsil’s gut.
If that foul occurs in the 75th minute, it’s 100% a yellow card. But five minutes in, apparently it’s not.
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Underway in Carson!
A few early fouls. Lots of noise — including from the roughly 2,000 traveling Red Bulls fans.
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Whoa, a late scratch for the Red Bulls
Andrés Reyes, a strong defender at the heart of a strong Red Bulls defense, was feeling sick after warmups, and is out.
Noah Eile is in.
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Red Bulls: Fluky underdog, or underrated and dangerous?
On one hand, the Red Bulls won just 11 of 34 regular-season games; they only won three between June 2 and the start of the playoffs; they’re the lowest seed, No. 7 in the East, to ever reach MLS Cup.
But a lot of analytics-based models think they’re much better than that.
On Expected Goal Differential (xGD) — a measure of chance creation and concession — they were the third-best team throughout the regular season, behind only Columbus and LAFC.
Oh, and a big chunk of their barren stretch run came without Emil Forsberg, who was injured. With Forsberg in the team, they’ve been better than their full regular-season record suggests:
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“Nobody Does it Better”
Warren G is on the mic, the fans have nearly filled the stadium and Carson, California, is ready to host the 2024 MLS Cup.
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Two MLS OGs finally meet in MLS Cup
The Galaxy and Red Bulls (formerly Metrostars) are both MLS originals. They actually met in their first-ever game, in MLS’s inaugural season, in 1996.
But this is their first meeting in a final, largely because the Red Bulls have a relatively long history of playoff failures. They’ve only reached MLS Cup once, and never won it.
The Galaxy, on the other hand, have played in nine finals and won five. This is their 10th. Will it be their league-record sixth title?
They’re favored, even without Puig, but I expect a tight game
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Red Bulls bring the hometown flavor
You might remember the New York Red Bulls as a glamorous club headlined by the likes of Rafa Marquez and Thierry Henry.
You might see Emil Forsberg, who enjoyed a long career at RB Leipzig in Germany, and think they’re still that same team.
But no. In fact, they haven’t been that team for a while. Their engine, now, is their academy. Of today’s starting 11, six are American, three are from New Jersey, and another two — the Nealis brothers, both defenders — are from Long Island.
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How will the Galaxy adjust without Puig, Reus?
Riqui Puig — who tore his ACL with around 30 minutes to go in the Western Conference final, then played the rest of the game and served up a game-winning assist in the Galaxy’s 1-0 win over Seattle — was arguably the most impactful player in MLS over the entirety of the 2024 season, including the playoffs.
He’s a massive loss, no matter how the Galaxy chose to replace him.
Still, the choice is notable. Many expected for Vanney to turn to attacking midfielder/winger Diego Fagundez in a central role. Instead, he went for Gaston Brugman, a defensive midfielder. That gives the Galaxy two true destroyers — Brugman and Edwin Cerrillo — and a very different look than the team that tore up MLS with a possession-based style. (And Marky Delgado, the other Puig/Reus replacement, is more scrappy than elegant.)
So, rather than try to replace Puig’s playmaking and dominate the ball, LA’s plan appears to be to solidify in midfield, and grind with the Red Bulls.
The impact of that choice is that more attacking onus will shift to the two Designated Players on the wing, both new additions this season: Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil.
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The lineups, in formation
Here’s how the Galaxy and Red Bulls will set up, per the official team sheet.
Given the Galaxy injuries, no surprises.
The Galaxy will set up in their customary 4-3-3, and the Red Bulls in their 3-4-2-1. (MLS) -
Marco Reus on the bench
The big news within the starting lineups is that Marco Reus — the former Borussia Dortmund star who joined the Galaxy midseason — is only fit enough for the LA bench.
He felt something in his groin early in last Saturday’s Western Conference final. Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said yesterday that Reus “trained fully” on Friday, and “should be ready to go tomorrow” … but apparently he isn’t, at least not fully.
And that’s a big loss. Reus hasn’t lit up MLS, but he would’ve stepped into an elevated role in the absence of Riqui Puig, who tore his ACL last weekend.
Without both of them, the Galaxy’s midfield is significantly weakened. Marky Delgado and Gaston Brugman are the replacements.
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Lineups are in. Here are the starting 11s:
Lineups for the 2024 MLS Cup final. -
Welcome to MLS Cup
We’re just under an hour until kickoff at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Between now and then, we’ll set the stage for a fascinating matchup — which could produce all sorts of drama, or a relative dud.
