Seattle Sounders FC 2, LAFC 1 — Albert Rusnák scored in the first minute, Sebastian Gomez doubled the lead, and Seattle held off a 21-shot LAFC side through Eddie Segura's late header to take the Decision Day win their season depended on.
Seattle Sounders FC beat LAFC 2-1 in Seattle on Saturday, November 7, 2026 — MLS Decision Day, the final day of the regular season — in a game Seattle could not afford to lose. MLSSoccer.com's Decision Day account had the Sounders starting the day below the playoff line, 10th in the Western Conference on 43 points and trailing Portland and Colorado on tiebreakers, facing only a second postseason miss since joining MLS in 2009.
The start could not have been better. The noise inside Lumen Field matched it. A giveaway at the back let Cristian Roldan set up Albert Rusnák for a goal in the first minute — USA TODAY's Decision Day live account recorded it the same way — and Seattle led before LAFC had settled. Jordan Morris went off injured at 24', Jesús Ferreira on in his place, and seven minutes later Rusnák turned provider: Sebastian Gomez scored at 31' from Rusnák's assist, and it was 2-0 at half-time. The Sounders named Rusnák their Man of the Match.
LAFC, already playoff-bound, owned the numbers and not the score. Sportradar's match record credits LAFC with 21 shots and 12 corners to Seattle's five shots and two corners, with six saves asked of Seattle's goalkeeper. The pressure finally told at 81' — Eddie Segura headed in from Ryan Porteous's assist, 2-1, and LAFC chased an equaliser for the closing minutes, Porteous and Tyler Boyd both shooting off target in stoppage time. Seattle held to full time at 90'+7'.
A Lead Owned Since the First Minute
Seattle's whole night was built in the first half hour and defended for the rest of it. The shot count says siege — the scoreboard says Seattle's goalkeeper and back line answered everything LAFC threw at them, and then answered the one-goal finish that followed the late header. A team that started the day below the line ended it holding a lead it had owned since the opening minute.
The club's own posts said what the win carried. Minutes after full time the Sounders posted their full-time graphic — "THAT'S THREE POINTS" — and then the clinch: "SOUNDERS. NEVER. QUIT. We've secured our spot in the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs!" LAFC's official account recorded the other side of it: "Final score in Seattle."
Previously Staff’s read: The win lifts Seattle to eighth in the Western Conference on 46 points and into the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs — and the reward comes fast: a winner-take-all Wild Card home game against ninth-place Real Salt Lake, whose own 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy the same night settled the pairing. Salt Lake visit on Thursday, November 19. LAFC were locked into sixth place in the West whatever happened in Seattle, and their Decision Day ends as the night they dominated a box score and lost the game anyway.
Sources · 6 sources
- ESPN — Seattle Sounders FC vs LAFC — MLS summary and play-by-play, event 761948
- Sportradar — Seattle Sounders vs Los Angeles FC — match record and play-by-play
- USA TODAY — MLS Decision Day LIVE 2026 — playoff picture and clinching scenarios
- MLSSoccer.com — Decision Day 2026 — Seattle start the day below the playoff line
- Seattle Sounders FC — Recap: Sounders defeat LAFC 2-1, book their ticket to the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs; official club posts — full-time and clinched
- LAFC — Official club posts — final score in Seattle
Every goal from the night lives on the match's Game Center page for Seattle Sounders FC vs LAFC, and the full MLS slate is on the MLS hub.
