San Diego FC Opens 2026 MLS Regular Season with 5-0 win Against CF Montréal

SAN DIEGO (Saturday Feb. 21, 2026) – San Diego FC (SDFC) opened the 2026 MLS Regular Season with a 5-0 win against CF Montréal in front of a crowd of 25,412 at Snapdragon Stadium. SDFC began its second-ever MLS season with a flurry of goals in the first-ever meeting against the Canadian side. Christopher McVey (14^th minute), Amahl Pellegrino (45+2), Onni Valakari (54^th minute), Marcus Ingvartsen (59^th minute) and 18-year-old Right to Dream graduate Bryan Zamblé scored for SDFC. Zamblé, a Right to Dream Academy graduate, scored four minutes after coming on as a substitute to make his professional debut against a Montréal team that finished the match with 10-men after Tomas Aviles was ejected in the 48^th minute.

SD – 1-0 – Christopher McVey (Anders Dreyer), 14^th minute: McVey opened the scoring with a header past CF Montréal goalkeeper Thomas Giller. He met a Dreyer corner kick near the six-yard box and directed his header into the net for SDFC’s first goal of the 2026 MLS season.

SD – 2-0 – Amahl Pellegrino, 45+2: Pellegrino doubled the lead by converting the rebound off an Anders Dreyer shot that was saved by Giller. Pellegrino collected the loose ball following Giller’s diving stop and finished with a right-footed strike seconds before halftime, capping a breakaway that began near midfield.

SD – 3-0 – Onni Valakari (Marcus Ingvartsen), 54^th minute: Valakari extended the advantage with a right-footed finish inside the left post after receiving a pass from Ingvartsen.

Ingvartsen added SDFC’s fourth goal with a left-footed strike off a Dreyer cross following a buildup that started with a Pellegrino pass.

SD – 5-0 – Bryan Zamblé (Jeppe Tverskov and Christopher McVey), 85^th minute: Zamblé capped the night with a right-footed finish from the center of the box after cutting past a defender to create space.

·       SDFC opened the 2026 MLS Regular Season with a 5-0 win against CF Montréal at Snapdragon Stadium in the first-ever meeting between both clubs.

·       With tonight’s 5-0 win. SDFC has scored 69 MLS regular-season goals and 79 combined regular season and post season goals. The Club has scored 88 goals across all competitions, including five in Leagues Cup and four in Concacaf Champions Cup.

·       With tonight’s 5-0 win against CF Montréal, SDFC has tied its highest scoring output in Club history (5-3 win at Vancouver on June 25, 2025).

·       SDFC had 645 passes completed compared to Montréal’s 317.

·       SDFC out-possessed Montréal 64 to 36 percent.

·       Tonight’s result is also the Club’s largest margin of victory.

·       Tonight’s win is also the Club’s first home opener win in Club history.

·       SDFC has won both of its season openers (2-0 at LA Galaxy on Feb. 23, 2025).

^·               Tonight’s win is also SDFC’s 20^th MLS Regular Season win.

·       SDFC had four players with two goal contributions tonight.

o   Anders Dreyer – Two (2) assists

o   Marcus Ingvartsen – One (1) goal, one (1) assist.

o   Christopher McVey – One (1) goal, one (1) assist

o   Amahl Pellegrino – One (1) goal, one (1) assist

·       Defender Christopher McVey scored SDFC’s first goal of the 2026 MLS Season.

·       McVey also scored his third goal with SDFC and his fifth MLS Regular Season career goal.

·       Forward Anders Dreyer recorded his first and second assists of the 2026 MLS Regular Season (25 across all competitions and 21 in MLS play) during McVey’s goal.

·       Forward Amahl Pellegrino scored his first goal of the 2026 MLS Regular Season and his fourth MLS Regular Season goal of his SDFC career.

·       Pellegrino now has seven goals for SDFC across all competitions, and 12 MLS Regular Season goals (15 MLS career goals across all competitions).

·       Pellegrino added an assist on a goal by Marcus Ingvartsen for his second goal contribution of the night.

·       Ingvartsen scored his third MLS goal and his third with SDFC. Ingvartsen also had an assist on a goal by Onnni Valakari, his second assist with SDFC.

·       Ingvartsen’s last goal prior to tonight was on Aug. 17, 2025 against the SJ Earthquakes in the 2025 regular season.

·       Valakari scored his fifth goal in MLS and his seventh with SDFC across all competitions.

·       Winger and Right to Dream Academy graduate Bryan Zamblé scored his first professional goal tonight four minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute. The 18-year-old came on as a substitute for Pellegrino in the 81^st minute.

·       Zamblé’s goal marked the 88^th goal across all competitions in SDFC history (69 MLS Regular Season, 10 MLS Playoffs, 5 Leagues Cup, and 4 Concacaf Champions Cup).

·       With his two goal contributions tonight, Dreyer now has a team-high 25 assists, including 23 from 2025 during the club’s inaugural season.

·       Dreyer now has a combined 40 MLS career starts with SDFC.

·       Dreyer and Valakari are the only two players to feature in all 35 of SDFC’s regular season  and five post-season matches for a total of 39 MLS career appearances.

·       Goalkeeper and San Diego native Duran Ferree made his first career MLS and SDFC start, registering just  his second appearance for the Club tonight. In his first-ever MLS appearance for SDFC, he came on in the 80^th minute of the 2025 Audi MLS Playoffs Western Conference Final against Vancouver Whitecaps on Nov. 29, 2025.

·       Ferree, SDFC’s first-ever player signing, had his first career clean sheet tonight with two saves. He now has four career MLS saves. He recorded two saves in the Western Conference final against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

·       Defender Kieran Sargeant made his MLS debut tonight as part of the Starting XI and made his third appearance for the Club. Sargeant made his SDFC debut in a 4-1 win in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round One, Leg One match on Feb. 3 as a second half substitute. He also came on as a substitute in the second leg of that series on Feb. 10.

·       Defender Osvald Søe also made his first MLS appearance on the SDFC 20-man roster tonight. Søe was available on the bench during Leg 2 of the Concacaf Champions Cup match against Pumas.

·       Defender Manu Duah made his 18th MLS start and 19th MLS appearance for SDFC. He has a total of 25 appearances with the Club across all competitions, including three 2025 Leagues Cup and three Concacaf Champions Cup matches.

·       Defender Oscar Verhoeven made his first appearance for SDFC tonight since playing in the 2025 Leagues Cup against C.F. Pachuca on July 29, 2025. Prior to tonight, his last MLS was on  July 25, 2025 against Nashville SC.

Match Information
2026 MLS Regular Season
San Diego FC vs. CF Montréal

Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 – Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)

SD – (1-0) – Christopher McVey (Assisted by Anders Dreyer), 14’

SD – (2-0) – Amahl Pellegrino, 45+2

SD – (3-0) – Onni Valakari (Assisted by Marcus Ingvartsen), 54’

SD – (4-0) -Marcus Ingvartsen (Assisted by Anders Dreyer and Amahl Pellegrino), 59’

SD – (5-0) – Bryan Zamblé (Assisted by Jeppe Tverskov and Christopher McVey), 85’

MON – Victor Loturi (caution, 5’)

MON – Tomas Aviles (ejection, 48’)

SD – Christopher McVey (caution, 62’)

Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Luca Bombino (Oscar Verhoeven, 71’), D Wilson Eisner, D Manu Duah, D Kieran Sargeant; M Onni Valakari, M Jeppe Tverskov –C–, M Aníbal Godoy (Pedro Soma, 71’); F Amahl Pellegrino (Bryan Zamblé, 81’), F Marcus Ingvartsen, F Anders Dreyer.

Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos, D Ian Pilcher, D Osvald Søe, M David Vazquez, M Bryce Duke, F Alex Mighten

TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; FOULS: 12; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES; 2

CF MONTRÉAL: GK Thomas Giller; D Tomas Aviles, D Efrain Morales, D Samuel Piette –C– (Matty Longstaff, 46’); D Victor Loturi; M Olger Escobar (Brandan Craig, 51’), M Brayan Vera; F Prince Owusu, M Dagur Thorhalisson, M Hennadi Synchuk (Wikelman Carmona, 46’); M Bode Hidalgo.

Substitutes Not Used: GK Sebastian Breza, D Jalen Neal, F Kwado Opoku, M Ivan Jaime, F Daniel Rios, D Aleksandr Guboglo.

TOTAL SHOTS: 6; SHOTS ON GOAL: 2; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDES 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 3