What to make of expansion franchises? History shows us that the record is mixed. Joining MLS as a new league is a dangerous thing. Some, such as St. Louis, hit the ground running. Others, such as Cincinnati are forced to embrace years of disappointment before fighting their way to league relevance. For most, the reality is in between. No one really knows where San Diego will end up after becoming the league’s 30th club this offseason. But it was a hell of a start for Mikey Varas’ side. They seldom looked threatened, and scored two clinical goals to win their first fixture in franchise history – knocking off the reigning MLS champions in the process.
Inter Miami, too, were involved in a fascinating contest. They drew their first game of the season, but put in context — playing a man down for most of the game — it looks a fine point (although NYCFC deserved more). And elsewhere, there were plenty of big performances from expensive strikers like Emmanuel Latte Lath and a disappointing start for Gregg Berhalter’s Chicago Fire. It all made for a compelling start to the MLS campaign in which no one really learned anything, but there were plenty of reasons for early excitement. GOAL rounds up the biggest storylines of the first weekend of the 2025 MLS season…