Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread for a Sunday night matchup between Orlando City (1-5-0, 3 points) and the Columbus Crew (1-3-2, 5 points) at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field (7 p.m., Apple TV). This is the first of the two scheduled meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season with the reverse fixture in Orlando scheduled for Oct. 10.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

The Lions are 10-8-5 in the all-time, regular-season series and 3-5-2 on the road in MLS play. Orlando City is 11-9-5 overall against the Crew in all competitions, which includes a home loss in the playoffs and a home win in the U.S. Open Cup.

The last time these teams met was last Oct. 4 at Inter&Co Stadium. The Crew struck just past the half-hour mark through Andres Herrera, but Marco Pasalic slammed home the rebound of a Luis Muriel shot two minutes later. That was all the scoring in a wasteful 1-1 draw for Orlando. The first meeting of 2025 took place July 25 in Columbus, just prior to the Leagues Cup break. The Crew took the lead on Diego Rossi’s spot kick shortly after the hour mark on after Pasalic was called for a handball in the box. Ramiro Enrique struck 10 minutes later and again three minutes after that to turn the game around. Martin Ojeda added an insurance goal in stoppage time as the Lions won 3-1.

The two sides faced each other in Columbus on Sept. 21, 2024 in a wild back-and-forth game, with the Crew winning 4-3. Rossi, Christian Ramirez, and Cucho Hernandez staked Columbus to a comfortable 3-0 lead by the 71st minute, and the game seemed over. But Enrique’s goal three minutes after Hernandez scored sparked the Lions, who added a Muriel penalty goal to make it a match again. Miscommunication and a poor back pass from Felipe led to a turnover that allowed Aziel Jackson to score in transition, making it 4-2. Muriel scored late in stoppage time, but the Lions ran out of clock and couldn’t complete the comeback.

The teams opened the 2024 season series against each other on May 25. As has been the case with so many matches between Orlando and Columbus, there was controversy in the Crew’s 2-0 win in Orlando. The opening goal came in the second half on a penalty kick that was awarded upon video review following a penalty call at the other end of the pitch. Referee Jair Marrufo awarded the Lions a penalty for a foul on Steven Moreira against Muriel in the box late in the first half. Before Orlando could take the spot kick, Marrufo went to the monitor and ignored a blatant foul by Rossi in the buildup, ruling it a different attacking phase, despite the Lions never regaining clear control of the ball before the next attack, in which the referee ruled a routine shirt pull by Cesar Araujo — embellished significantly by Aidan Morris falling away from the direction of the tug — was clear-cut enough to wipe out the penalty seconds later at the other end. Rossi converted the penalty in first-half stoppage time, adding a second goal just past the hour mark.

The most meeting between the teams with the biggest stakes came in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals on Nov. 25, 2023. The teams played scoreless through the 90 minutes plus injury time, with Orlando City defender Rodrigo Schlegel getting sent off late with a second yellow card. The Crew were able to bundle home a goal in extra time and add an insurance marker for a 2-0 win en route to an eventual MLS Cup championship. Ramirez and Hernandez scored for the Crew.

The teams played a memorable game at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023, with Orlando coming from behind to snatch a stunning 4-3 victory at the death. Julian Gressel gave Columbus an early lead that held up through the first half. Ojeda equalized just after the restart, but Rossi and Hernandez staked the Crew to a two-goal lead. Facundo Torres pulled one back and Enrique bagged his first MLS brace, with a goal just a few minutes from the end of normal time and another late in stoppage.

The teams met in Columbus on May 13, 2023, playing to a 2-2 draw. Orlando City fell behind 2-0 by halftime on goals by Darlington Nagbe and Jacen Russell-Rowe, but Ercan Kara pulled one back just a few minutes after the restart, and Duncan McGuire leveled the game in stoppage time.

The sides met in Orlando on Decision Day 2022, with Orlando City erasing a 1-0 deficit on a Derrick Etienne Jr. goal to win 2-1 and clinch a playoff spot. Junior Urso leveled the game in the second half and Torres struck from the penalty spot late. The meeting in Columbus that year took place on April 16, 2022, with the Lions winning 2-0 on goals by Schlegel and Kara.

The 2021 season series concluded on Oct. 27 in Columbus with the Crew winning 3-2. Columbus had lost five straight to Orlando prior to Lucas Zelarayan’s one-goal, two-assist performance. Miguel Berry and Etienne also scored for the Crew. Daryl Dike pulled a goal back from the spot and Robin Jansson struck late, but it wasn’t enough.

The teams met at Exploria Stadium on Sept. 4, 2021, with the Lions winning 3-2. Orlando built a 2-0 lead on goals by Dike and Silvester van der Water, but a bizarre own goal by Antonio Carlos threw the Crew a lifeline, and a Berry equalizer turned the game around. Urso provided the winner in the 69th minute.

City won the only meeting of the 2020 pandemic season when the 10-man Lions got a late Benji Michel goal to defeat the Crew 2-1 on Nov. 4. Chris Mueller gave Orlando the lead but Harrison Afful was able to equalize just moments after referee Ramy Touchan sent off Nani on a ludicrous call that was overturned by the MLS independent panel a few days later. Thanks to Michel’s goal, the officiating error didn’t end up costing the Lions, who clinched their first-ever MLS playoff spot with the win.

The Lions swept the season series in 2019, defeating the Crew 1-0 on July 13, 2019, and two weeks previously getting their first road win in the series, 2-0.

Orlando won 2-1 on Oct. 21, 2018 to start a five-game winning streak against the Crew on a pair of penalty kick goals. Yoshimar Yotún and Sacha Kljestan provided the spot kicks to offset Federico Higuain’s opening goal.

The last Crew win in the series prior to the Orlando winning streak was assisted by a horror call by Silviu Petrescu in the 88th minute on July 21, 2018, giving Columbus an equalizer from the penalty spot. Wil Trapp then scored the kind of goal in stoppage time that he’ll probably never score again to lift the Crew to a 3-2 victory in a game the Lions had stolen away from them on a call that Petrescu’s own organization said was an error.

Columbus got the better of Orlando in 2017, going 2-0-1. The Lions were 0-1-1 against Columbus in 2016 and 1-1-1 in the series in 2015, with a home U.S. Open Cup win that season against the Crew as well.

Overview

Orlando City enters tonight’s match not only looking for its first win (or point) away from home this season but also its first lead on the road. To achieve a lead, the club will need to score its first road goal of 2026. The season overall has been a horror show for the Lions, but that’s been especially true on the road, where they’ve gone 0-3-0 by a combined score of 16-0 and have fallen from perennial playoff team to punchline. Orlando has done virtually nothing well in 2026, falling to last in MLS in points (3), wins (1), goals conceded (23), and goal differential (-18). The offense hasn’t been good either, placing above only D.C. United with its five goals scored this season to United’s four to hover just above the MLS basement in that category as well.

Columbus enters tonight on the heels of its first win of the 2026 season, a 3-1 victory at Atlanta a week ago. Things finally came together for a Crew squad that is 0-1-1 at home this year as Wessam Abou Ali scored a brace and USMNT left back Max Arfsten added an insurance goal. The Lions will need to deal with Ali, who leads the Crew in goal contributions with five goals and an assist. Rossi, a perennial problem for Orlando City, has two goals on the season, while Arfsten has chipped in a goal and two assists.

For Orlando to get a result — or perhaps even to keep the game competitive for a change — the Lions will need to play organized defense from the midfield on back, which has been one of the biggest trouble spots for the team in 2026. Defenders will need to track Ali and whoever starts at right back must keep Arfsten in check, which is not easy, as he’s got the ability to take the ball to the end line and cross it in accurately or to fake wide, cut inside, and look for his own shot. At the other end, Orlando City will need to try to beat goalkeeper Patrick Schulte if it is going to break its long road goal drought.

“Columbus is a team that has been doing a really good job in this last period of time. I think they’re finding the performance they want right now, and it’s a team with players at a good level,” Orlando City interim head coach Martin Perelman said ahead of the match. “We’ll be there ready to compete, to fight, and to do what we know how to do with our plan and our ideas, and hopefully we can have the game we want.”

The Lions will be without Wilder Cartagena (thigh) and Joran Gerbet (knee), while Griffin Dorsey (lower back), Robin Jansson (foot), and Tyrese Spicer (thigh) are listed as questionable. Columbus will be without Mohamed Farsi (sports hernia).

Match Content

• The most recent episode of The Mane Land PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
• Our David Rohe provides his three keys to an Orlando City victory vs. Columbus.

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Iago, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Eduard Atuesta, Braian Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Tiago.

Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Colin Guske, Luis Otavio, Yutaro Tsukada, Justin Ellis, Tyrese Spicer.

Columbus Crew (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Patrick Schulte.

Defenders: Malte Amundsen, Sean Zawadski, Rudy Camacho, Steven Moreira.

Midfielders: Max Arfsten, Dylan Chambost, Andre Gomes, Andres Herrera.

Forwards: Diego Rossi, Wessam Abou Ali.

Bench: Nicholas Hagen, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic, Taha Habroune, Hugo Picard, Sekou Bangoura, Daniel Gazdag, Jamal Thiare, Nariman Akhundzada.

Referees

REF: Ricardo Montero Araya.
AR1: Andrew Bigelow.
AR2: Tyler Wyrostek.
4TH: Marcos DeOliveira.
VAR: Ismir Pekmic.
AVAR: Tom Felice.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: Scotts Miracle-Gro Field — Columbus, OH.

TV/Streaming: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!