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

Welcome to your match preview and live thread for a Saturday matinee matchup between Orlando City (12-13-7, 43 points) and Charlotte FC (14-10-8, 50 points) at Inter.co Stadium (1 p.m., Apple TV). This is the second of the two games on the slate between the Eastern Conference rivals in 2026.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the match.

History

The Lions are 5-1-3 in the regular-season series and 7-3-3 in all competitions against Charlotte. Orlando City is 1-0-3 on the road in the regular season and 1-2-3 away across all competitions against the North Carolina-based side.

Orlando got its biggest win in the series in the most recent meeting, a 4-1 home win for the Lions on April 22. The Lions rode a big second half to the victory after Luis Otavio and Morrison Agyemang traded first-half goals. Martin Ojeda notched a brace after halftime and Ignacio Gomez scored his first MLS goal to add some late insurance.

The teams last met in Charlotte on July 5, 2025, playing to a 2-2 draw at Bank of America Stadium. The hosts took a 2-0 lead on goals by Pep Biel and Bill Tuiloma, but Ramiro Enrique and Marco Pasalic brought the Lions back to earn a point on the road.

Earlier in the 2025 campaign, the teams met on May 14 in Orlando, with Luis Muriel and Ojeda giving the Lions a 2-0 lead inside the game’s first 25 minutes. Wilfried Zaha pulled the visitors within a goal before the break, making for a tight second half, but Enrique’s late goal put the game to bed in Orlando City’s 3-1 home win.

Prior to 2025, the teams met in the first round of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs. Orlando City claimed two of the three matches, winning the first outright, dropping the second on penalties after a late goal was called offside in the buildup, and advancing after a penalty shootout win following the third match of the best-of-three series.

On Nov. 9, 2024, Facundo Torres’ penalty late in stoppage time canceled out a Karol Swiderski goal and sent the deciding third match to penalties with a 1-1 score. Pedro Gallese made two saves and Orlando City won the shootout 4-1, advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The teams played eight days before that in Charlotte, without either side scoring in normal time, as Torres’ strike was disallowed for offside on Nico Lodeiro on Muriel’s through ball. Charlotte won the ensuing penalty shootout 3-1 after the scoreless draw to tie the series at 1-1. That followed Orlando City’s 2-0 home win the previous Sunday. Torres and Ojeda scored the goals on either side of halftime to lead the Lions to the Game 1 win. It was the first time Orlando scored more than one goal in an MLS playoff game.

The teams met a month and a half prior to their first playoff meeting on Sept. 18 in Orlando. The Lions got second-half goals from Torres and Duncan McGuire to win 2-0, claiming the first multiple-goal win in the series. The teams also met on June 19, 2024, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and played to a 2-2 draw. The hosts struck first with an early Kerwin Vargas goal and the Lions pulled one back through McGuire in the second half. But despite Charlotte going down a man on Scott Arfield’s red card, Brandt Bronico restored the hosts’ lead shortly after McGuire’s strike. Torres struck back moments later but the Lions could not find a winner on the road.

The previous match was also a draw at Bank of America Stadium, finishing 1-1 on Aug. 30, 2023. Enzo Copetti’s late penalty appeared to wrap things up for the hosts on a rainy night in Charlotte, but Ojeda’s seeing-eye set piece equalized just before stoppage time as the teams split the points.

Charlotte claimed a 1-0 “home” victory in U.S. Open Cup play on May 9 of that year. That game took place at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews, NC, rather than at the club’s regular stadium. The first matchup of the 2023 season didn’t go any better for Orlando City, finishing as a 2-1 Charlotte win at Exploria Stadium on March 18. Copetti and Vargas put Charlotte up 2-0 by halftime. Ojeda pulled one back, but the Lions were wasteful in front of goal and couldn’t pull level.

In 2022, the teams met at Bank of America Stadium on Aug. 21. After a scoreless first half, Ercan Kara put the Lions ahead on the road, only to see McKinze Gaines equalize just four minutes later. Tesho Akindele’s late goal lifted Orlando to a 2-1 victory.

Orlando City won the first-ever meeting between the sides on April 30, 2022, at Exploria Stadium. Ruan scored the opening goal and set up Torres on the counter for the second as the Lions took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Christian Fuchs scored from the spot after Rodrigo Schlegel was called for a foul in the box in the second half, but that was as close as Charlotte got in what was ultimately a 2-1 Orlando victory.

Overview

Orlando City enters the match in an odd way, because although the Lions have gone unbeaten in their last five games (2-0-3), they’ve also dropped three late leads in the last four, coughing up six points in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race. That includes Wednesday’s match at Chicago, which ended in a 2-2 draw, and the home game against New York City FC a week ago, another 2-2 draw. Orlando led in the 69th and deep in stoppage time of those games, respectively. Antoine Griezmann is almost singlehandedly willing Orlando to stay above the playoff line with a goal-scoring streak of five matches.

But the Lions enter tonight just 3-9-4 on the road in league play in 2026 and haven’t won away from Orlando since Sept. 9 at Atlanta and going 0-3-2 in five road matches in all competitions since then.

Charlotte enters tonight fresh off a 4-0 home beatdown of CF Montreal in the midweek and although both clubs are on the same rest, Orlando has traveled to Chicago and Charlotte over the last few days and stayed on the road in between, while tonight’s hosts have been sleeping snugly in their beds since returning home from a 3-2 loss at Portland a week ago. Charlotte FC is 9-3-4 at Bank of America Stadium in MLS play this year and have won two straight on their own patch.

Orlando City will need to be patient to avoid giving up dangerous counterattacks, as the Lions have struggled to defend them all year, and the club will be without three-quarters of its starting back line, with Griffin Dorsey and Robin Jansson out with injuries and David Brekalo suspended for yellow card accumulation. The back line will be a makeshift one, which is less than ideal against players like Biel (13 goals, 16 assists), Idan Toklomati (15 goals, 6 assists), and Liel Abada (8 goals, 5 assists). Charlotte has the Eastern Conference’s sixth-best offense and the East’s fourth-best defense, led by goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.

In addition to being without Brekalo (suspension), Jansson (foot), and Dorsey (back), Orlando also won’t have winger Tyrese Spicer (foot). Charlotte will be without Will Cleary (illness), Nimfasha Berchimas (lower body), Archie Goodwin (lower body), Aron John (upper body), and Tim Ream (lower body).

Match Content

• Our most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for today’s match, as well as a preview of the game.

Official Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Vinicius Nogueira,Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Zakaria Taifi.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Luis Otavio, Braian Ojeda, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Nolan Miller, Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Justin Ellis, Tiago, Harvey Sarajian, Daryl Dike.

Charlotte FC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Kristijan Kahlina.

Defenders: Harry Toffolo, Henry Kessler, Morrison Agyemang, Nathan Byrne.

Midfielders: Pep Biel, Ashley Westwood, Djibril Diani.

Forwards: Allan Saint-Maximin, Idan Toklomati, Liel Abada.

Bench: Tyler Miller, Andrew Privett, David Schnegg, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Luca de la Torre, Brandt Bronico, Nathan Richmond, Tyger Smalls, Rodolfo Aloko.

Referees

Ref: Victor Rivas.
AR1: Mike Nickerson.
AR2: Ben Pilgrim.
4th: Nabil Bensalah.
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
AVAR: Kathryn Nesbitt.

How to Watch

Match Time: 1 p.m.

Venue: Bank of America Stadium  — Charlotte.

TV/Live Stream: 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!