They call it an international break, but it was hardly a time off for FC Cincinnati as the squad spent the last two weeks in training looking to improve their game in preparation for the final five games of the season. First on the docket after the break is Nashville SC, who come to TQL Stadium this Saturday night.
With just a few more matches on the MLS calendar, the stakes of every game rise as FC Cincinnati look to give itself prime positioning in the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs. With just five points separating second from fifth right now, and home-field advantage at stake, the intensity continues to rise for FCC to secure their positioning.
As FCC are on a string of disappointing results at home, Head Coach Pat Noonan highlighted on Thursday the importance of a strong showing on Saturday and earning a win at home. Both for the fans and for the team.
"We need to win for a lot of reasons. Where we're at in the season, the stretch of not winning at home, I would imagine the fans aren't happy with not winning games, just like we aren't. So we want to win for a lot of reasons,” Noonan said Thursday. “Certainly to have them experience a win on our home field. That hasn't happened often enough recently."
"I feel like every game we play is a win," Nick Hagglund said today. "We have to get after it. The past couple games have not been the way we want it, but that doesn't change our attitude and that we still want to make (the fans) proud."
"I wouldn't say it was a week off," Hagglund added as to the time off due to the international break. "We're going to the practice field and working...this was a week to right the wrongs of the past few weeks and put our best foot forward come the weekend."
The Orange and Blue’s opponent this weekend, Nashville SC, has been one of the breakout clubs of 2025 with an offensive output near the top of the league's best. Since Head Coach BJ Callaghan took over the team at the end of the 2024 season, NSC has been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
“They're in every game, they have consistency in their play with and without the ball. Defensively organized ,good pressing team as far as how and where they want the ball to go, and different ways that they can beat you with their attack. It's not a one dimensional team,” Noonan said. “I think they can beat you in the run of play, with good build up, they can beat you with good direct play. They can be on set pieces. So there's a good balance and that's what our guys need to be prepared for.”
Results this weekend could see FC Cincinnati secure their spot in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. A win over Nashville SC would secure that spot, but even a draw or a loss could still secure a spot with favorable results elsewhere.
The club will also be celebrating Oktoberfest at the match, click here to learn more.
FC CINCINNATI vs Nashville SC – Saturday, September 13, 2025 – 7:30 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
Watch/Stream (English/Spanish): MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
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Spanish Local Radio: La Mega 101.5 FM
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Versus Nashville SC
Saturday’s match between FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC will be the 15th all-time meeting between the two teams, dating back to July of 2018. The Orange and Blue are 3-3-8 against Nashville across USL Championship, MLS and Leagues Cup competition with FC Cincinnati winning their most recent visit, taking a 2-1 victory at GEODIS Park on Saturday March 29, 2025.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Clinch Scenario – FC Cincinnati can clinch their spot in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs on Saturday with:
A WIN vs Nashville SC.
or
A New York Red Bulls LOSS at Portland Timbers.
or
A DRAW vs Nashville SC and a New York Red Bulls DRAW at Portland Timbers
International Round Up – Six FC Cincinnati players were selected to their respective national team rosters for the September FIFA International window, four at the senior level: Roman Celentano (United States), Kévin Denkey (Togo), Teenage Hadebe (Zimbabwe) and Kei Kamara (Sierra Leone) and two at the youth level: Samuel Gidi (U21 Slovakia) and Stiven Jimenez (U20 United States).
Kamara scored in Sierra Leone’s World Cup qualifier against Guinea-Bissau, Hadebe started for Zimbabwe against Benin, Denkey played in two matches for Togo, starting in the first against Mauritania.
Welcome Sam! – Following starting for the Slovakia U21s in European Championship qualifying last Friday, Samuel Gidi arrived for the first time in Cincinnati. Acquired on August 19, Gidi made over 100 professional appearances in Europe with Slovakian club Žilina. In parts of four seasons with the club, the midfielder scored nine goals and added eight assists.
Miles Here to Stay – On Wednesday, FC Cincinnati signed center back Miles Robinson to a contract extension through 2027, with an option for 2028. Robinson has been named to the MLS All-Star Team in both of his seasons with FC Cincinnati. At 28, Robinson has made 60 appearances with the Orange and Blue over the past two seasons. He also earned call-ups for the USMNT’s three biggest competitions over the past two years: the 2024 Copa América, 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
SCOUTING Nashville SC (15-9-5, 50 Points, 4th in the Eastern Conference)
Nashville SC has been one of the breakout teams of 2025 under Head Coach BJ Callaghan, winning 15 games this season and already well surpassing their playoff-missing mark of 36 points from the year prior.
Callaghan, a first-time head coach in MLS, has helped to turn Nashville SC into one of the more offensively capable teams in the league this season. With 49 goals scored this year NSC is sixth in the league in scoring and 4th in the Eastern Conference, with much of that dangerous action coming from DP striker Sam Surridge.
The 27-year-old English star joined the club last year but has taken off in 2025, scoring 20 goals in league play thus far and leading the Golden Boot Race heading into this season. In tandem with 2022 MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar, the duo has led Nashville into the race for the Eastern Conference this season.
“That's a coach that's had time to work with a group and consistently improved, and I know BJ on a personal level, so that's not a surprise to me,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of Nashville at his prematch press conference. “Being able to work with a group for a period of time, where you can get your ideas to those players, then see it play out in a better way. So they've had consistency in their play.
“Within the diversity are key pieces. When you look at Mukhtar and Surridge, okay, there's moments where put aside all those things I just said, you have really good players that can make plays and willing runners,” Noonan continued. “[Alex] Muyl, [Jacob] Shaffelburg, you got guys that compete the right way. I think whatever the combination of the midfield is, technical players, good under pressure, know how to move the ball, know how to move off the ball. And so defensively, the physical center back duo, whoever's on the field, have different ways that they can attack from the outside back position. So it's a well balanced team, and within that balance are some pretty good individual players as well."
Even with a strong offense, Nashville is second in the East in goal differential, making for a complete team for any opponent to contend with. The captain of the squad, defender Walker Zimmerman, is one of the premier defenders in MLS and anchors that group. Veteran Colombian defender Jeisson Palacios joins Zimmerman in the Center Back group, but the collective effort involved with the outside backs, like Josh Bauer and Andy Najar, have made for a formidable lineup.
Last time out, prior to the International Window, Nashville fell 1-0 to Atlanta United FC. In that match, Nashville deployed a 4-3-3 formation, with an attacking trio of Surridge, Mukhtar, and Canadian International Jacob Shaffelburg to fill out the group.
In net for Nashville SC is veteran Mustachioed keeper Joe Willis, who has started all 29 games for the team this season. The 37-year-old started his career in D.C. before moving to Houston and finally landing in Nashville ahead of the 2020 season. Since then, Willis has made 180 appearances for the Tennessee club.
