After a long offseason, FC Cincinnati is back in action in the Queen City and ready to kick off the 2026 season at home. The Orange and Blue have spent the last month in preseason preparing for a new season and entering the new year strong.
While that time in preseason was spent building a foundation for a new season, FC Cincinnati players and coaches have had this date circled the entire time. A motivating factor in the hard work done this year down in Clearwater, Florida (the preseason home of FCC), was getting back to TQL Stadium and feeling the energy the FCC faithful bring.
“To be back in front of our fans is always nice. We've been fortunate enough to start the seasons at TQL recently, so I'm excited to feel that energy again,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Friday ahead of the home opener match. “Then with every new year and new group, it's what's the potential? What do we see in this year's group that excites us…but, yeah, the home games are always a highlight.”
FC Cincinnati’s first competitive match of the season came three days prior to this home opener when the squad went down to the Dominican Republic and secured a 4-0 victory over O&M FC in the Concacaf Champions Cup. But now the stage is set for MLS regular-season action, and the first test of the season comes in the form of Atlanta United FC.
2026 is poised to be another strong season for FC Cincinnati, and as the year kicks off, Pat Noonan is looking for ways to help the club continue to grow and reach new heights.
“With every new year, you've got new faces, and, you know, we called it a reset, but some new ideas to try to implement and new staff members. So there's plenty new to keep things fresh and to move us forward. But I think it's also a year where everybody understands now with the progress we've had, how do we take this to another level with our team and with our club?” Noonan said Friday, ahead of the season kicking off. “We know it'll be hard work to get there, but I think it's a group that's motivated to improve on things that haven't worked out the way we would have liked previously."
The 2026 season begins on Saturday, but action comes fast and furious. FC Cincinnati open their season with as many as 10 games in the opening five weeks of the year, between regular-season action and Concacaf Champions Cup play.
FC CINCINNATI vs Atlanta United FC – Saturday, February 21, 2026 – 4:45 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
Watch/Stream (English/Spanish): Apple TV, FS2
English Local Radio: iHeart Media: ESPN 1530
Spanish Local Radio: La Mega 101.5 FM
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History vs Atlanta United FC
FC Cincinnati and Atlanta United have met 16 times prior to this match, with FC Cincinnati holding a 4-6-6 record against the 5 Stripes. FCC had been building back their record against Atlanta in recent years, losing for the first time since 2021 last season and going undefeated since 2021 prior to that loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. FCC have not lost to Atlanta at TQL Stadium since that same 2021 season.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Opening Day! – On Saturday, FC Cincinnati open the 11th season in club history and the 8th in Major League Soccer. 2026 will mark the final February-December season in
MLS history before the 2027 ‘transition’ season from February to May ahead of the new 2027-28 season to align with the global calendar starting in July 2027.
For a third consecutive year, FC Cincinnati will balance two competitions in the early portion of the season. The Orange and Blue opened Concacaf Champions Cup Round One play on Wednesday in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic with a 4-0 win over O&M FC to take a large aggregate advantage into Leg Two on Wednesday.
Starting Strong – FC Cincinnati broke out for a 4-0 win at O&M FC in the Champions Cup on Wednesday night in the Dominican Republic. Roman Celentano did not face a shot on goal as the Orange and Blue cruised to a dominant victory.
Tom Barlow became the ninth player in FC Cincinnati’s MLS era (2019-present) to score in his debut for the club. Ayoub Jabbari, scoring his first two career goals for FCC, became the second player in the club’s MLS era to score multiple goals in a match as a substitute (Yuya Kubo: June 15, 2024 at San Jose Earthquakes).
Bundle Up! – Saturday marks the earliest calendar start to an MLS season in club history. In total, FC Cincinnati will play four matches in the month of February, the most in club history.
In all competitions, FC Cincinnati are 6-1-2 all-time in February.
Meet the New Guys – FC Cincinnati signed six players in the offseason to first-team contracts, two of which (Ayoub Jabbari, Ademar Chávez) are familiar with the organization. Wednesday’s
goalscorer Jabbari joined the club permanently after spending the latter months of 2025
with the Orange and Blue on loan from Grenoble, and Chávez, 17, joined Cincinnati afterpreviously being signed to an MLS NEXT Pro deal and having joined the FCC Academy in 2024.
All debuting Wednesday, Bryan Ramirez joined FC Cincinnati via transfer from LDU Quito in Ecuador, and veteran options Tom Barlow and Kyle Smith also bring 15 years of combined
MLS experience. Additionally, 20-year-old Kristian Fletcher, formerly of D.C. United and English Premier League’s Nottingham Forest, also was signed by Cincinnati this offseason and brings both MLS experience and European experience from multiple loan stints in England.
SCOUTING Atlanta United FC (0-0-0, 0 Points)
After a disappointing 2025 campaign, The 5 Stripes are back in 2026 with plenty of changes and looking to get back to the success they’ve historically had.
One of those big changes is on the touch line. Back at the helm for Atlanta United is Tata Martino, who was hired during the offseason to help bring the 5 Stripes back to their past glory. Martino was the head coach of Atlanta from 2016 to 2018, leading the team to an MLS Cup Championship in 2018. He then took over the Mexican National Team from 2018 to 2022 before returning to MLS as head coach of Inter Miami CF in 2023. He departed the South Florida club in 2024 and now returns to the sidelines for Atlanta eight years later.
“With Tata returning, you have a very experienced successful coach, with a lot of the stops that he's had in his career but he's also had success at Atlanta previously. So immediately they have somebody leading the group that understands this league, that organization, and how to have success,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Friday before the match. “He's been on top everywhere he's been.”
Atlanta United returns a lineup with star power, but have some key additions and departures to the group as well.
Notably gone from the roster is longtime Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who retired at the end of 2025. Also gone is defender Brooks Lennon, who logged over 170 appearances for Atlanta in his time there.
Remaining in the squad, though, is MLS transfer record-setter Emmanuel Latte Lath, who is back for his second season after a debut season with seven goals in 30 appearances. Similarly returning are fellow leading scorers for this squad in 2026, Miguel Almiron and Alexey Miranchuk, who had six goals apiece last season.
New to the squad for this season is a combination of young talent and veteran experience. Argentine defender Elías Baez joined the club on a U22 initiative deal, and American midfielder Adrian Gill also joined the side after matriculating through the Barcelona youth system and playing in the lower levels of Spain.
Winger Fafa Picault also joins the attack for Atlanta this season and brings over 200 MLS matches to the team in his 10th MLS season. Picault comes over to Atlanta from Eastern Conference foe Inter Miami, where he scored four goals in their MLS Cup-winning effort in 2025.
With the new season bringing so much change and such a small sample size to draw from, it is difficult to predict how Atlanta United will play or even who will play. But per MLSSoccer.Com, they project Tata Marintio’s squad to be deployed in a 4-3-3 formation.
It is also unclear who will man the net for Atlanta this season, with Guzan’s retirement opening a spot in the lineup that the American keeper had locked down since the club’s inception. It is right now projected that Lucas Hoyos, an Argentine keeper who joined the club from Newell’s Old Boys this offseason, will take over that spot to start.
