FC Cincinnati Get Overwhelmed in Hostile Environment, Fall in the Final Moments to End Concacaf Champions Cup Run
MLS FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati Get Overwhelmed in Hostile Environment, Fall in the Final Moments to End Concacaf Champions Cup Run

Published on March 20, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release


FC Cincinnati was moments away from history, less than a minute if your stopwatch happened to be aligned with the officials, but in those final moments they fell. In devastating, heartbreaking, soul crushing fashion.

Thursday night in Monterrey, Mexico turned from potentially unforgettable to irremarkable over the course of 90 minutes Thursday night. The home side, Tigres UANL, and their energized cauldron of fans at Estadio Universitario completed a three goal comeback and eliminated FC Cincinnati from the Concacaf Champions Cup with a 5-1 (5-4) score line in the second leg.

The Liga MX giants and four-time finalists of the tournament punched early and often on the visiting Orange and Blue, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes to bring the aggregate score to 3-2, then twice again in the opening 5 minutes of the second half to take the lead.

FC Cincinnati fought back, as Kévin Denkey scored a header from an Evander free kick to level things and give FCC the tiebreaker, but in the 90+8 minute of nine minutes of stoppage time, Tigres broke FC Cincinnati's heart and spirt one last time and sealed the match.

"It's a tough time, yeah. Certainly the toughest we've had in quite some time with the group, with the club," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said postgame. "I feel for the guys, because there was one team on the field."

Noonan was brief but clear on Thursday night postmatch. He, like the entire FC Cincinnati squad, was somewhere between shell shocked and devastated, but was able to clearly convey his thoughts on the performance and where the problem stemmed from.

"We can fight and fight and fight, but we looked scared to play," Noonan explained postgame. "That's what hurts, because there was plenty of talk before, but we just didn't look confident to play, and I take responsibility for that."

Fueled by a crowd bordering on pandemonium, Tigres' early goals only further riled up a crowd who knew they needed to impact the match to help make the difference. At every touch of the ball FC Cincinnati made, boos rang down. Every progressive pass or chance created by Tigres only made the fans louder and the instruments from the supporters section play harder. If the referee made a decision the crowd didn't like, whistles would ring through the air and bounce off the cement halls of El Volcan like a banshee's scream.

So when Tigres scored their final, game deciding goal at the death, the eruption at El Volcan finally happened, and all FC Cincinnati was left with was ash.

It was total sensory overload. And something Pat Noonan says clearly impacted his team.

"It looked like the pressure got to us. Based on the performance, I would say that's accurate," Noonan said. "we knew it was going to be an environment that was going to be tough to play in. And the fans showed up. They were supporting their team, and we gave them a lot to feel confident about. Because our play wasn't strong. And in the first 10 minutes when you go down two goals, we weren't ready out of the locker room, and that's tough."

FC Cincinnati now have to pick themselves up and move on. This loss, while hard to swallow, only ends one tournament. And as they return to MLS play, the group as a whole must now reckon with where they are in the league.

This Sunday The Orange and Blue take the field again in front of their home fans. The focus now is to improve, and get out of this rut of results and performances FC Cincinnati find themselves in.

"We have a game on [Sunday], so what's next is: see how we can prepare and have a better result, better performance," Noonan said to close his press conference. "I don't expect anybody to be happy. Any fan, supporter of our club, to feel good about the team right now based on performances. So...my focus is to try to get the team playing better."

Kickoff on Sunday is at 1 p.m. with Eastern Conference foes CF Montréal coming to town.

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