LA Galaxy Open 2026 Season with 1-1 Draw against Sporting San Miguelito in Concacaf Champions Cup
MLS LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy Open 2026 Season with 1-1 Draw against Sporting San Miguelito in Concacaf Champions Cup

Published on February 20, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


PANAMA - The LA Galaxy began the 2026 campaign with a 1-1 draw on the road against Sporting San Miguelito in the first leg of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup at Estadio Universidad Latina in Llano Marín, Panama. After trailing at the halftime break, the Galaxy responded with a Joseph Paintsil equalizer to secure an away-goal advantage headed into the second leg back in Los Angeles on Feb. 25.

Goalscoring Plays

SSM - Rodrigo Tello (Angel Valencia), 37th minute: San Miguelito took a 1-0 lead as a cross from the right side reached Tello at the back post for a header into the back of the net.

LAG - Joseph Paintsil (João Klauss), 68th minute: After Mauricio Cuevas' cross into the box was deflected, Klauss flicked the ball to Paintsil, who controlled it and scored past the goalkeeper with a right-footed shot from close range to level the match at 1-1.

Postgame Notes

New signings Justin Haak, Jakob Glesnes, and João Klauss each made their official LA Galaxy debuts in tonight's Concacaf Champions Cup match.

João Klauss recorded his first official goal contribution for the Galaxy with an assist on Joseph Paintsil's 68th minute equalizer.

Jakob Glesnes was named Man of the Match for his solid performance on the back line in tonight's contest. The defender played 67 minutes and finished the night with an 87% passing accuracy on 100 passes.

Defender Maya Yoshida ended the night with a team-high 98.5% passing accuracy, successfully completing 129 of his 131 passes. Yoshida now holds the best single-match passing accuracy in Concacaf Champions Cup since 2017 among players with 100+ attempts.

Gabriel Pec recorded a game-high seven shots in the match, the most by an LA Galaxy player in Concacaf Champions Cup play since 2017, surpassing his own previous mark set in 2025 against Herediano.

Next Up

The LA Galaxy return to Dignity Health Sports Park to kick off the 2026 MLS Regular Season in the club's Home Opener against New York City FC on Sunday, February 22, presented by Modelo (4:00 p.m. PT, Apple TV).

Match Information

Match: LA Galaxy at Sporting San Miguelito

Date: February 19, 2026

Venue: Estadio Universidad Latina, Llano Marín, Panama

Weather: Cloudy and 78°F

Scoring Summary 1 2 F

Sporting San Miguelito 1 0 1

LA Galaxy 0 1 1

SSM: Rodrigo Tello (Angel Valencia), 37'

LAG: Joseph Paintsil (João Klauss), 68'

Lineups

San Miguelito: GK Jose Calderon; D Sergio Ramirez, D Marlon Avila, D Omar Alba, D Jeslan Caicedo; M Rodrigo Tello, M Hector Hurtado, M Angel Valencia (Moises Richards, 70), M Joel Barria (Armando Cooper, 64); F Gustavo Herrera (Angel Orelien, 87), F Angel James (Julio Betancourt, 64)

Substitutes not used: GK Kevin Mosquera, D Harold Cummings, D Alexis Cedeno, D Danielo Hoyos, M Manuel Azcarate, F Jefferson Asprilla, F Adrian Bethancourt, F Alexis Castillo

LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D John Nelson, D Maya Yoshida, D Jakob Glesnes (Emiro Garcés, 67), D Mauricio Cuevas; M Justin Haak (Lucas Sanabria, 58), M Edwin Cerrillo, M Joseph Paintsil (Harbor Miller, 76), M Gabriel Pec, F Christian Ramirez (Marco Reus, 58); F Matheus Nascimento (João Klauss, 58)

Substitutes not used: GK Brady Scott, GK Novak Mićović, D Julián Aude, D Miki Yamane, M Tucker Lepley, F Ruben Ramos Jr.

Stats Summary

SSM LA

Shots 5 18

Shots on Goal 3 3

Saves 2 2

Corner Kicks 4 8

Fouls 11 7

Offsides 1 3

Possession

32.0%

68.0%

Misconduct Summary

LAG: Lucas Sanabria (caution) 76'

SSM: Marlon Avila (caution) 83'

SSM: Julio Betancourt (caution) 90'

Officials

Referee: Nelson Salgado

Assistant Referees: Shirley Perello, Jose Espinoza

Fourth Official: Jesus Lopez

VAR: Oscar Macias

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

LA Galaxy Postgame Quotes

LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney

On San Miguelito:

"They battled hard. They have some very good individual players out there that in the duels were fantastic. We knew that was going to be the situation going in. They certainly made the night very difficult [with] their setup and then their speed in transition and things like that. So, a lot of credit to them as well for the battle tonight. They've got a good group, and we've got our work cut out for us at home."

On Jakob Glesnes' debut for the LA Galaxy:

"You can see he can spray the ball around the field, hit balls across the field. He's got some nice defensive range. Defensively, he made some good stops."

On João Klauss' debut for the LA Galaxy:

"He's obviously a handful. He's powerful, strong. [He] got himself into the box. Potential penalty in the moment as he gets on the right side of the defender. For us, it's how can we involve him in more of our actions and find him in the box"

On where the team can improve in the second leg:

"We didn't take advantage of the situations we created, and they started to obviously throw numbers a little lower and try to clog some more things up. And then I felt like we became stagnant and we stopped moving and stopped interchanging and doing any actions that would create collaborative movements, third-man actions, things like that. For us, our game needs to be faster. The buildup needs to be faster, our movements need to be better. So, these are things we've got to improve upon as we continue to move forward into the season."

Check out the LA Galaxy Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from February 20, 2026


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