LAFC Plays to 1-1 Draw with LD Alajuelense in First Leg of Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16
MLS Los Angeles FC

LAFC Plays to 1-1 Draw with LD Alajuelense in First Leg of Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16

Published on March 11, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Los Angeles FC News Release


LAFC remained unbeaten to open 2026, playing to a 1-1 draw with LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night. The draw snapped LAFC's five-game winning streak to open the 2026 campaign, leaving the club with a 5-0-1 record in all competitions. LAFC outshot Alajuelense 28-4 and placed 11 shots on target but could only get one past goalkeeper Washington Ortega, setting up a decisive second leg next week in Costa Rica.

That game will be played at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday, March 17. LAFC will advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in club history with a win or any draw other than 0-0 or 1-1. A 1-1 tie over 90 minutes will see the series go to extra time while a 0-0 draw or Alajuelense win will knock LAFC out of the Champions Cup.

LAFC registered the first 13 shots of the game, but it was Alajuenlense who took a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute with its first shot of the game. With one of its only attacking forays of the opening half, Alajenlense was able to set Creichel Pérez free down the right wing. His cross was headed away by Ryan Porteous in the center of the box, but only as far as Alejandro Bran, who hit a first time volley from 25 yards out into the corner of the net, sending the visitors into the halftime break with a 1-0 advantage.

Early in the second half, LAFC equalized when Denis Bouanga, the club's all-time leading goalscorer in Concacaf competitions, scored his fourth goal of the 2026 Champions Cup. Son Heung-Min collected a pass near the top of the penalty area and deftly cut past a pair of defenders before playing a pass out to the left. Amin Boudri let the ball run past him to the feet of Bouanga who rifled a right-footed shot inside the far post, tying the score at 1-1 in the 56th minute.

The home side would continue to pepper the Alajuelense goal, taking 15 shots and placing seven on target in the second half, but was unable to find the winner as the game finished 1-1.

The Black & Gold will return to league play on Saturday, March 14, when it hosts St. Louis CITY at BMO Stadium. That game is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m PT and can be seen on Apple TV, with radio coverage available on 710 AM ESPN, the ESPN LA app, KYPA 1230 AM [Korean], and 980 AM La Mera Mera [Spanish].

NOTES

With the draw, LAFC remains unbeaten in 2026, moving its record to 5-0-1. It is 2-0-1 in the Champions Cup and 3-0-0 in MLS this year.

This is the fourth time in its history that LAFC has qualified for Concacaf play. The club is 12-8-2 in 22 games all-time in the competition.

LAFC is now 7-2-1 all-time at home in Concacaf competitions. Alajuelense is the only visiting team to have never lost at BMO Stadium, winning 2-1 here in 2023 and tying tonight.

LAFC outshot Alajuelense 28-4 in tonight's game and had 11 shots on goal compared to three for the visitors.

Alejandro Bran's goal for Alajuelense in the 44th minute snapped a streak of 443 minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions for LAFC. Prior to that goal, LAFC had not allowed a goal since the 51st minute of the 6-1 win over Real España in Honduras on February 17.

Bran's goal was also the first allowed by LAFC at home in the Champions Cup since the second leg of the 2023 Final against Leon on June 4, 2023, snapping a string of 479 minutes without allowing a goal.

In 10 all-time home games in the Champions Cup/League, LAFC has outscored opponents 17-4 while keeping seven clean sheets.

In LAFC's only previous visit to Costa Rica, the club beat Alajuelense 3-0 in the first leg of the 2023 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 thanks to a Denis Bouanga hat trick, his first-ever for the club. LAFC would go on to win that series 4-2 on aggregate.

Bouanga's second-half goal tonight was his fourth of the 2026 Champions Cup, making him the top scorer in the competition this year.

He now has 14 all-time goals in Concacaf play, including four against Alajuelense.

Son Heung-Min was credited with the assist on Bouanga's goal. He now has a team-best four in the Champions Cup and seven in all competitions in 2026.

Eight LAFC players (Denis Bouanga, Mathieu Choinière, Ryan Hollingshead, David Martínez, Nathan Ordaz, Son Heung-Min, Nkosi Tafari, and Timothy Tillman) have appeared in all three of the club's Champions Cup games this year. Three (Bouanga, Son, and Tafari) have started all three games.

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Major League Soccer Stories from March 11, 2026


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