Tigres UANL Ousts FC Cincinnati fromConcacaf Champions Cup
MLS FC Cincinnati

Tigres UANL Ousts FC Cincinnati fromConcacaf Champions Cup

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


SAN NICOLÁS DE LOS GARZA, Mexico - FC Cincinnati fell 5-1 to Tigres UANL in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 Thursday night at Estadio Universitario. With the result, Tigres won the two-legged series on aggregate, 5-4, to advance in the competition.

Following a 3-0 win in the first leg of the series on March 12 in Cincinnati, Tigres opened the scoring Thursday night and scored the first four goals of the match. Kévin Denkey's 65th minute goal leveled the aggregate score, and with the away-goals tiebreaker, put FC Cincinnati back ahead in the series. But Tigres regained the lead eight minutes into second half stoppage time with a goal from Fernando Gorriarán to eliminate FC Cincinnati from the competition.

FC Cincinnati are back at TQL Stadium this Sunday, March 22 for Kids Day against CF Montréal. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET and tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK.

GAME NOTES

- Kévin Denkey scored his sixth Concacaf Champions Cup goal, the most by any FC Cincinnati player in club history in the competition.

- Denkey scored his 23rd career goal for FC Cincinnati which moves him alone into fourth all-time in club history.

- Nick Hagglund made his FC Cincinnati debut in the Concacaf Champions Cup, his first appearance in the competition since March 13, 2018 with Toronto FC, also at Tigres UANL.

FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT

FC Cincinnati at Tigres UANL Date: March 19, 2026

Competition: Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, Second Leg

Venue: Estadio Universitario | San Nicolás De Los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

Kickoff: 9:06 p.m. ET/7:06 p.m. CST

Weather: 77 degrees, clear

SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT

TIG: 2-3-5

CIN: 0-1-1

TIG - Rodrigo Aguirre (Garza) 5', Ozziel Herrera (Brunetta) 10', Ozziel Herrera (Aguirre) 46', Rodrigo Aguirre (Herrera) 49', Fernando Gorriarán (Gignac) 90'+8

CIN - Kévin Denkey (Evander) 65'

LINEUPS: CIN: Roman Celentano, Bryan Ramirez, Teenage Hadebe (Matt Miazga 46'), Miles Robinson (C), Gilberto Flores (Obinna Nwobodo 62'), Ender Echenique (Alvas Powell 46'), Samuel Gidi, Pavel Bucha, Evander (Nick Hagglund 87'), Tom Barlow (Tah Brian Anunga 78'), Kévin Denkey

Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Fabrian Mrozek, Andrei Chirila, Ayoub Jabbari, Stiven Jimenez, Kyle Smith, Gerardo Valenzuela

Head Coach: Pat Noonan

TIG: Nahuel Guzman, Vladimir Loroña (Fernando Gorriarán 78'), Jesús Angulo, Joaquim Henrique, Jesus Garza (Marcelo Flores 87'), Angel Correa, Cesar Araujo (Diego Sánchez 87'), Juan Brunetta (C) (Edgar Lopez 90'+4), Diego Lainez, Rodrigo Aguirre, Ozziel Herrera (Andre-Pierre Gignac 78')

Substitutes not used: Juan Carrera, Felipe Rodriguez, Juan Purata, Juan Vigon, Henrique Simeone, Rafael Guerrero, Osvaldo Rodriguez

Head Coach: Guido Pizarro

STATS SUMMARY: TIG/CIN

Shots: 21 / 8

Shots on Goal: 12 / 1

Saves: 0 / 7

Corner Kicks: 6 / 5

Fouls: 13 / 12

Offside: 4 / 0

Possession: 57.5 / 42.5

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TIG - Angel Correa (Yellow Card) 15' CIN - Gilberto Flores (Yellow Card) 21' CIN - Teenage Hadebe (Yellow Card) 23' TIG - Nahuel Guzman (Yellow Card) 24' TIG - Cesar Araujo (Yellow Card) 61' CIN - Matt Miazga (Yellow Card) 64' TIG - Diego Lainez (Yellow Card) 68' CIN - Tah Brian Anunga (Yellow Card) 87' TIG - Fernando Gorriarán (Yellow Card) 90'+11

OFFICIALS

Referee: Mario Escobar

Ast. Referees: Luis Ventura, Humberto Panjoj

Fourth Official: Fernando Moron

Stay up-to-date and connected with FC Cincinnati! Select your schedule of choice to receive the latest match details, events and other relevant messages directly to your digital calendar. For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team's official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at @FCCincinnati. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team's official mobile app on iOS or Android for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.

Pat Noonan Press Conference

March 19, 2026: Postmatch vs Tigres UANL [Concacaf Champions Cup]

On the emotions after the match

Pat Noonan 00:14

"It's a tough time, yeah. Certainly, the toughest we've had in quite some time with the group, with the club. And I feel for the guys, because there was one team on the field. We can fight and fight and fight, but we looked scared to play. And that's what hurts, because there was plenty of talk before, but we just, we didn't look confident to play, and I take responsibility for that."

On where to go from here

Pat Noonan 00:56

"We have a game on [Sunday], so what's next is: see how we can prepare and have a better result, better performance."

On if he expected a game like that, with the atmosphere

Pat Noonan 01:16

"Just based on last year's experience, 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 they were there, 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."

On if the pressure of the atmosphere impacted the team

Pat Noonan 01:49

"It looked like the pressure got to us, based on the performance. I would say that's accurate."

On taking out Evander, and if it would have helped the team keep possession

Pat Noonan 02:35

"He certainly helps us to keep possession. Could he have grinded out the last minutes? Sure. He hasn't played a lot of 90-minute games, and at that moment, it was trying to see out with fresh legs. So that was the decision."

On if he feels like the fanbase has lost confidence in him

Pat Noonan 03:18

"Have I lost the fan base? 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, whether that's accurate or not, my focus is to try to get the team playing better, and that's not the case right now. So, certainly they're going to be very disappointed."

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Major League Soccer Stories from March 20, 2026


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