Stop us when you’ve heard this before. This weekend Angel City FC will embark on another season, and this one will be even more crucial than in years past. Yeah, it feels like the last few years we’ve all been saying ‘this season is crucial for Angel City FC’ as we all anxiously await the club to finally turn the corner from bottom of the table residents, to the postseason contenders we believe they can be. While things aren’t necessarily perfect coming into the 2026 campaign, it certainly does feel different, in a very good way. For the first time since the inaugural season there is an air of excitement, of anticipation, and dare we say, of hope (insert Hawkeye pouting in the rain).
IT’S HOME OPENER WEEK!
Get there early to get your ACFC flag + 2026 schedule magnet.
Secure your tickets: https://angelcity.com/tickets/single-game-tickets— Angel City FC (@angelcity.com) March 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Full Season of Straus
It cannot be overstated just how important it is that new head coach Alex Straus finally had an entire offseason with the club. Expectations with him in charge are unsurprisingly high but there are many out there already writing him off as a failure in the NWSL, which in all honesty, is a bit insane to see. Bias aside, NWSL isn’t the Barclay’s Women’s Super League, it isn’t the Freun Bundesliga, which is to say it’s not a league you can just come into and buy your way to immediate success by throwing 3-5m dollars to fix things. Not to mention, the turnaround at FC Bayern wasn’t overnight, though it did come quickly under Straus. It takes time to adjust to a new league and its systems, a new country, a new roster, so to be thrown into it in the middle of the season was always going to come with its downsides. That said, you can visibly see on his face how thrilled he is to have had the entire offseason to begin implementing his tactics, philosophy, and rolling up his sleeves and really building the foundation of what this team will be under him. It would be unfair to expect him to have this squad championship ready in just his first full season as head coach, but it should definitely be a team that doesn’t hang around the bottom of the table for the entirety of the season.
Concerning Inaction
If there is any cause for concern coming into the new season, it is the fact the team hasn’t really addressed some of their more pressing needs. Yes, they added Ary Borges to the midfield, they brought in Emily Sams to help strengthen the defense, and even signed a pretty exciting crop of college talent, but they still feel like they are lacking in both attack and star power. The club received a record sum when they sold Alyssa Thompson to Chelsea FC last summer, on top of having cleared her salary from the books along with now retired forward, Christen Press. That means this team has money, plenty of it. It would’ve been nice to see them not opt for the small popcorn with minimal butter, but instead gone for the commemorative bucket with extra butter, a large drink, and even a box of sour patch kids to go with it all. Maybe they are just waiting to see how the first half of the season goes before splurging in the summer.
Friday Mood 😄😄 ✌️
— Angel City FC (@angelcity.com) February 20, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Early Season Comfort
The season couldn’t be set up any better for this team to finally turn that corner we are all hoping they turn. Angel City start the season off with five of their first seven matches at home, giving them the perfect opportunity to really kickstart the 2026 campaign with some serious momentum. Not only that, but one of those away matches is against NorCal rivals, Bay FC, meaning six of the team’s first seven matches will see them stay in California. If ever there was a time to build some confidence early and really start as you mean to go, it’s this season.
Expectations and Prediction
It’s kind of crazy to think that this club is barely starting year five. That’s right, Angel City FC is just five years old, yet to hear many talk about them, you’d think they had been chronic underachievers for the better part of a decade, but such is life when you’re a sports team in Los Angeles. That said, nobody around Los Angeles expects them to go on a title run, though it would be really fun to see. This isn’t a ‘championship or bust’ type of season, but it definitely is a ‘show us something to be happy about so we can continue to feel good about supporting’ season. Playoffs are the expectation, preferably, not having to back into them or sneak in with some late season shenanigans. It isn’t a crazy expectation to have as this club has been close to returning to the postseason since their first appearance in 2023, they just haven’t gotten over that hump. Our prediction for the season is seeing just that, an extended season with a playoff berth as Angel City finish the season in sixth place. It wont be pretty, it might feel dirty at times, but this is absolutely a team that can finish in the bottom half of the playoff seeding at the very least, though should they add even more talent between now and the end of the season, it wouldn’t surprise to see them finish even higher.
How are you feeling about Angel City FC going into the 2026 season? Let us know in the comments below!