Nobody in Los Angeles needs telling what this one means. LAFC vs LA Galaxy, El Tráfico, is back at BMO Stadium on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET). The all-time series is dead level, and with Decision Day on November 7, both teams are still scrapping for playoff position.
How El Tráfico started
LAFC were founded in 2014 and played their first MLS season in 2018, which gave the city a new derby to replace the old SuperClásico against the defunct Chivas USA. The first meeting, on March 31, 2018 in Carson, was absurd. LAFC led 3-0 after an hour, and the Galaxy came back to win 4-3, with Zlatan Ibrahimović scoring twice on his debut. One of those was a long-range volley that still gets replayed.
Ibrahimović added a hat-trick in a 3-2 Galaxy win in July 2019, but LAFC won the meetings that mattered more. They beat the Galaxy 5-3 in the 2019 playoffs, then 6-2 at the MLS is Back Tournament in 2020, which is still the biggest margin in the series.
Los Angeles FC
LA GalaxyTen wins each
Across 27 meetings in all competitions, each side has 10 wins and there have been seven draws. Goals are close too, 59 for LAFC and 57 for the Galaxy. LAFC have won both playoff meetings and the Galaxy both U.S. Open Cup ties. The derby has even been to the Rose Bowl: the Fourth of July game there in 2023 drew 82,110, a standalone MLS attendance record at the time.
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| March 31, 2018 | MLS | Galaxy 4-3 LAFC (first meeting) |
| July 19, 2019 | MLS | Galaxy 3-2 LAFC (Ibrahimović hat-trick) |
| October 24, 2019 | MLS Cup Playoffs | LAFC 5-3 Galaxy |
| July 18, 2020 | MLS is Back Tournament | LAFC 6-2 Galaxy |
| May 25, 2022 | U.S. Open Cup | Galaxy 3-1 LAFC |
| October 20, 2022 | MLS Cup Playoffs | LAFC 3-2 Galaxy |
| July 4, 2023 | MLS (Rose Bowl) | Galaxy 2-1 LAFC (82,110 crowd) |
| July 4, 2024 | MLS (Rose Bowl) | LAFC 2-1 Galaxy |
| July 17, 2026 | MLS | Galaxy 0-3 LAFC |
The trophy count matters as much as the head-to-head in this city. LAFC won MLS Cup in 2022, beating Philadelphia Union on penalties, and have two Supporters' Shields. The Galaxy have the longer history and the bigger cabinet, and their sixth MLS Cup came in 2024 under Greg Vanney, who is still in charge. That 2024 title is partly why this bumpy season stings for Galaxy fans.
Where LAFC vs LA Galaxy stands in 2026
The first meeting this year was one-sided. On July 17, in LAFC's first game after the long World Cup break, they won 3-0 in Carson: Mark Delgado scored first, Denis Bouanga converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time and Son Heung-min added a third after the break.
LAFC have been in upheaval since. Head coach Marc Dos Santos was fired on September 27 after poor results, and Xavier Tamarit took over as interim coach on October 1. Bouanga has carried the attack all year, with 15 league goals and 22 in all competitions, and Son had six in the league by mid-October. As of October 11, LAFC were sixth in the Western Conference with 42 points from 29 games.
The Galaxy were ninth on 36 points from 29 games, hanging on to the last wild-card spot. The top seven in each conference go straight into the playoffs and eighth plays ninth in a wild-card game, so every point counts for Vanney's team, with Portland, Real Salt Lake and San Diego close behind. João Klauss leads the Galaxy in league goals, and Riqui Puig and Marco Reus are still the creative heart of the side.
| # | Team | P | GD | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |  Los Angeles FC | 20 | 15 | 34 | LDWWW |
| 13 |  LA Galaxy | 20 | -6 | 22 | LDDLL |
My pick
Both teams play league games before this, so the table will shift a bit by kickoff. LAFC have the more dangerous forwards and home advantage, and with the 3252 supporters' group behind the north end, BMO Stadium is one of the most intense venues in the league. An interim coach in a derby is a coin flip, though, and the Galaxy will play with real urgency given how tight the race for the last playoff places is.
I'll take LAFC 2-1, mostly because of Bouanga, whose form is the biggest single factor in this one.
Common questions
What channel is LAFC vs LA Galaxy on?
Apple TV is the global home of MLS and shows every regular-season match in English and Spanish, so that's the official option in the US, Mexico, the UK and most other countries. Schedules, standings and team news are on MLSsoccer.com.
What time is El Tráfico in the UK?
1 a.m. on Monday, October 26. The UK will already be back on GMT, so it's a very late night for British viewers.
Watching free
DAMITV streams the derby in HD with no signup on our MLS en vivo page, and every other live match is on fútbol en vivo. If you're following Liga MX that weekend too, América host Pachuca at the same time on Sunday (here's our América vs Pachuca preview), and our Monterrey vs Chivas preview covers Saturday night.
