Three Standout Performers From FC Dallas’ 2026 Leagues Cup Campaign
The Burn’s fun, surprising run in Leagues Cup ended in Toluca on Wednesday night as FCD lost 3-1 to the reigning CONCACAF champions.
Let’s look back at three standout players from Dallas’ Leagues Cup run.
Jonathan Sirois
Dallas’ backup-to-starter-to-starter keeper really established himself as the starter in Daniel’s absence during Leagues Cup. In his first MLS start since the post-World Cup restart, he recorded 9 saves against the Galaxy. He repeated that feat in Dallas’ first Leagues Cup match against Queretaro before coming away with 5 big saves in Dallas’ upset of Chivas. Like the rest of the team, the final match against Toluca was disappointing, with Sirois conceding more goals (3) than he could save (2), though there was really only one goal he had much of a chance on.
Beyond his shot-stopping, he was strong and confident in collecting or punching crosses, and his decision-making was on point; he rarely caused defensive scrambles due to a missed punch or a bad decision to come out of goal. His one downside was his distribution, particularly on goal kicks, where he often sent balls out of bounds or directly back to the opposition. That said, he has, without a doubt, solidified his claim to the starting job for the immediate future.
All the Centerbacks
Yes, I’m using one spot to talk about 4 players, and I do know this makes this a list of six standout performers instead of three.
Anyways, the center backs were tremendous throughout Leagues Cup. This was the main area of the team where Dallas rotated. Osaze Urhoghide started against Queretaro, played only the last 30 or so minutes against Chivas, and started against Toluca. Shaq Moore played the last 20 minutes or so against Queretaro and started the second two games. Sebastien Ibeagha played the full 90 against Queretaro, the first hour against Chivas, and was rested against Toluca; young Nolan Norris played the full 270 minutes across the three games and is set for a rest due to suspension in Dallas’ next league game in Austin on Sunday.
By my count, they collectively made basically two errors across the three games, both against Toluca: Osaze conceding the early penalty on a needless, hot-headed challenge, and Norris going to ground trying to break up the final play of the first half that led to the back-breaking goal from Federico Vinas. To be clear, these were big, game-altering mistakes, and they shouldn’t just be hand-waved away.
But Dallas asks their center backs to do a lot of defending. They play against the ball but also often try to push numbers into attack from midfield, leaving the center backs often on an island, exposed against attackers, and they came up against some truly quality attackers in these three games. Ali Avila at Queretaro is one of the best young forwards in Liga MX and was shut out. Chivas have a handful of Mexican national team players who struggled to get anything toward goal, and even Toluca was held to just 5 shots on target, one of them a penalty kick.
They weren’t perfect, but for my money, they were the best collective group for FCD throughout Leagues Cup.
Bernard Kamungo
Kamungo came back from injury following the World Cup and was basically straight back into the Dallas lineup, with Dallas even returning to the 3-5-2 with Bernie back around to play the left wingback role. In all honesty, I didn’t expect much from Kamungo in the Leagues Cup. With the higher quality of the attacking players he would be matched up with, I suspected he’d struggle at times, especially defensively.
But Bernie was really up for the challenge. He wasn’t terrific against Queretaro but was solid defensively and had forays going forward, including the shot that forced a save from Queretaro’s goalkeeper that was spilled right into Santi Moreno’s path. He was really very good against Chivas, though. Matched up against Mexican national team players fresh off the World Cup like Piojo Alvarado, he turned away basically everything Chivas sent his way and still offered some threat going forward. He came back down to Earth to some extent against Toluca (along with everyone else). However, he was still one of the standout players on the Dallas side and rarely looked flustered when matched up against one of the best wingers in all of CONCACAF, Helinho.
As always, Bernie was far from perfect. There’s still so much in his game that is frustrating to watch, but he’s back to showing those sparks and flashes that have convinced Eric Quill to keep him as a regular starter in his lineups. Maybe most impressively was that he played the full 90 minutes in all 3 games while marauding up and down the left wing. If he can stay off the injured list, he might be able to put together some real momentum towards the end of the 2026 season.
What are your thoughts on FCD’s Leagues Cup campaign in 2026?
Discover more from Dallas Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:FC Dallas