Breaking down the August 2026 schedule for NYCFC: Leagues Cup and MLS | OneFootball

July is over, and New York City FC has played their first three games since returning from the World Cup break. The Boys in Blue went 2-0-1, and ideally they will continue to earn points in Major League Soccer. However, the team will not play MLS for a couple of weeks since the Leagues Cup is also about to begin.

Hence, this August will be extremely busy. NYCFC will play three games in the Leagues Cup and four in MLS. Many of the teams they will face will be challenging opponents regardless of where they are in the standings. At the same time, with so many games, Pascal Jansen might have to really think about whether he wants to go all out in the Leagues Cup with the high number of injuries.

Alas, fans will have to wait and see. Here is a look at the August schedule for NYCFC.

NYCFC's August 2026 schedule

Thursday, August 6: NYCFC vs Club Santos Laguna

NYCFC will begin August with the Leagues Cup game against Club Santos Laguna, SA de CV. This will be one of the two Leagues Cup matches that will be considered a home game. This will also be the least challenging match in the first round of the Leagues Cup for the Pigeons, so on paper, they should earn all three points. Santos has finished in last place in three of the last four Apertura and Clausura seasons of Liga MX.

Sunday, August 9: NYCFC at Cruz Azul

While the fixture will be at Sports Illustrated Stadium, the battle against Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V. is technically a road game. And if NYCFC fans do what they normally do when they are forced to play in New Jersey, then likely, this will feel like a home game for the Liga MX side. This will also be a much more difficult matchup since the team finished in third place in both the last Apertura and Clausura.

Thursday, August 13: NYCFC vs Club Necaxa

The final Leagues Cup game will be against Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. in what will be considered a home match for the Boys in Blue. Based on last season, Necaxa will be considered more of a middle-of-the-road team that the Bronx side will face, finishing in 13th place in the Apertura and 15th in the Clausura. It would be nice to end the Leagues Cup with a victory, for it is not expected that the Pigeons will move on with a win.

Sunday, August 16: NYCFC vs Philadelphia Union

The lone home game in MLS this month will be against the Philadelphia Union. The team might be in 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings, but they have resumed the season with a bang, winning all three of their matches. They look better as a whole, and things might be starting to click for the Pennsylvania side. Hence, this makes them extremely dangerous.

Wednesday, August 19: NYCFC at FC Cincinnati

After that, NYCFC will play the last three games of the month on the road, including a fixture with FC Cincinnati. Ohio is not the easiest state for NYCFC to play in, but the Queens team won there last season. Plus, they have had success already in Ohio in 2026 after the road win against the Columbus Crew. However, the draw that should not have been a draw will likely haunt the blue team, for they were so close to winning their home meeting before Cincinnati scored two in stoppage time to steal a point.

Sunday, August 23: NYCFC at New England Revolution

NYCFC will take a trip up north to take on the New England Revolution. For the fans, this will be a reunion in a way, for former Pigeon Jack Harrison is now on the Revolution. The player began his professional career in the Big Apple before heading to Europe. Now he is back in MLS with a New England team that could arguably compete for the MLS Cup this year. The hope is that by this time, the Pigeons will have more of their injured players back to help with this game.

Saturday, August 29: NYCFC at Toronto FC

It feels like NYCFC just faced Toronto FC, for they did. Despite the Canadian side's struggles, the Pigeons dropped points at home in the draw this past weekend. While they are the stronger team on paper, clearly, that did not matter. That is why this could again be a trap game where the visitors fail to do anything meaningful on the road.