Soccer Tejas
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HOUSTON (Nov. 7, 2026) – Houston Dynamo FC fell on a late goal to St. Louis CITY SC in the final match of the 2026 regular season on Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium. The result means that Houston finishes as the fifth seed in the MLS Western Conference, earning their third Audi MLS Cup Playoffs appearance in the last four seasons.
Houston will face the San Jose Earthquakes in the Round One Best-of-3 Series, with Game 1 in San Jose, Game 2 in Houston and, if necessary, Game 3 back in California. The full playoff schedule will be announced on Sunday afternoon. Opening round playoff tickets will go on-sale on Monday, and fans can sign up for a Sunday presale now by texting PLAYOFFS to 275-748.
Goalkeeper Jonathan Bond made his 150th MLS appearances tonight. Notably, the English shot stopper finished the season ranked among the league’s top three in clean sheets this season with 12, tying Tally Hall (2012) and Steve Clark’s (2023) single-season Club records.
St. Louis took the lead late in second-half stoppage time, as Lukas MacNaughton broke through on goal and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.
In the 11th minute, forward Lyle Foster played a perfect through ball to forward Lawrence Ennali, who charged all the way into the box, but his final shot was blocked at the last second by a sliding St. Louis defender.
The match’s first shot on target came in the 21st minute when forward Guilherme fired a shot from the edge of the box towards the far post, forcing a magnificent diving save from St. Louis goalkeeper Ben Lundt.
Guilherme nearly gave Houston the lead in the 55th minute after the Brazilian attacker received a ball from midfielder Agustín Bouzat on the left flank and dribbled into the box for a right-footed shot that was denied by the feet of the visiting goalkeeper.
A few quick opportunities for Houston nearly resulted in tallies in the middle of the second half. First, in the 72nd minute, a transition opportunity found the boot of forward Aliyu Ibrahim, whose low shot was deflected just wide of-frame. Two minutes later, forward Duncan McGuire quickly found himself through on goal after a slick diagonal pass, but be could not finish the opportunity, and the score remained scoreless.
