PREVIEW | FC Cincinnati kickstart 2026 season in Concacaf Champions Cup opener versus O&M FC within the Dominican Republic
For the third time in as a few years, FC Cincinnati is again in motion and kicking issues off for the brand new yr with a match within the Concacaf Champions Cup!
After a protracted offseason and preseason spent down in Clearwater, Florida, The Orange and Blue are set to kick off the 2026 aggressive season in Round One of the continent’s premier membership match once they face O&M FC of the Dominican Republic.
The membership has traveled to Santiago de los Caballeros to face off towards the 2025 Caribbean Cup runners-up, and now of their third season of Concacaf Champions Cup play, FC Cincinnati is trying to push additional than ever earlier than.
“I think now there’s an expectation to be in this competition each year, which is certainly a sign of the growth of the club,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan stated of how the membership has modified because the first time they entered this match in 2024.
“I’d say, from the earlier experiences, arising wanting our aim of advancing additional within the competitors and competing for a trophy. So, the most important takeaway is we have had success within the first spherical and within the second spherical, we have not been in a position to capitalize on our residence efficiency to higher place ourselves for the second leg…in order that’s one thing that we’ll look to surpass this yr.
Last season FC Cincinnati attacking midfielder Evander had solely simply joined the membership days previous to this opening spherical, making his debut in that match after lower than per week with FCC.
This yr, he’s trying to construct on that have with what he is realized from the previous season, and now, with a full preseason beneath his belt.
“Last year I was just joining at the competition, now I’m part of the preseason with the team and being part of the group for a longer time… but as (Head Coach Pat Noonan) has said, we need to take game by game,” Evander stated Tuesday on the official press convention forward of the match. “You’ve a very important game against O&M (to start), and you want to take this game as seriously as possible to go further in the competition.”
In the previous two years FC Cincinnati has gone on the street to open this match and got here away with wins in each video games; defeating Cavalier FC in 2024 2-0, after which FC Motagua in 2025 by a 4-1 rating line. But taking part in in these tournaments introduces a level of unfamiliarity for any workforce. With much less information of your opponent than any typical MLS aspect, FCC should go into the match and discover a approach to win on the street once more.
“If you just look at (O&M’s) play, I know results wise and form hasn’t been kind to them recently, but they have games under their belt, which is something that we don’t,” Noonan defined on the press convention. “But you can’t have excuses going into these games, these early games, as far as our own group.”
“It’s always difficult on the road, and we have to have the right mentality to begin,” Noonan added.
FC Cincinnati open this match on the street however return to TQL Stadium subsequent week for the second leg of the two-match collection. As the upper seed within the match, FC Cincinnati have the benefit of taking part in at residence for sport two.
Should The Orange and Blue advance to the following spherical, a 2025 rematch with Tigres UANL of Mexico’s Liga MX awaits. Last season the 2 sides met in the identical spherical and FC Cincinnati was eradicated after the second leg.
I feel it isn’t simply me. I feel the entire thing is the workforce desires to succeed and go additional within the competitors,” Evander stated of the workforce’s targets for the 2026 match. “I think last year we could have gone further, we had the chance to go further. We want to play to win. “You want to play to go as far as possible in the competition and, hopefully, win a trophy.”
FC CINCINNATI vs. O&M FC (Dominican Soccer League) – Wednesday, February 18, 2026 – 8 pm ET – Cibao Fútbol Club Stadium
TV: FOX Sports 2 (English) and TUDN (Spanish)
Stream: FOX Sports App, FOXSports.com (English) and ViX (Spanish)
International competitors
FC Cincinnati start the Concacaf Champions Cup 2026 and start their season on the street for the third yr in a row. This season, FC Cincinnati head to Santiago de los Caballeros within the Dominican Republic to tackle O&M FC. After journeys to Kingston, Jamaica in 2024 and Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 2025, this journey again to the Caribbean marks the primary journey to the Dominican Republic in membership historical past, and the sixth nation that FC Cincinnati have performed in.
In Concacaf Champions Cup play FC Cincinnati is 2-0-0 within the opening match of the match, defeating Cavalier FC in 2024 and FC Motagua in 2025. In each seasons FC Cincinnati would go on to win the 2 match combination collection per week later once they returned to TQL Stadium.
SCOUTING O&M FC (sixth in Dominican Soccer League, 0-4-2, 2pts, 2025 Caribbean Cup Runners-Up)
O&M FC enter the Concacaf Champions Cup for the primary time in membership historical past and can make their match debut once they tackle FC Cincinnati this week. The University, nicknamed as such for his or her connection to “Dominican University O & M,” earned their ticket to the continent’s largest membership match once they completed as runners up within the Caribbean Cup, falling to eventual match winners Mount Pleasant (Jamaica).
With the brand new yr nonetheless younger, O&M FC are persevering with their 2025 season within the Liguilla, the place they certified for the second season of Liga Dominicana by ending high 6 within the league final yr. Their opening to that marketing campaign though has not been splendid, going winless by way of six matches and solely scoring six whole targets. One of their high gamers from final season, Frantzety Herard, who was additionally the membership’s high aim scorer and main scorer within the 2025 Caribbean Cup, departed the membership earlier than the beginning of the Liguilla, with rumors swirling of the participant signing in Europe.
In his place, middle ahead Anyelo Gómez has stepped as much as be the main man within the offense, scoring and aiding as soon as and taking part in each minute of the season to date. The Dominican native is 23-years-old and represented the Dominican Republic on the U-20 World Cup in Argentina in 2023.
Sergio Paredes, 25, is the highest aim scorer of this younger season, potting two targets, however did so in simply three minutes of motion all season when he scored twice as a late sub in a 4-2 loss to Cibao FC. Paredes joined O&M FC 5 years in the past and represented the Dominican Republic on the youth nationwide workforce stage when he was 18.
While many of the membership are native Dominican gamers, two new additions this season come from abroad and have performed each minute of the season this yr. JON TRINCADO, 26, and JULEN OLASAGASTI, 25, each hailed from Spain and joined not too long ago after taking part in within the Spanish third and fourth division, respectively. OLASAGASTI is a middle again whereas Trincado is a midfielder.
A pair of twins spherical out the notable standouts for O&M FC, although one has but to see the sector in 2026. Josue and Isaac Baez, each 23, have been standouts for the membership. Josue, a winger, scored in O&M’s most up-to-date match. Isaac, a midfielder, has not performed this season, however was a key contributor within the membership’s Caribbean Cup success. Both have been referred to as into their Senior National Team on a number of events.
In web for O&M FC is Omry Bello, who has performed all however one match in 2026 and has been the principle man among the many pipes since becoming a member of in 2024. Bello, 23, has represented the Dominican Republic at each youth stage and has been referred to as into the Senior National Team eleven.
Manager José Aparicio leads O&M FC from the touchline, and has achieved so since 2023 when he joined the membership.
