2023 History

LAFC IN 2023

LAFC’s 2023 season was the busiest and most ambitious in MLS history to that point, as the club played an MLS-record 53 matches across five different competitions, finishing as runners-up in MLS Cup, Concacaf Champions League, and Campeones Cup as Denis Bouanga won the MLS Golden Boot and ranked among the top goal scorers in the world.

Bouanga had joined LAFC the previous summer, scoring three goals in the final half of a 2022 campaign that ended with an MLS Cup title. He equaled that goal total in LAFC’s first Champions League match in March 2023, scoring all three goals in the Black & Gold’s 3-0 win in Costa Rica against Alajuelense, sending Bouanga on his way toward winning that competition’s Golden Boot. For the second time in club history LAFC advanced all the way to the Concacaf Champions League Final. This time the Black & Gold fell 3-1 on aggregate goals in its two-leg matchup against Club León of Liga MX.

Bouanga was named to the 2023 Concacaf Champions League’s Best XI, along with fellow forward Carlos Vela, defenders Aaron Long and Diego Palacios, and goalkeeper John McCarthy.

LAFC had prioritized its hunt for the Concacaf title over all other competitions during  the first five months of 2023, and thus had sent a roster of second-team players onto the pitch for its two U.S. Open Cup knockout matches, an inspiring win on penalties against Monterey Bay FC and a 2-0 defeat to the Galaxy’s first team in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16. 

In 2023, disparate competitions were stacked back-to-back on LAFC’s schedule like books on a shelf, each telling a different story. In the inaugural Leagues Cup tournament, which featured all 18 clubs from Liga MX (Mexico’s top division) and all 29 from MLS, Bouanga scored six goals in just three matches, including the opening goal against Monterrey in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinal. LAFC built a 2-0 lead over Rayados that night at the Rose Bowl before a furious Monterrey comeback ended in a 3-2 victory for the Mexican giants.

The Rose Bowl also played host to LAFC’s derby tilt against the Galaxy on July 4, a match that set a new MLS record for single game attendance (82,110).

As reigning MLS Cup champions, LAFC earned a berth in Campeones Cup, a single-match trophy contest against the reigning Mexican champions, Tigres UANL, which was played at sold-out BMO Stadium in late September. One of the most bitterly fought contests in North America that year ended 0-0 at full time, with Tigres taking the trophy on penalties.

Again, LAFC rose from the mat. More than anything else, that was the theme of 2023: resilience.

Somehow, despite all of its forays into other tournaments, LAFC earned the third seed in the Western Conference headed into the MLS Cup Playoffs. LAFC fought past Vancouver, Seattle, and Houston – posting three straight postseason clean sheets – to set up an MLS Cup Final showdown in Columbus, Ohio, against the Crew.

A steady rain fell. Columbus held a 2-0 lead late in the second half. The temperature dropped. And still LAFC rose to the occasion. Bouanga scored in the 74th minute to pull his side to within 2-1, but LAFC’s late pressure campaign fell short and Columbus hung on to raise its third MLS Cup.

Defender Giorgio Chiellini announced his retirement from football in the days after that final in Columbus, ending a remarkable 22-year career as one of the most decorated and respected defenders in the world. In his final chapter at LAFC, Chiellini had helped the Black & Gold win the 2022 Supporters’ Shield, two Western Conference titles, and the 2022 MLS Cup title. 

Vela’s playing career also effectively came to an end in 2023. LAFC’s first ever signing and its longtime captain, Vela would step away from the game for nearly a year before returning to LAFC for one final swan song appearance in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. “El Rey" continued to be an attacking force and consummate leader in his final full season, tallying 14 goals and 12 assists in all competitions in 2023.

Vela’s club record for most goals scored in a single calendar year, which he'd set in 2019, was equaled by Bouanga in 2023. Bouanga finished the year with 38 tallies in all competitions, ranking him among the world’s elite finishers in 2023, alongside names like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Harry Kane. 

However, for Bouanga and for the California club where he had found a home, 2023 was just the beginning.