In 2023, ESPN.com asked its MLS writers to rank the top rivalries in Major League Soccer. Those scribes (misguidedly, in our view) chose the then-49-year-old Portland vs. Seattle derby as the fiercest feud in the league because it has spanned five decades, five different leagues, “and several generations of players and fans.”
In second place, they chose a rivalry that was just seven years old at the time, the experts ranking LAFC vs. Galaxy ahead of other clashes with far longer histories. As ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura explained:
Real rivalries cannot be forced … Yet this is more than just an on-field rivalry. This is a fight for the hearts and minds of the people of LA. For two-plus decades, the Galaxy not only ruled the city, but were the example that other MLS teams aspired to be. The Galaxy paved the way for what was possible. Those lessons -- both the successes and failures -- made it easier for new teams to get things right from the beginning and from that perspective, no team has benefitted more than LAFC. In just a few years, LAFC have surpassed the Galaxy in just about every way. Now the pressure's on the Galaxy to get back up.
Over nine seasons, this match has come to mean everything to the players and supporters involved, based on these five criteria:
1. STARS
Whether it’s Vela and Zlatan … Chiellini and Chicharito … Hugo and Puig … or Reus and Son … the top players in this series rarely require more than one name. The clashes between these two clubs have always featured a cast of football celebrities – to say nothing of the Hollywood stars watching in person.
And the stage is always set for the next wave – like Black & Gold newcomers Leo Walta and Sergio Vásquez – to etch their names into this derby’s Hall of Fame.
2. ATTENDANCE
Every installment in this rivalry has been played at LAFC’s home stadium in the heart of LA, or at the Galaxy’s pitch in Carson— except a 2020 matchup in Orlando in front of zero fans (due to COVID restrictions), and two Rose Bowl clashes in 2023 and 2024, the first of which attracted the largest crowd in MLS history (82,110 on July 4, 2023 - pictured above).
Attendance-wise, LAFC-Galaxy matches rank only behind the Portland-Seattle series, which which has the advantage of playing half of its games at Lumen Field, a 68,000-seat NFL stadium.
3. RESULTS
The numbers are uncanny in terms of how closely-contested this series is. LAFC and the Galaxy have met 27 times across all competitions, with the Galaxy winning 10 matches and LAFC winning 10, plus seven draws. LAFC has scored 59 goals to the Galaxy's 57.
An astounding 17 of their 27 meetings have been decided by one goal or less. Only two matches have been decided by more than two goals. When the two teams' academies met for the first time in 2016, before LAFC had a senior MLS squad, the result was … a 3–3 draw.
4. PASSION
Whether it was the back-and-forth graffiti wars of 2018 (before the two sides had even met on the field), or LAFC supporters’ takeover of Dignity Health Sports Park in April 2023 (LAFC’s first-ever road win in the series), or the colorful and imaginative tifos that have unfurled before kickoff, the emotions that surround these matches are unparalleled anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.
This sense of loyalty permeates the two teams, as well. Only four players have played for LAFC and then gone on to play for the Galaxy (Niko Hämäläinen, Raheem Edwards, John McCarthy, Christian Ramirez). The 2025 season marked the first time that a player who first wore Galaxy colors, Mark Delgado, played for LAFC. Delgado scored the opening goal against the Galaxy in LAFC's 3-0 win in Carson in July of this year.
5. MOMENTS
The rivalry has produced some wild games, to say the least. The first-ever SoCal derby, seven years ago, was also Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s MLS debut—and it was worth the price of admission. But the rivalry’s greatest matches were played when the stakes were highest. The clubs have met twice in the MLS Cup playoffs, with LAFC winning both times.
The Black & Gold’s 5-3 win in the 2019 Western Conference semifinal, in which Vela and Zlatan traded haymakers like two heavyweights, was LAFC’s first-ever victory in the derby. The stoppage-time winner by Chicho Arango in October 2022, which ended the Galaxy’s season and propelled LAFC toward its first MLS Cup title, stands as one of the most memorable nights in LAFC history.
LAFC hosts the Galaxy on Sunday, October 25, at BMO Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast live on Apple TV, with radio coverage on 710 AM ESPN LA, the ESPN LA app, 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), and KYPA 1230 AM (Korean).
This article originally appeared in April 2024 and has been updated.
