Sporting Kansas City is back in MLS action this weekend when the team travels to face off against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream on Apple TV, while the game will also be broadcast locally on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
1. BOUNCING BACK AFTER MINI-BREAK
Sporting Kansas City returns to action this weekend when the team travels to take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night following a week off as MLS paused the regular season for the start of the Leagues Cup.
Sporting will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing outing in the team’s most recent match when a shorthanded squad fell 2-0 to the Houston Dynamo at Sporting Park on Aug. 1 in a game heavily impacted by Lasse Berg Johnsen’s first-half red card.
New defenders Or Blorian, Emir Karic and Moises Mosquera all started together for the first time during that match against Houston and Sporting will continue to look to strengthen the roster with the transfer window remaining open until the start of September.
Since the World Cup break over the summer, Sporting has gone 1-3-0 in the team’s four matches since the restart on July 16. Sporting is currently 10 points back from the ninth and final playoff spot with 16 games remaining in what will be a hectic second half of the 2026 campaign.
2. RAPIDS RIVALRY
Sporting Kansas City hits the road this weekend for a showdown with the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night. Both sides currently sit outside of the playoff places in the Western Conference and will be looking for a win to boost their chances as they head into the second half of the season.
Sporting hosted Colorado at Sporting Park back on March 21, 2026 and fell to a 4-1 defeat. Shapi Suleymanov briefly pulled Sporting level after Paxten Aaronson had given the visitors the lead, but goals from Wayne Frederick, Rafael Navarro and another from Aaronson completed the scoring for the Rapids.
Sporting last visited Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on July 4, 2025 and picked up a rare win in Commerce City, Colorado. Sporting capitalized on an early mistake when Dejan Joveljic converted from close range before Erik Thommy doubled the lead early in the second half. Sporting withstood a barrage of pressure from the Rapids before Navarro converted a late penalty to make it a nervy ending as Sporting held on for the team’s first road win in Colorado since 2014.
Sporting holds a 32-28-19 lead in the all-time regular-season series and has lost just four of the team’s last 15 meetings against the Rapids, going 6-4-5 in that time.
3. NEW DEFENSIVE TRIO START TOGETHER FOR FIRST TIME
Newly-signed Sporting Kansas City defensive trio Or Blorian, Emir Karic and Moises Mosquera all started together for the first time during the team’s last match against the Houston Dynamo at Sporting Park on Aug. 1.
Blorian (pre-contract), Karic (transfer from Sturm Graz) and Mosquera (transfer from FC Juarez) all joined Sporting over the summer and will look to form a formidable partnership along the backline.
With the trio sharing the field for the opening 65 minutes before Mosquera was replaced by Wyatt Meyer as the Colombian builds fitness, Sporting put up one of the team’s best defensive showings of the season to date. The team allowed just four total shots in the first half and headed into the interval with the match scoreless.
Unfortunately, the game turned on its head following Lasse Berg Johnsen’s 45th-minute red card that put the team under increased pressure in the second half, with the squad eventually succumbing to a 2-0 defeat.
4. GRAHAM ZUSI JOINS SKC TECHNICAL STAFF
Sporting Kansas City great Graham Zusi has rejoined the club, with the team announcing this week that the longtime Sporting star has been added to the technical staff in a scouting role.
Zusi finished his heralded journey in Major League Soccer at the conclusion of the 2023 season as a one-club player, becoming the longest-tenured player with one team in MLS history. Sporting’s all-time appearance leader with 411 matches played cemented his status as a club legend by winning four major championships - the 2013 MLS Cup and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles in 2012, 2015 and 2017 - and helping Kansas City reach the MLS Cup Playoffs on 11 occasions.
Zusi was selected to the MLS Best XI in 2012 and 2013 while his club-record seven All-Star selections from 2012-2019 were the most in MLS during that time. On the international stage, Zusi amassed five goals and seven assists for the USMNT from 2012-2017 and he appeared in all four matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a wide midfielder, tallying two assists, before representing his country at the 2015 and 2017 Concacaf Gold Cups, winning the latter.
5. BARTLOW & TSCHANTRET DEPART ON LOAN
Sporting Kansas City announced a pair of loans over the past few weeks, with defender Ethan Bartlow and midfielder Cielo Tschantret each heading to the USL Championship for the remainder of the 2026 season, with the club retaining a right to recall the players at any time during the season.
On Aug. 11, Sporting announced that Bartlow had joined the Tampa Bay Rowdies on loan. Bartlow, 26, joined Sporting KC as a free agent ahead of the 2026 campaign and has made 12 appearances for the club across all competitions this season.
Bartlow spent the first five seasons of his professional career with the Houston Dynamo, logging 96 appearances in all competitions while helping the Dynamo win the 2023 U.S. Open Cup with appearances in five of the team’s six matches in the tournament.
On July 31, Sporting announced that Homegrown Player Tschantret had joined Lexington SC on loan. Tschantret signed with the Sporting KC first team as a Homegrown Player ahead of the 2026 campaign and made his debut for the club against the Vancouver Whitecaps on April 17, 2026.
Tschantret, the son of SKC II head coach Lee Tschantret, arrived in KC from his native Baltimore, Maryland in 2020 and starred for the Sporting KC Academy at the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels before signing a professional deal with SKC II in 2024. The combative midfielder has made 58 appearances for SKC II, tallying six goals and one assist.
