Major League Soccer will end its 2023 season on Saturday afternoon with the 2023 MLS Cup Final. The match will take place at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, and the Columbus Crew will take on LAFC. The action will start at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday and will air on Fox. Fans can also stream the game on Apple TV+ for free.
Columbus is no stranger to the MLS Cup as it won the title in 2008 and 2020. After not qualifying for the playoffs the last two seasons, the Crew finished the 2023 regular season third in the Eastern Conference standings and defeated Atlanta United, Orlando City FC and FC Cincinnati to make their way to the championship contest. A player to watch is Cucho Hernández who was named to the MLS Best XI after scoring 16 goals and 11 assists in 27 appearances this season.
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“Personally, it’s been one of the best years for me and one of the things that we’ve been working on is that I wanted to go back to the national team,” he said, per MLSSoccer.com. “But first, I always was taking the club into consideration. I wake up for the club, I do my things for the club, and then for the national team.”
LAFC is the defending MLS Cup champions and comes into the match with a lot of momentum after defeating Vancouver, Seattle and Houston in the postseason. Dénis Bouanga has had a memorable season, scoring 20 goals in 31 contests. He is a member of the Best XI and won the Golden Boot award which is given to the top scorer in the league.
“Especially playing against a team like Columbus, if we need to attack more, we can transition more,” Bouanga said. “We have players who are very, very quick and fast. It’s something that we can do, whether we have to counterattack and transition or the other way.”
No matter who wins the MLS Cup, 2023 was a big year for the league due to the arrival of Lionel Messi who played for Inter Miami during the second half of the year. “The magnitude of his decision to join MLS cannot be overstated.” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a press conference, per ESPN. “He’s playing in our league. We’re now just not part of the global conversation of sports, but one of the biggest stories in the world and certainly one of the biggest stories this summer.”
