FRISCO, Texas — The San Jose Earthquakes fell to FC Dallas 3-0 on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium after the hosts broke open a scoreless match with a trio of goals in the last seven minutes of regulation and stoppage time. Despite the result, which halted the Black and Blue’s unbeaten streak at nine league matches, the Quakes ended the night still in position for home-field advantage in Round One of the upcoming Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs.
San Jose had the first real chance to score in minute 18 when Timo Werner’s cross from the left wing connected with Beau Leroux, but the latter’s header was saved off the bounce by Dallas goalkeeper Daniel. In minute 28, Ousseni Bouda had a one-on-one opportunity in transition for the Black and Blue after Leroux stole a pass and lifted a longball that was hauled in by the Burkina Faso international, but before he could cut back and shoot in front of the six-yard box, Daniel swiped the ball away. In the 39th minute, Dallas striker Petar Musa laid the ball off for Joaquín Valiente in front of the six-yard box, but despite shooting from point-blank range. he skied his left-footed attempt well over the crossbar. Four minutes later, a San Jose turnover led to Musa being all alone at the edge of the 18-yard box to blast one on net, but Quakes goalkeeper Angus Gunn came off his line to make a sliding save. FCD got a second bite of the apple off the rebound but Daniel Job’s shot was too strong and sailed over the bar.
After a scoreless but exciting first half, the game continued to be an open affair. In the 63rd minute, Bernard Kamungo found space to shoot from the edge of the 18, but his low effort rolled wide of the far post. In the 83rd minute, the hosts found the breakthrough when in transition, Bernard Kamungo got the ball in the box in the left half-space, cut it back and passed the ball to Musa, who curled in a shot from the top of the 18 to make it 1-0. San Jose searched for an equalizer but in minute 87, Kaick was fouled in the box and referee Rubiel Vazquez awarded the hosts a penalty. Musa then converted from the spot one minute later to make it 2-0. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, FCD’s Santi Moreno capitalized on a turnover and added an insurance goal for the final 3-0 margin.
By night’s end, the Earthquakes remained fourth in the Western Conference table, which is noteworthy because the top-four regular-season finishers in each conference will get home-field advantage in the Round One Best-of-3 Series starting the week of Nov. 20.
The full “Quakes Replay” of tonight’s match is scheduled to air this weekend on KTVU Plus on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. PT. For highlights, analysis and features, fans can also watch the new half-hour magazine show “Quakes Exclusive,” which will next air on Friday, Oct. 30, on KTVU Plus at 8 p.m. PT and KTVU FOX 2 at 8:30 p.m. PT.
The Black and Blue return home for their final regular-season homestand before the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs when they host the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Kickoff from PayPal Park is slated for 7:30 p.m. PT with the match to be broadcast on Apple TV (English/Spanish), as well as via local radio on KSFO 810 AM (English) and La Kaliente 1370 AM (Spanish).
ON THE TABLE: Following tonight’s game, the Earthquakes remain fourth in the Western Conference (13-9-9, 48 points; 52 GF, 45 GA, +7 GD), while Dallas rises to second (15-7-9, 54 points; 58 GF, 47 GA, +11 GD). The top-four regular-season finishers in each conference will have home-field advantage in the Round One Best-of-3 Series, which begins the week of Nov. 20.
SERIES STORYLINE: The Earthquakes were aiming for their second consecutive win at Toyota Stadium after a wild 4-2 victory last season, but it was not to be. Overall, San Jose is now 31-24-23 (121 GF, 101 GA) against FC Dallas and 13-15-10 (52 GF, 52 GA) on the road.
CLOSE SHAVES: Before tonight, seven of the last eight matches in this series dating back to September 2022 had been decided by one goal or ended in a draw, with the only outlier the Quakes’ 4-2 win in Toyota Stadium last year where San Jose didn’t enjoy their first two-goal lead until minute 99.
BUY DOMESTIC: The Quakes started six American players tonight. No team in MLS has averaged more of them in the starting 11 more across all competitions in 2026 than Bruce Arena’s Earthquakes (7.33/game). Arena also started seven former college players tonight; no team in MLS has more of them on the roster (19).
STREAK SNAPPED: Since Head Coach Bruce Arena switched to a three-man back line on Aug. 29 vs. Houston, the Quakes had gone on a nine-game unbeaten run before tonight’s defeat (3-0-6). That period also coincided with the time San Jose traded for midfielder Eduard Löwen, whose first match was also that same Aug. 29 scoreless draw at Shell Energy Stadium.
CENTURY CLUB: Last Saturday against Nashville SC, Preston Judd celebrated his 100th MLS appearance in style with a second-half equalizer to knot the game 1-1; the forward missed tonight’s match due to an accumulation of yellow cards. This Saturday, it was Ousseni Bouda’s turn; the Burkina Faso international forward played in his 100th league game, making the start and playing all 90 minutes.
NIKO IS NOW: Midfielder Niko Tsakiris, who was ranked No. 8 in the recently announced 2026 MLS 22 Under 22 Class, made his return to the pitch for the first time since Sept. 19 after recovering from an upper-body injury. He played the final 13 minutes and almost pulled a goal back for San Jose with a stoppage-time free kick that floated just over the bar.
FC Dallas 3 – 0 San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 — Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
AR2: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
4th Official: Lorenzo Hernandez
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard
DAL (1-0) – Petar Musa (Bernard Kamungo, Santiago Moreno) 83’
DAL (2-0) – Petar Musa (penalty kick) 89’
DAL (3-0) – Santiago Moreno (Ramiro) 90+4’
SJ – Reid Roberts (caution) 29’
SJ – Angus Gunn (caution) 64’
FC DALLAS: Daniel (GK); Shaq Moore, Osaze Urhoghide, Sebastian Ibeagha, Bernard Kamungo; Joaquín Valiente (Santiago Moreno 65’), Ramiro (C), Kaick, Herman Johansson (Ran Binyamin 78’); Daniel Job (Patrickson Delgado 78’), Petar Musa (Christian Cappis 89’).
Substitutes not used: Jonathan Sirois (GK), Lalas Abubakar, Anderson Julio, Nolan Norris, Caleb Swann.
POSS.: 51%; SHOTS: 16; SOG: 7; CORNERS: 6; OFFSIDES: 3; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 12; xG: 2.4
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Angus Gunn (GK); Jamar Ricketts (Vítor Costa 78’), Reid Roberts, Dave Romney (Luka Jovanović 89’), Daniel Munie, Jack Jasinski (Paul Marie 77’); Eduard Löwen, Ronaldo Vieira (C) (Niko Tsakiris 77’), Timo Werner (Jack Skahan 78’), Beau Leroux; Ousseni Bouda.
Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK), Nick Fernandez, Max Floriani, Ian Harkes.
POSS.: 49%; SHOTS: 4; SOG: 1; CORNERS: 1; OFFSIDES: 0; SAVES: 4; FOULS: 13; xG: 0.8
EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On overall thoughts of tonight’s match:
“Well, the better team won the game tonight. Let’s be fair about that. It’s no excuses on our part, and I think we looked like a tired team at the end of the game. The four players we brought into the game, we were hoping they could make a difference, give us a little bit of energy, and maybe make a difference in the closing minutes because we were playing to try to get three points, not one point, to be honest with you. But that failed completely. And you know, what more can I say? Give [FC Dallas] credit. They did a good job.”
On not making the most of opportunities:
“Both teams had chances. What can I say? [Ousseni] Bouda had that breakaway. Give Daniel a lot of credit. Heck of a save by Daniel. That’s all part of the exercise. You know, you got to finish your chances, and we knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, a tight game, and it turned out to be that. So not being able to convert a quality chance makes a difference in the game.”
On finishing the regular-season home schedule strong with back-to-back games at PayPal Park:
“Yes, those are two important home games. We’ll take the first one and try to get three points, but certainly they’re critically important.”
EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER RONALDO VIEIRA
On any lessons learned from tonight’s loss:
“What it teaches us is just that we have to be alert physically and mentally for the whole 90-plus minutes. And today, unfortunately, we weren’t. If you ask me to give you a reason, I don’t know why. But you know, sometimes it can happen. I don’t think it should be happening at this stage of the season. But we’ll go back home, and have a look at it and see what went wrong.”
On the return of Niko Tsakiris after more than a month out with injury:
“Obviously, everyone’s happy to have Niko back. He’s a very important part of that team. We’re all happy that he’s back. He’s going to keep training and getting back to his best, and we’ve just got to move forward. I hope that he can come in and keep helping the team as he’s done for the whole part of the season.”
On any regrets from having missed some earlier opportunities:
“No. Obviously we’re going to look at both ends of the field—the defensive side of it and the attacking side of it. Sometimes it can happen missing a chance or two. It can happen to anybody. And yeah, [Ousseni] Bouda had a breakaway. We could have gone up 1-0, instead we didn’t. I thought he did quite well today. Like I said before, I think it’s just like some mental mistakes, with the fatigue at the end of the game. So it can happen, but like I said, we’ll go back home and have a look at what we did wrong.”