Tracking the LA Galaxy vs LAFC rivalry from 2018 onward
I got asked to put together a timeline of the LA Galaxy versus LAFC rivalry a few months back, mostly because people keep digging up old match thread stats and getting confused about timelines. The rivalry started in 2018 and has gone through several distinct phases, so it helps to break it down that way rather than trying to compress everything into one flat list. Here's the straightforward breakdown of what happened season by season, along with the shifts in how both clubs approached the matchup. The inaugural season in 2018 was brutal for LAFC in hindsight. They finished first overall in the Western Conference with 72 points, which still stands as their best regular-season tally. The Galaxy sat at 47 points and missed the playoffs entirely. The first El Tráfico played out on April 21, 2018, at StubHub Center, and LAFC won 2-1 with a strike from Riqui Puig. That match set the tone for the early years: LAFC was the superior team across nearly every metric, and the Galaxy were figuring out how to be relevant again after the Landon Donovan retirement cliff.
By 2019, the gap had narrowed slightly but not in a way that comforted Galaxy fans. Both teams made the playoffs. LAFC advanced to the Western Conference semifinals before falling to Seattle. The Galaxy lost in the first round to the hosts in a gritty 2-0 defeat. The regular-season meetings that year split 1-1. LAFC won the home game at Banc of California Stadium 4-1, which was arguably the most lopsided result in the rivalry up to that point. 2020 was the pandemic bubble season, and the formatting of El Tráfico that year is worth noting separately. MLS ran a neutral-site model out of Orlando and Texas. The Galaxy and LAFC played each other on October 18, 2020, in the conference semifinals at Toyota Stadium in Frisco. LAFC won 2-0. This was the first playoff meeting between the two clubs, and it effectively killed any remaining illusion that the Galaxy were going to be competitive in this rivalry for the immediate future. The 2021 season introduced some structural changes. The Galaxy, under Bob Bradley, retooled their roster with an emphasis on possession-based football rather than the direct counter-attacking approach that had defined the previous regime. They signed Diego Fagundez and Carlos Vela arrived mid-season from Portland. The first time Vela played LAFC was on July 31, 2021, and he scored in a 2-0 Galaxy win at the Banc. That match felt symbolic, since it marked the moment the Galaxy finally looked like they could impose themselves on this rivalry on their own turf.
LAFC responded by winning the Supporters' Shield that same year with 68 points. The regular-season series split 1-1 again. The playoff picture got messy because the postseason format was in flux during this period, but LAFC ultimately reached the MLS Cup final and lost to New England. 2022 was the breakout year for the rivalry in terms of quality and intensity. The Galaxy finished second in the West at 64 points. LAFC finished first at 67 points. They met in the Western Conference semifinals again, this time at BMO Stadium on October 23, 2022. LAFC won 2-1 in a match that featured a lot of physical tension and several questionable referee calls that neither side was happy about. The second leg wasn't necessary because it was a single elimination, which meant the Galaxy's season ended there. The 2023 season was probably the peak of this rivalry in terms of narrative. The Galaxy, now managed by Greg Vanney, came out aggressively. They won the Supporters' Shield at 67 points, edging out LAFC by a single point. The regular-season series was hard-fought. LAFC took the first meeting 2-1 at home in May, and the Galaxy got even later in the year with a 3-1 win at the Coliseum in October. The playoff meeting came in the Western Conference final on November 11, 2023, at BMO Stadium. LAFC won 1-0 and went on to capture their first MLS Cup.
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2024 shifted again. The Galaxy missed the playoffs at 49 points, which was the worst season under Vanney. LAFC finished second at 61 points and exited in the first round to Austin FC. It was a strange year where neither team looked like themselves in the head-to-head matchups. The Galaxy won one game and dropped the other, but both contests felt forgettable. The 2025 season brought more turbulence. The Galaxy hired Sigi Schmid briefly before settling into a transition period. LAFC, meanwhile, remained competitive but showed signs of defensive fragility. They met in June at the DiGiovanni Field, and LAFC won 3-2 in a match that highlighted how porous both defenses had become. By September, the Galaxy had fallen out of playoff contention entirely, while LAFC secured a playoff berth but with questions about their consistency. As of the 2026 season, the picture is still forming. The Galaxy have made roster moves aimed at stabilizing their midfield, and LAFC are dealing with aging contracts from their 2022-2023 championship core. The regular-season meetings are always worth tracking because they tend to set the psychological tone for any potential playoff rematch.
Trophy counts and what they actually mean
If you're tallying silverware between these two clubs since 2018, here's the straightforward count: LAFC: 2 MLS Cups (2022, 2023), 2 Supporters' Shields (2019, 2023), 1 U.S. Open Cup (2021), 3 Western Conference championship appearances. That's seven major trophies. LA Galaxy: 1 Western Conference championship appearance (2022), 1 Supporters' Shield (2023). They also won the 2022 Leagues Cup but that competition doesn't carry the same weight in terms of domestic priority.
The trophy gap is real, but it's worth noting that the Galaxy's 2023 Supporters' Shield was the first time either team won that hardware in the rivalry era, and it came in a year where LAFC's defensive record was below their usual standard. Single-season results can distort the bigger picture, especially in a shortened schedule environment.
How the tactical approaches have evolved
The early years of this rivalry were defined by LAFC's high-press system under Steve Cherundolo and later Gerard Moreno. They wanted to win the ball in the final third and punish teams quickly. The Galaxy, under Bruce Arena and then Chris Armstrong's sporting direction, were trying to find an identity that wasn't purely dependent on individual brilliance from Robbie Keane and Sebastian Lletget. By 2021 and 2022, the Galaxy under Bob Bradley and then Greg Vanney shifted toward a more controlled possession model. This was a direct response to being consistently outmuscled in transition by LAFC. The problem with that approach is that it requires a certain level of technical comfort from the entire back line and holding midfield, and the Galaxy spent two seasons trying to install it with players who weren't perfectly suited for it. LAFC's approach has been more consistent in its evolution. They started with high-intensity pressing, moved toward a more measured build-up under Cherundolo's interim period, and then settled into a system that balances defensive structure with quick vertical transitions through vectors like Ricky Alvarez and José Sánchez. The weakness in their system has always been set pieces, which the Galaxy exploited in several key matches during 2022 and 2023.
A practical note on tracking this rivalry
I run a shared spreadsheet that logs every El Tráfico result, including expected goals data, shot maps, and referee assignments. The problem I hit repeatedly is that MLS doesn't publish clean xG data for every match in a downloadable format, and the third-party sources that do aggregate it sometimes have gaps for lower-attendance games or neutral-site fixtures. My workaround was to pull the raw match event data from FBref and cross-reference it against MLS's official match reports, then manually fill in any missing entries. It takes about forty-five minutes per match to do properly, but it's the only way to get a reliable dataset for deeper analysis. Another thing people miss when looking at this rivalry is the home-field advantage split. LAFC has been significantly stronger at BMO Stadium than the Galaxy has been at the DiGiovanni Field, especially from 2019 through 2022. The venue geometry and crowd proximity create a genuine tactical disadvantage for the visiting side in tight matches. I've seen this play out in at least three playoff games where the away team's build-up patterns broke down under the acoustic pressure. It's not something you'll find in the box score, but it's real.
Where this rivalry goes from here
The trajectory suggests LAFC will remain the more consistent contender as long as their core stays healthy and connected. The Galaxy are in a rebuild phase that could take another two to three years to produce a genuinely competitive roster. The next few meetings in 2026 will be telling, especially if the Galaxy's new midfield signings gel early enough to impact the regular-season results. The trophy gap won't close quickly, but the quality of the matches has improved substantially since 2020, and that's the part that matters most for fans who aren't just tracking silverware.
