After months of speculation, the long-anticipated wait for local soccer fans came to an end on Monday morning when Major League Soccer announced that San Diego FC will open its inaugural season on the road against LA Galaxy on the final weekend of February 2025.

The first SDFC home game at Snapdragon Stadium will be on March 1. The team will play St. Louis City SC, which finished top of the Western Conference standings in its inaugural season of 2023.

SDFC became Major League Soccer’s 30th club in May of last year and has already made several high-profile signings including that of Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. The club’s first signing was that of former San Diego Loyal goalkeeper Duran Ferree who is currently staying in form with FC Nordsjælland along with the announcement on Sept. 16 that Mikey Varas will serve as SDFC head coach.

Major League Soccer is the most recent in a series of men’s premier professional national soccer leagues established in the United States and Canada. Its predecessor was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 until 1984. MLS was founded in 1993 as part of the United States’ successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The league’s first season took place in 1996 with 10 teams but experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, losing millions of dollars and folding two teams in 2002.

Since then, developments such as the proliferation of soccer-specific stadiums around the league, the implementation of the Designated Player Rule allowing teams to sign star players such as David Beckham and Lionel Messi, and national TV contracts have made MLS one of the fastest-growing leagues in the world.