The Final Heartbreak: LA Galaxy fall 3-2 to Toluca in Campeones Cup
A late game-winning goal from the Liga MX side delivers the LA Galaxy’s worst loss of the season
For many, the Campeones Cup is nothing more than a one-off showcase between MLS and Liga MX champions. For the Galaxy, it felt like much more – a final in every sense of the word. It was a chance to salvage something from a lost season.
LA would get off on the right foot when Gabriel Pec was brought down by Jesus Gallardo in the box and awarded a penalty. Diego Fagundez calmly finished from the spot to give the home side the lead in the first half.
Toluca began the second half without head coach Antonio Mohamed, following his red card for dissent towards the officials. That seemed to light fire under Toluca as Nicolas Castro scored a long-range goal to get the Mexican side back into the game.
The intensity was felt all match long as both sides put in tackles and competed to the fullest extent for every 50/50 ball on the pitch. Questionable calls from the referee Ivan Barton added to frustrations and emotions for both sides as the game went on.
Toluca seemed to have taken the lead off a set piece through Paulinho, but VAR would bring it back for offside.
The two sides would exchange blows late. Gabriel Pec would find the back of the net in the 83rd minute for the lead, only to be countered by Toluca’s Franco Romero blowing a rocket past Novak Micovic in the 88th.
This final looked destined for penalties, that was until the 94th minute when Federico Periera blew past Mauricio Cuevas off the back post and found the back of the net for his brace, stealing the trophy at the death. When the final whistle blew, LA Galaxy players fell to the ground as the chance for a trophy slipped away.
Set Pieces, Same Story
For all the chaos, emotion, and officiating drama, the game ultimately came down to something far simpler: defending set pieces. The Galaxy were undone not by Toluca’s fluid play, but by their inability to close out the final minutes when the ball was dead and the assignments were clear.
Vanney didn’t mince words postgame. “We had a shot across the bow when they scored on a set piece, and we got an offsides call on that one, and that should have been the wake-up call for us for every other set piece that we had to defend down the stretch,” he said. Instead, history repeated itself. “It ends up being two goals off of set pieces… your responsibilities are to win your duels and to see out the second phase of things. Disappointing.”
The 94th-minute corner summed it up. Vanney explained that his players were caught ball-watching instead of handling their marks. “We didn’t do a good job of dealing with the short… they get close and just rip a ball across the face of our goal, and then it’s about dealing with your duels and your marks. And it looked like we got out dueled in the back post.”
Yoshida was even harsher in his assessment. “We lost last 10 minutes, and we lost everything. We throw away everything. It’s an embarrassing result,” he said flatly. For the Galaxy captain, it wasn’t about Toluca’s quality but about basic defensive lapses. “Set pieces, including outside, we are very soft. They have more determination than we have, unfortunately.”
Yoshida called out the lack of fundamentals. “It’s very basic, and again, it’s the details. Third goal – the short corner – go, engage, close quicker, and stop the cross left-footed, man marking. It’s too late to save us, but this is what we have now. This is not only this game, but here all season.”
For the Galaxy, it’s the story of the season: moments of brilliance undone by late collapses, small details, and lapses in mentality. This one hurt most because silverware was in sight.
Chaos Reigns
The main storyline of the match was the intensity and emotion displayed by both clubs on the night. As the game grew, referee Ivan Barton’s influence on the match grew in a negative way.
The Salvadorian referee is one of the most polarizing officials in Concacaf, and he’s built a reputation of losing control of games. Ten fouls were called over the course of the night, not including the ejection of Toluca Head Coach Antonio Mahomed at halftime due to dissent towards the referee and two other Toluca FC assistant coaches.
There was an inconsistency in what was deemed a foul, and frustration from both teams built up as the game went on.
“[Toluca] are good team, but the amount of chaos on the field is total nonsense. It’s so disrespectful to the game, it’s disrespectful to the environment, it’s disrespectful to CONCACAF and the spectacle that this game is supposed to be,” said Vanney to reporters postgame.
“I’ve been with him a couple of times in international matches, always very strange. And like the couple fouls we got, it’s nothing. It’s difficult to explain,” said Yoshida about the officiating in the match.
The officiating wasn’t the reason for the LA Galaxy’s loss on the night, but it played a big role in how the match shifted. Toluca had its coach sent off and multiple assistants booked, which created an “us-against-the-world” mentality in the second half.
Mindset Switch Off
It’s rare to see Vanney call out his players, but he was clear in his postgame press conference that he didn’t like what he saw after Toluca’s second goal of the night.
“I also think when we gave up the second goal, the response isn’t what I was hoping for from the group, which is you still have everything to play for in that moment, I saw dejection, and you have to let that go real fast, and we have to step up as leaders and as guys who are still understanding that there was everything to play for for the last three minutes,” said Vanney.
“I felt like the look wasn’t what I would have wanted to see from our group, which is lifting each other up and going to fight for these last three minutes, put yourself in a position to win in a shootout or something. I thought we looked a little bit defeated, and because of it, we took the next goal,” he added.
With the kind of season the LA Galaxy has had, it’s no surprise to see heads fall once Toluca found the tying goal. Vanney called out the mentality and the fortitude of his players to close out the match.
“Last 10 minutes, we missing all the details, which not only this game, but throughout this season,” said Maya Yoshida in the mixed zone after the match. “Mexican team knows how to win the game. This is different, we try to play well, and they try to win the game. That’s the big difference,” he added.
Toluca was dealing with a flurry of emotions but found a way to translate that into positive momentum to end the game. The Galaxy didn’t show enough of that to close out games, and it ultimately led to the heartbreaking loss on the night.
“We have to learn from this, and we have to finish strong next three games, and this is already preparation for the next season, and I want to come back really strong next season. So this is already started,” said Yoshida.
This is a game that will leave scars for the LA Galaxy, and it can use this as motivation to avoid similar scenarios in 2026.