The 2023 FC Cincinnati season was the club's fifth season in MLS, and the eighth season overall for the team including their first three years in the lower-division USL Championship. The club entered 2023 on a high note, having notched their first playoff appearance and first playoff win in 2022 after languishing at the bottom of the standings for their first three seasons in MLS. On September 30, FC Cincinnati clinched the Supporters' Shield, the award given to the team that finishes with the most points in the regular season.
FC Cincinnati home matches were played at TQL Stadium. 2023 was the second season with the club for general manager Chris Albright and head coach Pat Noonan.
Summary
The Orange and Blue started the regular season with 5 wins, 2 draws, and no losses. They reached 1st place on the Supporters' Shield standings on Matchday 7, and were the last remaining undefeated team in the Eastern Conference until their loss at St. Louis City SC on Matchday 8. After a 3–0 victory on Matchday 12 at TQL Stadium against CF Montreal, the club became only the 4th team since 2000 to start the MLS season with seven straight wins (7–0–0) at home.
FC Cincinnati won the first Hell is Real match of 2023 on May 20, with a scoreline of 3–2; it was the first win against rival Columbus Crew since October 2020. The result also extended the club's home winning streak to eight matches in league play and ten overall. By the end of the month, FC Cincinnati had set the record for most points (36) through the first 15 games of a season in MLS history, excluding the shootout era. The home winning streak was extended to ten MLS matches in June, tying a record set in 2002 by the San Jose Earthquakes.
With a 1–0 victory over Chicago Fire FC, FC Cincinnati made history and became the first club to reach 39 points in their first 16 matches of a season (excluding shootout era). After a 3–0 victory over Toronto FC, FC Cincinnati became the fourth team in MLS history to win 10 consecutive home matches, tying the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes for longest single-season home winning streak. After a 2–1 win on the road at New York Red Bulls, the club became just the third team in MLS history to win 11 of their first 22 matches by a one-goal margin – excluding the shootout era. With a 3–1 win at home against Nashville SC, the club tied Los Angeles FC (2019 and 2022) for the fastest team in MLS history to reach 50 points in a season, doing so in just 23 matches. With a 3–0 win against New York City FC, the club reached 37 points in their first 13 regular season games at TQL Stadium, tying the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes for the best home start to a season in league history through the first 13 games.
After a come from behind 2–1 victory at Atlanta United FC, FC Cincinnati became the first team to clinch a 2023 playoff berth. They also became the second fastest club in MLS history to secure their playoff position in only 26 matches.
MLS All-Stars Three players were named to the 2023 MLS All-Star roster, Luciano Acosta was selected for the 2nd time, and Álvaro Barreal and Matt Miazga both with their first selection. The game was played on July 19, 2023, against Arsenal FC of the English Premier League at Audi Field, home of D.C. United. Acosta was also chosen by an online fan vote to serve as team captain for the MLS All-Stars and was included as part of the All-Star Skills Challenge. All 3 players played 45 minutes, with Acosta and Barreal (yellow card – 18') named to the starting lineup and subbing off at halftime. Miazga was inserted into the lineup at the start of the second half, playing the remainder of the match.
Club
Roster
No.NameNationalityPositionDate of birth (age)Previous club 1 Alec Kann GK Atlanta United FC 18 Roman Celentano GK Indiana Hoosiers 25 Paul Walters GK FC Cincinnati Academy 36 Evan Louro GK Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 Alvas Powell DF Philadelphia Union 3 Joey Akpunonu DF Bowling Green Falcons 4 Nick Hagglund DF Toronto FC 13 Santiago Arias DF Granada CF 14 Yerson Mosquera DF Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 21 Matt Miazga DF Chelsea F.C. 28 Ray Gaddis DF Philadelphia Union 32 Ian Murphy DF Duke Blue Devils 33 Isaiah Foster DF Colorado Springs Switchbacks 37 Stiven Jimenez DF FC Cincinnati Academy 42 Bret Halsey DF Colorado Springs Switchbacks 34 London Aghedo DF Air Force Falcons 5 Obinna Nwobodo MF Göztepe S.K. 8 Marco Angulo MF Independiente del Valle 10 Luciano Acosta MF Atlas 26 Malik Pinto MF FC Cincinnati Academy 31 Álvaro Barreal MF Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield 44 Ben Stitz MF FC Cincinnati Academy 58 Gerardo Valenzuela MF FC Cincinnati Academy 93 Júnior Moreno MF D.C. United 7 Yuya Kubo FW K.A.A. Gent 9 Aaron Boupendza FW Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) 14 Dominique Badji FW Colorado Rapids 17 Sérgio Santos FW Philadelphia Union 19 Brandon Vazquez FW Atlanta United FC 29 Arquimides Ordóñez FW FC Cincinnati Academy
Player movement
In DatePlayerTransferred fromFee/notes November 7, 2022 37 MF Stiven Jimenez FC Cincinnati Academy Homegrown rights acquired from D.C. United December 21, 2022 8 MF Marco Angulo Independiente del Valle $3,000,000 January 5, 2023 33 DF Isaiah Foster Colorado Springs Switchbacks Waivers January 6, 2023 26 MF Malik Pinto FC Cincinnati Academy Free transfer February 9, 2023 13 DF Santiago Arias Granada CF Free transfer May 25, 2023 58 MF Gerardo Valenzuela FC Cincinnati Academy Homegrown player June 7, 2023 34 DF London Aghedo Air Force Falcons 2023 MLS SuperDraft June 21, 2023 42 DF Bret Halsey FC Cincinnati 2 Short-term contract July 1, 2023 First team contract July 5, 2023 9 FW Aaron Boupendza Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) Designated player July 8, 202344FW Ben Stitz FC Cincinnati 2Short-term contract Aug 4, 2023
Out DatePlayerTransferred toFee/notes October 24, 2022 8 MF Allan Cruz Option declined November 11, 2022 3 DF John Nelson St. Louis City SC Selected in the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft November 15, 2022 24 DF Tyler Blackett Rotherham United Option declined November 15, 2022 16 DF Zico Bailey San Antonio FC Option declined November 15, 2022 20 DF Geoff Cameron Option declined, retired November 15, 2022 22 DF Rónald Matarrita SC Dnipro-1 Option declined November 15, 2022 33 FW Nick Markanich Charleston Battery Option declined November 15, 2022 17 MF Ben Mines Miami FC Option declined November 15, 2022 30 GK Beckham Sunderland Option declined December 21, 2022 12 FW Calvin Harris Colorado Rapids $375,000 in GAM March 9, 2023 25 GK Kenneth Vermeer PEC Zwolle Buyout of a Guaranteed Contract March 31, 2023 23 MF Isaac Atanga Aalesunds FK Transferred for an undisclosed fee July 2, 20239 FW Brenner Udinese Transfer
Loans in PlayerLoaned fromLoan start dateLoan end date 14 DF Yerson Mosquera Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. February 2, 2023 End of 2023 season
Loans out PlayerLoaned toLoan start dateLoan end date 23 MF Isaac Atanga Göztepe S.K. August 7, 2022 March 31, 2023 35 MF Harrison Robledo Indy Eleven February 8, 2023 End of season
2023 MLS SuperDraft picks
Round Pick #PlayerCollegeNotes 1 22 Joey Akpunonu DF Bowling Green 2 51 Hunter Morse GK Western Michigan 3 80 London Aghedo DF Air Force
Competitions
Preseason On January 9, FC Cincinnati announced a slate of five preseason games to be played during their 26-day preseason camp in Clearwater, Florida.
Major League Soccer
League tables
Eastern Conference
Overall
Results
MLS Cup Playoffs
U.S. Open Cup
As a Major League Soccer club, FC Cincinnati enters the U.S. Open Cup in the third round. The third round pairings were announced on April 6.
FC Cincinnati was regionally placed into group 5 with New York City FC, Columbus Crew SC and Loudoun United for the draw in the Round of 32. On April 27, FC Cincinnati was drawn to host New York City FC.
After defeating NYCFC 1–0 at TQL Stadium on May 10, FC Cincinnati was placed in the Northeast Group for the round of 16 draw, which will be held on May 11, 2023. The other three clubs in the group are MLS clubs Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls, and USL Championship team Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. FC Cincinnati was drawn to visit the New York Red Bulls.
After defeating the New York Red Bulls on penalties, FC Cincinnati hosted their quarterfinals matchup with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on June 6, winning 3–1.
FC Cincinnati hosted Inter Miami CF in the semifinals on August 23 and after a 3–3 tie a.e.t, fell 4–5 in penalty kicks to end their Cup run.
Leagues Cup
Both knockout stage games were hosted by FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. Led by Brandon Vazquez with 4 goals, the club advanced to the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup after securing a penalty shootout win against Sporting Kansas City and a two-day victory against Club Deportivo Guadalajara. The Chivas game was initially played on Thursday, July 28, but was halted in the 60th minute for a lengthy severe weather delay. When the game finally resumed 18.5 hours later, the calendar read Friday, July 29. The final wrinkle was that it was decided to finish the final 30 minutes "behind closed doors" as a safety precaution for staff, players and fans.
The Orange and Blue hosted Nashville SC in their Round of 32 matchup at TQL Stadium on August 4, 2023. The game ended tied 1–1 after 90 minutes with goals from Anibal Godoy of Nashville SC and Brandon Vazquez via penalty kick, his 5th in Leagues Cup play, of FC Cincinnati. Nashville advanced to the Round of 16 via penalty kicks (5–4).
Group stage: Central 3
Knockout stage
Statistics
Appearances and goals Numbers after plus-sign(+) denote appearances as a substitute.
! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers
! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders
! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders
! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
! colspan=16 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Players who have played for FC Cincinnati this season but have left the club:
Top scorers {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: center;" |- ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:35px;" scope="col"|Rank ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:35px;" scope="col"|Position ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:35px;" scope="col"|No. ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:140px;" scope="col"|Name ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:75px;" scope="col"| ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:75px;" scope="col"| ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:75px;" scope="col"| ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:75px;" scope="col"| ! style="background:#003087; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #FE5000; width:75px;" scope="col"|Total |- | 1 || MF || 10 || align=left| Luciano Acosta || 17 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 21 |- | 2 || FW || 19 || align=left| Brandon Vazquez || 8 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 17 |- | 3 || DF || 31 || align=left| Álvaro Barreal || 5 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 8 |- | 4 || FW || 9 || align=left| Aaron Boupendza || 5 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 6 |- | 5 || FW || 14 || align=left| Dominique Badji || 5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 5 |- | rowspan="2"| 6 || FW || 17 || align=left| Sérgio Santos || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 4
|| MF || 93 || align=left| Júnior Moreno || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 4 |- |rowspan="2"|8 || DF || 13 || align=left| Santiago Arias || 2 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 3 |- || DF || 15 || align=left| Yerson Mosquera || 2 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 3 |- |rowspan="2" |10 || MF || 5 || align=left| Obinna Nwobodo || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 |- || MF || 7 || align=left| Yuya Kubo || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 |- |rowspan="3"|12 || FW || 9 || align=left| Brenner || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 |- | FW || 29 || align=left| Arquimides Ordonez || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 |-