Atlanta United FC vs Sporting Kansas City, MLS 2026 REGULAR SEASON

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MLS · 2026

Atlanta United FC

2 – 1

Full Time

Sporting Kansas City

Sun 23 Aug 2026 · 22:00 UTC Mercedes-Benz Stadium 36,626 HT 45' · FT 45'

Tomas Jacob 13' 1–0

Fafa Picault 24' 2–0

2–1 70' Stephen Afrira

Y 22' Emir Karic

Luke Brennan 72' Y

Elias Baez 76' Y

Overview

Match Preview

Atlanta United FC vs Sporting Kansas City — MLS at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Atlanta United FC 29 games · 30 pts (2026/26)
Sporting Kansas City 29 games · 22 pts (2026/26)

Match Details

Referee Tori Penso (USA)

20 games this season 🟨 3.0/game ⚽ 9.0 goals/game 🟥 1 total

Standings

#	Team	P	Pts
1	Nashville SC	29	66
2	Internacional CF Miami	29	52
3	New England Revolution	29	49
4	Chicago Fire FC	29	48
5	Charlotte FC	29	46
6	Philadelphia Union	29	45
7	Orlando City SC	29	38
8	FC Cincinnati	28	36
9	New York Red Bulls	29	36
10	New York City FC	29	33
11	Toronto FC	29	33
12	D.C. United SC	28	33
13	Columbus Crew SC	29	32
14	Atlanta United FC	29	30
15	Montreal Impact FC	29	24
16	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	29	52
17	St. Louis City	29	51
18	FC Dallas	29	50
19	San Jose Earthquakes	29	47
20	Houston Dynamo	29	46
21	Los Angeles FC	30	45
22	Seattle Sounders FC	29	41
23	Los Angeles Galaxy	30	39
24	Colorado Rapids SC	29	38
25	San Diego FC	29	33
26	Portland Timbers	29	33
27	Real Salt Lake	29	33
28	Minnesota United FC	29	31
29	Austin FC	29	31
30	Sporting Kansas City	29	22

Head-to-Head

Atlanta United FC 4 games · Avg 3.0 goals Sporting Kansas City

Last 5 meetings

2026-08-23 Atlanta United FC 2–1 Sporting Kansas City 2022-02-27 Atlanta United FC 3–1 Sporting Kansas City 2019-05-06 Sporting Kansas City 0–3 Atlanta United FC 2018-05-09 Atlanta United FC 0–2 Sporting Kansas City

Recent Form

Atlanta United FC

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Result
23 Aug	Sporting Kansas City	H	2–1	W
19 Aug	Minnesota United FC	A	2–1	W
15 Aug	New York Red Bulls	H	2–1	W
01 Aug	Philadelphia Union	A	2–3	L
25 Jul	New England Revolution	A	1–4	L
23 Jul	Charlotte FC	A	2–2	D

Sporting Kansas City

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Result
23 Aug	Atlanta United FC	A	1–2	L
19 Aug	St. Louis City	H	1–1	D
16 Aug	Colorado Rapids SC	A	0–2	L
02 Aug	Houston Dynamo	H	0–2	L
26 Jul	Los Angeles FC	A	0–4	L
23 Jul	Minnesota United FC	H	2–1	W

Season Stats

Atlanta United FC		Sporting Kansas City
#14	Position	#30
30	Points	22
29	Played	29
8 / 6 / 15	W / D / L	6 / 4 / 19
36	Scored	35
48	Conceded	72
-12	GD	-37
1.03	PPG	0.76
28%	Win %	21%

Key Stats

50% Both Teams to Score
H2H (4 games)

75% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history

17% Clean Sheets
Atlanta United FC this season

3% Clean Sheets
Sporting Kansas City this season

Atlanta United FC are 14th (30 pts). Sporting Kansas City are 30th (22 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

Atlanta United FC

0-15

2/4

16-30

4/5

31-45

3/5

46-60

4/7

61-75

5/7

76+

5/8

■ Scored ■ Conceded

Sporting Kansas City

0-15

3/10

16-30

7/9

31-45

7/9

46-60

2/7

61-75

6/12

76+

4/11

■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Atlanta United FC

Aleksei Miranchuk

6 G

6 A

Sporting Kansas City

Andre Luiz

7 G

1 A

Events

Match Events

0' Welcome to Mercedes-Benz Stadium that hosts another battle between Atlanta United FC and Sporting Kansas City.
5' Atlanta United FC have won 440 goals from 295 games. They will be desperate to add to that tally today.
10' Atlanta United FC looks like a favorite considering 1 games won in last 1 matches with its main striker Fafa Picault scoring 1 goals.
13' Tomas Jacob doubles the advantage! 1-0 and this game is slipping away from the opposition.
18' With 0 assists to his name this season, Stephen Afrira is clearly more than just a goal scorer for Sporting Kansas City.
22' The referee calls foul for Emir Karic. He receives a card.
24' The deadlock is broken! Fafa Picault gets on the scoresheet on 24 minutes.
29' We miss some good tackles and strikes. Is there anyone on the field to put the game back to action?
34' Moises Mosquera is putting in a real shift tonight. He has covered more ground than anyone else for Sporting Kansas City so far.
39' Taylor Calheira is a natural and has been asked to do a very specific job for Sporting Kansas City tonight.
44' Atlanta United FC are happy to let the opposition have the ball in their own half. The trap is set.
45' A change in the Sporting Kansas City ranks — Jake Davis exits the field as Justin Reynolds enters on 45.
50' Both teams are passing the ball around with high level of urgency. Sporting Kansas City needs to do something about it to get closer to the goal.
55' It is a cagey affair so far. Atlanta United FC in their trying to find a way past Sporting Kansas City's compact .
60' Sporting Kansas City is defending very well tonight not leaving a chance for their rivals to get through for a goal.
62' Will Reilly is ready to make an impact after coming on for Fafa Picault at the 62 minute mark.
67' The Array continues to deliver drama. Both Atlanta United FC and Sporting Kansas City are desperate not to drop points on matchday .
70' Brilliant from the ! Stephen Afrira makes it 2-1 with a superb finish on 70.
72' That looks like a foul for a card for Luke Brennan.
73' Stian Gregersen is replacing Paulo Diaz for the Atlanta United FC side.
76' The referee reaches into his pocket. Out comes the card for Elias Baez.
77' A change in the Atlanta United FC ranks — Cooper Wyatt Sanchez exits the field as Steven Alzate enters on 77.
78' Luke Brennan makes way for Matthew Edwards at the 78 minute mark. A tactical switch from Atlanta United FC.
83' The travelling Sporting Kansas City supporters hardly appreciate their team being pressed down to the backline.
87' Jacob Bartlett has so much to prove this time. He replaces Capita on 87 minute.
With this win, Atlanta United FC is likely to improve its situation in the overall team standings.

Lineups

Atlanta United FC Lineups

Starting XI

6
Junior Alonso
22
Fafa Picault ↓ Will Reilly 62'
59
Aleksei Miranchuk
10
Miguel Almiron
1
Lucas Hoyos
27
Paulo Diaz ↓ Stian Gregersen 73'
8
Tristan Muyumba
55
Tomas Jacob
3
Elias Baez
48
Cooper Wyatt Sanchez ↓ Steven Alzate 77'
16
Adrian Gill ↓ Luke Brennan 62'

Bench

Coach Gerardo Martino

Sporting Kansas City Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Raphaël Wicky

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

Player	Goals
Daniel Salloi	2
Josef Martinez	2
Dominic Dwyer	1
Fafa Picault	1
Tomas Jacob	1
Stephen Afrira	1
Gerso Fernandes	1
Gerso Fernandes	1

Head to Head

Atlanta United FC Form

2026-08-23 Atlanta United FC 2–1 Sporting Kansas City W 2026-08-19 Minnesota United FC 1–2 Atlanta United FC W 2026-08-15 Atlanta United FC 2–1 New York Red Bulls W 2026-08-01 Philadelphia Union 3–2 Atlanta United FC L 2026-07-25 New England Revolution 4–1 Atlanta United FC L 2026-07-23 Charlotte FC 2–2 Atlanta United FC D

Sporting Kansas City Form

2026-08-23 Atlanta United FC 2–1 Sporting Kansas City L 2026-08-19 Sporting Kansas City 1–1 St. Louis City D 2026-08-16 Colorado Rapids SC 2–0 Sporting Kansas City L 2026-08-02 Sporting Kansas City 0–2 Houston Dynamo L 2026-07-26 Los Angeles FC 4–0 Sporting Kansas City L 2026-07-23 Sporting Kansas City 2–1 Minnesota United FC W

Predictions

Prediction accuracy

4 / 4

2.21 Atlanta United FC xG

Expected Goals

Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo

1.02 Sporting Kansas City xG

I would bet for: Atlanta United FC to win 63% + Over 2.5 goals 61%

Match Result

✓ Correct

Atlanta United FC63% Draw21% Sporting Kansas City16%

Actual: Atlanta United FC win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct

Yes57% 0% No43%

Avg goals/match: 3.23

Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5

Line	Over	Under
± 0.5	95%	5%
± 1.5	83%	17%
± 2.5	61%	39%
± 3.5	40%	60%
± 4.5	23%	77%

Double Chance

Atlanta United FC or Draw

84%

Draw or Sporting Kansas City

37%

Atlanta United FC or Sporting Kansas City

79%

Half-Time Result

✓ Correct

Atlanta United FC46% Draw40% Sporting Kansas City14%

Actual: Atlanta United FC win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12

1 – 1

9.7%

2 – 0

9.6%

2 – 1

Actual

1 – 0

8.3%

3 – 1

3 – 0

6.9%

0 – 0

5.5%

2 – 2

4.8%

1 – 2

4.4%

4 – 1

3.9%

4 – 0

3.8%

3 – 2

3.6%

Asian Handicap — Atlanta United FC

Handicap	Atlanta United FC covers	Push	Sporting Kansas City covers
-2.5	22%	—	78%
-2	22%	19%	59%
-1.5	41%	—	59%
-1	41%	22%	37%
-0.5	63%	—	37%
+0.5	84%	—	16%
+1	84%	10%	6%
+1.5	94%	—	6%
+2	94%	4%	2%
+2.5	98%	—	2%

Clean Sheet

Atlanta United FC keeps clean sheet

37% ✓

Sporting Kansas City keeps clean sheet

12% ✓

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.