The time has finally arrived: after a long off-season, this weekend marks the beginning of a new MLS Next Pro Season, and Ryan Richter’s Union II side will kick off their 2026 season on Saturday against Toronto FC II at Subaru Park.
Union II is coming off another stellar season in MLS Next Pro, yet another one in which they fell just short of being named MLS Next Pro Champions. After a great regular season, in which Ryan Richter’s men broke multiple club records, Union II reached the Eastern Conference Final but couldn’t get the job done against NYRB II, losing 2-1.
This season, the squad will be completely overhauled, as many players have either left the club or moved on to the senior team. Players like Stas Korzeniowski, Sal Olivas, and Olwethu Makhanya have all featured heavily with the first team this pre-season and the early start to the Champions Cup campaign, while other squad mainstays like Nick Pariano and David Vazquez have left the club entirely.
It’s expected that the club will be announcing all sorts of signings, whether they’re new players to the club, re-signings of 2025 players, or academy players that will be making the step up this year to the MLS Next Pro level, all the way up to the kick-off time of Saturday’s game, but three have been announced already on Friday.
The first player announced to be returning for the 2026 season was Giovanny Sequera. The 19-year-old Venezuelan has spent the last two seasons on loan with Union II and really broke out last season, appearing in 23 games, scoring three goals and four assists, while being a key part of the lineup for all three of Union II's postseason games. Sequera has made his stay in Philly permanent this time, rather than on a loan deal.
The next player that was announced for the 2026 season was academy graduate Jordan Griffin, who has officially signed an MLS Next Pro deal with the club, becoming the 11th Academy player to do so in Philly. Griffin is poised to have his breakout year this year after appearing 21 times for Union II since making his debut back in 2024. His only goal came against today’s opponents, Toronto, last season.
The third player announced to be returning for the 2026 season was Oscar Benitez. Oscar joined Union II from St Louis City SC 2 at the start of the 2025 season and impressed over his 21 appearances, especially towards the latter stages of the season, and I’m sure he’ll continue to play at that level this season. He also scored against today’s opponents, Toronto, in a win that secured Union II’s home advantage in the postseason.
The rest of the squad won’t be fully finalised until we get a lineup for the Toronto game, and will be changing constantly throughout the season, with numerous academy players making their Union II debuts after a successful Snow Bowl tournament, and new signings that can happen throughout the season.
Union II gets its 2026 season underway at home against Toronto FC II, whom they played three times in 2025, beating them twice and drawing once. Union beat them 2-1 in late September to secure home advantage in the postseason. The two teams drew 2-2 in late August at Subaru Park, which saw an extra point penalty shootout last 15 penalties before Toronto II took the extra point across the border with them. Their first meeting of last season was in early July when Ryan Richter’s men demolished them 5-0. I’m sure Coach Richter and the squad would love a repeat of that game.
Toronto II is coming off a very lackluster 2025 season, in which they finished 9th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. With only 10 wins from 28 games and finishing the season with a negative eight-goal difference, the team from Canada will be looking to massively improve and get into the postseason in 2026.
The game is scheduled to take place at Suabru Park on Saturday, 28th February, with kick-off planned for 3 pm ET. There has been a huge change for viewers at home going into the 2026 MLS Next Pro season, the games are no longer streamed on Apple TV, instead viewers worldwide can watch every game of the 2026 season for free on either the MLS Next Pro website or on the One Football platform.
