As Orlando City SC enters its 11th season in Major League Soccer, the Lions prepare to host the Philadelphia Union, marking the 11th straight season the Lions will open their league campaign at home. To this point, the Lions are 3-0-7 in home openers in MLS, with two of those wins coming in the last five years under Head Coach Oscar Pareja.
Let's take a look back at the first 10 home openers for the Lions as they get set to kick off 2025 on February 22.
2015 vs. New York City FC: Welcome to MLS
The match that started it all. In front of a packed Camping World Stadium, Orlando City left it until the end as team captain, Kaká, delivered late-game heroics to rescue a 1-1 draw in stoppage time.
2016 vs. Real Salt Lake: The Birth of the Cardiac Cats
After suffering a red card just after halftime, Orlando came back from 2-0 down by scoring two goals in stoppage time, with the game-tying goal cementing Adrian Winter as a cult hero in the eyes of the City faithful.
2017 vs. New York City FC: Welcome Home
"A Gift from the Gods" was the Tifo from The Wall as Orlando City cristened their new digs against their expansion rivals NYCFC. Captain Kaká was forced to leave the game in the 11th minute with a hamstring injury, only to see replacement Giles Barnes assist Cyle Larin’s eventual winner just four minutes into his Orlando debut.
2018 vs. D.C. United: Pinho!
In a similar story, Orlando City played down a man for a good portion of the match against D.C. United and went on to deliver one of their gutsiest performances in club history, with debutant Stéfano Pinho slotting home the game-tying goal in the 93rd minute, sending a packed Inter&Co Stadium into a frenzy.
2019 vs. New York City FC: The debut of Nani
After going down 2-0 at half, the Lions once again secured a gutsy comeback as Nani made his Orlando City debut. The Portuguese winger played a part in the game-tying goal, notching a secondary assist on Tesho Akindele's 70th-minute goal.
2020 vs. Real Salt Lake: Papi's Premiere
A scoreless draw to begin 2020 was the official start of the Pareja era for Orlando City. It also marked the debuts of some of the most notable players in the Lions history, including Pedro Gallese, Antonio Carlos and Junior Urso.
2021 vs. Atlanta United: Defensive dominance
With the debut of Alexandre Pato and an increased crowd capacity off the heels of 2020, the Lions produced a solid defensive effort, marked with standout performances by longtime Lions Rodrigo Schlegel and Kyle Smith.
2022 vs. CF Montreal: Facu's Debut
2022 marked the year of the first trophy in the Club's MLS history and the debut of one of the team's best players in its history: Facundo Torres. The Lions would go on to win the match 2-0, with goals from Benji Michel and Alexandre Pato, who scored his first goal with the Club in that match.
2023 vs. New York Red Bulls: Raising the banner
On the heels of a historic season, Orlando City began 2023 raising the banner for the 2022 U.S. Open Cup trophy before the match kicked off. Facundo Torres scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Red Bulls.
2024 vs. CF Montreal: Honoring History
Last year marked the 10th season of Orlando City in MLS and the Lions kicked it off with another strong defensive effort, holding CF Montreal to a scoreless draw.
