Asked this week what he knows about the history of San Diego teams winning “major” championships in professional sports, Mikey Varas of first-year soccer club San Diego FC gamely gave it a try.
“I know that the Clippers, uh, potentially won something a long, long time ago,” the coach said, “but other than that, no — we don’t have any.”
Though it was the Chargers who won a title, Varas got the main part right: San Diego’s trophy case indeed is a lonely place.
So for the local soccer newbies, who on Sunday will face the Portland Timbers in Mission Valley to open a best-of-three playoff series, the potential rewards loom as extraordinary.
A lengthy run in Major League Soccer’s postseason by the Western Conference champions, capped by a victory Dec. 6 in the MLS Cup final, would endear SDFC not only to hardcore locals who’ve supported them but also thousands of San Diegans who may not know who they are.
San Diego’s trophy history being what it is, a robust bandwagon effect surely would take hold.
Locals who today couldn’t name any other MLS club, or recognize San Diego FC star wing Anders Dreyer in a grocery store, would flock to the party.
Finally, a San Diego wave would’ve brought a sports team all the way to shore.
San Diego FC fans cheer during their match against FC Dallas at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, May 3, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Although the San Diego Sockers won several indoor titles before crowds of some 10,000 at the Sports Arena in the 1980s and early 1990s, the leagues in which they played were hard to take seriously.
The Padres own no World Series trophies, and the Chargers’ lone league-championship victory came in January 1964.
Footnote: That American Football League trophy sits in El Segundo.
For San Diego FC, it’ll take five more wins: two against Portland and one apiece in the three rounds that follow.
Sixteen MLS teams are still alive. In star power, the clear leaders are Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami and Son Heung-min’s Los Angeles FC.
But within MLS, everyone would agree on this: San Diego FC is an industry disruptor that’s capable of causing more havoc.
Because SDFC’s leaders leveraged the chance to build a team from scratch and thus attain greater clarity of style, the team boasts rare collective strength.
Further, the San Diego newbies are dangerously different.
Their daring brand of soccer chosen by Varas, general manager Tyler Heaps and president Tom Penn is atypical in MLS.
San Diego FC midfielder Luca De La Torre (14) and midfielder Hirving Lozano (11) celebrate with teammates after a goal against the Los Angeles Galaxy during their match at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, May 24, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“We kind of have a unique style, a way that we believe in playing — and that’s an advantage in football,” said Luca de la Torre, an attacking midfielder who played youth soccer in San Diego.
Don Coryell would’ve liked their verve.
“We play with a lot of risk, with a lot of aggression to try to create chances, to try to score,” said de la Torre. “We believe that’s the best way to win the game. More than going out and focusing on stopping what the other team is gonna do, it’s more about playing the way we play.”
SDFC scored 64 goals during the regular season, which ranks fifth among 30 MLS teams. Their goal differential of plus-23 is fourth. The club ended up second in assists, first in possession and first in passes attempted and completed.
Only five teams allowed fewer goals.
San Diego’s de la Torre, 27, was born four years after the Chargers reached their only Super Bowl and were blown out. Immersed in soccer, he learned nothing about San Diego’s sports-title drought. Nor did the Sockers grab his attention.
He might qualify as a local sports historian, though, compared to his teammates. Dreyer and Jeppe Tverskov, SDFC’s top two players, grew up in Denmark. Star wing Hirving “Chucky” Lozano hails from Mexico City. Many others come from abroad. And Varas, 42, grew up in the Bay Area.
But there’s one SDFC sports figure who’s well-acquainted with San Diego’s lengthy sports-title drought.
Manny Machado, a team investor, paid close attention to SDFC when he could find the time.
If SDFC can get those five wins, the Padres star will be among those raising a toast.
Originally Published: October 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM PDT
