LOS ANGELES, CA. – The LA Galaxy won its sixth MLS Cup, and first since 2014, after defeating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Galaxy’s six MLS Cups are the most in league history and now two more than the next closest club (four, D.C. United).
After a dominant performance, including the opening assist of the match, Galaxy midfielder Gastón Brugman was named the MLS Cup MVP presented by Audi. With the victory, LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney became the seventh coach in MLS history to win multiple MLS Cups and the fourth to do so with two different clubs.
“I’m proud of the group. I mean for me, obviously I’m excited. This is what we do this for
– to try to have these moments with the fans, with the players, with our staff personally,” Vanney said. This is also why I do it – to try to win championships, to try to continue to push this league forward in any way I can, and to enjoy these moments with my family and everybody else. I’m happy too because again, I’ve said this many times, but I’ve lost three here, and finally to win one is nice.”
The Galaxy emerged victorious with a 2-1 victory in front of 26,812 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park, which featured two goals in the first 13 minutes of action. The home side opened the scoring in the ninth minute when MLS Cup MVP presented by Audi Gastón Brugman played an inch-perfect pass to Joseph Paintsil who tucked away his finish into the side-netting. Just four minutes later, Serbian forward Dejan Joveljić doubled the advantage on the counterattack, driving at the Red Bulls’ defenders and flicking a finish with the outside of his foot into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage.
Despite the Galaxy taking a 2-0 advantage, the Red Bulls fought back with Sean Nealis halving the deficit in the 28th minute after collecting a bouncing ball in the 18-yard-box and volleying it into the back of the net. Despite a back-and-forth second half, veteran goalkeeper John McCarthy came up clutch with four saves in the victory. McCarthy became the seventh goalkeeper in MLS history to win multiple MLS Cups as the Galaxy hoisted their sixth trophy in front of their home fans.
“Last year we learned a lot and we needed to change things as we were at the very
bottom,” Brugman said. “Since the beginning of the year, we knew that this year would be different. We prepared our season the way that we wanted to, and I think Riqui (Puig) was in his best this year and he helped us overcome a lot in games, and he is a deserving MVP for this season.”
With the victory, the Galaxy finished a perfect 17-0-3 at Dignity Healthy Sports Park in 2024 and only suffered one home defeat all season, which took place at the Rose Bowl. The 2024 Galaxy side became only the second team in league history to go unbeaten at their home venue and win MLS Cup in the same season – something they did previously in 2011.
FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ Match Schedule Announced for Upcoming Summer Tournament
Game Notes
- With their MLS Cup victory, the LA Galaxy became the first club in league history to hoist six MLS Cups, which is two more than the next-closest team (D.C. United, 4). After a 10-year hiatus in the final, the Galaxy captured their first Philip F. Anschutz trophy since 2014.
- By scoring two goals in the victory, the LA Galaxy reached 87 goals in 2024 between the MLS regular season (69) and postseason (18). The 87 goals were the most by an MLS Cup champion in league history and third-most by any team in MLS history, behind only the 1998 Galaxy (95) and 2019 LAFC (91).
- In his fourth MLS Cup appearance as a head coach, Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney captured his second victory after previously doing so with Toronto FC in 2017. Vanney, who played seven seasons with the Galaxy in his career, made three MLS Cup finals but failed to win any of them. By winning today, Vanney became the seventh coach in MLS history to win multiple MLS Cups and the fourth to do so with two different clubs, joining Bruce Arena (D.C. United and LA Galaxy), Sigi Schmid (LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew), and Caleb Porter (Portland Timbers and Columbus Crew).
- By scoring two goals in the first half, the LA Galaxy recorded a total of 18 goals in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, which is the most in a single postseason in league history. The previous record was held by Toronto FC (17 in 2016), which were also coached by current Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney.
- Galaxy midfielder Gastón Brugman was tremendous in the middle of the park, stepping in for MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire selection Riqui Puig who missed the game due to a torn ACL, and earned MLS Cup MVP presented by Audi honors for his performance. Brugman recorded the assist on Joseph Paintsil’s opening goal, which was his first in MLS action since October 5, 2024. With the honor, Brugman became the first Uruguayan player in league history to be named MLS Cup MVP.
- Joseph Paintsil opened the scoring in the ninth minute for the Galaxy, marking the sixth goal scored within the first 10 minutes of an MLS Cup in league history. In his debut postseason, Paintsil scored four goals and had one assist, including two game-winning goals.
- After scoring the second goal of the match in the 13th minute, Galaxy forward Dejan Joveljić extended his total in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs to six goals. The Serbian international became the fifth player in MLS history to score at least six goals in a single postseason and the first since the Galaxy’s Robbie Keane in 2014.
- Thanks to Joveljić’s goal, the Galaxy trio of Gabriel Pec (35), Riqui Puig (35), and Joveljić (29) combined for 99 goal contributions across the regular season and postseason. This tied the previous MLS record by an MLS trio, which was done by the 1998 LA Galaxy – Mauricio Cienfuegos (35), Cobi Jones (33), and Welton (31).
- Goalkeeper John McCarthy made four saves in the victory for the Galaxy, earning his second MLS Cup trophy in the last three seasons (2022, LAFC). McCarthy is the seventh goalkeeper in league history to win multiple MLS Cups and the only one to do so with both current Los Angeles teams.
“The atmosphere was amazing here in the stadium in this final. But what I have seen,
what I can say, is always the same, that I love these guys and how the reaction was,” New York Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz said. “Now they are in the locker room, some guys, they are crying. Sometimes it’s tough when you lose the final. But also, we will use this experience to create the next energy, the next intensity. But I would say the next energy level will be when we start the first training session, not today.”
- For the third time in MLS Cup 2024 presented by Audi history, the final featured three goals scored in the opening 30 minutes of the match. The last time this happened was in 2015 when the Columbus Crew and Portland Timbers combined to score three goals in the opening 18 minutes.
- The Galaxy’s Marco Reus came off the bench and earned his first MLS Cup title after joining the club in August. After a historic career in the German Bundesliga, Reus won the first domestic league title of his career today. In his 15 seasons in the Bundesliga, Reus finished in second place on seven occasions with Borussia Dortmund – no player in Germany had been a runner-up more than Reus without ever winning the title.
- Defender Sean Nealis scored the opening goal of the match for the Red Bulls in the 28th minute to cut the visitors’ deficit to 2-1. Nealis had never had a postseason goal entering today and only scored three times in 135 career MLS regular season matches.
- Despite stepping in for an injured Andrés Reyes shortly before kick-off, Noah Eile played a key role in the Red Bulls’ comeback bid. Eile led the team in touches (105) and passes completed (86), while adding two shots.
- The New York Red Bulls became the first club in MLS history to have five different players born in New York or New Jersey start an MLS Cup final – Daniel Edelman, Dylan Nealis, Sean Nealis, Peter Stroud, and John Tolkin.
- By starting tonight’s match together for the New York Red Bulls, brothers Dylan and Sean Nealis became the fourth set of brothers to both play in an MLS Cup, joining Diego and Yimmi Chara (Portland in 2021), Cristian and Alex Roldan (Seattle in 2020), Chris and Sean Henderson (Colorado in 1997).