Union Omaha have secured 2nd place in the standings, with no mobility in either direction. Of course, there’s plenty of motivation for the Owls here, given that it’s the regular season finale… and that they’ve lost two straight matches for the first time since June. With playoffs just a week away, they’ll need a course correction up north against the ‘Mingos.
Forward Madison, meanwhile, need to win in order to secure a home match in the first round. Just one point separates third through sixth in the league, though sixth-place One Knoxville SC has finished their slate of matches. Also something to look out for: Madison winning to stay third in the league would also potentially set up a semifinals clash between these two teams in the playoffs. Despite having met 20 times before this fixture, they’ve never faced each other in a knockout match.
Here are three more factoids going into the finale of the 2026 regular season:
- The Owls’ first round matchup is up in the air, but it may be decided by the time this match kicks off at 5:00pm central. A Chattanooga Red Wolves win at New York Cosmos will lock that matchup in. However, dropped points would open up the door for Fort Wayne FC to take the 7th seed should they beat visitors Athletic Club Boise.
- New York Cosmos vs. Chattanooga Red Wolves SC kicks off at 3:00pm central.
- Fort Wayne FC vs. Athletic Club Boise kicks off at 6:30pm central.
- Sergio Ors Navarro is third in the league in goals per 90 minutes, with 0.64, and right behind him is teammate Diego Gutiérrez. With his goal last weekend at Westchester SC, Ors Navarro also became Union Omaha’s all-time leading scorer with 26 in all competitions.
- Forward Madison is not only tied for the most proficient team on set-pieces with 18 goals, but they’ve only conceded 7 goals off set-pieces all season, ranking third in the league. Union Omaha have conceded just 6 goals off set-pieces, but scored 7.
Union Omaha at Forward Madison FC kicks off at 5:00pm central on Saturday, October 24th. This match time was moved up from its original 6:00pm slot due to the World Series. You can watch the match on ESPN+, as well as on the Golden Spike Network locally.
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 and 2024 USL League One Champions, is the premier professional soccer team in the state of Nebraska. USL League One is a United States Soccer Federation-sanctioned professional men’s soccer league that occupies the third tier of the American soccer landscape, below USL Championship (tier two) and the newly announced top-tier USL Premier, launching in 2028. Union Omaha will play its 2026 USL League One home matches at Morrison Stadium in downtown Omaha. The team is led by Chief Operating Officer Alexis Boulos in the front office and by Head Coach Vincenzo Candela on the pitch.
