Soccer fans, mark your calendars.
The most essential LA Galaxy matches you need to know about for 2025 are here.
With Major League Soccer releasing its new schedule on Thursday, December 19, there are several key dates, marquee matchups, and takeaways to be had from the new campaign announcement.
For example, a quick look shows that there will be no Fourth of July El Tráfico for the first time in two years in Los Angeles.
Although the champs had hoped to make the annual Rose Bowl match against LAFC a tradition, logistics or El Tráfico fatigue probably spelled its doom, leading to it being cut as one of the essential LA Galaxy matches for this season.
But the eyes of the league will surely be on how the MLS Cup champions fare against their other opponents all season long.
Part of their success will simply come down to scheduling.
Does the team travel midweek? How many three-game weeks does it have? Do key games come during international windows while the team is missing players? When is the longest away trip?
These questions will go a long way in answering other critical concerns for the reigning champions regarding their chances for a successful year.
Will the Galaxy be able to run it back and repeat? Can they withstand the absence of injured star midfielder Riqui Puig? How will Coach Greg Vanney manage the roster for the different competitions LA is participating in?
A look at the essential LA Galaxy matches of the upcoming season should give fans a clue of how difficult or easy the season might be.
MLS Schedule Reveals Essential LA Galaxy Matches For 2025
LA Galaxy vs. San Diego – Sunday, February 23 (Home)
It’s always important to start well.
Last season, the Galaxy opened their year at home in front of an amped-up sold-out crowd that always seems to accompany Lionel Messi wherever he goes.
In the lead-up to the match, chatter had been about not if the Galaxy would lose, but by how many goals.
Messi and friends made for an electric mood, and LA was up for it, earning a 1-1 tie vs. Inter Miami at home with the world watching. Fans in LA will feel hard done about a match they feel they would have won if not for a phantom foul called on Mark Delgado for his second yellow card and eventual expulsion.
And even though the result was a draw, the early, encouraging signs of a different Galaxy team were on display that night. The Galaxy’s performance against Miami filled fans with hope that that team and 2024 would be different.
The eyes of the world were watching as the Galaxy kicked off last season, and this year will be no different.
MLS debutantes San Diego FC will travel North to begin life in the league with a trial by fire. They open their season and their history against the current champions.
Despite the fanfare and frenzied atmosphere that is sure to accompany an event of such magnitude, it should be business as usual for the Galaxy. The occasion, rather than the importance, makes this one of the essential LA Galaxy matches this year.
They will be expected to easily beat their neighbor newbies.
For the Galaxy, it will be an opportunity to show they can carry on as usual without Puig. A convincing victory might set the tone for the rest of the championship defense.
LA Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake/CS Herediano – Tuesday, March 4 (Away)
The Concacaf Champions Cup comes back to LA. That makes it one of the most essential LA Galaxy matches in 2025 for that reason alone.
Marking their first participation in the continent’s championship competition since 2015-2016, the Galaxy qualified as MLS Cup champions.
As a reward for doing so, they’ve earned an automatic bye into the tournament’s Round of 16.
Depending on how far they advance, they’ve also won themselves a few more midweek matches and potential away trips.
How far is up to their potential opponents.
Fellow MLS team Real Salt Lake and Costa Rican Apertura Champions C.S. Herediano will face off for the opportunity to play the Galaxy. The teams will play a two-legged tie beginning on Wednesday, February 19 at the National Stadium Of Costa Rica. The return leg will see Herediano travel to Salt Lake City a week later, on Wednesday, February 26.
Although Galaxy fans are probably dreaming of an away day to Costa Rica instead of Utah, the difference in travel is significant for the players.
Should RSL win, the Galaxy face a two-hour domestic flight they could probably hop the morning of the match. Post-game, it’s not a stretch to imagine them catching the last flight out of the Beehive state and the team sleeping in their own beds later that night.
That all changes if Herediano eliminates RSL.
That domestic flight turns international with the added bureaucracy of official documents and customs being involved. Also, tack on another four hours each way to flights, making it a 12-hour round-trip sojourn. And players would definitely have to forget about sleeping in their beds for multiple nights.
Either way, there are no excuses, no matter the opponent.
LA is expected to make a deep run, courtesy of their draw.
This match instantly becomes one of the essential LA Galaxy matches to watch next season. It will be the first opportunity for them to show their return to the Champions Cup is warranted.
It’s also the first opportunity to establish themselves as favorites to win continental silverware again.
LA Galaxy vs. New York Red Bulls – Saturday, May 10 (Away)
A note for traveling Galaxy fans; expect a rough reception in the Big Apple.
A rematch of the 2024 MLS Cup title match, which the Galaxy won 2-1, the New York Red Bulls will host their fellow finalist about three months into the season.
And if the approximately 2,000 Red Bulls fans that made the trip to Los Angeles for the final are any indication, they’ll get loud.
After the cup loss, they will surely have no love for their visiting finals foe.
This far into the season, both teams should have gelled enough to give fans a good show. It won’t count but for three points, but New York will try to get revenge for their title game defeat.
Everyone loves an underdog. Even more so when it’s an underdog trying to get revenge. That makes this among the most essential LA Galaxy matches to view for hate watchers.
The Galaxy’s first East Coast trip of the season, they will play the Philadelphia Union four days later at Subaru Park in their first MLS midweek game of the season.
Read More: 2024 LA Galaxy Among the Best Teams in MLS History
LA Galaxy vs. LAFC – Sunday, May 18 (Home)
Just four days after LA returns from their first East Coast trip, the Galaxy faces LAFC in the first and only home El Tráfico of the season.
And with it being the only El Tráfico at the Digz, this game is that much more of a “can’t miss” as one of the essential LA Galaxy matches this year. In last year’s Digz El Tráfico, a famous come-from-behind 4-2 win over their foe could be pointed to as the moment when it seemed the Galaxy would capture its sixth star.
In 2024, it appeared these two teams were on a collision course to meet in the playoffs. While it never happened due to LAFC losing to Seattle in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Galaxy might have to go through the Black and Gold at some point in the future to defend its crown.
This game will be the first opportunity to see how the city rivals match up.
For the Galaxy, it will be a chance to see if they’ve added enough to their roster in the offseason to stay ahead of their neighbors and offset Puig’s loss.
It will also show LA if they have the depth to withstand the campaign.
The third match in a week, and a difficult derby one at that, should give the Galaxy a good indication of whether they can withstand the rigors of the season.
It’ll also let Galaxy General Manager Will Kuntz know if something must change.
Essential LA Galaxy Matches at the Business End of the Season
LA Galaxy vs. Seattle – Sunday, August 10 (Home)
The return of Riqui Puig in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals?
MLS script writers and Don Garber would salivate at the thought.
But if the math is mathing correctly, Puig’s ACL injury timeline of six to nine months out might put him back in action precisely against the team he got injured against.
The 16 days between this fixture and the preceding one on Friday, July 25, against Houston might make it possible as well. And if it does, it instantly becomes one of the most essential LA Galaxy matches to watch this season.
Either way, if Puig doesn’t play, the animosity resulting from his injury makes this one supercharged with emotion.
In last season’s West title match, Puig was targeted by Seattle players with “physical” play, exemplified by Cristian Roldan’s rough challenge in the 61st minute.
While Puig went on to finish the match and provide the game-winning assist, it was later revealed that the talismanic Catalan had played on a torn ACL for about 30 minutes while leading the Galaxy to victory.
If it had ended there, it would have been an unjust but unfortunate part of the game.
The Sounders’ response, however, rubbed salt into the wound and earned the ire of the majority of Galaxy fans.
Seattle, then, shouldn’t expect a kind reception on their only visit to Los Angeles next year. If Puig can’t play, they’ll try to “win it for Riqui,” just like LA did in MLS Cup.
LA Galaxy vs. Inter Miami – Saturday, August 16 (Away)
Could this be a preview of MLS Cup 2025?
A week after their WCF rematch with the Sounders, the Galaxy takes its last East Coast trip of the regular season. Fans might get a glimpse of a potential title game when LA visits Inter Miami for the first time in the Messi era.
This might make this fixture the king of the most essential LA Galaxy matches of the year.
With only seven games left until the regular season ends when this match takes place, it’s a good bet that fans will see these teams close to full strength.
Or at least what should be close to postseason form.
A good result in this game last year gave Galaxy fans the belief that their team could compete again. It set the expectation for what was achievable during the regular season.
If the Galaxy were to go to Florida and beat the Supporters Shield holders convincingly, it would go a long way to helping LA finish their 2025 schedule on a high.
A good result in the same tie last year, provided a solid foundation to the regular season for the Galaxy.
A win over Messi and Miami away with only a few matches left on the calendar, might give the Galaxy the springboard needed to run it back a record seventh time and repeat as MLS champions.