After a shaky 2024 season that saw them miss the MLS Cup Playoffs by 5-points, it was a positive sight to see Austin FC rebound and finish in the Top-6 this season.

This club has been on a wild rollercoaster ride since their inaugural MLS season back in 2021. The squad has finished 10th (in 2021), 2nd (in 2022), 12th (in 2023), 10th (in 2024), & 6th (in 2026).

This season, the squad snuck into the MLS Cup Playoffs as the #6 seed and fell in the first round best-of-three series after 2 matches versus Los Angeles FC (2-1 L & 4-1 L).

Taking a glance at the overall season, Austin FC went 7-3-7 at home & 6-10-1 on the road. They scored 2 less goals and allowed 3 less goals in comparison to their 2024 campaign.

The biggest question for Austin FC entering 2026 is: How do they fill the voids left by Vazquez’ injury?  Who will replace Julio Cascante in the backline? What can Austin do to implement more scoring into their offense?

In the offseason guide:

The Positives

Austin FC had only two players with 10+ goal contributions. Owen Wolff led the charge with 15 total goal contributions (7 goals & 8 assists) while Designated Player Osman Bukari had 10 goal contributions (3 goals & 7 assists). Austin had 15 different goal scorers this season.

Defensively, Austin FC improved in comparison to the 2024 season. The squad allowed 45 total goals in 2025 and a key reason why was MLS All-Star goalkeeper Brad Stuver. The 34-year-old goalkeeper made 128 saves and had 9 clean sheets across 34 games this season.

The Negatives

Austin FC were the lowest scoring team in all of MLS with 37 total goals.

It’s no shock that the club was greatly affected when Designated Player forward Brandon Vazquez went down in early July with a non-contact Right ACL tear. The forward that cost Austin $10,000,000 in January and had just 5 goal contributions (5 goals & 0 assists) in 19 games with Austin. It’ll be extremely important for him to fully recover so that he can get back to his top form when he returns late in the 2026 season.

Austin charged all the way to the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final but unfortunately fell 2-1 versus Nashville SC. This in hindsight should be a positive, however, due to the result, Austin failed to qualify for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.

This squad was extremely disappointing on the road this season. They went 6W-1D-10L on the road and it ultimately led to the squad finishing in 6th place in the MLS Western Conference. Improvement on the road could propel them to a top-4 finish in the Western Conference.

Roster Flexibility

Austin FC doesn’t have a lot of roster flexibility. At the moment, the club has three designated players (Osman Bukari, Myrto Uzuni, & Brandon Vazquez) and two U-22 initiative signings (Mateja Djordjevic & Nicolás Dubersarsky).

This club is currently in the 3DP and 3 U-22s model. In regard to GAM totals, the club has $44,636 of GAM (as of Sept. 18, 2025).

The club announced their end-of-season roster update, where they announced most contract option decisions. 

The club is entering the 2026 season with 24 players rostered as of November 25th.

Offseason Priorities

Get healthy. Losing Brandon Vazquez due to a Right-ACL tear in July derailed Austin’s season. If this squad can get healthy and get back on track, they could contend for the Supporters’ Shield again.

The club needs to sign a starting center back after declining the contract option of Julio Cascante & need to sign better depth midfielders.

Another need is more goal scorers. The club elected to decline the option of forward Diego Rubio, who played in 25 games this season for the club & had 4 goal contributions (2 goals & 2 assists). Who comes in to fill Vazquez’ void & replace Rubio as the depth option?