For the fourth consecutive season, FC Cincinnati made the MLS Cup Playoffs & in comfortable fashion!

This season, the squad finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference & fell in the Conference Semifinals of MLS Cup Playoffs after taking a 4-0 thrashing from Lionel Messi & Inter Miami CF.

Taking a glance at the overall season, Cincinnati went 9-5-3 at home & 11-4-2 on the road. They scored 6 less goals and allowed 8 goals more in comparison to their 2024 campaign.

With their roster decisions published, FC Cincinnati will have very little roster flexibility. It will be very difficult for the team to make many changes to their roster for the upcoming season. 

In the offseason guide:

The Positives

FC Cincinnati’s Designated Players were unstoppable this season.

Evander led the way with 33 goal contributions (18 goals & 15 assists) with Kevin Denkey attributing 17 goal contributions of his own (15 goals & 2 assists). The success rate of the duo led to Evander being in MLS MVP conversations all season long.

It’ll be important to add around Evander & Denkey so that more of the workload can be distributed in the upcoming season. The club is opening a U22 initiative slot (or a 3rd DP slot) after the departure of Dominik Marczuk, who will be returning to Real Salt Lake. 

This team was very successful both at home & on the road this season. Finishing 9W-5L-3D at home & 11W-4L-2D made it clearly obvious that this team would be contending for the Supporters’ Shield all season long.

The Negatives

Cincinnati had only 11 different goalscorers this season. To be honest, that’s quite low for a team that finished 2nd in the East.

The club unfortunately never woke-up to face Lionel Messi & Inter Miami in the MLS Conference Semifinals. The team was dominated on every single inch of the pitch and the team looked like a shadow of themselves.

Cincinnati was another team that failed to make it out of the groups stage in the Leagues Cup this season. The club had 1 win & 2 losses in Leagues Cup after winning 3-2 over Monterrey, falling 2-2 (4-3 in penalties) to Juarez, & falling 2-1 versus Guadalajara.

Roster Flexibility

FC Cincinnati has very little roster flexibility. At the moment, the club has two designated players (Miles Robinson, Kevin Denkey & Evander) and three U-22 initiative signings (Samuel Gidi, Gilberto Flores, & Ender Echenique).

This club is entering the 3DP & 3U22 model. In regard to GAM totals, the club has $0 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 22 players rostered as of November 25th.

Offseason Priorities

Sign another goal scorer. If Evander or Denkey fail to produce goals, it’s going to be hard for this team to continue to get results week-in and week-out.