Club histories

Minnesota United FC

Also written as Minnesota.

The club

Minnesota United FC's lineage traces back to Minnesota Thunder, founded in 1990 and playing in the USISL, the USL A-League and then the USL First Division before folding in November 2009, when the club released every player from contract amid heavy debts and unpaid wages. The National Sports Center announced a replacement club in January 2010, initially named NSC Minnesota with the nickname Stars; Manny Lagos was appointed the first head coach four days later. That side, generally known as NSC Minnesota Stars and then Minnesota Stars, played in the USSF Division 2 Professional League and then the North American Soccer League. On November 9, 2012 the league announced the team had been purchased by Bill McGuire, the former UnitedHealth Group chief executive, and on March 5, 2013 the club rebranded again, this time as Minnesota United FC, still in the NASL. The Dark Clouds supporters' group, formed in the Thunder era, followed the club through each of these changes of name and league.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber announced on March 25, 2015 that Minnesota United would join MLS as the league's 23rd club, with McGuire's ownership group awarded the expansion franchise. Wikipedia describes the MLS club as having replaced the NASL franchise of the same name rather than being formally the same legal entity, though it carried the same ownership, colours, badge and support base into the new league; the precise legal relationship between the NASL-era Minnesota United FC (2013-2016) and the MLS-era Minnesota United FC (2017-present) was not established beyond that from the sources read here. The club played its inaugural MLS match on March 3, 2017, a 5-1 defeat away to the Portland Timbers.

The club's nickname is the Loons, after the badge's stylised loon, Minnesota's state bird, and the mascot is PK the Loon, introduced in 2014. Club colours are gray, sky blue and black with a red accent. Minnesota United played its NASL home matches at the National Sports Center in Blaine, then used TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus as a temporary MLS home in 2017 and 2018 while a soccer-specific stadium was built. Allianz Field, in Saint Paul's Midway neighbourhood, opened in March 2019 with a capacity of 19,400. The current head coach is Cameron Knowles of New Zealand, appointed on January 12, 2026 after Eric Ramsay left to join West Bromwich Albion.

Recent seasons

Minnesota United's best MLS regular season to date came in 2019, their third year in the league, when they finished fourth in the Western Conference with 53 points. In the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs they reached the conference semi-finals before losing 2-1 to the LA Galaxy. In 2020 they went one round further, reaching the Western Conference final and leading Seattle Sounders 2-0 late on before losing 3-2. Their playoff runs since have been shorter: eliminated in the first round by the Portland Timbers, 3-1, in 2021, and by FC Dallas on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2022. The club reached the quarter-finals in 2024, losing 6-2 to the LA Galaxy, and again in 2025, losing 1-0 to San Diego. The 2025 season was a club record by points, with 58 from a 16-8-10 record for fourth place in the Western Conference. Christian Ramirez is the club's all-time leading scorer across all competitions with 74 goals.

Honours and landmarks

In the NASL era the club, then playing as NSC Minnesota Stars, won the Soccer Bowl in 2011, and Minnesota United FC won the NASL's 2014 Spring Season title with a 16-4-7 record. In MLS the club has not won the Supporters' Shield or MLS Cup. Its only major final appearance came in the 2019 U.S. Open Cup, where Minnesota United lost 2-1 to Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 27, 2019, in front of a U.S. Open Cup final attendance record of 35,709. Atlanta led through a Chase Gasper own goal in the 10th minute and a Pity Martínez goal in the 16th; Robin Lod pulled one back for Minnesota in the 47th minute, and Atlanta defender Leandro González Pírez, named man of the match despite being sent off in the 74th minute, helped his side hold out with ten men. In Leagues Cup play Minnesota United reached the quarter-finals in 2023 and the group stage in 2024. Any Concacaf Champions League or Concacaf Champions Cup participation was not established from the sources read here.

Notable scorelines

Minnesota United's heaviest MLS defeat in their debut season was the 5-1 loss away to the Portland Timbers on March 3, 2017, followed the next weekend by a 6-1 home defeat to Atlanta United, both results from a difficult expansion campaign. In 2026 they were beaten 6-0 away to the Vancouver Whitecaps on March 15, their biggest defeat of that season, and responded later in the year with a 5-1 win away to the San Jose Earthquakes on August 22, their biggest win of the campaign. In the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs they beat Sporting Kansas City 3-0. A 4-0 friendly win over Everton on July 20, 2022 was among the club's most eye-catching non-competitive results. Specific rivalry scorelines and any record all-time home or away wins and defeats were not established from the sources read here.

Head-to-head notes

Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City have played as Western Conference opponents through Minnesota's MLS history, including the 3-0 playoff win recorded above, but the detail and history of any named rivalry between the two clubs, such as a "Heartland Rivalry," was not established from the sources read here. Other head-to-head rivalry patterns, including any with fellow expansion-era or regional Western Conference sides, were likewise not established from the sources read here.

Right now (2026)

Cameron Knowles is the head coach, having taken over in January 2026 after Eric Ramsay's departure for West Bromwich Albion. Through August 22, 2026, Minnesota United had played 21 MLS matches, with a record of seven wins, seven draws and seven losses for 28 points, 27 goals scored and 29 conceded, leaving them 10th in the Western Conference and 16th overall. Their season has included the 6-0 defeat at Vancouver in March and the 5-1 win at San Jose in August, along with a 2-0 win over the Portland Timbers on April 18 and a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy on April 4. Kelvin Yeboah was the club's leading scorer across all competitions with 10 goals. The club advanced to the round of 16 in the 2026 U.S. Open Cup and reached Phase One of the 2026 Leagues Cup; their MLS Cup Playoff position was still to be decided. In transfer business during 2026 the club loaned midfielder Dominik Fitz to Austrian Bundesliga side Wolfsberger AC and signed Maurice Malone from an Austrian club.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_United_FC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Thunder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_U.S._Open_Cup_Final https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Minnesota_United_FC_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_United_FC_records_and_statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_United_FC_seasons https://www.mlssoccer.com/clubs/minnesota-united-fc/

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.