Nashville SC
Also written as Nashville.
The club
Nashville SC was founded on 19 May 2016 as a United Soccer League franchise, principally owned by John Ingram of Ingram Industries, with the Turner family, Derrick Henry, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Ishbia, Filip Forsberg and the Antetokounmpo brothers among the other investors over the club's life. The MLS club is not the same club as the Nashville Metros, an earlier Nashville side that played indoor and outdoor soccer from 1989 to 2012, rising as high as the second-tier A-League before dropping to the fourth-tier Premier Development League and dissolving in 2012; the two have no institutional connection. Nashville SC did, however, buy its name, badge and colours from Nashville FC, a National Premier Soccer League club, which took a 1 percent equity stake in the new franchise in exchange.
Major League Soccer awarded Nashville an expansion franchise on 20 December 2017, and the club began MLS play on 29 February 2020, losing 2-1 at home to Atlanta United in front of 59,069 spectators at Nissan Stadium, still the club's MLS attendance record. Nashville played its first two MLS seasons at Nissan Stadium before moving into its own purpose-built home.
That home is Geodis Park, which opened on 1 May 2022 with a match against the Philadelphia Union. Costs rose during construction from an initial estimate of around 275 million dollars to between 325 million and 345 million dollars, covered by investors rather than taxpayers. The stadium seats just over 30,000 and is the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States and Canada. Before Nissan Stadium, in the club's USL years, Nashville played at First Tennessee Park.
The head coach is the American B.J. Callaghan, in charge of a team captained by the German attacking midfielder Hany Mukhtar.
Recent seasons
Nashville reached the MLS Cup playoffs in each of their first several seasons, and 2023 brought the club's first appearance in a major final when they went the distance in the inaugural Leagues Cup before losing on penalties. In 2025 Nashville had their best regular season, with 16 wins and 58 goals scored, finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference, and won the club's first major domestic trophy, the US Open Cup. Nashville's exact final league placings and playoff outcomes in every season were not established from the sources read here.
Honours and landmarks
Nashville SC won the 2025 US Open Cup, beating Austin FC in the final on 1 October 2025 for the club's first trophy in any competition; Sam Surridge finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals, and the win earned Nashville a place in the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Nashville were runners-up in the inaugural Leagues Cup in 2023, losing the final to Inter Miami. Hany Mukhtar won the Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player award and the MLS Golden Boot in 2022, and has been named to the MLS Best XI in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and to the MLS All-Star roster every year from 2022 to 2026. Walker Zimmerman, Nashville's captain and centre-back for six seasons before leaving as a free agent in January 2026, was named MLS Defender of the Year in 2020 and 2021 and to the MLS Best XI in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Notable scorelines
Nashville's run to the 2023 Leagues Cup final went through FC Cincinnati 2-1 (5-4 on penalties) in the round of 32, America 2-2 (6-5 on penalties) in the round of 16, Sporting Kansas City 1-0 in the quarter-finals and Monterrey 1-0 in the semi-finals, before a 1-1 draw with Inter Miami at Geodis Park on 19 August 2023 that Inter Miami won 9-8 on penalties, with Lionel Messi featuring for the winners. In the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup, Nashville beat Atletico Ottawa 7-0 on aggregate in the first round and Club America 1-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, before losing 2-0 on aggregate to Tigres UANL in the semi-finals. Hany Mukhtar scored the fastest hat-trick in MLS history, in the 10th, 13th and 16th minutes against the Chicago Fire in July 2021. Nashville's all-time record win and record defeat in league play were not established from the sources read here.
Head-to-head notes
Nashville's rivalry history with specific opponents was not established from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
B.J. Callaghan is the head coach and Hany Mukhtar the captain; Sam Surridge is the club's leading scorer in 2026, with nine league goals and ten in all competitions. As of 23 August 2026 Nashville lead both the Eastern Conference and the Supporters' Shield standings outright, with a record of 15 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses from 21 matches for 49 points. Results in 2026 have included home wins of 4-1 over New England Revolution on 21 February, 5-0 over Orlando City on 21 March, 3-2 over Los Angeles FC on 17 May and 4-1 over Inter Miami on 15 August, and an away win of 2-0 at Atlanta United on 18 April.
Nashville also reached the semi-finals of the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup before losing to Tigres UANL, and took part in the 2026 Leagues Cup league phase, winning one of three matches. Walker Zimmerman is no longer at the club, having signed for Toronto FC on 2 January 2026 after his Nashville contract expired. Nashville's summer 2026 transfer business and current US Open Cup status were not established from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_SC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Metros https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geodis_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_Zimmerman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hany_Mukhtar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Nashville_SC_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_U.S._Open_Cup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Leagues_Cup
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.