After a nerve-wracking end to the regular season, the FC Tucson men are back in the playoffs.
FC Tucson (6-2-4) won its last three games — including four of the last five — and got some help to make it to the postseason.
FC Tucson striker Tyler Ware, left, and fullback Filip Arras head for the bench to celebrate Ware’s PK goal against Capo FC in the second half of the USL League Two match in Tucson on July 10, 2026.
“It’s exciting because the group were very, very hot for it,” said FC Tucson head coach Sebastian Pineda. “They had a lot of adversity, especially on the road. We knew that we were going to be strong at home, but we have to go and get the results until those very long trips and they came together.”
FC Tucson faces host San Francisco City FC (12-1-1) on Friday in the USL League Two’s round of 32.
This is FC Tucson’s ninth League Two playoff appearance (the team also made it during one of its four League One seasons) and its third straight. It has only missed the League Two postseason twice.
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FC Tucson centerback D'Andre Pickett, right, slips in from behind to nudge the ball from City SC forward Kelly Takara, disrupting his run in the second half of their USL League Two game in Tucson on June 26, 2026.
“It feels good, I think the quality that we brought in that — Sebas goes out and recruits, he knows the playoffs is the bare minimum,” said FCT defender D'Andre Pickett. “So, we got to go out there on Friday and compete, we lost a couple pieces, them going back to the schools, but either way it's going to be the same FC Tucson that gives all the energy.”
In three seasons as FC Tucson’s head League Two coach, Pineda has made the playoffs three times.
“I think it’s part of what we strive for in this club: to always be at those stages,” Pineda said. “So I'm personally proud of my staff, proud of the guys because it's not easy to make it in this conference with all the trouble that we have to do.”
FC Tucson went through a five-match winless streak before beating City SC 3-1 on June 26. However, four of those five were draws.
After the Men in Black closed out the regular season with a 2-1 win over Capo FC, they had to see how Redlands would fare against Ventura County, which had already clinched the division title. Redlands FC (6-2-4) tied Ventura on Saturday, leaving it with 22 points like FCT, but they had beaten Redlands 1-0 to earn the playoff spot.
In 2023, FC Tucson was set to host the tournament but missed the playoffs when Redlands beat Ventura to take the division, moving the pod to Southern California.
Pickett, who played on the 2023 side and for FC Tucson Pro Academy, said they “100%” feared a repeat of 2023.
“You get the throwback, the reminder of what Ventura did, they put their academy players instead of like their real players to tank so they didn't have to come to Tucson,” Pickett said. “So I think the playoff host being in San Francisco, helped them play a little bit, but now now all our focus is on Friday.”
FC Tucson midfielder Papa Sow, left, and fullback Filip Arras, right, put the clamps on Capo FC forward Finn Linaas (7) in the second half of the USL League Two match in Tucson on July 10, 2026.
FC Tucson and Ventura County travel to the Bay Area to face the top two sides from the NorCal Division. San Francisco City beat Project 51O 1-0 on Saturday to win the division.
Project 51O (10-3-1) faces Ventura County (8-0-4) in the first game on Friday, with the winners playing Sunday.
During the regular season, FC Tucson drew with Ventura County 2-2 at home and lost 2-1 on the road. In 2024, FCT beat Project 51O 2-1 to reach the national final four.
“It's going to be a lot of technical ability, energy," Pickett said. "The Bay Area has a strong culture for soccer, the World Cup being there.”
The winner of the San Francisco pod faces the winner of the Seattle pod for the Western Conference championship.
San Francisco City is sixth in the league in goals with 41, while FC Tucson has 19.
“Very energetic team, athletic, they love to play in transition,” Pineda said. “They love to be very direct and I think the team is ready for that, we have to talk about it, we want to talk about where we can attack them with our start of play.”
San Francisco City’s fans won League Two Supporters Group of the Year in 2019 and 2020.
Pickett, a student-athlete at Cal, has a couple of college teammates on San Francisco City.
“I know there's going to be a lot of energy," Pickett said. "It’s the first time they made playoffs in their USL Two history, so it's going to be a big crowd, a lot of energy, so we got to be ready to match that and more."
San Francisco City’s home ground is Kezar Stadium, which has been home to the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders and soccer teams in various leagues.
“It’s gonna be awesome, not gonna take it for granted, hoping we play two games there, Friday and Sunday,” Pickett said.
FC Tucson lost some players who went back to their colleges and has some injuries but it added a couple players, including forward Alexis Ledoux. The Frenchman won the Southwest Division Player of the Year in 2025 but missed the regular season after his daughter was born.
Though the team has experienced both the playoffs while losing players as they return to college, Pineda said they learn something new each year.
“You learn that you need to play the guys that are in the best physical shape because it's gonna be very physical games,” Pineda said. “It's a lot of work that you have to go and put out there and definitely you gotta trust all the guys to have that passion. The guys coming from the bench make a huge difference.”
Corner kicks
– FC Tucson will host a watch party on Friday for the match at Corbett’s, 340 N. Sixth Ave., starting at 7 p.m. Discounted FCT merchandise will be available.
– The Men in Black finished undefeated at home for the second straight season and third time overall. FCT went 5-0-1 at home in 2025 and 2026.
