2023 Seattle Sounders FC season

Following the end of the 2022 season, general manager Garth Lagerwey departed Seattle to become president of Atlanta United FC. He was replaced by technical director Craig Waibel on November 30.[8] During the offseason, the Sounders exercised their contract options on most of their roster with the exception of forward Will Bruin and midfielder Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez; defender Jimmy Medranda was also released into free agency.[9] The club had 11 players with guaranteed contracts through the 2023 season, including most of their veteran squad.[10] In late December, the club acquired forward Héber through a trade with New York City FC.[11] Seattle also signed two Homegrown Players, midfielder Sota Kitahara and goalkeeper Jacob Castro.[12] The club's two SuperDraft picks, forward Eythor Björgolfsson and defender Blake Bowen, were signed by reserve side Tacoma Defiance but continued to train with the first team.[13]

The Sounders opened their training camp at Starfire Sports in Tukwila on January 4, 2023, with no injured outfield players following the return of João Paulo and Obed Vargas.[14] The team played several intra-squad scrimmages during their Seattle training camp due to difficulty finding MLS and USL Championship teams teams with open schedules.[15][16] The Sounders moved to Marbella, Spain, in late January as part of preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup hosted in Morocco the following month.[17] There, the club played in split scrimmages on January 28 against two European teams: a scoreless draw with Wolfsberger AC of Austria and a 3–2 loss to Swedish side Hammarby IF.[18][19]

Seattle entered the Club World Cup in the second round and lost 1–0 to Egypt's Al Ahly, conceding a deflected goal in the 88th minute.[20] They were the first MLS team to play in the Club World Cup and earned $1 million in prize money as a participant.[21] The team were eliminated from the tournament, but qualified for the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as one of four CONCACAF entrants.[22] Following their return from Morocco, the Sounders played a closed-door scrimmage against Louisville City FC of the USL Championship and won 2–1 with a set of rotated lineups.[23] Several players remained in limited training through the end of February due to injuries and fatigue, including Vargas and striker Raúl Ruidíaz.[24]

Jordan Morris (pictured in 2019) became the first Sounders player to score four goals in an MLS match

The Sounders opened their MLS regular season campaign on February 26 at home against the Colorado Rapids. The team earned a 4–0 win—Cristian Roldan scored the opening goal of the season and was followed by Jordan Morris' pair of headers. Héber also scored in his MLS debut for the club.[25] Morris and Héber scored a goal each in the following week's 2–0 victory over Real Salt Lake at home.[26] Héber later suffered a hamstring injury during training and was replaced in the starting lineup by Fredy Montero, who had returned to the Sounders for an additional year. Seattle's first away match of the season ended in a 1–0 loss to FC Cincinnati despite the home side earning a red card. A late equalizing goal by Yeimar Gómez Andrade was called off by the video assistant referee due to a foul in the build-up.[27]

The team earned their third home shutout in a scoreless draw with reigning MLS Cup 2022 champions Los Angeles FC. Ruidíaz returned to the starting lineup, but was substituted early due to injury concerns.[28] The Sounders played against Sporting Kansas City with several positional changes due to the absence of six players who had been called up to international teams. Jordan Morris became the first Sounders player to score four goals—all assisted by Léo Chú—in the club's 4–1 victory, their first on the road since July 2022.[29][30] Morris was moved from the wing to the center forward position to compensate for the loss of Ruidíaz and Héber, but their recovery left the Sounders with more offensive options. In an interview, manager Brian Schmetzer stated that "Sounders fans should be happy because we've got a really freakin' good team."[31]

Morris scored his fifth consecutive goal for the club in a 2–1 win over the LA Galaxy in Southern California. The goal was assisted by Chú, who also scored from outside the 18-yard box in the first half.[32] The Galaxy cut the lead by a goal and made several unsuccessful attempts to score an equalizer; the team appealed for a penalty following an alleged handball by Nouhou in stoppage time, but were denied.[33] Goalkeeper Stefan Frei finished the match with seven saves and tied Osvaldo Alonso for the most MLS starts in club history at 322 matches.[32] Brian Schmetzer also became the third-fastest coach in MLS history to reach 100 wins, having done so in 212 matches.[32] During a home match the following week, the Sounders earned a 3–0 victory over expansion team St. Louis City SC to replace them atop the Western Conference. Josh Atencio scored his first career MLS goal, while Raúl Ruidíaz returned as a substitute and scored his first goal since September 2022.[34][35]

The Sounders traveled to Portland and faced their local rivals, the Timbers, without starting injured midfielders Cristian Roldan and Albert Rusnák. Ruidíaz scored the opening goal of the match in the 58th minute, but the Timbers scored four goals to earn their fourth consecutive win against the Sounders.[36] After the match, Schmetzer called the result an "emotional punch to the jaw" and said that the Sounders "have to get back to understanding that this is a rivalry"; he also attributed the shift in momentum to his substitution of Léo Chú and uncharacteristic defensive mistakes.[37][38] Ruidíaz suffered a hamstring strain during the match and was later ruled out for four to five weeks;[39] Cristian Roldan, still under concussion protocols, and left-back Nouhou were also unavailable for the next match at home against Minnesota United FC.[40] Rusnák scored his first goal of the season in the 1–0 victory over Minnesota in the 79th minute, ending a defensive deadlock that had limited scoring chances for the Sounders.[40]

The club entered the U.S. Open Cup in the third round along with other lower-ranked MLS teams and hosted San Diego Loyal SC of the second-division USL Championship at Starfire Sports in Tukwila. The Sounders fielded a lineup of reserves with eight players making their 2023 debuts—including several players from reserve side Tacoma Defiance on temporary contracts—to rest starters for upcoming league matches.[41] The hosts took a 2–0 lead over San Diego in the opening half-hour, but conceded a penalty in the 53rd minute that was converted by Joe Corona. The Sounders reclaimed their two-goal lead but conceded twice—a free kick from Corona and a long-distance strike by Kyle Adams in stoppage time—to finish regulation time at 3–3. In extra time, Reed Baker-Whiting scored from outside the box for Seattle, but San Diego's Jackson Kasanzu headed an equalizer shortly after entering as a substitute. Kasanzu conceded a penalty in stoppage time that was converted by Fredy Montero for his second goal of the game as the Sounders won 5–4 and advanced in the U.S. Open Cup for the first time since 2017.[41][42]

The Sounders returned to MLS play with a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake in Utah, where the team had only won once in fifteen previous regular season matches. The draw brought the team to first in the Western Conference and featured eight yellow cards. Defender Kelyn Rowe started the match and left in stoppage time with a knee injury; he had replaced Nouhou after the latter contracted malaria.[43][44] Defiance defender Cody Baker was signed to a short-term contract to replace Rowe ahead of the next match at home against Sporting Kansas City, which the Sounders would play without the injured Roldan and Ruidíaz, as well as João Paulo for yellow card accumulation.[45][46] Sporting Kansas City earned their first win of the season after scoring twice in the opening half-hour; Montero earned a penalty for the Sounders in the second half that was converted by Lodeiro, but the team lost 2–1, their first loss and non-shutout at home in 2023.[46] The Sounders were eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup in the round of 32, played a few days later, by losing 3–1 to the LA Galaxy in Carson, California. The club fielded six reserve and youth players alongside Fredy Montero and Xavier Arreaga, but conceded two goals to Memo Rodríguez in the second half. Paul Rothrock scored his second goal of the tournament for the Sounders from a header in the 68th minute, shortly after Rodríguez's first goal.[47]

A few days after their elimination from the U.S. Open Cup, the team traveled to play the Houston Dynamo with both Baker and Rothrock signing an additional short-term contract to fill in for injured first-team players. The match was disrupted in the first half by a weather delay and included two red cards shown to Dynamo players; the sole goal in the 1–0 away victory was scored by Rothrock in the 87th minute.[48] A total of eight players who appeared during the match against the Dynamo had been developed in the Sounders academy, setting a club record.[49]

The club scheduled a June 3 doubleheader with women's team OL Reign, with whom they share Lumen Field, against the Portland Timbers and Thorns.[7][50] In July and August, MLS play will halt for the Leagues Cup, an international competition with Liga MX clubs hosted in the United States and Canada.[51] The Sounders were drawn into group West 2 alongside Real Salt Lake and Liga MX's Monterrey.[52]

As of May 16, 2023[53]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad includes all players who had first team contracts or appearances during the 2023 season across all competitions. Ages listed for each player is calculated from February 26, 2023, the first matchday of the MLS regular season.

Seattle Sounders FC first team roster[53]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Age	Signed	Previous club	Notes
3	Xavier Arreaga	Ecuador	DF	28	2019	Barcelona S.C.
5	Nouhou Tolo	Cameroon	DF	25	2017	Seattle Sounders FC 2
6	João Paulo	Brazil	MF	31	2020	Botafogo	DP
7	Cristian Roldan	United States	MF	27	2015	Washington Huskies
9	Raúl Ruidíaz	Peru	FW	32	2018	Morelia	DP
10	Nicolás Lodeiro (c)	Uruguay	MF	33	2016	Boca Juniors	DP
11	Albert Rusnák	Slovakia	MF	28	2022	Real Salt Lake	DP
12	Fredy Montero	Colombia	FW	35	2021	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
13	Jordan Morris	United States	FW	28	2016	Stanford Cardinal	HGP
16	Alex Roldán	El Salvador	DF	26	2018	Seattle Redhawks
19	Héber	Brazil	FW	31	2023	New York City FC
21	Reed Baker-Whiting	United States	MF	17	2021	Tacoma Defiance	HGP
22	Kelyn Rowe	United States	MF	31	2021	New England Revolution
23	Léo Chú	Brazil	MF	22	2021	Grêmio	International
24	Stefan Frei	Switzerland	GK	36	2014	Toronto FC
25	Jackson Ragen	United States	DF	24	2022	Tacoma Defiance
26	Andrew Thomas	Russia	GK	24	2021	Stanford Cardinal
28	Yeimar Gómez Andrade	Colombia	DF	30	2020	Unión de Santa Fe	International
29	Jacob Castro	United States	GK	23	2023	San Diego State Aztecs	HGP
30	Stefan Cleveland	United States	GK	28	2020	Chicago Fire
33	Cody Baker	United States	DF	19	2023	Tacoma Defiance	HGP
35	Paul Rothrock	United States	MF	24	2023	Tacoma Defiance	Short-term loan
45	Ethan Dobbelaere	United States	MF	20	2020	Tacoma Defiance	HGP
73	Obed Vargas	United States	MF	17	2021	Tacoma Defiance	HGP
77	Sota Kitahara	United States	MF	20	2023	Tacoma Defiance	HGP
84	Josh Atencio	United States	MF	21	2020	Tacoma Defiance	HGP
92	Abdoulaye Cissoko	France	DF	23	2021	Tacoma Defiance
99	Dylan Teves	United States	FW	22	2022	Washington Huskies	HGP

As of May 10, 2023

Players called up to the first team from Tacoma Defiance for non-MLS matches, including the U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup, are listed here.

Temporary Seattle Sounders FC players

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Age	Previous club	Notes
31	Travian Sousa	United States	DF	21	Tacoma Defiance	Called up for U.S. Open Cup[54]
32	Hal Uderitz	United States	DF	23	Tacoma Defiance	Called up for U.S. Open Cup[54]
38	Eythor Bjørgolfsson	Norway	FW	22	Tacoma Defiance	Called up for U.S. Open Cup[55]
93	Georgi Minoungou	Ivory Coast	MF	20	Tacoma Defiance	Called up for U.S. Open Cup[55]

The Major League Soccer schedule was released on December 20, 2022.[7] The Sounders will play 34 matches—mostly against opponents from the Western Conference—during the regular season from February 26 to October 21.[66]

Seattle Sounders FC v Colorado Rapids

February 26 1	Seattle Sounders FC	4–0	Colorado Rapids	Seattle, Washington
5:00 p.m. PST	Roldan 25' Morris 45', 83' Héber 53'	Report	Cabral  87'	Stadium: Lumen Field Attendance: 30,032 Referee: Alex Chilowicz

Seattle Sounders FC v Real Salt Lake

March 4 2	Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	Real Salt Lake	Seattle, Washington
7:30 p.m. PST	Morris 35' Héber 58' Nouhou  73' Léo Chú  86'	Report	Ojeda  62'	Stadium: Lumen Field Attendance: 30,011 Referee: Victor Rivas

The Sounders entered the 2023 U.S. Open Cup in the third round as part of the lower tranche of MLS teams, as determined by their final position in the 2022 regular season. The third round's matchups were decided in a regionalized draw on April 6.[69]

The 2023 Leagues Cup, an expanded version of the inter-league competition between MLS and Liga MX, is scheduled to begin on July 21. All MLS matches will be paused until the end of the tournament on August 19. The Sounders were drawn into the West 2 group alongside Real Salt Lake and Liga MX's Monterrey;[52] the schedule for the tournament was announced on March 9, 2023.[70] MLS teams will play a minimum of two matches in the tournament, of which they will host at least one.[71]

Real Salt Lake v Seattle Sounders FC

July 22 GS	Real Salt Lake	v	Seattle Sounders FC	Sandy, Utah
6:30 p.m. PDT		Report		Stadium: America First Field

Seattle Sounders FC v Monterrey

July 30 GS	Seattle Sounders FC	v	Monterrey	Seattle, Washington
6:00 p.m. PDT		Report		Stadium: Lumen Field