While we are still more than a year and a half from the start of the 2025 Major League Soccer season and the new expansion team in San Diego has yet to even decide on what the official name or team colors will be, it gives us time to speculate what can be achieved in its first season. Let’s provide some context first based on how the other professional San Diego teams did when they first joined their respective leagues:

San Diego Loyal was one game away from making the USL Championship playoffs and needed a result versus Phoenix Rising in their final regular season game plus help in the Orange County and LA Galaxy matches to get in as the final seed. As San Diego Loyal looked to be well on its way to victory after taking a 3-1 lead over Phoenix Rising at halftime the team, which was led by head coach Landon Donovan at the time, decided to forfeit at halftime in support of defender Collin Martin. The forfeit made national and international news winning the hearts of soccer fans the world as his teammates and coaches stood in solidarity as they came to the defense of Martin, who is openly gay, despite it costing them a chance at the postseason (which they would make in 2021 and 2022).

Then we come to Albion San Diego, which made it all the way to the 2022 National Independent Soccer Association championship after having merged with 1904 FC in December of the previous year. ASC SD was always a major force in the NPSL making it all the way to the national semifinal where they faced the New York Cosmos (the team that Pelé once played for) taking that history of success to the professional ranks of NISA. After finishing as the fourth-seed in the standings last season, Albion San Diego defeated the Maryland Bobcats in the quarterfinals and upset the top-seeded Cal United Strikers in the semifinal before falling to the eventual champion Michigan Stars in the final. The team was led by forward Alioune Diakhate who finished second for the Golden Boot Award behind Chattanooga FC strikers Markus Naglestad.

San Diego Wave FC also had an incredible inaugural NWSL season last year making all the way to the semifinals after finishing third in the regular season standings. The team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, defeated the Chicago Red Stars in the quarterfinal round after trailing early but coming back thanks to the equalizer from midfielder Emily van Egmond and the eventual game-winner in the 110th minute by forward Alex Morgan. SD Wave would fall in the semifinals to the eventual champion Portland Thorns after a  heartbreaking 93rd-minute goal by forward Crystal Dunn.

As for MLS San Diego, there is no reason why it can’t match or even improve on what these teams were able to accomplish in their rookie seasons considering there have already been two teams that won the MLS Cup as expansion clubs (Chicago Fire in 1998 and Houston Dynamo in 2006). So, as we ponder on who the head coach and players will be, as Javier Chicharito Hernández so eloquently said: “Imaginémonos cosas chingonas carajo.”