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Seattle Sounders FC

2025 season
General manager	Craig Waibel
Head coach	Brian Schmetzer
Stadium	Lumen Field
Major League Soccer	TBD
MLS Cup Playoffs	TBD
U.S. Open Cup	TBD
CONCACAF Champions Cup	TBD
FIFA Club World Cup	TBD
Leagues Cup	TBD
Cascadia Cup	TBD
Home colors
← 20242026 →

The 2025 season is the upcoming 17th season for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. It will be the 42nd season for a professional team bearing the Sounders name, which had originated in 1974 with the first incarnation of the franchise. The team will remain under the management of Brian Schmetzer in his ninth full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders.

The Sounders will play a minimum of 42 total matches in MLS competitions, domestic cups, and two international tournaments organized by FIFA and CONCACAF. They qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup based on their 2024 regular season finish and will enter in the first round. The team will also play in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which they qualified for as winners of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League. The group stage matches will be played at their home stadium, Lumen Field in Seattle.

Background

The Sounders finished the 2024 season as runners-up in the Western Conference Final of the MLS Cup Playoffs, semifinalists in the U.S. Open Cup, and quarterfinalists in the Leagues Cup. The team had an overall record of 22 wins, 13 losses, and 12 draws in 47 competitive matches they played in 2024. They spent the first half of the regular season with a losing record until an adjustment to the formation that gave the team the best record in MLS heading into the playoffs. The Sounders also conceded fewer goals than any other MLS team during the regular season. The team relied heavily on homegrown players and did not sign new players during the summer transfer window.

Summary

On December 4, 2024, the Sounders exercised contract options on six players and declined options on three others. Among the departures was Raúl Ruidíaz, the top goalscorer in the team's MLS era, who played seven seasons with the club. The Sounders are scheduled to open the season in February with the first round of 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup in a home-and-away series against Guatemalan club Antigua GFC. The MLS regular season begins at the end of the month and will include a break for part of the FIFA Club World Cup in June. The Sounders will host their three group stage matches in the Club World Cup at Lumen Field; their opponents are Brazilian club Botafogo, Atlético Madrid of Spain, and Paris Saint-Germain of France.

Competitions

Major League Soccer

Standings

Regular season

The MLS regular season schedule was released on December 19, 2024. The Sounders will play 34 matches—17 at home and 17 away—primarily against the 14 other teams in the Western Conference; the team will also play six opponents from the Eastern Conference. The regular season will include a break for the FIFA Club World Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup in June but continue through the Leagues Cup in August, unlike previous seasons.

CONCACAF Champions Cup

The Sounders will play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the regional club championship for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, for the eighth season since entering MLS. The team qualified for the tournament based on the 2024 MLS Supporters' Shield standings using a seed vacated by the LA Galaxy after they won MLS Cup 2024. The Sounders were placed into Pot 1 as one of the top eight clubs in the CONCACAF Club Rankings for the round one draw.

Round one

February 19 First leg	Antigua	v	Seattle Sounders FC	Antigua, Guatemala
5:00 pm PST				Stadium: Estadio Pensativo

February 26 Second leg	Seattle Sounders FC	v	Antigua	Seattle, Washington, United States
7:30 pm PST				Stadium: Lumen Field

FIFA Club World Cup

The Sounders will play in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the first edition of the expanded worldwide club competition, having qualified as winners of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League. They will host their group stage matches at Lumen Field in Seattle.

Group stage (Group B)

The draw for the group stage was held on December 5, 2024. Seattle Sounders FC was in pot 4 but automatically assigned to Group B for scheduling purposes.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAR	ATM	BOT	SEA
1	Paris Saint-Germain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to knockout stage		—
2	Atlético Madrid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0				—
3	Botafogo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0					—
4	Seattle Sounders FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						—

June 15	Botafogo	v	Seattle Sounders FC	Seattle, Washington
7:00 pm PDT		Report		Stadium: Lumen Field

June 19	Seattle Sounders FC	v	Atlético Madrid	Seattle, Washington
3:00 pm PDT		Report		Stadium: Lumen Field

June 23	Seattle Sounders FC	v	Paris Saint-Germain	Seattle, Washington
12:00 pm PDT		Report		Stadium: Lumen Field

Transfers

For transfers in, dates listed are when Seattle Sounders FC officially signed the player to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For transfers out, dates listed are when Seattle Sounders FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, his new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when he was officially removed from the Seattle Sounders FC roster.

In

Incoming transfers for Seattle Sounders FC

Player	No.	Pos.	Previous team	Notes	Date
Leo Burney (USA)	—	DF	University of Pennsylvania (USA)	Homegrown Player	December 11, 2024
Travian Sousa (USA)	—	DF	Tacoma Defiance (USA)		December 11, 2024

Out

Outgoing transfers for Seattle Sounders FC

Player	No.	Pos.	New team	Notes	Date
Sota Kitahara (USA)	77	MF		Option declined	December 4, 2024
Nathan (BRA)	4	DF		Option declined	December 4, 2024
João Paulo (BRA)	6	MF		Out of contract	December 4, 2024
Raúl Ruidíaz (PER)	9	FW		Out of contract	December 4, 2024
Albert Rusnák (SLO)	11	MF		Out of contract	December 4, 2024
Dylan Teves (USA)	99	FW		Option declined	December 4, 2024

Draft picks

Draft picks were not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract were listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of the 2025 MLS SuperDraft are listed in the notes.

2025 MLS SuperDraft picks for Seattle Sounders FC

Player	Nationality	Round	Pick	Pos.	Previous team	Notes
Ryan Baer	United States	1st	28	MF	West Virginia Mountineers (USA)
Demian Alvarez	United States	2nd	58	DF	Seattle Redhawks (USA)
Trace Terry	United States	3rd	76	FW	Bowling Green Falcons (USA)

Other transactions

• On December 12, 2024, Seattle Sounders FC sold two international roster slots to San Diego FC for $250,000 in 2025 general allocation money.
• On December 20, 2024, Seattle Sounders FC sold two international roster slots to the New York Red Bulls for $300,000 in 2025 general allocation money and $50,000 in 2026 general allocation money.

References

1. ^ Booth, Tim (December 10, 2024). "Sounders facing complicated offseason ahead of crucial 2025 slate". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
2. ^ Booth, Tim (October 15, 2024). "Lumen Field will host games for FIFA Club World Cup in 2025". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
3. Evans, Jayda (November 30, 2024). "Sounders 'ran out of juice' in 1-0 loss to LA Galaxy, fall a game shy of MLS Cup". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
4. ^ Evans, Jayda (December 7, 2024). "Sounders' Club World Cup schedule released; Seattle qualifies for CONCACAF Champions Cup". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
5. Doyle, Matthew (December 2, 2024). "Seattle Sounders: What we learned in 2024 & what comes next". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
6. ^ Calkins, Matt (November 29, 2024). "What would another MLS Cup mean to Brian Schmetzer's underrated legacy?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
7. Evans, Jayda (December 4, 2024). "Sounders part ways with club scoring leader as offseason work begins". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
8. Tenorio, Paul; Maurer, Pablo (December 6, 2024). "Major League Soccer to pause games during 2026 World Cup". The Athletic. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
9. "MLS unveils 2025 Regular Season schedule". MLSsoccer.com. December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
10. Evans, Jayda (December 19, 2024). "Here's what is on Sounders schedule for 2025". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
11. "2025 MLS schedule: Most important dates & key info". MLSsoccer.com. December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
12. Oshan, Jeremiah (December 7, 2024). "Galaxy win puts Sounders in Concacaf Champions Cup". Sounder at Heart. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
13. "2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Official Draw Pots and Procedures" (Press release). CONCACAF. December 9, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
14. "FIFA 2025 Club World Cup draw: How to watch & everything to know". MLSsoccer.com. December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
15. ^ "Sounders FC Signs Defenders Travian Sousa and Leo Burney" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
16. ^ "Sounders FC Announces Roster Decisions to Conclude 2024 Season" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
17. "Sounders FC Selects Midfielders Ryan Baer, Defender Demian Alvarez and Forward Trace Terry in MLS SuperDraft 2025" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 20, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
18. Finley, Ryan (December 12, 2024). "San Diego FC acquires defender from New York Red Bulls, continues building roster for inaugural season". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
19. "Sounders FC Receives $350,000 in General Allocation Money" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 20, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.

• Seattle Sounders FC seasons
• 2025 MLS season by team
• American soccer clubs 2025 season
• 2025 in sports in Washington (state)
• 2025 in Seattle