SAN JOSE, Calif. — The fourth-seeded San Jose Earthquakes will face fifth-seeded Houston Dynamo FC in Round One of the 2026 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, with the Quakes hosting Game 1 of the Best-of-3 Series at PayPal Park on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. PT. The match will air on FS1, FOX Deportes and Apple TV. As part of the Earthquakes’ official playoff campaign, titled “Brace For Impact” presented by Apollo, the club will give away special-edition Brace For Impact Playoff T-Shirts stadium-wide for Game 1.
Tickets for all possible Earthquakes Round One home games are on sale now HERE. The best way to guarantee access and preferred pricing for the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs is by purchasing 2027-28 Season Tickets. The Quakes’ full Round One schedule is now set (all times PT):
- Game 1: Quakes vs. Dynamo – Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7 p,m. (Home – PayPal Park, San Jose)
- Stadium-wide giveaway: Brace For Impact Playoff T-Shirts
- Game 2: Dynamo vs. Quakes – Saturday, Nov. 28, 11:30 a.m. (Away – Shell Energy Stadium, Houston)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Quakes vs. Dynamo – Wednesday, Dec. 2, TBD (Home – PayPal Park)
San Jose completed the Major League Soccer regular season fourth in the Western Conference with 14 wins and 52 points—its best finish and highest point total since 2012. Led by five-time Audi MLS Cup champion and current Coach of the Year candidate Bruce Arena in only his second season in charge, the Earthquakes have not only earned their first berth in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs since 2023, but also home-field advantage in Round One and their first-ever postseason home game at PayPal Park since the stadium opened in 2015.
“Making the playoffs was our goal, and we achieved that,” said Arena. “Now it’s going to be important to get a big crowd for the first game against Houston. Home-field advantage means something, so if we can get the support from the stands and play well on the field, hopefully that produces a win.”
In his dual duty as the Quakes’ Sporting Director and Head Coach, Arena has masterfully put together a playoff team in Year 2 with an unprecedented fifth different club. This time, he did it the unconventional way by meshing a handful of foreign stars with a primary core of American players and an overall roster with a league-leading 19 players having previously come from the college ranks.
In acquiring the German duo of UEFA Champions League winner Timo Werner and MLS Comeback Player of the Year candidate Eduard Löwen (combined seven goals and 14 assists), a veteran defensive-minded captain with English Premier League and Italian Serie A experience in Ronaldo Vieira, and then combining them with one of the top emerging domestic scorers in Preston Judd (17 goals), a local young playmaking midfield pair in Saratoga’s Niko Tsakiris and San Jose’s Beau Leroux (combined seven goals and 22 assists), as well as the league’s highest-scoring center-back combination in 2026 MLS All-Star Daniel Munie and University of San Francisco alum Reid Roberts (nine goals), the Earthquakes are primed to make a deep run in the playoffs in search of their third MLS Cup title.
Regarding the opponent at hand, the Quakes have yet to lose to the Dynamo this season after two close games—an Aug. 29 scoreless draw in Houston at Shell Energy Stadium and a 1-0 victory over the Dynamo at PayPal Park on Sept. 12. Arena and Houston Head Coach Ben Olsen are well-acquainted. In a battle of minds best characterized as a reunion between a teacher and his prized pupil, Arena once recruited Olsen out of high school to the University of Virginia and later coached him on both D.C. United (1998) and the U.S. Men’s National Team (1998-2006). Since joining the coaching ranks, Olsen is seventh in wins as a head coach on the all-time MLS regular-season list with 165; Arena is first with 287.
The history between the Quakes and Dynamo spans well beyond the pitch. Though the two clubs have never met in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, they will be forever connected since the original Earthquakes MLS franchise (1996-2005) moved to Houston in 2006 and became the Dynamo. Two years later in 2008, when San Jose’s current ownership group (along with plans to build PayPal Park) was secured, a new MLS iteration of the Earthquakes—keeping their history and records intact—was born.
MLS all-time leading scorer Chris Wondolowski (2005 and 2012 Supporters’ Shields with San Jose, 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups with Houston) and current Houston President of Soccer Pat Onstad (2003 MLS Cup and 2005 Supporters’ Shield with San Jose, 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups with Houston) are just two of the many legendary players who won major silverware for both clubs as a result of the initial franchise’s move from the Bay Area to Texas.
As part of their postseason campaign, the Earthquakes will hold a Playoff Rally at San Pedro Square Market in Downtown San Jose on Friday, Nov. 13, from 6-9 p.m., hosted by the club’s radio play-by-play announcer, Ted Ramey. There will be a DJ, player meet-and-greets and special access for Season Ticket Holders. More details will be announced shortly.
The club has also remained committed to their pledge to donate 15,000 soccer balls throughout Northern California as part of their “One Ball Can Change a Life” campaign to reach small businesses and local soccer leaders. Fans throughout the Bay Area can look forward to their favorite Quakes players, coaches and staff interacting with them and donating soccer balls in the upcoming days, while getting everyone in the community involved in what will be an unforgettable postseason run.
The Quakes’ last home playoff game was Nov. 7, 2012, at Santa Clara University’s Buck Shaw Stadium in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the archrival LA Galaxy. The Earthquakes have qualified for the playoffs 11 times in the MLS era, winning the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003 under Head Coach Frank Yallop and sporting an overall record of 12-12-3 (40 GF, 40 GA, 0 GD). Outside of those two championship seasons, the Black and Blue have finished in the Conference Finals once (2010), the Conference Semifinals or League Quarterfinals five times (1996, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2012), Round One twice (2017, 2020) and the Wild Card Round once (2023).
Six players—Ousseni Bouda, Benji Kikanović, Paul Marie, Daniel Munie, Jack Skahan and Niko Tsakiris—remain on the roster from that Quakes’ last playoff appearance, a 2023 Wild Card Round clash with Sporting Kansas City that was scoreless after regulation and ended on a 4-2 defeat via penalty kicks. Marie, a then-18-year-old Tsakiris and Skahan saw action that night, with the latter converting one of those two successful San Jose chances from the spot. Across the rest of the current roster, Noel Buck (2023), Earl Edwards Jr. (2023), Ian Harkes (2023), DeJuan Jones (2019-24), Eduard Löwen (2023) and Dave Romney (2015-16, 2019-20, 2022-23) boast playing experience in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
If a match is tied at the end of regulation during the Wild Card and Best-of-3 Series, no extra time will be played, and teams will participate in penalty kicks to determine the winner. The first team to win two matches in the Best-of-3 Series will advance to the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs Conference Semifinals.
The Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs will culminate with a historic 2026 MLS Cup presented by Audi taking place in primetime on Friday, Dec. 18. Every match of the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs will be available on Apple TV in more than 100 countries and regions, offering fans a single destination to watch their favorite teams with no blackouts. MLS Cup presented by Audi will air on FOX and FOX Deportes in the U.S. and on TSN and RDS in Canada, while select additional playoff matches will air on FS1, FOX Deportes, TSN and RDS.
For more information on playoff tickets, please visit HERE.