• Matchday 33: New York City FC vs CF Montréal
• Date and Kickoff Time: Saturday, October 31, 2:10 pm ET
• Venue: Citi Field, Queens, NY
• Forecast: Clear skies and a perfect autumn afternoon, 58F/14C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Mike Watts and Lori Lindsey (English); Oscar Salazar (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matt Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Timothy Ford (referee), Justin Howard and Matthew Nelson (assistant referees), Alyssa Pennington (fourth official), Younes Marrakchi (VAR), Craig Lowry (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City in the light blue Excelsior Kit; Montréal wearing its white and blue Procure Kit
The last home New York City FC match of the 2026 Major League Soccer regular season is upon us and it's yet another must-win for the home team, this one against a struggling CF Montréal side.
New York City earned its last must-win with the last kick of the game, a beautiful bending goal scored by Bénie Traoré to break his personal 12-match goalless drought and end a six-match streak of winless soccer for NYCFC with a 2-1 win over Atlanta United.
Andrew Leigh
Even with that win, New York City remained in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, now with 38 points but still three points back from ninth and the final playoff spot. The list of possible ways NYCFC can be eliminated from playoff contention during this round of MLS matches remains long.
A loss guarantees NYCFC is out of the playoffs, while a draw could see them knocked out by positive results for either Columbus Crew or Red Bull New York. There's also a scenario where NYCFC gets eliminated even after a win over Montréal, if Columbus and FC Cincinnati win their games, and if Orlando City SC doesn't lose its game.
On top of this being the last home match of the season, this is also the last scheduled match New York City FC will ever play at Citi Field, at least for now. That could change, if the club makes this year's MLS Cup Playoffs and the Bronx is unavailable, or if that one "Venue TBD" date with DC United during the 2027 sprint season ends up there, or if NYCFC qualifies for the sprint season playoffs and hosts at Citi Field.
Still, as far as current schedules and plans go, this is the last time NYCFC plays at the baseball stadium across the street from their work-in-progress forever home. It won't get the kind of farewell tour given the team's primary stadium since inception, Yankee Stadium, but Citi Field's 35th and possibly final New York City FC match is still a Halloween afternoon matinee with the team's playoff life on the line.
New York City FC H2H Record vs Montréal
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 36 | 19 | 17 |
The historic head-to-head record going back to 2015 heavily favors New York City FC, but they've lost to in each of the last four head-to-head meetings with Montréal dating back to 2024 Decision Day on October 19 of that year. While Montréal finished 29th in the overall MLS table in 2025, they still managed to sweep the regular season series with New York City.
Montréal dominance over NYCFC has continued in 2026, thanks to a 1-0 home win for them at Stade Saputo on April 25, and even as Montréal sank to the bottom of the Eastern Conference table, 15th and once again with the second-worst record in the competition this season behind David Lee's Sporting Kansas City.
