2026 Austin FC season
The 2026 season will be Austin FC's sixth season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States. They play in the league's Western Conference. In addition the MLS play, Austin will also compete in the U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup.
Background
Austin FC started playing in the MLS Western Conference in 2021, finishing in 12th place with a record of 9W-4D-21L. 2022 brought many new experiences for Austin FC. They lost their first ever U.S. Open Cup match against San Antonio FC in extra time, won their first derby trophy, the Copa Tejas, and qualified for their first-ever MLS Cup Playoffs in just their second season as a franchise. Austin FC advanced to the Western Conference Finals but lost to LAFC. Austin FC fell almost all the way to the bottom of the 2023 standings, with the team finishing in 27th place in Major League Soccer. The new sporting director Rodolfo Borrell was quoted as saying "The team overachieved last year, the team underachieved this year", but showed his support for coach Josh Wolff as the team looks to rebuild for the 2024 season. At the end of the 2024 season, and after back-back seasons without reaching the MLS playoffs, Austin FC release their first ever coach Josh Wolff, having an interim coach for the final game of the season. In November 2025, Austin announced Nico Estévez as the second coach for the franchise. 2025 saw Austin advance to the finals of the 2025 U.S. Open Cup, falling to Nashville SC 2–1 at home, and one month later qualify for their second every MLS Cup playoffs, before falling in the first round to Los Angeles FC.Summary
Pre-season
Prior to the completion of the 2025 MLS playoffs, Austin FC announced they would participate in the 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational, the third year in a row participating in this pre-season tournament. On November 24, 2025, Austin announced they had signed Ervin Torres to a homegrown contract through the 2028 season with two one-year options. He becomes the third player from the Austin FC Academy to sign a homegrown contract. One day later, Austin announced their end–of–season roster decisions. The club denied the options for Julio Cascante, Jimmy Farkarlun, and Diego Rubio while exercising the options for Stefan Cleveland, Dani Pereira, and Riley Thomas. Brendan Hines-Ike's option was automatically trigger based on performance statistics from the 2025 season. Austin also signed Ilie Sánchez to a new contract for the 2026 season with a one-year option. With these decisions, Austin is left with two open slots on the senior roster as they build for the 2026 Major League Soccer season. On December 10, 2025, Austin made their next roster decision as they build towards 2026 by trading Stefan Cleveland to Sporting Kansas City for $50,000 in 2026 GAM. On December 16, 2025 Austin signed free agent Jon Bell through June 2028, with an option for the 2028-29 season. Bell has spent the last two years with Seattle Sounders. On December 18, 2025, Austin traded $700,000 in 2026 GAM, $550,000 in 2027 GAM, and their 2026 MLS SuperDraft first round pick to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for Canadian International Jayden Nelson. Nelson made 40 appearances and tallied three goals across all competitions during the 2025 season. He will hold a senior international slot on the roster. After trading their first round pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft, Austin selected Stefan Dobrijevic from the University of Akron in the second round and Patrick Cayelli from the University of Pennsylvania in the third round. On December 19, 2025, Austin announced they had traded Osman Bukari to Widzew Łódź for a reported $6.5 million, which is an Ekstraklasa record transfer fee. On December 23, 2025, Austin announced the signing of Honduran international defender Joseph Rosales in a trade $1.5 million dollars to Minnesota United FC. Rosales signed a 3.5 year deal with Austin through June 2029 with a one-year option for the 2029–30 season. To start the new year, Austin announced they had extended Owen Wolff's contract through June 2030 and placed him under the U22 Initiative, removing his status as a homegrown player. On January 9, 2026 Austin announced another contract extension, this time for Dani Pereira. Pereira's contract will run through June 2028 and has a one–year option for the 2028–29 season. Austin continued to extend player's contracts on January 14, 2026, this time for Jon Gallagher through the 2027–28 season with a one year option for 2028–29. On January 23, 2026 Austin announced the signing of their third Designated Player, Uruguayan winger Facundo Torres. Torres signed through June 2030, with a one-year option. On January 27, Austin announced exercised a contract buy–out for Jáder Obrian. This move opens up both an international slot and senior team slot.Roster
''.''Non-competitive fixtures
Preseason
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Location | Result | Scorer | Attendance | Notes |
| January 24 | San Antonio FC | St. David's Performance Center | Austin, Texas | – | 0 | Closed game | |
| January 28 | Louisville City FC | St. David's Performance Center | Austin, Texas | Alastuey '60 | 0 | Closed game | |
| February 1 | New York City FC | Q2 Stadium | Austin, Texas | – | TBA | ||
| February 7 | St. Louis City SC | Coachella Valley Invitational | Indio, California | ||||
| February 11 | Chicago Fire FC | Coachella Valley Invitational | Indio, California | ||||
| February 14 | Sporting Kansas City | Coachella Valley Invitational | Indio, California |