Galaxy eliminated from Champions Cup with loss to Toluca FC

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CARSON - The sounds of "Diablos, Diablos" from the Toluca FC fans and supporters rang loud from start to finish on Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal might have been played at the Galaxy's stadium, but the Toluca red was dominant amid the 15,473 in attendance and the club those fans came to see was just as dominant inside the lines.

Toluca, which entered with a 4-2 advantage after a first-leg victory in Mexico last week, scored an early goal Wednesday and added two from Paulinho in the second half to salt away the series – 7-2 on aggregate – with a 3-0 win.

"We didn't play our best game," Galaxy forward João Klauss said. "We didn't connect well as a team today. It's our fault on the field. We had a really good plan, but we didn't execute well."

Toluca advances to the semifinals and will face LAFC, which eliminated defending tournament champion Cruz Azul on Tuesday night in Puebla, Mexico.

The Galaxy entertained hopes of a second-leg comeback, looking for an early goal that might have put Toluca back on its heels.

Unfortunately for the hosts, it was Toluca striking first on a blast from Jesus Gallardo in the 10th minute.

The Galaxy were fortunate to get to halftime having allowed only the one goal. They struggled breaking through the Toluca press, losing possession and resorting to several instances of desperate defending to survive the first half.

In the second half, Paulinho, who scored a hat trick in the first leg, put the game and series out of reach, if it wasn't already, with a goal in the 58th minute and another in the 64th for the 3-0 lead on the night.

The Galaxy didn't produce much of an offensive threat, recording just four shots on goal, but none of them seemed to put Toluca goalkeeper Luis Garcia into any serious trouble.

"I felt like they managed the duel situations better than us," Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. "They were quicker than us to second balls … we never were able to when the game was … when were trying to get ourselves back into the tie, we were never able to get in front of the game."

The Galaxy had advanced to the quarterfinals with victories over Sporting San Miguelito (of Panama) and Mount Pleasant (of Jamaica), two of the bottom-tier teams in the CONCACAF region.

The step up in competition against Toluca showed how wide the gap is between the Galaxy and the top teams, not only in the region, but also in MLS.

Both LAFC and Nashville SC went on the road to Mexico in their second-leg games on Tuesday and came away with wins to reach the semifinals.

"I always knew that against Toluca was going to be a battle," Vanney said. "They're a very good team and it was going to be about how we could find our momentum and our moments inside of these games where we could try to make a difference and obviously score more goals in them.

"This was going to be a challenge and we weren't able to do it."

Aside from the first leg, the Galaxy and Toluca met at Dignity Health Sports Park last year in the Campeones Cup, which Toluca won, 3-2, thanks to goals in the 88th and 94th minutes.

The Galaxy now turn their attention back to league play, with a busy stretch. They will be on the road Saturday at FC Dallas, then travel for a Wednesday game against the Columbus Crew, before returning home to end the month on April 26 against Real Salt Lake.

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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 8:38 PM.