Felix Samson has been a mainstay with FC Cincinnati 2, but on Friday night he had the chance to make his debut with the first team and took full advantage of it.
On loan to the club (with an option to make the move permanent), Samson joined FC Cincinnati from CF Montréal, where he had been a standout in the academy before signing a homegrown deal with the first team in November, 2025. He was an MLS NEXT All-Star in 2024, and has been a regular call-up to Canadian Youth National Teams.
At just 18-years-old he is still a developing prospect, but when FCC needed him, he was prepared for the moment.
“Felix has a nice feel for the game, and there were a couple moments where he was under pressure where I think he set up defenders in a good way to connect passes,” Head Coach Pat Noonan said of Samson’s first appearance with the club. “He reads the game pretty well, and we've seen all those things in training and with FC Cincinnati 2. It was good minutes from him.”
With FC Cincinnati 2 this season, Samson has been a mainstay. Starting 12 matches this year and logging over 1000 minutes, Samson has been the most regular and reliable defender on the squad. But this friendly was his first chance to play with the big club.
Samson came on for his first minutes with FC Cincinnati in the friendly with Burnley FC, and got on the field in the 60’ when the club made a full lineup change. In those 30 minutes, FC Cincinnati scored twice and held the lead to secure the 3-1 victory and Samson made some key stops inside the box to keep Burnley at bay.
“It felt surreal. It's something I've been dreaming of, to play in stadiums like this my whole life. So I'm just really grateful for the opportunity they gave me, the trust that they showed in me to put me in,” Samson said after the match.
A highlight moment came when Samson closed down on an attacker and made a key tackle inside the box to thwart a shot and send the ball away from danger, then marking the moment with a loud scream that energized his teammates and the crowd.
“I tend to like to show a lot of passion and show a lot of emotion when I play,” Samson said with a bashful smile about the moment, perhaps not realizing his celebration had been noticed. “I just love defending, I love tackling and just helping my team keep the goal clean…I'm always like that. Whenever I'm playing, I'm very very passionate and I want to win a lot. Very competitive. So yeah, that was very normal.”
Samson was called into duty somewhat at the last minute when it became clear that veteran defender Matt Miazga would be unavailable due to an emerging personal matter. The teenage Canadian said after the match that he was only told he would be playing the day before, and was just about to begin one of his final exams to finish High School.
“I finished the test! It was an Earth and Space test, and I got it done. But while I was doing it there were a lot of thoughts on the game coming tomorrow,” Samson laughed. “But I was just trying to get the test done first and worry about everything else later.”
“It all came pretty quick, to be honest. Yesterday I was training with the second team, today I'm playing a game with the first team,” Samson added. “I was talking with some of my (FC Cincinnati 2) teammates a (a couple days ago) and we were planning to all go together to watch the game. I really didn't think I would be playing it, but I was just so happy to contribute and be a part of that big win for FCC.”
Samson is not foreign to training with the first team, and is regularly part of the group when Noonan and his staff either expand the group or have a defender out injured. But he has never played in front of a TQL Stadium crowd or actually played a competitive game with the first team. He did though feel like those training sessions, and some of the time and instruction he’s received from Head Coach Pat Noonan directly, helped prepare him for the opportunity.
It all came pretty quick, but every time I'm in training with the first team, Coach Noonan really helps me with the preparation and teaches me on how he wants the center backs to play,” Samson said. “It's always very clear what he wants. So when I come in, I know how he wants me to play. I’m always learning from his instruction.”
Samson says this opportunity is one that he’s hoping to build off of, and take into his training with the second team and beyond. He also added that the next big opportunity he’s preparing for is the U20 Concacaf Championships, which begin later this month. The event serves as qualification for FIFA U20 World Cup (cohosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in 2027), the PanAm Games (hosted by Peru in 2027) and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, all of which Samson and his Canadian teammates will be looking to qualify for.
FC Cincinnati plays its next match this Wednesday when hosting their final friendly of the summer, playing Honduran side CD Olimpia in a closed door friendly at their training center in Milford, Ohio. They will begin the MLS season again on July 22 when they host the Vancouver Whitecaps at TQL Stadium.
