FC Cincinnati defeated CF Pachuca, 3-1, Tuesday evening at TQL Stadium on the opening day of Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One play. The Orange and Blue remain unbeaten in Leagues Cup openers after four years of the competition.
After Pachuca’s Adrian Alcaraz opened the scoring in the 8th minute, Cincinnati stormed back – scoring three unanswered goals to beat Los Tuzos in the first-ever matchup against the Liga MX opponent.
Evander opened Cincinnati’s scoring in the 18th minute with a laser strike from outside the 18-yard box, his second goal from distance in as many matches and his 12th goal in Cincinnati’s last 12 matches.
As halftime approached, Bryan Ramirez found Pavel Bucha at the back post to put Cincinnati ahead in the 39th minute. Substitute Kenji Mboma Dem put the game out of reach in the 70th minute when he and Ender Echenique combined for Cincinnati’s third unanswered goal.
FC Cincinnati continue Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One competition on Friday, August 7 at 8 p.m. ET against seven-time Liga MX Champions Pumas. Tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK. The match airs globally on Apple TV and nationally on UniMás and over the radio locally in English on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 and Spanish on La Mega 101.5 FM.
AS IT HAPPENED
PAC: Adrian Alcaraz, GOAL – 8’ (0-1) – Oussama Idrissi won a duel down the left side and crossed into Adrian Alcaraz for an opening headed goal.
CIN: Evander, GOAL – 18’ (1-1) – An attack developed by a trio of passes from Evander, Bryan Ramirez and Gerardo Valenzuela led to Evander’s world-class goal from distance. The Brazilian did not need much space to take a touch, use his right foot and curl the ball into the far upper right corner of the net.
CIN: Pavel Bucha, GOAL – 39’ (2-1) – Pavel Bucha dribbled down the near side towards goal, switching fields and finding Bryan Ramirez on the far side near the goal box. The fullback danced his way through heavy traffic before sneaking a cross in between the backline and keeper for an awaiting Bucha who used his right foot to calmly place the ball out of reach of a diving Carlos Moreno.
CIN: Kenji Mboma Dem, GOAL – 70’ (3-1) – A long ball from Evan Louro guided substitute Ender Echenique down the near side of the pitch. The Venezuelan dashed down the sideline, cutting toward the middle of the box and leaving the ball in open grass for an incoming Kenji Mboma Dem whose left boot drove the ball into the back of the net.
GAME NOTES
- The Orange and Blue improved to 6-5-3 all-time against Liga MX sides in all competitions, and 6-2-3 at home.
- FC Cincinnati improved to 5-2-4 all-time in Leagues Cup. The Orange and Blue remain unbeaten in Leagues Cup openers (3-0-1; 1-0 in shootouts).
- Evander has scored 12 goals in his last 12 games across all competitions.
- Pavel Bucha’s goal marked his fourth-career goal in Leagues Cup, one shy of Brandon Vazquez’s club record in the competition (5).
- Gerardo Valenzuela’s assist of Evander’s goal marked his fourth-career Leagues Cup assist, extending his club-record high in the competition.
- Five players (Samuel Gidi, Bryan Ramirez, Andrei Chirila, Ayoub Jabbari, Kévin Denkey) made their Leagues Cup career debut, while Tom Barlow made his Leagues Cup debut for The Orange and Blue
- Pat Noonan collected his 99th career win as FC Cincinnati’s head coach.
- FC Cincinnati improved to 23-12-11 on two-days rest under Head Coach Pat Noonan.
- Pavel Bucha, Gerardo Valenzuela and Obinna Nwobodo made their club-leading eighth Leagues Cup appearances.
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati vs CF Pachuca
Date: August 4, 2026
Competition: Leagues Cup 2026 Phase One
Venue: TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 23,687
Kickoff: 7:55 p.m. ET
Weather: 83 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CIN: 2-1-3
PAC: 1-0-1
CIN – Evander (Valenzuela) 18’, Pavel Bucha (Ramirez) 39’, Kenji Mboma Dem (Echenique) 70’
PAC – Adrian Alcaraz (Idrissi) 8’
LINEUPS
CIN: Evan Louro, Bryan Ramirez (Ender Echenique 64’), Andrei Chirila, Matt Miazga, Samuel Gidi (Miles Robinson 82’), Pavel Bucha, Tah Brian Anunga (Obinna Nwobodo 82’), Gerardo Valenzuela, Evander (C), Ayoub Jabbari (Kenji Mboma Dem 64’), Tom Barlow (Kévin Denkey 90’)
Substitutes not used: Roman Celentano, Fabian Mrozek, Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund, Kristian Fletcher, Teenage Hadebe, Kyle Smith
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
PAC: Carlos Moreno (C), Sergio Barreto, Eduardo Bauermann, Mauricio Isais, Carlos Sánchez (Illian Hernandez 78’), Oussama Idrissi (Gael Álvarez 67’), Christian Rivera, Alan Bautista (Rodolfo Pizarro 67’), Javier Vallejo (Alexéi Domínguez 58’), Adrian Alcaraz, Salomón Rondón (Elías Montiel 58’)
Substitutes not used: Jose Eulogio Téllez, Jorge Berlanga, Francisco Venegas, Alan Mozo, Sergio Rodríguez, Pedro Budib, Juan Ramírez
Head Coach: Benjamín Mora
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/PAC
Shots: 10 / 22
Shots on Goal: 4 / 8
Saves: 7 / 1
Corner Kicks: 3 / 6
Fouls: 8 / 10
Offside: 2 / 1
Possession: 57.1 / 42.9
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
PAC – Carlos Sánchez (Yellow Card) 15’
PAC – Sergio Barreto (Yellow Card) 30’
CIN – Tah Brian Anunga (Yellow Card) 51’
CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela (Yellow Card) 70’
CIN – Evander (Yellow Card) 76’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Oshane Nation
Ast. Referees: Ojay Duhaney, Stephanie-Dale Yee Sing
Fourth Official: José Torres
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Daneon Parchment
