Match Preview - Nashville SC (US OPen Cup Final)
Game Info
Kickoff: 7:00pm CT
Watch: CBS Sports Network
Location: Q2 Stadium - Austin, TX
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 1W-1D-2L record against Nashville SC.
These two teams last met in August of the 2024 season in Nashville, a 2-0 win for the Verde and Black behind goals from Jon Gallagher and Osman Bukari (his first Austin FC goal). In the first half of that match, Brad Stuver saved a Hany Mukhtar penalty attempt.
The most famous connection between these two clubs dates back to the 2022 season, when Austin’s Sebastián Driussi and Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar finished top two in MLS MVP voting, with Mukhtar taking home the honor largely in part to the 3-0 Nashville win against ATX in September of that year.
While these clubs haven’t seen each other in a competitive match during the 2025 season, they did play a preseason friendly at Q2 Stadium on February 15th, a 2-1 win for ATX behind an Osman Bukari brace.
Nashville SC Recent Form
Just one year older as a club than Austin FC, the similarities between our favorite team and the squad from Nashville don’t end there. Nashville is the second oldest team in MLS this season, with an average age of 29.3 from the 25 players they’ve used in league play in 2025. That’s also tied for the second fewest number of players utilized during the league season. Austin on the other hand is the league’s seventh oldest team, with an average age of 28.7 among the 22 players that have touched the field this season (the fewest number of players used in MLS this season). Both teams are under the direction of their second head coach in club history, with both being veterans of the USMNT coaching tree, in Nashville’s BJ Callaghan and Austin’s Nico Estévez.
We could get into the similarities of the two cities as well, from the comparisons over the respective live music scenes to their popularity as bachelor/bachelorette party destinations. Austin and Nashville also have both never won a major professional sports trophy. But there are also some stark differences between the fortunes of these two clubs since they joined MLS earlier this decade.
Nashville SC has qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs in five of its six seasons, while ATX has of course only played postseason soccer in one of its five seasons, though they’re overwhelmingly likely to clinch a berth in the final three weeks of this, their fifth season.
There were many changes for Nashville entering the 2025 campaign, starting with Callaghan having the interim tag removed from his title after taking over for Gary Smith in the middle of the 2024 season. The club brought in some key player personnel, like 2024 MLS Cup Final MVP Gaston Brugman, who was acquired in a trade from LA Galaxy. They also brought Honduran fullback Andy Najar back from his native country to MLS, where he had previously spent seven seasons between DC United and LA Galaxy.
They also signed former Norwegian and Liverpool FC youth midfielder prospect Edward Tagseth, along with adding a U22 Initiative signing in Swedish winger Ahmed Qasem. He joined Patrick Yazbek and Jonathan Perez in Nashville’s stable of promising U22 talent.
All of these acquisitions are meant to compliment the elite one-two punch of Mukhtar and 27-yeaer-old English striker Sam Surridge, who spent six years playing in both the English Premier League and Championship for a number of different big-name clubs.
The Mukhtar-Surridge pairing has amassed 38 goals and 16 assists over the 32 league games they’ve appeared in this season. That accounts for 69% (nice*) of Nashville’s goals in 2025, a piece of the pie unmatched by any other MLS duo. Najar has fit in seamlessly, adding an additional two goals and ten assists, marking his MLS career high in goal contributions.
Nashville was one of the hottest teams in the league early in the summer. In fact, they didn’t lose a match from April 20th to July 12th, a stretch that saw them take 28 points from 12 league games and advance in the Open Cup twice.
But they haven’t enjoyed the same sky-high run of form over the last two months. Since July 25th, Nashville SC has earned just six points over eight league games, with three of those six coming last Saturday night at home against a ten-man Houston Dynamo.
The road to the final has been an impressive one. Like Austin, they entered the field in the Round of 32, defeating Chattanooga Red Wolves with a rotated side 1-0. They then sent out their reserves again in the Round of 16 on the road against a full strength Orlando City SC side, pulling off the upset 3-2.
Once Nashville qualified for the quarterfinals they rolled out their big guns, defeating DC United at home by a 5-2 scoreline after trailing 2-1 at halftime. Then they took it to the Supporter’s Shield leading Philadelphia Union in the semifinal, advancing with a 3-1 win behind a Sam Surridge hat trick, bringing his 2025 Open Cup tally to five goals.
Despite being in sixth place in the Eastern Conference (continuing the theme of similarities between these two clubs), Nashville is pretty clearly a top tier side in MLS. They’re top ten in goals per game, goals conceded per game, clean sheets, expected goals, expected goals against, shots on target, big chances created, penalties won and corner kicks.
But they have been average at best away from GEODIS Park in 2025. Nashville has earned just 17 points from their 16 road matches in league play with a record of 5-2-9 and a goal differential of -6, illustrating how important that random drawing in the early summer that brought Austin FC the right to host the final may end up being.
Austin FC Recent Form
How much can we actually read into the recent form of the Verde and Black? So much of September has been wrapped up in focusing on getting to this moment, surely it’s fair to suggest that both the FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake away matches were sacrificed to the goal of bringing the U.S. Open Cup home to Austin, TX.
I prognosticated as much on Tuesday’s episode of Kickback Committee with Susannah Collins and friend of the pod (and current Verde Best Ball League enemy) David Gass. Once you’re done perusing this preview article, you can come back to this link and hear our ~25 minute Austin-centric discussion!
Since the debacle against CF Montreal in late August, ATX has won every match they ran out a first choice lineup, including league wins over San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting KC and Seattle Sounders, along with the road U.S. Open Cup semifinal victory against Minnesota United. They’ve dropped both games (in pretty miserable fashion) when the team has rotated in preparation for their USOC fixtures.
Combine that recent track record with The North End’s traditional optimisim and you’re going to get two wins predicted at the end of this article (or as you may have heard on Sunday’s Episode 260 previewing this match).
But there are certainly question marks surrounding how Estévez will align his starting group Wednesday night. We’ve seen Austin FC prefer the “five-back” look since the tactical change proved succesful against the Loons in the semis. I think we see Nico keep that same look and think there’s a high liklihood we see Žan Kolmanič and Mikkel Desler get the start at their respective wingback postiions. The group of four who subbed on together in relief against RSL (Uzuni, Bukari, Wolff and Pereira) should all re-join the starting unit along with Ilie Sanchez, who should don the captain’s armband (although it would be a cool gesture for Brad Stuver to wear it for this match).
That leaves me mostly guessing on which three centerbacks start. I think the two most likely to start are Brendan Hines-Ike and Oleksandr Svatok, with the final decision being made between Austin FC original Julio Cascante and the team’s newest acquisition Mateja Djordjevic.
I do think there’s one thing that all of us fans can agree on. This is the most important game in the short five year history of this club. There is a real chance that some of us may never see Austin FC host another final of any kind during our lifetimes. Win or lose, I wouldn’t miss Wednesday night for the world.
But just for fun, let’s make sure we win.
Injury Report
There are no official injury reports for US Open Cup matches, this section is an estimate based on observations of recent injury reports and posts from beat writers.
ATX:
Mikkel Desler (Probable - Hip)
Brandon Vazquez (Out - Knee)
NSH:
Ahmed Qasem (Questionable - Ankle)
Jonathan Perez (Questionable - Thigh)
Julian Gaines (Questionable - Thigh)
Taylor Washington (Questionable - Knee)
Wyatt Meyer (Questionable - Foot)
Nashville SC Players to Watch
Hany Mukhtar - Unless you’re a new fan of the Verde and Black, you remember how frustrating it was to watch Mukhtar push his way past Driussi in the MVP race late in 2022. He’s the face of Nashville SC, the closest thing they can hope to have to a Brad Stuver type figure. Mukhtar led Nashville in scoring for each of the club’s first five seasons and his 27 goal contributions in 2025 illustrate that, at least for now 30-year-old Hany, age is just a number.
Sam Surridge - The English striker has clearly settled into life in Nashville. Surridge is third in the MLS Golden Boot race, behind just Denis Bouanga and Lionel Messi, and will finish the season as Nashville’s first leading scorer not named Mukhtar. He’s one of the most lethal forwards in the league, with the ability to reel off multi-goal games seemingly at will, scoring two or more goals in seven games across all competitions this year. I expect to see the physically imposing Oleksandr Svatok deployed as Surridge’s shadow on Wednesday night.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Just Win, Baby - I’ll leave the “keys” to Coach Nico’s whiteboard for this one. It’s time. Let’s win a trophy.
Predictions
ZG - 2-2 Austin FC wins in penalty kicks
E - 2-0 Austin FC
*Yes, I am a grown man, why do you ask?
