The Road Ahead, driven by Audi: Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew

Milestones, storylines and more ahead of the Lions home match vs Columbus Crew in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:

Milestones

- Martín Ojeda’s next goal, his 48th in all competitions, will set a new Orlando City club record and make him the all-time leading goalscorer in club history. Facundo Torres has held the record with 47 career goals since 2024. Ojeda is three assists away from Mauricio Pereyra’s club record, also 47.

- Iván Angulo can become the second Orlando City player (after Antoine Griezmann earlier this year) to score in five consecutive MLS regular season matches for the club if he finds the back of the net against Columbus on Saturday. 

- Daryl Dike’s next goal will be his 22nd for the club, tying former teammate Chris Mueller for ninth on the Lions’ all-time scoring list. 

- Marco Pašalić and Angulo are both two goals away from 20 for the club across all competitions, three behind Dike.

Stats & Storylines

- Orlando City begins the final stretch of the 2026 MLS season on Saturday night, playing its first home game in four weeks as it welcomes the Columbus Crew. The Lions are looking to get back on track after dropping three straight in all competitions heading into the international break. A strong two months following the 2026 FIFA World Cup has allowed Orlando to weather the recent results; the Lions are still seventh in the Eastern Conference heading into the homestretch.

- Martín Ojeda is on the precipice of history. The Argentine, already the all-time leader in Orlando City history in total goal contributions, will become the club’s highest-ever scorer with his next goal and is three goals away from becoming the first Orlando player to reach 50 goals scored for the club. Ojeda has scored in each of the Lions’ past three games and is up to 14g/3a in all competitions in 2026.

- Iván Angulo enters October on the hottest stretch of his career. The Colombian has scored in four consecutive MLS regular season matches and is up to 5g/11a in all competitions this season. Angulo is one assist behind Justin Ellis for the team lead.

- Orlando City players made numerous headlines for their countries during the international break:

- Justin Ellis scored in each of his first two starts for the United States men’s national team, netting just four minutes into his debut on September 26 in Orlando against Peru before striking again this past Tuesday night against Canada. The latter goal was assisted by fellow Orlando City Academy product Alex Freeman and was the difference in a 1-0 win. 

- Marco Pašalić scored the game-winning goal for Croatia in their first UEFA Nations League match against Czechia and played 90 minutes against world champions Spain later in the window.

- David Brekalo enjoyed a sensational window for Slovenia, starting all three of his country’s Nations League victories over Scotland (twice) and Switzerland. The Slovenia backline conceded just one goal across Brekalo’s 299 minutes of action during the window.

- Wilder Cartagena made his grand return to the Peruvian national team, suiting up for La Bicolor for the first time since November 2024. Cartagena started all four of Peru’s friendlies during the break.

Series History

All-time vs. Columbus - 11-10-6, 0 GD (8-4-3, +3 GD home)

MLS only vs. Columbus - 10-8-6, +1 GD (7-3-3, +3 GD home)

2015 - L 3-0 (A), D 2-2 (H), W 2-0 (H/USOC), W 5-2 (H)

2016 - D 2-2 (A), L 1-4 (H)

2017 - L 2-0 (A), D 1-1 (H), L 0-1 (H)

2018 - L 3-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)

2019 - W 0-2 (A), W 1-0 (H)

2020 - W 2-1 (H)

2021 - W 3-2 (H), L 3-2 (A)

2022 - W 0-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)

2023 - D 2-2 (A), W 4-3 (H), L 0-2 (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)

2024 - L 0-2 (H), L 4-3 (A)

2025 - W 1-3 (A), D 1-1 (H)

2026 - D 1-1 (A), L 2-1 (A/USOC)

Meet the opponent: Columbus Crew

- Orlando City owes Columbus a receipt for last month’s heartbreaking Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal defeat. After a hard-fought first 45 minutes that ended 1-1, the Crew pounced early in the second half while Antoine Griezmann was attempting to play through a knock and held on to win 2-1 and advance to the final. Columbus is set to host St. Louis City at Scotts-MiracleGro Field in the final on October 21.

- Despite strong overall home results against Columbus, the Lions haven’t defeated the Crew at Inter.co Stadium since 2023, when Ramiro Enrique spearheaded a three-goal comeback in the final 20 minutes of the second half for one of the more dramatic wins in Orlando City history.

- Columbus won each of its two regular season matches after the semifinal, putting itself within four points of an MLS Cup Playoffs berth with seven games to play. The surge has been led by new DPs Brais Méndez (6g/4a all competitions) and Santiago Rodriguez (2g/1a in six games), both of whom joined in the summer. 

- The Crew also feature old Orlando nemesis Josef Martínez, playing for his fifth MLS club. Martínez’s opener in the Open Cup semifinal was his 11th career goal against Orlando City, the most any individual player has ever scored against the Lions.