SDFC tops Club Tijuana 1-0 for first Leagues Cup points

San Diego FC held off cross-border rivals Club Tijuana in a slim 1-0 sold-out Snapdragon Stadium victory on Sunday night, with 18-year-old forward Bryan Zamblé claiming the sole goal of the match.

The Baja Cup met the Leagues Cup for the first time on Sunday night, marking the two clubs’ first-ever official meeting.

Just separated by 25 miles, San Diego FC and Club Tijuana are each other's geographically closest opponents. 

The first edition of The Baja Cup, an unofficial friendly, took place last season on Sept. 16, 2025, as part of the clubs' five-year partnership, with SDFC defeating Xolos 4-2 to claim the first-ever Baja Cup win.

SDFC came into the second match looking to claim their first points of Phase One, having left the historic Estadio Azteca on Wednesday night empty-handed against continental giant Club América after a 3-1 loss to open up their 2026 Leagues Cup campaign. 

SDFC looked to have got off to a dangerous start against Xolos, netting the apparent opening goal of the match within two minutes of the first half whistle. 

With the ball landing onto his feet and left with space inside the penalty box, SDFC’s All-Star forward Anders Dreyer found the bottom right corner of the goal to give SDFC the early lead before any VAR intervention.

A lengthy VAR discussion into referee Steven Madrigal's earpiece prompted him to take a closer look at the lead-up play on Dreyer’s score, with a potential foul from 18-year-old Bryan Zamblé on a missed shot making contact with Xolos’ Ramiro Árciga.

After the review, Madrigal deemed the contact enough to disallow SDFC’s go-ahead goal as the game returned to a scoreless affair at the six-minute mark. 

After multiple sloppy defensive half turnovers from the visiting Xolos, SDFC finally pounced on their opportunity with quick transition play from Anders Dreyer and Alejandro Alvarado, which ended with a back-post tapping finish from Bryan Zamblé as they retook their 1-0 lead in the 22-minute. 

Zamblé netted his third goal for the Chrome & Azul, claiming his first score in the 2026 Leagues Cup. 

Xolos' offensive pressure ramped up in the second half, with SDFC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos called upon to retain the slim one-goal lead. 

His biggest save of the night came in the 58-minute, making a diving save to push Yael Padilla's on-target curling strike away from goal, keeping his squad up 1-0. 

Only minutes later, he came up big once again to deny Ignacio Rivero's long-range effort on goal in the 67-minute as the Xolos continued to search for the tying score.

Xolos' best chance of the match came in the 72-minute, with Elias Manoel's right-footed shot going inches away from the 1-1 score, with his near penalty spot attempt blasting off the right post and off target as SDFC’s lead survived.

The final time whistle blew at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday night with SDFC seeing out their 1-0 lead through the five added stoppage time minutes to the regular 90, claiming their first win in the 2026 Leagues Cup. 

At the postmatch press conference, SDFC head coach Mikey Varas spoke on Bryan Zamblé’s performance and goal against Club Tijuana.

“I'm just really happy for Bryan because I think more than the goal, he played a really mature game and he kind of gassed out a little bit,” Varas said. “Which is normal because he hasn't had a lot of minutes. But he's an example of a guy who took his opportunity, took it really well.”

For their third and final matchday, San Diego FC remain at home on Wednesday night to close out Phase One of the 2026 Leagues Cup against Club Puebla, slated for a 7:15 p.m. kickoff at Snapdragon Stadium. 

A top-four MLS table finish to advance into the tournament's knockout rounds will require an SDFC win and many other results around the Leagues Cup as SDFC head into the final matchday three points off the standings leaders.