2026 has been the stuff of legend for Nashville SC. It won the Supporters’ Shield by a record margin, never lost at home, set a league records for fewest goals allowed in a 34-game season and won more than two-thirds of its games en route to an MLS-best 77-point regular season. Calling the Boys in Gold the best side in regular-season history is no longer an opinion. It’s fact.
But, as the players themselves will tell you, a record-setting regular season only matters if it accompanies postseason success. So, with just over a week to go until the MLS Cup Playoff first round hits Music City, let’s relive five of the most impactful games Nashville has played. Some put the Boys in Gold on course for the Supporters’ Shield, others reinforced their mentality, others displayed pure dominance; each played a role in a campaign this fanbase, city and state won’t ever forget.
Nashville SC 3-0 New England Revolution | May 13
The Boys in Gold’s season couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start. Sam Surridge was challenging for the Golden Boot lead and Brian Schwake for the clean sheet lead, while Cristian Espinoza, Maxwell Woledzi and Warren Madrigal all looked like slam-dunk winter signings. Nashville had just one loss through 10 games and had already bested the Revolution 4-1 at GEODIS Park on opening day ahead of its May rematch. Safe to say confidence was high.
But this was not the same Revolution as three months prior. The leaky defense and sputtering attack which condemned it to successive losses to open the season had been sewn shut and well-oiled by the end of the spring. New England was, to that point, the only MLS side to win all its home games in 2026 and rode a seven-game unbeaten run into its rematch with Nashville at Gillette Stadium. It, too, had reason for optimism.
A blockbuster clash looked to be looming. But when both teams took the pitch, it quickly became clear that the gulf in quality between them was substantial. Bryan Acosta scored his first career Nashville goal before winter acquisition Warren Madrigal capitalized on a Matt Turner mistake to give his team a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room, an advantage it would never relinquish. Another delicious Acosta shot deep into the second half off Espinoza’s second assist of the match slammed the door on a New England fightback, securing a 3-0 win that proved to be among the most vital of Nashville’s season. It was also the 100th win in club history.
The three points the Boys in Gold earned in Foxborough, Mass., handed them the outright lead in the East after a pair of draws in the preceding matches, reigniting Nashville’s hopes of a first regular-season conference title. Nashville’s ability to so convincingly put away a fellow title rival sent shockwaves throughout the league, spawning serious conversations about its Supporters’ Shield credentials. It would go on to repeat the feat several other times in 2026, winning all but two games against the rest of the East’s eventual top five.
Nashville SC 3-2 LAFC | May 17
The Boys in Gold saw little rest between their triumph in New England and an equally as colossal matchup at GEODIS Park. Fresh off seizing the standalone top spot in the East, Nashville eyed an opportunity to jump into first in the overall league table should it overcome a dynamic LAFC in Music City.
The story of the match ahead of kickoff was the forward ranks both sides could boast. Surridge missed the match through injury, as did creative right back Andy Najar, but the attack line of Ahmed Qasem, Madrigal, Hany Mukhtar and Espinoza stayed intact, offering speed and elite vision across the pitch. LAFC, meanwhile, started the devastating trio of David Martinez, 2025 Golden Boot runner-up Denis Bouanga and longtime Premier League ace Son Heung-Min. Nashville fancied its chances at defending home turf with its league-leading defense, had not yet faced such a diverse offense in MLS play.
In many ways, the ensuing 90 minutes went exactly how many might’ve expected: five total goals, several jaw-dropping saves and a match played primarily in each team’s attacking third. What some might not have expected, however, was the way Nashville eventually won the heavyweight bout. Mukhtar scored all three of his team’s goals but did so with a combined xG of just 0.44, meaning that, given his chances, he’d be expected to score once just 44% of the time. Two of his goals came from stunning free kicks on the edge of the box, helping his team go the entire match without trailing despite quick retaliations by LAFC.
Schwake also provided one of his strongest showings in a Nashville shirt, making seven crucial saves including one on the cusp of stoppage time. It turned out to be a snapshot of the young American’s historic season, where he would match the MLS record for single-season clean sheets in his first campaign as a starter.
When the full-time whistle sounded, the Boys in Gold had officially cemented themselves as the lone Supporters’ Shield leaders. They never relinquished top spot.
Nashville SC 4-1 Inter Miami CF | Aug. 15
Matchups between Nashville and Miami always cause fireworks. Both clubs joined MLS at the same time and have become fierce rivals in the six years since, playing each other more than anyone else. Meetings have been unprecedently high stakes, too, including the 2023 Leagues Cup Final, 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs first round and 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. The Herons triumphed in the former two and the Boys in Gold in the latter, a key part of their run to the semifinals. And yet, for all the high-profile showdowns, August’s regular-season matchup has a compelling case as the most consequential in series history, both because of how it bolstered Nashville’s title charge and hamstrung Miami’s.
Nashville entered this Saturday night showpiece at GEODIS Park holding a slim two-point advantage in the Supporters’ Shield race on the Herons in second. The Boys in Gold had already held Miami to draws in both of their previous matches this season, securing an away-goals advantage in the Champions Cup in March. But holding Lionel Messi and company quiet for a third time in one season was always going to be a tall task, especially given the title ramifications. Some squads might have crumbled under this pressure; Nashville showed its mettle.
Even if Miami leveled the match on the cusp of halftime through Telasco Segovia, this match was all Boys in Gold all the way. An Elias Saad assist allowed Najar to steal a lead inside 17 minutes before Mukhtar and Surridge added three more goals out of the locker room. Schwake even saved a Messi penalty en route to a 4-1 humiliation that all but killed the Herons’ charge to the Shield. Nashville’s league lead ballooned to five points, meaning even a loss in South Florida in September wouldn’t unseat it from top spot.
The Boys in Gold would go on to draw their rematch at Nu Stadium 2-2, preserving an unbeaten season against their fiercest rival. With Miami comfortably out of the way, Nashville continued its romp toward the regular-season title relatively unchallenged, moving ever closer to the Herons’ league-record 74 points from 2024.
Nashville SC 3-2 Columbus Crew | Aug. 22
The schedule, on paper, lightened after the Boys in Gold’s triumph over Miami. A midweek clash at Red Bull New York preceded a weekend meeting with Columbus at home, a pair of opponents far closer to the playoff line than the top of the conference. And yet, neither proved anywhere near as straightforward as some might have thought. It took a stoppage-time Woledzi header off an Espinoza corner kick to secure Nashville’s first-ever win at Sports Illustrated Stadium. It took even more against the Crew.
This late-August meeting at GEODIS Park may well be the most hectic Nashville has ever played. The Boys in Gold already endured one frantic meeting with the Crew this season, settled by a 94th-minute Mukhtar goal in March but were treated to an even more chaotic evening this time around, taking an advantage through their captain in the 27th minute before Columbus rallied to score twice in the second half. Nashville trailed by a goal into the third minute of stoppage time and seemed destined for a first home defeat of the season, only for two of its unlikeliest goalscorers to rescue it.
Left back Reed Baker-Whiting, signed this offseason from Seattle Sounders, struck first, arrowing a header from a Mukhtar corner past Patrick Schulte to level the match at 2-2. Then, barely two minutes later, center back Jeisson Palacios spied Najar sneaking into the box and dragged a through-ball on the ground perfectly into the Honduran’s stride. He settled his feet and pinged his right foot through the ball into the far corner before wheeling away in celebration. GEODIS Park, already a cauldron of noise, bubbled into a frenzy.
This game was significant for several reasons. Overcoming a deficit so late into the match displayed immense mental resilience, a key trait for any title-challenging team. Dropped points may have undermined its run to the points record or the Supporters’ Shield title. Preserving its unbeaten streak at GEODIS Park reinforced its confidence in its home form, which a No. 1 seed in the playoffs would ensure through the championship game. This wasn’t the most important win of Nashville’s season because of who it beat or how it factored into the title race. But it may well be the win which taught Nashville — and the rest of MLS — what this group can do even when the deck looks stacked against it.
Nashville SC 3-2 Red Bull New York | Nov. 1
At last, we have arrived at the climax of Nashville’s marauding MLS season. After one of the most dominant campaigns in league history, the Boys in Gold suited up for their regular-season home finale on the brink of celebration. Nashville had locked up the Supporters’ Shield title with a 2-0 win at CF Montréal the previous weekend but had yet to celebrate its trophy with its home crowd, an opportunity offered by a Nov. 1 rematch with Red Bull. Even with the title wrapped up, this match had high stakes: Nashville was still within reach of the league’s all-time defensive record, an unbeaten home season and the MLS regular season points record, which it needed three points to tie.
Like its game against Columbus in August, the occasion proved a trickier task than Nashville envisioned. New York was fighting for its playoff life and looked like it throughout the first half, pressing the Boys in Gold high as they snatched a 2-0 lead by the 40th minute. Had Schwake not saved a Cade Cowell penalty inside 20 minutes, the advantage may well have been insurmountable. As it turned out, though, a two-goal lead wasn’t enough for the visitors.
A dangerous Najar cross was bungled into the net by a Red Bull defender on the brink of halftime, handing the hosts a lifeline before they blasted into life in the second frame. Surridge and Mukhtar each had goals wiped away for narrow offside calls. Woledzi, Baker-Whiting and Espinoza each hit the post from close range. Then, in the 78th minute, came the leveler, as Espinoza corralled a gorgeous Acosta long ball before firing across goal, again parried in by a Red Bull defender. The parallels with Columbus culminated in another stoppage-time winner, this time courtesy of a Surridge header on an Espinoza corner.
When the final whistle sounded shortly after, a storm-soaked GEODIS Park once again erupted in cheers. Players danced on the field as staff wheeled a stage toward a packed Supporters’ Section, soon occupied by the team. Mukhtar received the Shield and hoisted it above his head as pyrotechnics ignited behind him, celebrating the second trophy in club history and the first lifted in Music City.
The quest for the points record continued another week, when a Surridge brace at FC Cincinnati stamped Nashville’s spot in history. Schwake matched the single-season record for clean sheets by a goalkeeper. The defense in front of him registered its 17th shutout of the year and, with just 25 goals allowed all year, assured its spot as the best back line in league history. But as several of them noted at full-time, this was just one half of the job.
Celebrate now. Remember the games that made this Nashville side the best on MLS record. Learn lessons from wins, draws and losses alike. Because while one trophy is nice, this group isn’t satisfied with “nice.” They want greatness. They want an MLS Cup.
