NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 12, 2026) – Nashville Soccer Club will not advance to the Leagues Cup Quarterfinal Round after falling 2-1 to CF Monterrey Wednesday night at GEODIS Park and finishing outside the top four in the Phase One point standings. Ahmed Qasem opened the scoring with the fastest goal in Nashville SC history (and second fastest in Leagues Cup history) just 21 seconds into the match.
Fast as lightning: Ahmed Qasem’s goal just 21 seconds into the match was the fastest in Nashville SC history by 35 seconds, besting the previous record set by Dominique Badji vs. Atlanta United FC during the club’s inaugural season in 2020.
Back to business: The MLS-leading Boys in Gold (12W-2L-4D, 40 points) will return to regular season action this weekend, beginning a stretch of three matches in eight days.
Next up: First place Nashville SC will resume its MLS schedule when it hosts second place Inter Miami CF at GEODIS Park on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. CT presented by Publix.
Notes:
Nashville SC:
is 16W-6L-7D across all competitions this season (MLS, Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup)
is unbeaten in 24 of 29 matches this season across all competitions (MLS, Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup)
is 10W-3L-3D at GEODIS Park in 2026 across all competitions (MLS, Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup)
has a plus-21 goal differential at GEODIS Park in 2026 across all competitions (MLS, Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup)
is 4W-4L-4D all-time in the Leagues Cup Tournament
Julian Gaines made his first appearance of the season as a substitute in the 83rd minute
Ahmed Qasem scored his third goal of the season across all competitions and the fastest in team history (second fastest in Leagues Cup history)
Xavier Valdez made three saves
Box score:
Nashville SC (1W-2L-0D in Leagues Cup, three points) at CF Monterrey (2W-1L-0D in Leagues Cup, six points)
Aug. 12, 2026 – GEODIS Park
Final score:
NSH: 1
MTY: 2
Scoring Summary:
NSH: Ahmed Qasem 1’
MTY: Orbelin Pineda (A: Diego Rossi) 52’
MTY: Hugo Cuypers (A: Lucas Ocampos) 90’ + 2
Discipline:
MTY: Jorge Rodríguez (Caution) 23’
NSH: Alex Muyl (Caution) 43’
NSH: Jack Maher (Caution) 81’
Lineups:
NSH starters: Xavier Valdez; Josh Bauer, Jack Maher, Thomas Williams, Reed Baker-Whiting (Dan Lovitz 46’); Alex Muyl (Elias Saad 64’), Bryan Acosta, Ahmed Qasem (Julian Gaines 83’), Charles-Emile Brunet; Hany Mukhtar (C) (Jordan Knight 46’), Shak Mohammed (Sam Surridge 64’)
Substitutes: Brian Schwake, Joe Willis, Cristian Espinoza, Matthew Corcoran, Eddi Tagseth, Famara Camara, Chris Applewhite
MTY starters: Luis Cardenas; Victor Guzman, Daniel Aceves, Fidel Ambriz (Cesar Ramos 78’); Lucas Ocampos, Oliver Torres (Luca Orellano 58’), Diego Rossi, Jesus Corona (C) (Iker Fimbres 69’), Orbelin Pineda (Robert de la Rosa 69’), Jorge Roddríguez (Ricardo Chavez 58’); Hugo Cuypers
Substitutes: Santiago Lomelin, Gerardo Arteaga, Cesar Garza, Luis Reyes, Cesar Bustos, Omar Galvez, Aldo De Nigris
Match officials:
Referee: Héctor Said Martínez
AR1: Walter Lopez Ramos
AR2: Christian Ramírez
4TH: Victor Rivas
Weather: 91 degrees and clear
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