The 2026 MLS Next Cup wrapped up Sunday evening at the Zions Bank Training Center, and by the time the dust settled, three finals had gone to penalties, a No. 8 seed had won a title, and one academy had somehow lifted two trophies in the same afternoon.
Here's how it all went down.
U15: Cedar Stars Academy Bergen def. City SC San Diego, 1-0
One goal. Clean sheet. Trophy.
Cedar Stars came in ranked No. 2 in the country and played like it from day one. City SC San Diego had been one of the better stories of the tournament getting to the final — but when it mattered most, Cedar Stars shut the door and didn't open it. An independent club from New Jersey winning the U15 title at the biggest youth tournament in the country is the kind of result that makes people in MLS front offices uncomfortable. Good.
U16: Total Futbol Academy def. Barca Residency Academy, 4-3
Nobody had this one.
TFA came in as the No. 8 seed — last in the pre-tournament rankings — and beat a Barcelona-affiliated academy 4-3 in the final. Seven goals in a U16 championship game. Barca AZ had the system, the reputation, and every reason to expect a different result. TFA just kept scoring. The lowest-ranked team in the bracket won the whole thing, and it wasn't even a fluke — they earned every round to get there.
That's the upset of the tournament. Maybe one of the bigger upsets in MLS Next Cup history.
U13: Atlanta United def. LA Galaxy, penalties (2-2 aet)
Two goals each through ninety minutes, then Atlanta United stepped up in penalties and handled their business. For a U13 final to go that deep tells you everything about how good both groups were. Atlanta's academy keeps producing across age groups — this is not a program that wins by accident.
U14: Orlando City SC def. Inter Miami CF, 3-2
Florida clubs, Salt Lake City setting, three goals to two. Orlando and Miami are two of the better-resourced youth programs in the Southeast and it played like it — back and forth, tight through most of it, Orlando pulling away just enough at the end. Inter Miami won U17 here last year. Orlando City wanted this one and took it.
U17: Orlando City Seminole def. Atlanta United, penalties (2-2 aet)
And then Orlando did it again.
Orlando City Seminole and Atlanta United couldn't be separated through ninety minutes — 2-2 — and Orlando took it on penalties Sunday afternoon. Two trophies in one day for the Orlando City academy system. U14 and U17, same tournament, same weekend. That almost never happens. Whatever they're doing in Florida right now, it's working.
Atlanta, for their part, reached two finals — U13 and U17 — and lost both on penalties. Brutal. The talent is real. The margins at this level just don't get any thinner.
U19: Columbus Crew def. St. Louis City SC, penalties (1-1 aet)
The last game of the tournament went the longest way to decide it.
Columbus Crew and St. Louis City SC played a 1-1 draw through ninety minutes before Columbus stepped up and won it on penalties as the sun went down at the stadium. Columbus came in ranked sixth. Not the favorite. Not anyone's pick to lift the trophy. They leave Salt Lake City as U19 champions anyway — which is kind of the whole point of playing the games.
St. Louis made a run nobody expected. Getting to the U19 final and pushing Columbus to penalties is not a bad week by any measure.
