Can Greg Vanney recapture Concacaf glory for L.A. Galaxy?

The L.A. Galaxy is one of the most historic teams in MLS. Players like Cobi Jones, Luis Hernandez, David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and many more have played for the club. It has also won multiple championships.

In the Concacaf Champions Cup, formerly known as the Champions League, the team also had its moment of glory. But over the years, it has only managed to win one title in this tournament, although in MLS, it has become one of the winningest clubs.

The Galaxy was one of the first teams in the league to win this Concacaf tournament. It happened in 2000, when players like Hernandez, Cobi Jones and a young Greg Vanney, now the team's head coach, lifted the trophy.

L.A. Galaxy hoping Greg Vanney can recapture past Concacaf glory

Nearly 26 years have passed since that achievement and they have not been able to repeat it. But 2026 looks promising for the Los Angeles-based team, which dreams of contending for the Concacaf title again.

Now, Vanney counts on players like Marco Reus, Gabriel Pec and Jakob Glesnes, who will look to win the tournament.

The Galaxy will debut against Sporting San Miguelito of Panama on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET at Estadio Javier Cruz.

The Galaxy fan base needs to feel its team is dominant again, and a strong performance in the 2026 edition of the Champions Cup is a great opportunity to forget the complicated 2025 MLS season it had.

Riqui Puig's latest setback with his cruciate ligament injury represented a deep disappointment for the team's fan base, especially since Vanney, a few months ago, had assured, via the Los Angeles Daily News, that they expected to have him for the upcoming season.

Vanney knows what it takes to win the Champions Cup and now has the responsibility of bringing that joy back to the club more than 20 years later, but this time from the sideline.