A Heartbreaking Week for NC Soccer
North Carolina FC goes into hibernation. Three NC Teams end their playoff runs. One team barely misses out, another loses an Open Cup qualifier. Was it the worst week ever?
It was the worst week imaginable for North Carolina soccer fans — seasons ending, teams potentially shutting down, playoff battles lost — and it all started on November 2.
Of course, the day prior was a really good day for North Carolina’s football faithful. Isn’t it ironic?
That Saturday, Charlotte FC defied the odds and beat New York City FC in penalty kicks at Yankee Stadium 0-0, (6-7), bringing their playoff series back home for a decisive a Game 3.
Later in the night, North Carolina FC won their first round playoff match at home against Loudoun United FC 1-0. It was the first time both Charlotte FC and one of the state’s other professional teams won a playoff match in the same weekend.
Then came Sunday.
One Knoxville SC 2-1 Charlotte Independence
First up on November 2 were the Charlotte Independence, a team that struggled in the second half of 2025 in more ways than one.
After spending the first half of the year at or near the top of the USL League One table, the team started falling off in the summer months. They eventually snuck into the playoffs in 8th - the last spot - despite a decision day loss.
The Jacks also had trouble finding an audience this year. Average attendance cratered to 773 this year, the second lowest in all of USL (including the Championship and the Super League). The club reached a nadir on August 2, when only 454 fans attended a match against Texoma at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Unfortunately for Independence fans, the season came to an end in Knoxville, with the Jacks falling 2-1 to One Knoxville SC in the USL League One quarterfinals.
Despite being the underdog, Charlotte came to challenge for the cup. Not long after the 4:00 PM kickoff at Covenant Health Park, Charlotte striker Christian Chaney hit the woodwork, and shortly thereafter the Jacks’ Souaibou Marou forced a save from One Knox Goalkeeper Sean Lewis with a header.
However, One Knox struck first, with a Sivert Haugli setpiece header in the 17th minute, and Stavros Zarokostas would add a second goal for the #1 seed in the second half.
“I was proud of the way the team approached the game and came out on the front foot,” said Independence captain Clay Dimick. “We had chances to place our stake in the game early. Despite giving up two frustrating goals, we never stopped fighting and put everything we had into this game.”
The Jacks went down fighting, recording 17 shots to One Knox’s 11, and 6 shots on goal to 4 for the home squad. Chaney continued to come close, until he finally got a goal in the 77th minute off of an Anthony Sorenson cross. It was enough to give Charlotte hope, but not enough to extend their season.
“We’re gutted,” said Chaney after the match. “We thought going into the game and even at the start of the game after I hit the post, we had them and I think that we took the game to them. I think it’s one of our better performances that we’ve had of the year honestly. If we put our chances away, things are different, but that’s part of the game. I’m really proud of what we accomplished, all the ups and downs that we had this year. We stayed together as a group and we stuck together to our game plan.”
NC Courage End Campaign on a High Note
First, the good news: on Sunday, November 2, the NC Courage won their final match of the season 3-2 against Gotham FC, in front of a sell-out crowd of 11,170 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park. The impressive showing - a new record for women’s pro soccer in North Carolina - brought the team’s total attendance to a record 107,931 fans over the course of the year.
The bad news, of course, is that the Courage also needed Racing Louisville FC to lose on the last day of the season in order to secure the 8th and final NWSL playoff spot. Instead, Louisville beat Bay FC 1-0, and in the process boxed out the Courage, who finished the season in 9th place.
Despite missing out on the playoffs, the Courage had another silver lining: Courage midfielder Manaka Matsukubo was named NWSL Player of the Month, the first Courage player to win the honor since Brazilian international Debinha in 2022. Manaka finished the season with 11 goals (3rd in the NWSL) and 15 goal contributions (2nd in the NWSL).
Mint Hill FC Fall in Third Round of 2026 U.S. Open Cup Qualifying
On October 11, Soccer Sheet saw semi-professional side Mint Hill FC host South Carolina United Heat in the Second Round of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Qualifiers.
The Heat are a good club; last year, they took the Charlotte Independence to penalties in the second round of the 2024 edition of the Open Cup. So when Mint Hill prevailed over the Heat in a raucous 3-2 match that saw one player on each side sent off for violent conduct, we thought Mecklenburg County’s local UPSL side might have a shot at joining the likes of Charlotte FC and Carolina Core FC in next year’s Open Cup.
After the match, goalkeeper Ali Jaafar told us it would mean “everything” for Mint Hill to qualify for the Open Cup.
“If we’re able to qualify, I know for me and all the guys who’ve stuck around, it would be huge,” said Jaafar. “It’d be a testament to all of the good and bad times we’ve had over the past four years.”
This year, however, it was not meant to be.
Mint Hill FC travelled to Snellville, Georgia to face Kalonji Pro-Profile in the third of four qualifying rounds for the Open Cup, eventually falling 4-0 after a late, 7:00 PM kickoff on November 2.
Kalonji are one of the best UPSL sides in Georgia, and their top scorer in 2024 - Anthony Sumo - now plays with Carolina Core in MLS NEXT Pro. They opened up the scoring in the 19th minute against Mint Hill and never looked back, adding two more before halftime.
Mint Hill was the last of three North Carolina sides left in the qualifiers, but the state will still be represented in the 2026 Open Cup by Carolina Core FC, the Charlotte Independence, Charlotte FC, Asheville City SC, and Hickory FC.
Until Tuesday, November 4, North Carolina FC was expected to compete as well.
North Carolina FC Suspends Play for 2026 and 2027 Seasons, Lose Playoff Match to Rhode Island
According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, the USL Players Association held a call with North Carolina FC players on Monday, November 3 and informed them that the team was suspending operations at the end of the season.
Days before their next playoff match, every NCFC player was now a free agent.
The club confirmed the news to the players the next morning, including the terms of a settlement deal that includes two months of severance for players who would have been under contract next season, per the USL’s collective bargaining agreement.
“North Carolina FC will not compete in the USL Championship after the 2025 season, when the team’s franchise agreement ends, and will focus on positioning the club for Division One,” read a November 4 statement from the club. “Raleigh has strong potential as a future top-tier market if it meets the league’s professional standards that require a minimum 15,000-seat purpose-built soccer stadium.”
Per the club’s announcement and statements from NCFC chairman Steve Malik, the team will suspend play in 2026 and 2027, and then return for the first USL Division One season in 2028. The United Soccer League is marketing the proposed Division One as a top-tier American soccer league that will also feature European-style promotion and relegation within the USL pyramid.
“This is a deeply difficult decision, one that comes after extensive thought and consideration of the future of professional soccer in our community, which has proven itself a major league sports market,” said Malik in a statement. “I love North Carolina FC and have been incredibly proud to see this club succeed on the field and serve our community. I am as invested in this team emotionally as I am financially.
“Right now, it’s essential that we focus our immediate resources and energy on strengthening the foundation for professional soccer in Raleigh by continuing to invest in the Courage and resetting our men’s strategy for the future. With the right infrastructure in place, Raleigh can become a world-class home for the sport for years to come.”
Sources within the North Carolina FC organization told Soccer Sheet the club informed players as soon as possible to do right by the players and give them the best possible chance to find a new club for the 2026 season.
Club sources also emphasized that North Carolina FC was meeting the obligations of the USL collective bargaining agreement. However, the USL Players Association, the collective bargaining agent for all USL Championship players, says that the CBA doesn’t provide enough protections for players.
“Under the current collective bargaining agreement, NCFC players with contracts for the upcoming season are left with pink slips and just two months’ salary.
There are no other protections,” read a statement from the USL Players Association. “This systemic failure has happened again and again in the USL Championship. Over the past decade, twelve clubs have shuttered. Before the 2021 CBA, players received nothing after being told their clubs were folding; proving that players are treated as disposable while the league continues to protect owners over workers every time.”
According to multiple current and former members of the North Carolina FC organization who spoke with Soccer Sheet on the condition of anonymity, the announcement took the team by surprise. Additionally, many former members of the organization Soccer Sheet spoke with believe, contrary to the official statement, that the team is in fact folding.
“I don’t want my name associated with it but surely people see past this [BS]!” a former employee of the club told Soccer Sheet.
When asked to respond to claims that the club was folding, a spokesperson for North Carolina FC declined to comment.
Later in the week, #3 seed NCFC would host Rhode Island FC in front of 2,287 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary for what would be the team’s final playoff match in the USL Championship. The #7 Rhode Island, which had a Cinderella run to the 2024 USL Championship final in the team’s first year, defeated NCFC 0-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday.
While the match was competitive for the first 80 minutes, with numerous chances early on for North Carolina, Albert Dikwa’s header provided the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute.
Then, after NCFC pulled goalkeeper Oliver Semmle for a set piece during stoppage time, Dikwa struck again with an open net goal from midfield that felt like watching a bowling ball head towards the pins in slow motion.
The entire stadium watched in agony, unable to stop the inevitable second goal that would end this chapter in North Carolina FC’s history.
Charlotte FC Fall in Game 3 in the First Round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, as a Team Legend Departs
New York City FC defeated the Crown two-games-to-one in the best-of-three series, winning the final match at Bank of America Stadium 1-3.
It was a heartfelt final goodbye for center back Adilson Malanda, who will move to Middlesbrough F.C. in the EFL Championship and join another Adi – interim manager Adi Viveash – for the second half of Boro’s season.
Malanda was visibly emotional after the loss as he took a final lap around the stadium to thank his fans.
“You can’t change it now. It’s too late,” Malanda said in reference to leaving the club on a loss. “Obviously I’m really disappointed about that, but really proud and really happy [about] being able to play for the Charlotte fans for the Charlotte Football Club, who were unbelievable. I’ll miss that, to be honest.”
Malanda is expected to join Boro around December 1.
When Soccer Sheet asked Malanda about his status as a club legend, he let the assessment roll off with his characteristic modesty, and said the club was going to continue to bring in more, better players.
“I appreciate [being seen as a legend],” said Malanda. “It’s great to hear. I think this club is just starting [to grow].”
During the offseason, Charlotte will have to find a replacement for Malanda, as well as more strength on the wings. Pep Biel will be back as a designated player, but DP Wilfried Zaha’s loan is up on June 30, and DP Liel Abada – who underperformed, playing vastly fewer minutes this season – is probably out the door.
Additionally, the club will have to figure out how to adapt head coach Dean Smith’s low-scoring, defense-first style of play to cup competitions. Under Smith, Charlotte hasn’t made it past the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs, scoring only 2 goals in 6 matches. In the U.S. Open Cup, Smith is yet to defeat an MLS team, and in Leagues Cup, the Crown has only 1 win in regulation in 5 matches.
“Sometimes sport is cruel,” Smith told reporters after the match. “We didn’t get the result that we deserved tonight.”
Perhaps it was Malanda who summed up the end to Charlotte’s season the best.
“Just really disappointed about it,” said Malanda. “You know, it’s just football. It’s just football.”
