San Diego FC Falls 2-1 to Club Tijuana in Second Baja Cup Meeting

San Diego FC’s second Baja Cup ended in disappointment Wednesday night, as Club Tijuana scored a late winner to claim a 2-1 victory at Snapdragon Stadium.

With both teams using the exhibition to provide valuable minutes to younger players and squad members, the match offered SDFC fans a chance to see several Right to Dream prospects in action. But despite some promising stretches, San Diego could not hold onto a result against its cross-border rival.

Tijuana opened the scoring in the 33rd minute. Joban Gonzalez’s cross found David Orduño inside the penalty area, and the forward quickly finished to give the Liga MX side a 1-0 lead.

SDFC responded just before halftime through defender Osvald Søe. Following a San Diego corner, a Tijuana defender’s clearance fell into Søe’s path near the center of the box. The Danish defender made no mistake with his left-footed finish, bringing the match level at 1-1 in the 45th minute.

The score remained tied deep into the second half, but Tijuana eventually found the decisive goal.

In the 81st minute, Ivan Tona collected the ball outside the penalty area and fired a right-footed shot from approximately 20 yards into the left corner of the net. CJ Dos Santos, who entered at halftime, had little chance to stop the well-placed effort.

SDFC pushed for another equalizer but could not find a second response, falling to 2-1 in the second edition of the Baja Cup. San Diego won the inaugural meeting 4-2 in 2025.

A Valuable Opportunity for SDFC’s Young Players

While the result was not what San Diego wanted, the match provided important experience for several players from the club’s Right to Dream Academy.

Head coach Mikey Varas said six players from the international academy featured, with some having trained with the first team for only a few days.

“Really happy that they can slot in,” Varas said. “You can see that there's definitely a cohesive alliance style of play across our whole organization because it felt and looked like a team out there.”

Varas also acknowledged that the group showed both encouraging moments and some of the inconsistency that has affected SDFC throughout the 2026 season.

San Diego controlled portions of the match and created stretches of promising possession, but Varas felt the team lost some control after halftime, particularly through unnecessary turnovers.

“We lose a little bit control of the game in the second half, where they start to put pressure on us because we have too many turnovers that are unnecessary,” he said.

For the players given an opportunity, however, the match was a chance to make a case for more minutes as SDFC heads into the final stretch of the season.

Looking Ahead to Miami

The defeat extends a difficult run of results for San Diego, which now sits at 12-14-6 across all competitions in 2026, including an 8-10-6 MLS record.

Still, Varas said the team has shown a willingness to take responsibility and respond to its recent struggles.

“The group is not afraid to hold themselves accountable and quite committed to making sure that we do what we got to do to change the flow right now and flip the script,” Varas said.

SDFC will return to MLS action Sunday, Sept. 20, when it travels to face Inter Miami CF at 4:30 p.m. PT. The club will then remain on the road for a Sept. 26 matchup against Austin FC.

The Baja Cup may have ended with a loss, but the bigger challenge now is turning the lessons from the match into a stronger performance when league points are on the line.