If you're anything like me, then you've been in enraptured in weeks of Men's World Cup bliss the past month. A tournament that due to, like everything, had the vibes so far off leading up to it has proven everyone and everything wrong (including me). The quadrennial pinnacle of men's soccer has absolutely delivered, providing an endless buffet of drama, storylines, and high-caliber soccer.
And it is out of that slumber that the slumping and wounded husk of the Portland Timbers 2026 season re-emerges. Almost two months after the most ignominious loss of the season – which is saying something – the Timbers return to MLS action.
And they do so in the house of their biggest rival, with an interim caretaker manager, and without their best attacking player. Good luck, lads.
In case you forgot, willingly or unwillingly, what happened in the first 14 games of the season, let's run through it all to set the stage for another chapter in the Portland-Seattle rivalry.
A pressure-filled season stumbles early out of the blocks
The Timbers kicked off the year with a wild 3-2 comeback win over the Columbus Crew. It was sloppy, frenetic, and entertaining. Entering the season with a mountain of pressure on his shoulders, then Portland head coach Phil Neville inspired his side to come back from a goal down, and then a 2-2 draw, to ultimately win.
It pains me to tell you that this was the high-water mark of the first quarter of the season, but, um, yeah. It was.
Portland stumbled out the gates to a five-game winless skid after that opening night win. The run was punctuated by the now annual beatdown by the Vancouver Whitecaps at home, a mind-numbingly annoying loss in extra time to the Houston Dynamo on the road, and an even more mind-numbingly annoying loss to the 'Caps in BC Place.
Times were tough and the results were even tougher to come by. Neville, whose seat was already pretty warm, saw it become scorchingly hot as his team collected just 4 points from their first six games. As the season turned to spring, he needed to get his side step up immediately, with no room for error.
And they did. Sorta.
The Yo-Yo Timbers barely scrap some semblance of credibility
After the aforementioned annoying loss in BC Place, the Timbers hosted LAFC at Providence Park on a sun drenched April afternoon. Despite LAFC heavily rotating their side due to Concacaf Champions Cup play, they played Portland tough and even pegged the home back to a draw in the second half.
As the game ticked to stoppage time, heads were going in hands. Recaps were being finalized, ready to rip into the team. The clock on Neville's tenure was probably just about up.
And then Kevin Kelsy did a madness and scored with the last kick of the game.
That win sparked a monthlong period of "The Yo-Yo Timbers": Portland would alternate week after week of good performances followed by bad performances, followed by good performances, etc. It made for some frustrating and confusing weeks of covering and rooting for this team, to say the least.
Rather than use the dramatic win as a trampoline, Portland got outclassed in a loss in Minnesota the next week. Nobody then expected them to win the following week in San Diego. It was a place they have never won, in a game against a team they have never beaten in regulation. But wouldn't you know it, win is exactly what they did. Alex Bonetig was the hero this time as he scored his first professional goal in stoppage time to bag an incredulous road win.
And then, of course, the Timbers yo-yo'd some more as they completely forgot to show up in Sandy, and got beat down by Diego Luna and Real Salt Lake the subsequent week. The next week, despite some fearing Portland would stumble at the lowest hurdle when they played a historically bad Sporting Kansas City side at home, the Timbers managed to pass the easiest test with a 6-0 win.
The "Good Timbers, Bad Timbers" nature of the first two months of the season stopped the bleeding, but just barely. It didn't do much to bring confidence to the team or Neville's job security as its coach, but it did give the slightest glimmer of hope. It showed that this team could show some grit and fight when it wanted to, and might have just enough quality to save themselves.
Problem was, they just didn't want to all that much.
The final ten days of the Neville era
The final three games of the first half of the season will go down as the true death of the Phil Neville era in Portland. It may have been dying a slow death since the start of the year, but the ten-day stretch to close out Portland's schedule before the World Cup break was the final nail in the coffin.
It started with a 2-2 draw in Montreal, where Portland fought back to earn a point. In any other circumstance, that would be seen as a point earned. But considering where the team was in the standings (low), how they were playing (bad), and how the coach needed to perform to keep his job (a whole lot better than he did), it didn't feel like it was enough.
And then, Portland headed down to Miami for Neville's homecoming against Messi. Inter Miami was finally playing in Miami, but they had yet to win in their new stadium (aptly named Nu Stadium). The Timbers came to town with a hope and a prayer, believing that just maybe they could pull off the upset over Leo and his friends.
They could not.
Sam Svilar
After a 2-0 loss in Miami, it felt like the Neville era could end right then and there. But rather than getting tarmac'd, he would have one last game in charge of Portland. And it was historic – but not in the way that you would want.
The Timbers welcomed the resurgent San Jose Earthquakes to Providence Park – a stadium where the 'Quakes literally hadn't won in the MLS era. If you've read this far, you by now know or could guess the result. Portland got rocked by the Earthquakes, losing at home to them for the first time.
And so, the inevitable was made reality the following day. Phil Neville was sacked on May 25, as Portland stood tied for second-bottom of the Western Conference taking just 14 points from a possible 42 to start the season with a 4-2-8 record.
The long and short of it is simple: the Portland Timbers have not been a very good soccer team in 2026. They've been competitive in probably only about half of the games they've played this year, and never showed any real signs of improvement or a sustained positive trajectory.
And so here we are. The team still does not have a permanent head coach – Timbers2 coach Jack Cassidy has been at the reigns since June, and he is set to make his MLS coaching debut on Thursday when he leads Portland against Seattle. There are rumblings that the new head coach will be announced soon (maybe by the time you're reading this), but it will be some time before they can truly put their stamp on the team – and hopefully turn it around.
The Portland Timbers entered the summer with a myriad of questions. They restart play in the summer with very few of them answered. But whether they, we, or the rest of the world are ready or not, they are back.
