Whitecaps out to continue hot start against lowly Sporting KC

The Vancouver Whitecaps will try to build on one of the best seven-game starts in MLS history on Friday night when they host a Sporting Kansas City side coming off one of its most concerning performances.

Vancouver (6-1-0, 18 points) earned a 2-0 victory over visiting New York City FC last Saturday to improve its impressive early record, aided by an unbalanced schedule that has seen manager Jesper Sorensen's group play all but one of those first MLS matches at home.

Brian White scored his sixth league goal late in the second half after Mathias Laborda scored late in the first.

But the real star may have been defensive midfielder Andres Cubas, who made his first appearance in four weeks after recovering from a quadriceps injury.

Vancouver has yet to concede this season during the 395 minutes when the Paraguayan international is on the field.

"It's tricky taking him out," admitted Sorensen. "He's very strong against the ball, and he's a player where you know you can be also aggressive because he will cover up space for you, and he also has the aggression himself."

After Friday, the Whitecaps will play one more home match before they face an eight-match road trip that ends in early August, while BC Place is prepared and used as a 2026 World Cup venue.

Kansas City (1-5-1, 4 points) has struggled throughout its first season under manager Raphael Wicky, the first full-time replacement appointed after Peter Vermes was fired roughly a third of the way into the 2025 season.

But for Wicky, the most troubling effort may have been his club's last, a 3-0 defeat at the second-tier Colorado Springs Switchbacks in the U.S. Open Cup round of 32 on Wednesday night, in which his side trailed 2-0 just past the half-hour mark.

"What I want from the team tomorrow is basically what I've had all season from the team, what we didn't really have in the first 45 minutes in Colorado Springs," he said. "We didn't seem to be up for the fight. And that is something which I don't want to accept. They themselves don't want to accept. Our fans don't want to accept."

Dejan Joveljic has scored four times for SKC in MLS play, but his teammates have only three goals combined.

Vancouver has won the last four matchups, dating back to the last Sporting Kansas City victory in 2023.

--Field Level Media