The Portland Timbers host the San Jose Earthquakes on May 23 at 6:30pm PT — the teams' final match before the FIFA World Cup 2026 pause.
Finn Surman, Portland's center back who will represent New Zealand at this summer's World Cup, is expected to anchor the Timbers' defense as the club chases a late push into the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
The stakes are clear: Portland sit five points behind the LA Galaxy for the West's ninth and final Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spot, and they need results now. Portland arrive riding a surge up front — Kristoffer Velde, David Da Costa and Kevin Kelsy have combined for four goals and seven assists across the Timbers' past three matches — and they will try to carry that form into Providence Park after a 6-0 rout of Sporting Kansas City in their last home outing.
San Jose's story is a study in extremes. The Earthquakes became the first MLS team in the post-shootout era to win nine of their first 10 games, establishing a season that looked destined for sustained success. That run, however, has flattened: San Jose have gone winless in their last five matches across all competitions, and they are forced to adapt without Timo Werner and Niko Tsakiris, both sidelined for the clash.
Context sharpens the match's meaning. For Portland, the remaining regular-season calendar narrows the margin for error; the club's home form matters more than ever because they have never lost at home to San Jose since joining MLS in 2011. For San Jose, the game is an attempt to arrest a slide that has erased the early-season gains and leaves the Earthquakes searching for answers just as the league pauses for the World Cup.
The tension is tangible and practical. Portland's recent attacking burst has been driven heavily by a three-man contribution; while that creates momentum, it also concentrates responsibility. The Timbers will look to Kevin Kelsy alongside Velde and Da Costa to sustain scoring and chance-creation on a night when a single result can change playoff math. At the same time, San Jose's injury absences remove familiar options and test the team that once thrived on depth and form. Adding to the uncertainty is the lingering physical risk around players across the league — Kamal Miller exited last week's visit to Inter Miami with an apparent hamstring issue — a reminder that fitness can flip planning in an instant before the long break.
How each side handles that friction will decide more than three points. Portland's unbeaten home record versus San Jose since 2011 gives them a psychological edge and a practical roadmap: defend well, convert the chances their recent trio creates, and the points are likely to follow. San Jose must prove the early-season excellence was not a fluke by finding attacking life without Werner and Tsakiris and by stopping Portland's momentum on the road.
The immediate outcome will ripple into two schedules. A Portland victory would keep their playoff chase alive and hand them a morale boost heading into the World Cup pause; a San Jose win would halt a five-game winless run and restore some momentum to a team that started the year historically strong. Fans who cannot attend can catch the Timbers' radio broadcast on new partner 105.1 The Fan with Fletcher Johnson, Aaron Heinzen and Adam Susman, or listen in Spanish on La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM.
In the end, the match comes down to a single, consequential test for Finn Surman and his teammates: can Portland turn recent scoring form and a perfect home record against San Jose into the points they need, or will a steadied Earthquakes side snap its slide and send both clubs into the World Cup pause with very different momentum?
