Timbers start 2026 with a comeback and a clearer identity
It's just one match, but the start of the season has a much different feeling than a year ago after Portland's 3-2 win over Columbus.
How much can one take away from the first game of the season?
Well, Portland’s 4-1 loss to open last season felt emblematic of a year that again fell short of expectations.
But that simplistic summary ignores the way the Timbers responded. Despite offseason Evander drama and injuries to star players, Portland shook off that loss to Vancouver and posted its best 10-game start (5-2-3) in club history.
So no, just because Portland beat Columbus 3-2 Saturday night in come-from-behind fashion, it doesn’t mean 2026 is going to go great.
It doesn’t mean it’s going to go poorly, either.
What Ariel Lassiter will tell you, though, is that this year’s start is an indicator of a team that’s far more comfortable with itself than it was at this time a year ago.
“Everybody knows their role and everybody knows what to do,” said Lassiter, who scored the go-ahead goal in the 88th minute — his first league goal with the Timbers. “We’re going to need everyone. Everyone that starts. Everyone that’s on the bench. Everyone that’s rostered. We know it’s going to take a full team effort.
“I think last year was a little bit different. I think we expected to be a little more individualistic and try to win games that way.”
On Saturday, it was James Pantemis’ diving save in the ninth minute that kept a 1-0 Columbus lead just that. It was the chemistry Gage Guerra and Felipe Mora found with each other in the preseason paying off with a one-two equalizer in the 14th. And it was newcomer Cole Bassett drawing in a defender before crossing to Antony for the go-ahead in the 20th.
Diego Chara played a full 90 minutes in the midfield for the 400th start of his Timbers career, then tied Kyle Beckerman for the most yellow cards (123) in MLS history with his foul in the 64th.
Alex Bonetig and Brandon Bye played solid defensively in their Portland debuts. And then it was Lassiter. After Columbus tied the game in the 44th, the 31-year-old came on as an attacking substitute in the 74th. Fourteen minutes later, he pounced on a headed drop from Kevin Kelsy in the box.
“I think we all have moments where we are going to need to step up,” Lassiter said, “and I think a lot of guys did that today.”
No, one shouldn’t make too much of one match. But the early schedule makes a fast start valuable: Portland plays 14 times before the league breaks for roughly two months this summer.
And while the Timbers still aren’t at full strength as David Da Costa works his way back from shoulder surgery, manager Phil Neville saw a lot to draw from his team’s debut. Specifically, Neville was impressed with Bassett, who the team acquired earlier this month following its sale of David Ayala to Miami.
Bassett played the entire match, assisted on Antony’s goal, and made an impact in all thirds of the field.
“His performance tonight was outstanding,” Neville said. “He was probably our best player. And he’s a multi-function midfield player. He’s a throwback. You know, people talk in modern day football, where people say, ‘Oh, he’s a six, or an eight.’ I see [Bassett] as a central midfield player. He can play six and play eight. He can play 10. He’s a throwback to 10 years ago when people just played central midfield. He can do every job that’s asked of him.”
Bassett drew Portland’s highest match rating (8.1, per FotMob) and finished with a match-high 98 touches.
Next Saturday, he’ll face Colorado, his former team, for the first time. Bassett grew up with the Rapids, signing with the club as a 17-year-old in 2018. He spent seven seasons with the squad, with his only time away being a year on loan in the Netherlands in 2022.
“Moving overseas for the first time, moving out of your parents’ house for the first time, it was a big learning moment for sure,” Bassett said. “It’s simple stuff in football, but I think the way they taught the game over there was stuff that I’ve never seen before over here. A lot of it had to do with rondos and the way you manipulate your hips as a center midfielder — just little stuff that I think I find very helpful to my game nowadays and I don’t have to constantly work on with coaches because it’s ingrained in me.”
Bassett will be a key figure if Portland can get out to a 2-0 start next Saturday with a win over Colorado — and the team gets reinforcements with the return of defender Juan Mosquera, who was suspended for Saturday’s opener due to a red card in Portland’s season-ending finale.
Fortunately for Portland, the way last season ended (a 4-0 loss to San Diego in Game 3 of Round 1) didn’t carry any momentum into the start of 2026.
The Timbers won’t hate it if the electricity Providence Park carried late into Saturday night hangs around for a while, though.
“I thought it was a brilliant night of football,” Neville said, “with two teams that wanted to play football the right way.”
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor