Wicky Said Sporting KC Would Compete Once 'Fully Healthy and Fit' — After an MLS-Record 81 Goals Allowed, He's Gone Before the 14-Game Sprint Season

After a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas in his second-to-last game, Raphaël Wicky said he believed Sporting Kansas City could compete once the squad was "fully healthy and fit, with some other players who will join next year." He won't get to see it. On Monday, two days after the season ended with a 1-0 win at San Diego, Sporting KC terminated his contract. Assistants Edu Rubio and Ash Wallace are also out.

The numbers left little room for a second year. Sporting finished 7-22-5 in MLS with 26 points, last in the Western Conference and 29th of 30 in the Supporters' Shield table. They allowed 81 goals, the most by any team in a single MLS season. The Kansas City Star noted that 26 points is the second-lowest total in club history.

Before the trip to San Diego, Sporting had conceded in 32 MLS games this season, according to CBS Sports. That tied the league record for most matches conceding at least one goal in a single regular season. Their 1-0 win at Snapdragon Stadium was a clean sheet, so they share that record instead of owning it.

The win did more than that. It ended a seven-game winless run and, as KCTV5 reported, kept Sporting ahead of CF Montréal in the overall table, so they were spared finishing dead last in the league.

The timing is not only about this season. MLS is moving to a summer-to-spring calendar, and the bridge is a 14-game Sprint Season. Sporting open it on Saturday, Feb. 20, in Houston and finish on Saturday, May 1, at home against the Portland Timbers. That gives the next coach about three months between hiring and the first game, and only 14 matches before the new calendar starts.

General manager David Lee made clear the call was his. "The 2026 season has been challenging for many reasons, and we recognize that Rapha and his staff worked incredibly hard in difficult circumstances," Lee said in the club statement. "After a review of the season, Rapha and I met, and I decided to make the change."

The club also said roster decisions will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 10, so the rebuild Wicky talked about is starting without him.

Wicky was hired in January as Sporting's first full-time head coach since the club parted ways with Peter Vermes in March 2025, after Kerry Zavagnin served as interim. Vermes had been in charge since 2009, so counting the interim, the club has now had three coaches in about 20 months after one in more than 15 years.

Wicky arrived with experiance in MLS. He coached the Chicago Fire in 2020-21 and before that led Basel and Young Boys in his native Switzerland. In all competitions this year his record was 7-23-5. Sporting have missed the playoffs for the third straight season and for the fourth time in five years.

Wicky was let go a day after NYCFC fired Pascal Jansen, and the short Sprint Season helps explain why both clubs moved right away instead of waiting. Sporting KC's next coach inherits the worst defense in league history and a roster that will be reshaped on Tuesday. If Wicky was right about this group, Kansas City will find out under someone else, with only 14 games to show it.