DC United has one more match before the league pauses for the 2026 World Cup, and it’s tonight at home against CF Montréal. The Black-and-Red hope to close out on a high before the 7-week pause in league action.

“Well, we feel well overall. I’m pretty satisfied with the way how we have been improving so far,” head coach René Weiler said during media availability this week. “Now we are trying to make sure that we can decide close and tight games in our favor.”

DC United are coming off a 1-1 draw last weekend against St. Louis City and currently sit in 8th place in the Eastern Conference standings. Montreal lost last weekend at home to the Chicago Fire, who also beat United last week. The Black-and-Red could move up as high as fifth in the conference table with a win.

With the break coming up, the natural inclination for fans is for a coach to play everyone to the max knowing that a long layoff is coming. However, with the list of recently injured players, Weiler knows he can’t think that way. “Now we have not a lot of injured players. Then we have this long break. So I don’t like to push more,” Weiler said. “The players, they know that will be the last game for a long time. So I think we will be ready and we will go to our boundaries for the last time.”

Before the team breaks for the World Cup (Weiler said he would get a chance to go see family and friends in Switzerland before coming back to watch his team play in the tourament), there’s still the focus on beating Montreal. Defender Silvan Hefti said that they are confident but recognizes the quality of Montreal’s players. “I will not go too much into the details, but they are a good team. We know this, but we are very confident to make a good game at home,” Hefti said. “First of all, we try to develop our performance also from the last game, being even stronger in the defensive mode and trying to be clear in the offense moments. So this is what we try to improve. And I’m very positive about Saturday.”

The air of positivity currently surrounding the team will give way tonight to the pressure to produce goals and get the win before some time off after a very busy start to the season.

DC United vs. CF Montréal

Location: Audi Field

Kickoff time: 7:30pm ET

Available streaming: Apple TV