July 25, 2026
For the second straight year, a team from California will play for the TLfC National Championship, as Iron Rose FC defeated Oklahoma United 3-2 on Friday night in Denton, TX.
After a relatively quiet start, the match sprung into life in the 27th minute when Iron Rose's Moshi Wilondja took the ball on the right wing. Wilondja came inside on his left foot and sent a low strike on goal. The ball took a deflection, wrong-footed the Oklahoma United keeper Alexis Bertrand, and slowly rolled into the back of the net.
Eight minutes later, the match was back on level terms. Oklahoma United's equalizer came through Belgian Harry Tremblez on a set piece. The ball was delivered in by Kai Phillip and Tremblez's header only just went over the line after Iron Rose keeper Lucas Bost got a touch to it. The goal was Tremblez's sixth of the season and his fourth in the the playoffs.
The match went into halftime at 1-1.
Iron Rose took the lead for good in the 53rd minute. Bertrand made a great save on an initial effort fired in from outside the box, but Arjan Dosanjh pounced on the rebound. After a nifty dribble to get away from the keeper, Dosanjh slotted home from a tight angle to restore Iron Rose's lead. It was Dosanjh's 13th goal of 2026 and fourth in the playoffs.
An unfortunate Oklahoma United mistake in the 71st minute led to Iron Rose's third goal. A back pass wrong footed Bertrand, who couldn't recover and could only watch the ball roll into the net for an own goal.
Down 3-1, Oklahoma United continued to battle and earned a penalty kick in the 82nd minute. Captain Kareem Williams stepped up and fired it right down the middle to cut the lead to 3-2.
Oklahoma United continued to press and had the ball in dangerous areas a few times before the final whistle, but Iron Rose were able to see out the match and book a spot in the National Championship.
Iron Rose will take on Pensacola FC for the National Championship on Sunday at 7:15 pm CT at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium in Denton, TX. The match will be streamed on TLfC's YouTube channel and is free for all to attend.
Pensacola defeated defending champs Met Oval Academy 4-2 in the first semifinal on Friday.
The match will feature the two highest-scoring clubs in TLfC. Iron Rose has scored 63 goals and Pensacola has scored 60 (both in 14 matches).
The match also features two of the highest-scoring players in TLfC. Wilondja has scored 15 goals for Iron Rose and Jip van den Essen has scored 15 for Pensacola. van den Essen missed Pensacola's semifinal win due to a red card suspension.
The winner of Sunday's match will take home the National Championship trophy, a $10,000 cash prize and earn an automatic bid into the 2027 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
