KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Sept. 20, 2026) – Atlanta United 2 won 4-2 against Orlando City B on Sunday at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee. Atlanta moved to third in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference, clinched its first-ever playoff berth and will host a home playoff match on Sunday, Oct. 18 against an opponent to be announced later. Cameron Dunbar provided his 12th and 13th assists of the season, tying the all-time NEXT Pro single-season assist record and moving atop the leaderboard for this season, while Arif Kovac scored his 20th goal of the season, extending his lead as the league’s top scorer.
With an automatic playoff berth available by securing a win or a draw, Atlanta opened the scoring on Decision Day in the third minute. Andrew Jardines, winning a second ball in the attacking third, drove forward before laying off a pass to Dunbar on the left side of the box. With a first-time cross toward the center, Dunbar found a charging Kovac, who was able to tap the ball home inches from goal to give Atlanta the early lead.
In the 18th minute, Orlando equalized on a long-range shot from Issah Haruna. During a transition, Gustavo Caraballo found Haruna streaking down the right wing. With a few dribbles to size up Dominik Chong Qui on the right side of the box, Haruna suddenly decided to strike the ball with the outside of his left foot, and it rapidly sailed past Jonathan Ransom at his near post to level the match.
An own goal saw Atlanta re-establish its advantage in the 30th minute. Dunbar, whipping a cross from a corner on the left side, found a dangerous area inside the Orlando box. Goalkeeper Tristan Himes came out in an attempt to punch the cross away, but could only clear it as far as Harvey Sarajian, who was standing directly in front of him. The ball then quickly deflected off the back of Sarajian before Himes could react, and it bounced into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
Atlanta made it three first-half goals on the back of Dunbar’s 13th assist in the 40th minute. Similar to the first goal, Jardines started the attack from the center of the attacking third, finding Dunbar on the left side. Dunbar, using quick feet to dribble into the box and drive to the goal line, cut back a pass to Ignacio Suarez-Couri in the middle. After running onto the pass, Suarez-Couri opened up his body and guided the ball past Himes, who was covering the near post, and into the net.
Two minutes into stoppage time, Orlando pulled itself back into the match as Justin Hylton fired past Ransom at the near post. Playing a two-man game between one another on the right side, Haruna eventually found Hylton inside the box. With time and space, Hylton fired a powerful shot from a similar position to Orlando’s first goal. Ransom looked to have the shot covered, but a deflection off Chong Qui unexpectedly changed the flight of the shot as it flew past Ransom, reducing the Atlanta advantage to one at the halftime interval.
In the 63rd minute, Chong Qui scored a goal from a solo run to give Atlanta valuable second-half insurance. Ransom, playing a long ball from his box all the way to the left wing, found Chong Qui after Parker Amoo-Mensah failed an attempted clearance. Left with just Landon Okonski between him and the goalkeeper, Chong Qui cut into the box before faking a shot, dropping Okonski to the floor. Himes, seeing the one-on-one opportunity develop, came out of his goal in an attempt to win the ball, but Chong Qui skillfully tapped the ball between the goalkeeper’s open legs, giving Atlanta its second two-goal advantage of the match.
Following the fourth goal, Atlanta opted to secure its lead through control and defensive determination, conceding just four shots across the rest of the match as it claimed all three points and secured its first-ever playoff berth.
Atlanta United 2 (14-9-5, 48 points) returns to action Sunday, Oct. 18, when it returns home for its first-ever playoff match to face an opponent to be announced later (Time TBA, MLSNEXTPro.com, OneFootball App, Soccer Down Here).
