Minnesota United FC

Minnesota United Football Club, often called MNUFC, is a professional soccer team from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. They joined Major League Soccer in 2017, becoming the league's 22nd team. Before that, they played in a different league called the North American Soccer League.

At first, the team played their home games at TCF Bank Stadium, now called Huntington Bank Stadium, on the University of Minnesota's campus in Minneapolis. In 2019, they moved to their new home, Allianz Field, a special stadium just for soccer in Saint Paul's Midway neighborhood.

The team is owned by Bill McGuire, who used to be the CEO of UnitedHealth Group. Other owners include the Pohlad family, who own the Twins, former Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, and Glen Nelson and his daughter Wendy Carlson Nelson from the Carlson hospitality company.

History

In January 2010, the National Sports Center announced they would start a new team to replace the Minnesota Thunder. The Thunder were not officially closed but were facing big money problems. After a contest to name the team, they announced it would be called NSC Minnesota, with the nickname Stars, on February 5, 2010. Four days later, former United States national team player Manny Lagos was named the team's first head coach.

The team played its first official game on April 11, 2010, losing 2–0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps. The first goal in the team's history was scored by Daniel Wasson in their next game, a 1–0 win over the Carolina RailHawks. The Stars had some big wins in their first season, including a 3–1 win over Crystal Palace Baltimore, a 3–0 win over AC St. Louis, and a 3–1 win over FC Tampa Bay. They finished fourth in their conference but lost in the quarter-finals of the playoffs.

On January 9, 2012, the club announced a new logo and a new name. They dropped the NSC part of the name, which had caused confusion, and the new name became the Minnesota Stars. The team continued looking for a new owner during the off-season and started the 2012 season with a 0–0 draw against the Carolina RailHawks.

Minnesota had a deadline of October 27, 2012, to find new ownership to stay in the NASL for the 2013 season. On November 9, 2012, the league announced that the team was purchased by Bill McGuire. On March 5, 2013, the team changed its name to Minnesota United FC. The team’s budget grew, and the staff size increased for the start of the 2013 season.

On March 25, 2015, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber announced Minnesota United as the league's 23rd club. The ownership group included Jim Pohlad, owner of the Minnesota Twins; Glen Taylor, former owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves; and others. They would start playing in 2017 or 2018, depending on when Los Angeles FC was ready.

The team played their first Major League Soccer match on March 3, 2017, losing 5–1 to the Portland Timbers. Christian Ramirez scored the team's first MLS goal. They played their home opener the next weekend against Atlanta United in very cold weather and lost 6–1. The team got its first win in MLS with a 4–2 home victory over Real Salt Lake on April 1. As the season went on, the team improved and finished ninth in the Western Conference.

MNUFC lost two important players early in the 2018 season due to injuries. Shortly before one of these injuries, the team signed its first Designated Player, Darwin Quintero, who led the team in goals and assists for 2018. On July 4, 2018, Quintero scored three goals in a home match versus Toronto FC, the first in Minnesota United's history.

MNUFC made several big additions before the 2019 season, including Ján Greguš, Ike Opara, Osvaldo Alonso, Romain Métanire, and Vito Mannone. The team played their first match at the new Allianz Field on April 13, earning a 3–3 draw versus New York City. MNUFC finished fourth in the Western Conference and made it to the playoffs but lost their first playoff match.

After the 2019 season, Minnesota United traded Darwin Quintero and brought in new players. The 2020 season started well but was stopped due to health concerns. When it restarted, the team continued to add players and finished the regular season in fourth place in the Western Conference. They won their first two playoff matches but lost in the Western Conference final.

The 2021 season started poorly but improved later on. The team ended the regular season in fifth place but lost their opening playoff match.

In 2022, goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair had a great start to the season. The team had a solid first half of the season but struggled later on. They made it to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row but lost in the shootout after a tied match.

In 2023, the team did not make the playoffs for the first time in four years. Head coach Adrian Heath was released at the end of the season.

Ahead of the 2024 season, the club appointed Khaled El-Ahmad as sporting director and hired new head coach Eric Ramsay. The team started strong but had a tough middle part of the season. They qualified for the playoffs, won the first round, but lost badly in the next round.

2025 was head coach Eric Ramsay's first full season. The team focused on defense and set-pieces, finished 8th in the league with a club record 58 points, and set the league record for set-piece goals. They had an exciting first-round playoff victory but lost in the next round.

Colors and badge

The team's badge shows a special drawing of a loon, which is the state bird of Minnesota. The loon has eleven feathers spread out, to match the eleven players on a soccer field. The team's colors are gray, sky blue, and black, with a bit of red for extra color. The blue line in the logo stands for the Mississippi River. The two sides of this blue line stand for the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The gray color stands for the Iron Range area of Minnesota. The design also includes an upward-pointing shape and the North Star, inspired by the state motto, L'Etoile du Nord. A artist named Zeus Jones made these designs.

Sponsorship

Club culture

Minnesota United's mascot is PK, a loon. PK has been the club mascot since mid-2014. The two main supporter groups of Minnesota United are Dark Clouds and True North Elite, with the overarching organization "MNWonderwall" including affiliated groups the Red Loons and Dark Glitterati. The Loons academy helps grow youth in the community and provides a path to the first team for academy players. In early 2019, Wonderwall founded "THUNDERWALL", a coalition drumline permanently affixed in Allianz Field that provides percussion to support chants in the Wonderwall section during match days.

Fans of Minnesota United sing the Oasis song "Wonderwall" after all home victories.

Stadium

Main article: Allianz Field

Minnesota United FC wanted to build a special soccer stadium near the Minneapolis Farmers Market. They planned a stadium with about 18,500 seats, but needed help with taxes and money. The team talked to leaders in Minnesota about ways to make this happen.

Later, the team decided to build their stadium on a place in St. Paul that used to be a bus station. This new stadium would hold about 20,000 fans and be paid for by the team's owners. In 2017, the stadium's name was announced as Allianz Field, and it opened in March 2019. While the stadium was being built, the team played at TCF Bank Stadium.

Players and staff

Roster

As of March 3, 2026

Here is the list of players for Minnesota United FC. The flags next to their names show which country's team they could play for, according to special rules. Some players might also have other country connections.

Out on loan

Some players are currently playing for other teams but still belong to Minnesota United FC. Their flags show which country's team they could play for, following the same rules.

Management

This section shows the team's managers and coaches.

Team records

Main article: List of Minnesota United FC records and statistics

List of seasons

Main article: List of Minnesota United FC seasons

As of May 16th, 2026

For the full season-by-season history, see List of Minnesota United FC seasons.

**^**1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
**^**2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league, playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, MLS is Back tournament, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

Record vs. international opponents

Honors

Minnesota United Football Club, often called MNUFC, is a professional soccer team based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. They joined Major League Soccer in 2017 as the league's 22nd team, taking the place of a previous club with the same name.

Broadcasting

From 2023, every Minnesota United match can be watched using MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app. Before that, their games were shown on different local TV stations in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.

In the early years, games were shown on WFTC during the 2017 Major League Soccer season. Later, they moved to Bally Sports North and Bally Sports Wisconsin. For the 2021 Major League Soccer season, some games were also shown on WUCW. KSTP is the team's radio partner.

The commentary team includes Callum Williams as the main commentator. He has worked for many sports teams and broadcasters, including Sporting Kansas City, the BBC, and Sky Sports. Kyndra de St. Aubin, who lives in Stillwater, provides additional insights during the games. She has experience covering many soccer games and was part of the team for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.