San Diego Football Club was founded in 2023 and began competitive play in Major League Soccer in 2025, becoming the league's 30th club and the fourth based in California. The club is owned by a group led by British-Egyptian businessman Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe — a partnership that reflects the deep cultural heritage of the San Diego region. The ownership group paid a reported $500 million expansion fee, and the club plays its home matches at Snapdragon Stadium, a 35,000-seat venue in Mission Valley that opened in 2022.
San Diego's professional soccer history stretches back decades through various NASL and indoor teams, most notably the San Diego Sockers, who won eight indoor championships in nine seasons during the 1980s. Multiple MLS bids over the years fell through primarily due to the lack of a suitable stadium, but the opening of Snapdragon Stadium finally cleared that hurdle.
The club's identity is built around a crest featuring "The Flow" — a circular design with 18 lines representing the 18 cities of San Diego County — rendered in the club's signature chrome and azul colors. In their debut 2025 season, San Diego FC finished first in the Western Conference, earning 63 points and setting a new MLS record for expansion teams, before falling to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the Western Conference final. The club also established a formal partnership with cross-border neighbor Club Tijuana, the first of its kind between an MLS and Liga MX club, cementing a bicultural identity central to San Diego's footballing character.