With just two years to go until New York hosts the World Cup final, could ‘soccer’ culture finally be taking root in the Big Apple? To find out, FourFourTwo crossed the Atlantic to see Manchester City’s sister side NYCFC face the Red Bulls in the feisty Hudson River Derby.

New York Red Bulls II (1-0-0, 3 pts) defeat Atlanta United 2 (0-1-0, 0 pts.) 1-0 at Fifth Third Stadium on MLS NEXT Pro Matchday 1.

The New York Red Bulls play their first home game of the 2025 MLS season when they host the Nashville SC at the Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday.The Red Bulls clinched the Eastern Conference last season after beating Orlando City FC.

Nashville fell 2-0 to the Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, suffering its first loss of the 2025 MLS season. The Red Bulls, last season's MLS Cup runners-up, swarmed Nashville (0-1-1, one point) from the opening kickoff and scored twice within the opening half-hour.

II opened their season with a 0-0 draw against New England Revolution II on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Despite outshooting New England 17 to five, Union II couldn't find the breakthrough. Goalkeeper Andrew Rick preserved the clean sheet and secured a point with a crucial penalty save in the 89th minute.

Yankee Stadium has never been an ideal situation for soccer. However, it’s provided a stunning and odd backdrop to the formative last 10 years of MLS, seeing the likes of David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, and Frank Lampard initially, before making ways for a new era of New York sporting stars in Maxi Moralez, Alonso Martinez, and Matt Freese.

For the second to last time, New York City FC will kick off a home MLS schedule at Yankee Stadium on Saturday when they take on Orlando City SC in their 10-year anniversary match.