HERRIMAN — Real Salt Lake didn't set out to specifically be the best team at home in 2026, but it did intentionally seek a better form to put on display in front of the home crowd.
It's early in the 2026 season, but a strong start and an unbeaten home record have gone hand-in-hand.
The club with a 4-1-1 overall record including 3-0 at home, and hopes to add another win Saturday against San Diego FC (7:30 p.m. MT, Apple TV). Those 13 points are the second-best start to a campaign in the club's 22 seasons, and the best start since 2011.
It started, of course, with a thrilling 2-1 win over Seattle in the home opener, continued with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Austin, and added a wild 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City that gave the home crowd plenty to cheer.
But with each passing home result, the belief has grown on the roster — and in the stands.
"When you get one win at home," RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni noted, "then the belief sets in. The confidence sets in. Our quality sets in. It really is the little snowball that starts rolling down the hill that inspires the group and adds belief to the group."
Last year's group vocalized some disappointment at a 9-7-1 home record that led to a 12-17-5 finish (albeit with a sixth consecutive playoff appearance, the longest active streak in the West).
Round two against the boys from Daygo#RSLvSD | @EnglandLogisticpic.twitter.com/gg3o1np0Pa
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) April 17, 2026
The club didn't take deliberate steps toward improving its home form; but rather, it's form overall.
"I think it was just a matter of how to improve our overall football," Mastroeni said. "Naturally, you're going to get an advantage at home based on the fan support. The 12th man is huge. So how do we become a better team — whether we're at home or away — to really incite the fans to be a part of the experience, and to use them as someone to lean on when moments are tough at home.
"I think it was more of a big-picture perspective as to how we're going to do that, not just at home but also away."
So not deliberate, but necessary.
"That's our goal: don't drop points at home, and keep pushing and believing," RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral said. "Soccer is so important when you play at home. When you can build a good atmosphere and a hard place to play against, it's hard (for other teams).
"We know we have a great stadium, great fans, the altitude helps us as well; all of this stuff helps us if we do our job, which we've been doing."
Still, the results are noticeable on home soil, and RSL isn't alone in that value. Most of the top teams in MLS also boast a dynamic home-field advantage.
Nashville SC, which is currently atop the Eastern Conference at 5-1-1 overall and a 3-point lead over Chicago, is 3-0-0 at Geodis Park. The fire is 3-1 at Soldier Field, the team's current home until it finishes a new $750-million, privately-funded soccers-specific stadium in the city's South Loop.
Out west, Vancouver is 6-1-0 on the year and tied atop the conference with 18 points and a 5-1 record at BC Place. San Jose, which is tied with the Whitecaps at 18 points and 2.57 points per game, also has a 3-1 record at the Earthquakes' PayPal Park.
Just ahead of RSL is LAFC, whose 5-1-1 record and 16 points includes a perfect 4-0-0 start at BMO Stadium. Seattle, which is tied for fourth with Salt Lake at 4-1-1, has only played one home match — a 2-0 win over Colorado, which is tied for sixth with a 4-3-0 record and 3-0 mark at home.
No matter the club, home points are at a premium.
For Salt Lake, it's driving an early season push that the club hopes can propel it through the upcoming month-long World Cup break and into clear contention for trophies and titles with an experienced group led by Cabral, midfield talisman Diego Luna, rising star Zavier Gozo and newcomers like breakout rookie Sergi Solans, midfielder Stijn Spierings, and Designated Player Morgan Guilavogui.
"Last season, we had a great changing room. But some important players were sold, and we took a little longer to sign new players with changing ownership," Cabral admitted.
"As we had the team working together this season, I think it became easier for the new players coming in," the 35-year-old Brazilian shot stopper formerly of Italy's Napoli and Gremio added. "They feel supported from the first day. I felt that when I first came here, and that's everybody's job to help new players feel the same way. We are trying to do that, and I think it's working."
