FC Dallas 30th Anniversary: Top 5 Rivalry Moments

The 2025 season is FC Dallas and MLS’s 30th campaign since the league was introduced in 1996. As one of the league’s original clubs, FC Dallas will honor its 30th season by looking back at 30 top moments from the past three decades.

Together, we’ll review five top moments in the following six categories: goals, landmark moments, rivalry moments, community moments, players and kits. We will release the five moments from a new category once a month from March to August, and fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite.

March: Top 5 Goals

April: Top 5 Landmark Moments

In May, we’ll look back at some of the best moments from matches against FC Dallas’ major rivals: Houston Dynamo FC (The Texas Derby), Chicago Fire FC (The Brimstone Cup), and Austin FC (Copa Tejas).

Western Conference Semifinal Comeback vs. Chicago Fire | 1999

First up is one of FC Dallas’ (known as the Dallas Burn in 1999) best playoff comebacks in club history. It came against the defending champs Chicago Fire in a rivalry that later became known as the Brimstone Cup, a moniker chosen by fans due to the clubs’ pyro-based names. Second-seed Dallas met third-seed Chicago Fire in the 1999 Western Conference final, which was a best-of-three series. The Dallas Burn took the first game 2-1 at the Cotton Bowl before falling 4-0 at Soldier Field, in a match that also saw Burn player Brandon Pollard’s career ended by a brutal tackle from Fire player Dema Kovalenko. The result set up a winner-take-all third game at the Cotton Bowl (goal differential didn’t factor in).

Although they were at home, Dallas found themselves 2-0 down within five minutes and in need of an all-time comeback to advance to the conference semifinal. It took until the 55^th minute for the Burn to pull one back through Chad Deering, bringing them within one. It took another 30 minutes for the Burn to equalize when Salvadorian international Jorge “Zarco” Rodriguez converted a penalty to even things at 2-2. With a tie-breaking shootout looming, Dallas completed a historic comeback when forward Ariel Graziani gathered a loose ball in the box and fired a shot into the goal off the underside of the crossbar. The 3-goal second-half comeback is among Dallas’ best in franchise history and cemented the rivalry with the Chicago Fire for years to come.

MORE: The Greatest Game in Dallas Burn History: The 1999 Western Conference Semifinal

First Texas Derby Series Victory | 2008

It wasn’t until the 2006 season that FC Dallas had an in-state rival. Following the 2005 season, the San Jose Earthquakes relocated to Texas to become the Houston Dynamo – creating an automatic rival for Dallas that became known as The Texas Derby. Each year, the clubs compete for ownership of El Capitán, an 18^th-century replica cannon. Whichever team wins the regular season series earns the right to keep El Capitán at their stadium for the following season. The Earthquakes arrived in Houston as one of MLS’s strongest teams, so the newly named Dynamo dominated the early years of the rivalry. It wasn’t until 2008 that FC Dallas won the Texas Derby series and with it El Capitán. Funnily enough, Dallas did it without winning any of the three games between the rivals. All three games were draws: 3-3 in Houston in April, 2-2 in Dallas a month later and finally 1-1 in June at Houston’s Robertson Stadium. Due to the rules at the time that used away goals as the tiebreaker, Dallas won their first Texas Derby series (thanks in large part to club legend Kenny Cooper who scored four goals over the three games). That series win in 2008 turned out to be the first of many. Although Houston triumphed five times in the first seven seasons, Dallas has taken control since and won nine series to Houston’ three since 2013 – including six of the last seven.

Kenny Cooper’s Last-Minute Texas Derby Winner | 2013

The 2013 season marked the turning point in the Texas Derby between Dallas and Houston. The Dynamo had won El Capitán in five of the first seven seasons since 2006 but Dallas flipped the script beginning in 2013. The teams met just once in MLS that season so it was essentially a winner-take-all Texas Derby. Dallas, the home team, took a 2-0 lead in the first half but let Houston back in it late on, conceding goals in the 79^th and 83^rd minutes. With the score tied at 2-2 on 90 minutes, midfielder Michel crossed the ball to forward Kenny Cooper (who’d recently returned to the club) for the hometown hero to score a late winner. Cooper’s late goal made him FC Dallas’ all-time leading scorer in the Texas Derby with five goals, none more dramatic than this late winner to win back El Capitán. Beginning in 2013, Dallas has dominated the Derby and won nine titles to Houston’s three in the last 12 years.

Jesús Ferreira's Solo Goal in the Texas Derby | 2019

Our final top moment from the Texas Derby is courtesy of Jesús Ferreira. The Homegrown forward – and son of Dallas legend David Ferreira, the 2010 MLS MVP – was enjoying a breakout season at 18 years old and made his first mark on the Texas Derby in style. Dallas had lost the first leg of the 2019 Derby to Houston 2-1, so they needed to win their home game by at least two goals to guarantee El Capitán would stay at Toyota Stadium the following year. Captain Reto Ziegler opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 24^th minute before Ferreira stepped up five minutes later. After a Houston giveaway, Ferreira gathered the ball at midfield and drove toward the goal before elegantly dancing past two Dynamo defenders and placing the ball perfectly into the bottom corner for his first Texas Derby goal. Dallas went on to win the game 5-1 – the club’s biggest win over Houston to date – and Ferreira went on to become FCD’s most decorated Homegrown and second all-time top scorer.

Inaugural Copa Tejas Title | 2021

The Copa Tejas rivalry between FC Dallas, Austin FC and Houston Dynamo FC was introduced in 2021 when Austin joined MLS. It’s a fan-driven rivalry competition between the three Texas MLS clubs who compete for a trophy – Copa Tejas – each season. Although the format has changed over the years, it essentially rewards the team that earns the most points in games against one another. In 2021, the inaugural year of the competition, that was FC Dallas. In the six games against Austin and Houston, FCD earned 11 points (three wins, two draws, one loss). Dallas clinched the inaugural Copa Tejas title in the final home game of the year with a 2-1 comeback win over Austin FC thanks to goals from Jesús Ferreira and Franco Jara. Now, after four seasons of the Copa Tejas, Dallas and Austin are tied with two titles apiece.