Vancouver: Having completed his final international duty of the year for South Korea, Son Heung-min will rejoin Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) this weekend as they resume their march toward their second Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup title. LAFC will visit Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the single-elimination showdown in the Western Conference semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs at BC Place in Vancouver at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (local time), or 11:30 a.m. Sunday (South Korea time).

According to Yonhap News Agency, LAFC, seeded third in the conference, eliminated Austin FC in the opening round, while No. 2 seed Vancouver sent FC Dallas home in the first round. LAFC knocked off Vancouver in the past two postseasons and will look to lift the MLS Cup trophy for the first time since 2022. Vancouver will look for their first-ever trip to the Western Conference final.

The two sides had a 2-2 draw on May 11 and Vancouver prevailed 1-0 on June 29. Both matches were played before Son joined LAFC in August and instantly turned them into a strong title contender. The South Korean superstar developed a deadly chemistry with Denis Bouanga, with the two combining to score an MLS-record 17 straight goals in one stretch. LAFC had the second-most goals in their conference with 65.

Vancouver scored one more goal than LAFC and also conceded the fewest goals in the West with 38. Having never faced the Son-Bouanga duo, Vancouver will need a healthy Tristan Blackmon, the 2025 MLS Defender of the Year who has been sidelined since mid-September with a knee injury. The Whitecaps have their own dynamic duo in the midfield, with the German legend Thomas Muller, who left Bayern Munich in the same summer transfer window that saw Son move to LAFC, and the 2025 MLS Best XI member Sebastian Berhalter.