At the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on April 13th, the Galaxy played host to the MetroStars and won 2-1. The Galaxy's inaugural roster provided stars such as Cobi Jones, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Robin Fraser, Eduardo Hurtado, goalkeeper Jorge Campos, and coach Lothar Osiander.

In June, the Galaxy and Tampa Bay Mutiny played a game at the Rose Bowl in front of 92,216 fans. After a fast start, the Galaxy would struggle through the middle portion of the season, but pick it up in the last third of the season to finish 19-13 and clinch the Western Conference regular-season championship.

The Galaxy would defeat the San Jose Clash in three games in the first round of the playoffs. In the next round, the Galaxy would sweep the Dallas Burn and become MLS's first Western Conference representative in MLS Cup.

1996 MLS Cup: Coming into New England's Foxboro Stadium, the Galaxy were favorites against DC United. It would not be easy, however, as the Boston area had dealt with massive driving rainstorms all week, and game day wouldn't be any different.

Once the game started, the weather was forgotten about, and Cienfuegos scored the first MLS Cup goal in the fifth minute. Chris Armas would score another goal in the 56th minute, and the Galaxy appeared certain to have the first championship in their grasp.

But the resilient DC United came back as Tony Sannah scored in the 73rd minute. Shawn Medved evened the score with a goal in the 82nd minute, and the game headed for overtime.

Marco Etcheverry would take a corner kick toward the Galaxy penalty area, and Eddie Pope headed the ball in the net to give United the championship and send the Galaxy back home with nothing to show for their strong performance.