BJ Callaghan says Nashville SC “don’t take anything for granted” after progressing in the Concacaf Champions Cup, but insists his side are firmly focused on FC Dallas.

Nashville beat Atletico Ottawa 7-0 on aggregate to book their place in the round of 16 earlier this week, winning the second leg 5-0 at home, and setting up a tie with Inter Miami.

However, before that, they return to MLS action, looking to build on an impressive 4-1 win over the New England Revolution in their season opener last weekend.

Callaghan acknowledged the Miami tie was an important one, but says Nashville, who sit top of the Eastern Conference in the early standings, are not looking that far ahead yet.

“The focus will be 100% on Dallas,” he said.

“When the time comes to start the preparation for Miami, we’ll continue to evaluate them like we do any other team, but we look forward to the opportunity.

“We don’t take anything for granted at this club. We have a saying that we turn every single page every single day.

“And for us, you know, we have our internal goals, and we have our ambitions. We remain humble and hungry in every single game.”

Full charge to Frisco pic.twitter.com/QlzfxBHk8S

— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) February 26, 2026

Dallas, meanwhile, were one of eight Western Conference teams to win their first match in 2026, triumphing 3-2 against Toronto FC.

Having twice let a lead slip in the game, they held on for all three points after Petar Musa’s 74th-minute goal, and head coach Eric Quill was delighted with the fighting spirit his side showed.

“If you were in the stadium and know the game, you saw a front-footed, aggressive, vertical style. That is who we are,” Quill said of the win over Toronto.

“It is part of our identity. We want to be in your face. After they tied it 1-1 and 2-2, our attitude was, ‘Not tonight. We will find a way’. I like that about this group.

“There is a long way to go, but I hope our fans are proud. I am proud of the three points. We are not the finished version of ourselves yet. We will keep growing and getting better. I liked our response.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FC Dallas – Petar Musa

Musa opened the scoring for Dallas in the ninth minute on Saturday, the second straight year he has scored the club’s first goal of the regular season.

He and FC Cincinnati’s Kevin Denkey are the only two players to score their team’s first goals in both 2025 and 2026, and he will want to follow up last week’s brace with another big performance.

Petar says see ya on Saturday pic.twitter.com/gPzo52hLtj

— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) February 24, 2026

Nashville SC – Sam Surridge

Sam Surridge scored two of Nashville’s four goals in their win over New England on Saturday and has now totalled 40 regular-season goals since debuting in MLS in August 2023.

In that time, he is third behind only Denis Bouanga (53) and Lionel Messi (50), having impressed so far at the club.

MATCH PREDICTION: FC DALLAS WIN

Nashville have won five of eight all-time meetings with Dallas, including recording wins in three straight in all competitions. Nashville have held Dallas to four total goals over the eight games, keeping five clean sheets.

Dallas are expected to make their home advantage count, though. They opened their season with a win for the 10th time in the last 15 seasons (D4 L1) with their 3-2 victory over Toronto on Saturday.

But Dallas have managed to win their first two matches of a season only once in that time, opening with three straight victories in 2015.

Nashville, meanwhile, opened their season with a win for the third time in the last five seasons (D2) with their 4-1 victory over New England, going unbeaten in their season-opener for the sixth straight season (W3 D3).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

FC Dallas – 40.3%

Draw – 26.6%

Nashville SC – 33.1%